The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (18 page)

“So
, this is the infamous Serpents’ estate?” she asked wondrously, basking under the sunset’s rays. She still couldn’t believe she was going to see how the inner workings of the Serpents’ initiation worked. It felt like she was about to learn the answer to one of life’s greatest mysteries.

“One of them,” Tae Hyun stated casually.

“One of them?” Yoori echoed, spinning around to face him.

He nodded, his eyes still on the dirt-paved road. “After I became the King of Serpents, I bought a second estate.”

Yoori slanted her head critically. Dressed in a black suit with a green dress shirt and a black tie, Tae Hyun definitely looked like someone who could afford several estates at a time. Regardless, it rubbed her the wrong way that he did own several homes. Even if he had money, it did not mean he should be wasteful with it. “Why would you buy a second one?”

“Because this is not necessarily my favorite one.” He grinned at the reproving look on her face and started to explain the reason for his two estates. “Traditions dictate that all Serpents must be initiated here. I keep this place as a means to uphold my family’s traditions. This estate is for their initiation. The second estate is for their training and our gatherings.”

Yoori briefly averted her attention to the ever-changing scenery. “Didn’t you grow up in this estate?”

He nodded. “Yes.” He pointed at a tall tree they were nearing. The tree had a long rope hanging down from it. “That was where I first broke my leg.”

Yoori exploded in laughter and faced him in interest. Her long black hair, which was curled today, moved over her white dress. “How?”

“I was eight and my older brother was trying to jumpstart my training into the Underworld. He told me that when he becomes the King of the 3
rd
layer, he wants to make sure I become the King of the 1
st
layer as well.” He laughed. “He had started his Underworld training already, so he was able to expertly climb that tree. I was jealous and wanted to climb it too. I made it about halfway up before I lost my footing and fell.”

Yoori had to smile. Despite what ended up happening with Ho Young, it was still nice to hear this endearing story from Tae Hyun’s childhood. “
I assume you were out of commission for a while?”

He confirmed with a chuckle. “But when my leg healed, my father brought us back and made me climb the tree. He told me that we are not defined by how far we’ve fallen, but how far we rise after we fall from grace.”

Yoori nodded. She liked that saying. It was fitting for every aspect of life, not just the Underworld. “Did you successfully climb it?”

Pride lit up his face. “Of course.”

Yoori laughed before something on the road arrested her attention. Her eyes rounded in vigilance.

“Tae Hyun,” she prompted uncertainly. “What is that on the road?”

Yoori squinted her eyes. Under the blinding rays of the sun, this creature looked like a foggy hallucination rather than a true vision. When she determined that her eyes were not playing tricks on her, bitterness began to taint her mood.

“Is that a
duck
?”

Tae Hyun squinted his eyes as well. He, too, was inclined to believe it was simply a hallucination. As they drove closer, it was clear that there was indeed a chubby white duck crossing the road.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, worry coating his voice. “I’ll slow down.”

“Speed up.”

Tae Hyun looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. He eyed her in disbelief. “What?”

“Scare it,” she stated unfeelingly. Her eyes were still on the duck and, if it was even possible, she was looking more and more serious by the second.

“What the hell?” he uttered, looking at her like she was a wacko. Although he was aware of Yoori’s violent history with ducks, he clearly did not anticipate her animosity to go this far.

“Scare it so it poops itself,” she repeated, thinking he didn’t hear her. Her eyes were still on the duck, which was walking very slowly across the road. Despite how long it had been since a duck fucked her over, Yoori was still feeling resentful. Life had been hard on her. Scaring the shit out of a duck would make her day.

“What the fuck?” he breathed out, utterly outraged. “I bring you on a nice ride down memory lane and you want to fuck it up by having me scare the shit out of an innocent duck?”

Yoori blushed as Tae Hyun carefully maneuvered the car, allowing the duck safe passage on the road. It didn’t even flinch when they drove past it.

“Why do you like ducks so much?” she asked, watching sourly as the duck finished waddling across the road without a care in the world. It disappeared into the woods, its poop still intact.

Tae Hyun chuckled disbelievingly. “Apart from the fact that they’re cute?”

“Is it just to spite me?” she asked half-jokingly, slowly feeling less agitated now that the duck was gone.

Laughter issued from Tae Hyun. He warmly pointed at
the lake they were driving past. It illumed with an array of orange, purple, and pink colors from the setting sun. There were ducks swimming peacefully upon the lake, enjoying life since Yoori was nowhere near them.

“My first pet duck lived there.”

Yoori burst out laughing. “No!”

She was amazed with this newfound discovery.
This
was why the King of Serpents was such an advocate of ducks—because he actually raised one.

“I loved it,” he went on reminiscently. “When I was nine, I would always come out to this portion of the estate with my father to feed it. My father warned me not to get too attached to it because it would leave me. He said that was the fate of all Underworld Kings: we would outlive everything we loved.”

“Your father was an optimistic one, wasn’t he?” Yoori remarked carefully. It was astonishing to her the lengths the former King of Serpents would go to in order to educate his youngest son on the rules of life.

“He would teach me all the rules, but he was always the exception to every rule.” Reverence teemed in Tae Hyun’s voice when speaking about his father. “Growing up, there was no one I wanted to emulate more. He
literally
had everything. He had the throne, he had the woman he loved, and he had a family he cherished. The Underworld gave him everything he wanted in life and no one dared to question his status as a King.” He regarded her briefly. “Everyone tells me that I have the potential to be the greatest King who has ever lived, but every time someone tells me that, all I can think about is my father.
He
is the King who truly had everything. He had everything and was able to keep it all until the day he died.” He shrugged, his voice becoming more regretful. “I wish I was smart enough to ask him how he got all of that. I imagine that would’ve been the last thing he would’ve taught me before he was taken from us so abruptly.”

