Chapter 15 (2/2)

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In other words, his conceit was that no matter how much Ruhae showed disloyalty to him, his brother would never pose a danger to him. It was also a warning that he wouldn’t sit idle at Ruhae’s second challenge to his authority. It was also an implicit pressure on Ruahe that he had better watch out carefully when it came to his conduct.

There were lots of meaningful signals between them during their short dialogue.

For a long time after Bipaan disappeared, Ruhae kneeled with his head lowered then stood up falteringly. Ruhae’s sad eyes met hers. He slowly lowered himself and saw her eyes.

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“I’m sorry I didn’t reveal my identity as Prince to you. I just wanted to make you feel comfortable as you came a long way from the Hwa Kingdom, so I didn’t reveal my identity, but I didn’t realize how big a mistake I made against you, Crown Princess.”

“No, that’s fine with me.”

Kyosul kept silent. As if he didn’t expect any answer from her, Ruhae approached her silently and helped her stand up. When he tried to lift her up by holding one of her hands, she shook it off.

“I’m fine.”

Her voice was stiff. She didn’t say it casually. Obviously, she was being careful in her conduct. She stepped back, covering her face with both hands defensively, but she bumped into the trunk of that big tree while stepping back. She always felt ‘Uljin Yu’ that she used to know was the ‘giant tree’ that she could rely on. But now he was only ‘one tree in the back garden’ to her. When she felt that way, she got choked up suddenly.

“Why?” Her voice got emotional. Was it because she had been holding back what she wanted to say? When she got emotional, her eyes were welled up with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me this in advance? Did you really act like that because you wanted to make me comfortable and feel at home?”

Ruhae couldn’t answer. Nor could he smile as usual. His solemn expression made her get bold. His forthcoming admission that he made a mistake shocked her more than ever.

“So, do you think I’m an easy girl now?”

Kyosul was embarrassed at that. Has she ever sneered at anybody? Had she ever criticized anybody like this? Out of anger and resentment against him, she put the blame on him against her will. But she was hurt when she vented her anger at him. Her face looked haggard as if she, not Ruhae, was blamed, even though she criticized him. Trying not to look at him, she walked ahead.

Her footsteps were shaky. She gave strength to her legs on purpose and moved step by step. Though she tried to focus on moving her feet, she kept thinking about what happened a moment ago. She recalled what she told him.

I wish UljinYu were the Crown Prince.

Hot tears well up in her eyes came down, after all. Her tears quickly ran down her cheeks and dropped onto her clothes.

“I wish I hadn’t made the remark…”

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If she hadn’t confessed her genuine feelings about him, she would not have been so embarrassed like now, even if she realized he was the Prince. She wouldn’t have felt she was toyed with by him. She regretted she had made the confession.

Looking at her and her shaky footsteps, Ruhae followed her cautiously, so that she could not realize his shadowing.

When she arrived at the top gate, the nanny who was looking at her from the outside came running to her and asked, “What’s wrong with you? Your face doesn’t look good. Did anything wrong happen in the back garden?”

When the nanny was examining her, she suddenly fell.

“Your Highness!”

When Kyosul collapsed all of a sudden, the nanny was at a loss of what to do. Someone quickly approached her and lifted her up skillfully. With a surprised look, the nanny looked at him.

“Who are you, sir?”

“I’m Prince Ruhae.”

Shortly introducing himself, he took her in his arms and headed for the East Palace. Looking at him blankly, she came to her senses and followed him. He took her into her room and put her on the bed before going back.

Court ladies who enjoyed spreading gossip began to whisper among themselves. And since then Kyosul never went to the back garden of the outer palace. Only Ruhae went and wandered alone under the big tree in the center. When it was completely dark, he went back inside.