Chapter 83 (1/2)

Bipaan was on his way to the East Palace after finishing the day’s work at the Central Palace, but he found Kyosul’s nanny pacing up and down there alone and felt strange. So, he stopped her and asked sharply, “I thought you were supposed to be with the Crown Princess serving her. How come you are wandering alone here with a haggard look?”

She flinched and suddenly got nervous at his question.

Licking her dry lips, she said in a trembling voice, “Well, I just went out on her errands, Your Majesty.”

“Then, where the heck is the Crown Princess?”

“Crown Princess Kyosul is in her residence now….”

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“Oh, that sounds good,” he said nonchalantly.

She momentarily felt relieved because his emotionless voice suggested that he wasn’t interested in Kyosul.

At that moment, however, he said, “I want to her today.”

“Really?”

“Escort me there.”

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Surprised by his sudden order, she raised her head and looked straight at him.

He was looking down at her with an emotionless face. He looked like a statue.

When she couldn’t move because she freaked out at his order, he started to walk for Kyosul’s residence.

“Are you going to follow me?”

“Your Majesty!”

When he moved one step, she realized the graveness of the situation and grabbed his trouser legs, lying face down.

“Please forgive me for having lied to you!”

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked casually, with no change in his tone or expression.

Shivering with alarm and fear, she told him the truth, after all.

“In fact, Crown Princess Kyosul…”

In her mind, she felt Kyosul might have had a big accident. If that was true, it was obvious that she badly needed his help.

As she was so nervous and worried, she barely confided, “Crown Princess Kyosul has not yet come back from an outing….It looks like she had an accident somewhere in the palace.”

“What the heck did you say?”

He looked at her with glaring eyes and asked, “Are you sure what you said is true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. How can I lie to you?”

“When did she leave the palace?”

“She left around noon, saying she wanted to take a walk. She said she would come back by 7 PM at the latest, but she didn’t come back yet…..”

“Right now it’s already past 9 PM, isn’t it?”

And then he shouted at the eunuch standing behind him, “Call the Imperial Army right now!”

***

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The sun set early in the mountains. Ruhae and Kyosul were left alone in the dark mountains. The looked at the woods around them vaguely. What’s more worrisome for them was not darkness.

“Heeeet!”

She sneezed, hunching her shoulders. He instinctively wrapped his hands around her shoulders. Her thin shoulders trembled quickly.

As the sunlight was gone, they began to feel cold in the wooded mountains.

“Even though it is late summer, the temperature in the mountains is dropping quickly. Do you feel cold?”

“Just a little bit.”

He repeated stroked her forearms quickly. She was dressed lightly that day, putting on clothes without sleeves or a coat. It was a good fit for her during the day, but as the temperature dropped during the night, she felt cold.

“I’m afraid you might catch a cold again.”

She groaned helplessly.

In fact, she caught a cold recently after she got soaked in the rain. But she didn’t want to hear him saying she was physically weak. Straightening her shoulders on purpose, she raised her head and said, “I’m alright. So, let’s think about how to get back to the palace, will you?”

“Can you put on this for now?”

He took off his coat and put it on her shoulders. As her body was already cold, she felt the warmth of his coat on her shoulders. At that moment, she trembled unconsciously.

He burst into laughter, watching her and thinking her actions were so cute.

“Don’t you think we can find a door if we keep walking along the wall?”