Scarlet Bond : Cursed to Love

Ep isode-----20

The council hall lay empty at last. Shadows stretched across the cracked marble floor, and the broken glass glimmered like stars scattered underfoot.

Areum stood at the center, breathing in air that tasted of old magic and fresh rain. Park's voice still echoed in her skull — bitter, accusing, half-true. Your mother destroyed everything to keep you…

Junseo's hand hovered near hers, close but careful. "Are you all right?" he asked softly.

"No," she whispered. "But I will be."

---

They turned toward the old archive — a stone chamber behind the council hall, sealed by rusted iron. Dust rose around them as Junseo forced the door open, coughing into his sleeve.

Inside, ancient books lay piled like forgotten graves. Some spines cracked, others bound in brittle silk, each holding a sliver of the family's sins.

Areum moved to the far shelf — where old records of the Han line waited, silent and accusing. Her fingers brushed a faded leather journal, its binding weak, the edges stained with time.

Junseo stepped closer, voice low. "Is that hers?"

She nodded, throat tight. "It must be. She kept it hidden even from the council."

She opened it slowly. The first page bore her mother's name in delicate script: Han Soyeon. Beneath it, the words blurred, as if written through tears.

"If she must hate me to live, then let her. But let her live."

Areum's breath caught. Hate me to live… Her mother hadn't only feared losing Areum. She had been willing to let her daughter despise her, if it meant saving her life.

Further in, a brittle page revealed the truth: "The curse was never meant to keep her bound to love. It was meant to keep death away. If her heart chose hatred, the curse would keep her alive. But love would set her free, even if it cost her life."

Areum's vision blurred with tears. "She wanted me to live… even if it meant living in hatred," she whispered.

Junseo's hand rested gently on her back. "She loved you more than she feared being hated," he murmured. "That's not weakness, Areum. That's strength I can't even imagine."

She turned to him, tears slipping down her cheeks. "All my life, I thought love kept the curse alive. But it was hate that bound it. My mother feared I would die — so she made hate my shield."

"And you chose love instead," Junseo whispered, voice thick. "You chose what she couldn't."

Areum let the journal fall closed, leather cracked under her trembling fingers. "She never trusted herself to let me go," she said, voice shaking. "But in the end, love still won."

Junseo drew her close, forehead resting against hers. "Because you are braver than even she could imagine."

They stood there, two shadows tangled together in the dusty light. Outside, dawn crept across the city, painting the broken windows gold.

For the first time in years, Areum felt the curse truly gone — not just shattered by words, but quieted by truth.

---

Junseo's voice was hoarse. "There's something else I need you to know," he began, each word a struggle. "My father… the documents Park found. It's true. He ordered the death that kept the curse alive."

Areum's breath caught, pain flashing through her. "And you?" she whispered.

"I didn't know," he rasped. "But I carry his blood. And I hate that it ties me to what he did."

---

She reached for his hand, fingers cold but sure. "Then make your life the apology," she said softly. "Don't bury it. Use it to protect what your father tried to destroy."

His eyes shimmered, raw with shame and something like hope. "Can you still love me, knowing this?"

"I never loved your blood," she whispered. "I loved you."

Silence settled around them, softer than it had ever been — not empty, but full of unspoken promises.

---

They left the archive hand in hand. Outside, morning light washed the courtyard clean, rainwater glistening on ancient stones.

Junseo paused, drawing her close. "I don't want to be my father's son," he whispered.

"Then don't," she murmured. "Be the man who chose love. Be the man who let me choose, too."

---

He kissed her forehead, gentle and reverent. "Thank you," he breathed. "For loving me anyway."

Areum's heart swelled, bruised but alive. "Thank you," she whispered, "for finally asking — not commanding."

In the quiet that followed, love felt less like fire and more like water — deep, steady, enough to carry them forward.

---

Teaser for Ep 21:

The council demands a public vow to prove love over blood.

Areum faces a trial of choice that could cost her everything.

And Junseo's past returns — with a threat neither of them expected.