Chapter 85 (1/2)

Ruhae was with Kyosul when Bipaan found her after an intensive search for her on Mt. Mokak.

“What the heck is this?” asked Dukwol, making a big fuss about Ruhae’s presence there.

Though Bipaan was quiet, Dukwol blamed Ruhae furiously.

He asked Kyosul this time, “We searched for the Crown Princess far and wide in the palace and even on Mt. Mokak. Why are you here with Ruhae, my brother? I can’t believe you’ve been with Ruhae until now. If you didn’t get lost, did you come here with him?”

Dukwol was overly talkative. They discovered that she was with Ruhae, but Dukwol took pains to emphasize it as if he wanted to draw Bipaan’s attention. Though he sounded in astonished, his smile was cold. Everybody knew that he enjoyed watching the awkward situation at the moment.

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The moment she caught Bipaan’s eyes, Kyosul freaked out. She couldn’t think of how she could explain or how to behave in this situation. Squatting in one corner of the shack, she placed her fists on her knees and looked at Bipaan with a blank expression.

Though she was thrilled to be with Ruhae until a moment ago, she was so tense and nervous now. The atmosphere in the room was cold as if she had been thrown in a basket of ice water. She forgot about everything around her in the real world when she was with Ruhae, but the tense atmosphere surrounding them woke her to the stern reality facing her.

She couldn’t take her eyes off Bipaanall. His dark blue eyes terrorized her, but she couldn’t avoid his sharp gaze.

‘Don’t stand in my way. Do whatever you want to do, but don’t block my efforts to succeed the throne.’

Bipaan had repeatedly warned her. It was embedded in her heart like a spell, echoing in her mind.

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Was this situation serious enough to block Bipaan’s succession to the throne?

She felt it was foolish to ask that question because the answer was obvious.

The Crown Princess disappeared from the palace and was found hiding with Prince Ruhae!

Her throat constricted painfully and her empty stomach hurt.

She wanted to go back to the palace safely after the outing, but that wasn’t what was happening. She felt she would rather have frozen to death in the mountain in a situation like this.

It was a very brief moment.

She caught the eyes of Bipaan and Dukwol briefly. During that brief moment, however, lots of complicated thoughts came to her mind. The moment she was tormented by such thoughts, she heard Bipaan’s clear and sharp voice.

“How wonderful! You found her first.”

Everybody was stunned to hear Bipaan’s words. With his mouth open, Dukwol looked at Bipaan. It was the first time that Dukwol wasn’t smiling.

Just as stunned, Ruhae looked at Bipaan with a curious look. He was confused as if he had his head struck by somebody, but he knelt down and said, with his head lowered, “Yes, Your Majesty!” Though he didn’t communicate with Bipaan in advance or make any eye contact with him on this, he had to play along.

“Great job! Let me give you a big award for your actions today.”

When Bipaan praised him, Ruhae was embarrassed, “I’m so honored!”

“Did you find her on the mountain?” Bipaan asked.

“Yes, I did.”

“It looks like she sprained her ankle.”

Ruhae understood Bipaan’s intention quickly. In other words, he could immediately find out what Bipaan was trying to hear from him.

“As the Crown Princess found it hard to walk because of her sprained ankle, she couldn’t go back down the mountain quickly. As I couldn’t touch her, I took her to this nearby shack.”

“Good job.”

Nodding while Ruhae was talking, Bipaan listened quietly.

Licking his dry lips with his mouth, Ruhae concluded, “I wanted to go down and tell you about her situation here, but it was already dark, and the Crown Princess said she felt so cold. So, I stayed with her for a while. She couldn’t go back down quickly.”

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Ruhae’s lie was convincing and appropriate.

“Alright. Let me take care of the Crown Princess from now on,” Bipaan said.