The Legend of Nakrang

Candle

"She hasn't woken up?"

"Your Royal Highness." Gwang Beom acknowledged Prince Hae In's presence, hastily bowing in greeting as he stepped back from Hyojin's bedside.

"Dispense with ceremony. How is Lady Hyojin?"

There was a heavy pause, before the Major replied, "No. Not yet."

"I have already sent word back to Goguryeo to summon more imperial physicians to care for her." Prince Hae In said, his brows faintly knitted.

Gwang Beom quietly nodded in acknowledgement, before asking in a quiet voice, "Do we have any news of-"

He didn't have to finish his sentence, for the prince was quick to answer.

"No. Unfortunately, not yet. I have been sending the men to comb the mountainous areas, but we haven't been able to find the site of the attack."

Closing his eyes, fighting the emotional turmoil, Gwang Beom bowed in acknowledgement of the update.

Lying motionlessly on the bed was the handmaiden whom he had grown so fond of, yet was powerless to help.

Lost somewhere out there in the wilderness of Dong Okjeo was his childhood friend, the Crown Prince, along with his princess consort.

Dead or alive, no one knew.

A voice from outside the tent interrupted his thoughts.

"Your Royal Highness, we have found one of the horses which had supposedly been pulling the carriage holding the trade documents and gifts for the chieftains..."

"I'll head out. That might just be the clue we need." Prince Hae In said stoically, to which the Major bowed deeply.

Straightening back up when the prince left the tent, Gwang Beom closed his eyes, exhaling shakily.

This living nightmare had started when the Dong Okjeo chieftains sent urgent word by horseback to Goguryeo about the disappearance of the young royals and their entourage.

The royals were supposed to arrive on schedule, according to the Goguryeo-Dong Okjeo border guards.

Yet three days had gone by since the royals' scheduled date of arrival, with no sign of them, or anyone from the entourage for that matter.

That was when the chieftains, realizing the gravity of the situation, sent their soldiers, rushing day and night on horseback to Goguryeo, to notify the imperial palace that the Crown Prince and princess consort were nowhere to be found.

Search parties were hastily formed, with Prince Hae In leading the troops to Dong Okjeo in searching for his brother and sister-in-law.

Needless to say, Gwang Beom had instantly volunteered himself for the search.

More than four hundred soldiers had been mobilized, marching on foot from Goguryeo to Dong Okjeo, combing the mountains route which the royals had supposedly taken.

In a frenzy of worry, uncertainty and false optimism, more time slipped by.

The royal couple would have been missing for at least ten days by now.

While it was true that they had a good number of men with them, it was as good as searching for needles in a haystack with how vast Dong Okjeo's lands were.

Lost in a foreign land, they did not even know where they should be starting the search from.

Upon finding HyoJin inches away from death in the mountainous borders of Dong Okjeo, clothes stained with dried blood stains, his worst fears were confirmed.