Tae Hyun smiled to himself. He changed the subject without notice and pointed at the field of green grass they were nearing.

“This was where I tried to run away from home.”

“
What?
” Yoori practically shouted. She craned to look at the field. All these stories were making a captive audience out of her. “Why?”

“I was ten. I
t was hours before I was supposed to start my Underworld training,” he explained. “I remember, at the last minute, I became so afraid. I did not want to go. I did not want to leave my family.”

“How far did you get?”

“To this field.” Tae Hyun shook his head with amusement. “By the time I reached this field, my father had caught up to me and brought me home.” He tilted his head bitterly. “I learned then that it’s impossible to run away from this world. It will always catch up to you.”

He jutted his chin at the stone driveway up ahead. They were still far from it, but Yoori could see from the distance, and from the iron gates, that it was the driveway of the estate.

“That was where my father was killed.”

Yoori felt her blood run cold.

Tae Hyun looked at her. “You think my father died somewhere else?”

She could barely find her voice. Yoori had always thought Tae Hyun’s father died while traveling somewhere. She never imagined that Ji Hoon would kill him on such sacred ground.

“Ji Hoon
. . .
Ji Hoon killed him here?”

Tae Hyun nodded. Though his voice was calm, Yoori could feel the fury spew out of him. “Right in front of my mother and sister.”

He pointed at a well on the right side of the road. It was the only thing present on that field of grass.

“We have an underground cellar there,” he explained while she kept her eyes on the well. It b
ecame smaller as they drove past it. “That’s where we keep our enemies and do our killings. My first Skulls kill was down there.”

“How many did you kill?” she asked, craning her neck to keep the view of the well in sight.

“Thirty.”

Yoori regarded Tae Hyun with incredulous eyes. “You killed all thirty by yourself?”

“Yes,” he confirmed quietly, returning his solemn eyes to the road.

It was then that she realized why Tae Hyun was sharing so many of his memories with her. He wasn’t being nostalgic; he was keeping his promise to her. He wanted to show her every part of him: the good, the bad, and the inhumane side. This was not only a trip down memory lane; it was also a trip down Tae Hyun’s journey into becoming a King in the Underworld.

Yoori gazed at his profile in a new light.

She appreciated that he was keeping his word. She could see that it was not easy for him to open up in this manner, especially with her. It would be more beneficial for him to only reveal glimpses of his world to her so there would be a lesser chance of scrutiny on her part. He was doing something out of character—something vulnerable—and she respected that immensely. 

Yoori kept quiet and listened as he shared the darkest parts of himself with her.

“My brother and my Cobras wanted to help, but I wouldn’t let them. I told them that this was my kill. Before I claimed their heads, I told them that in the future, I would claim Ji Hoon’s head as well.”

Before giving her a chance to digest his last statement, Tae Hyun pointed at a mausoleum in the far distance. It looked like a small manor rather than a tomb. It was built with white stone and had two imposing pillars flanking either side of it. It couldn’t have looked more regal.

“That is where my family is buried.”

“Your father and mother?” Yoori asked quietly. She was barely blinking as she stared at it.

“My father, my mother, my brother, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins
. . .
all the Serpents Royals are there.” He smiled at her when she whirled back to him. “It is where I will reside when death knocks on my door.”

“You will outlive the rest of us,” she reminded amiably. The thou
ght of him dying pained her. She would not allow such a thought to ruin their day. Tae Hyun would never die if she could help it. “If you remain a God, you will always outlive your duck.”

Tae Hyun chuckled, reaching out to hold her hand. “You’re suddenly a duck now?”

Yoori laughed, leaning back in her seat. Intertwining their fingers, she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of his hand on hers. Even though driving down this road brought back good and bad memories, she was thankful she was there to experience it with Tae Hyun. It was a treat to learn about his past, to understand how he became the revered King of Serpents. At this thought, Yoori was suddenly reminded of how Soo Jin became the Queen of the Underworld. What transpired with Jung Min at Ju Won’s estate replayed in her mind.

“Did you know that Jung Min ‘kidnapped’ me to remind me that I’m meant to be a God?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably whenever she was reminded of Jung Min and the rest of the Advisors. The remembrance of them always brought back the unpleasant memory of the Underworld and all the obstacles that stood in the way of her relationship with Tae Hyun.

“Kang Min told me that Jung Min had kidnapped you,” Tae Hyun said tightly. It was clear he was not happy when he heard this. “But I did not know what it was about.”

“He sealed me in the coffin that they trained Soo Jin in.”

Tae Hyun eyed her incredulously. Even he was stunned by this revelation. “They made her sleep in a coffin every night?”

“On the nights she failed as a God, they would have her sleep in the coffin with the amputated body parts of the ones she killed. They wanted to remind her of her fate. Every night she was successful as a God, she would get to sleep on the throne.” Yoori shrugged, still feeling disgusted with their method of training the revered Underworld Queen. “I guess they thought they were being poetic.”

“What else did he say to you?” Tae Hyun asked shrewdly. He knew an Advisor would never “kidnap” someone just to throw them into a coffin.

“He shared with me how a God rises back to power from their fall.”

Yoori glanced at Tae Hyun. She wondered if he knew the answer to this. She decided to find out.

“How does a God rise from their fall?”