✓ the hooded princess • kim seungmin

s i x t e e n

The King nodded, allowing her to continue. The princess internally sighed knowing she'd probably screwed after this.

"The royal reporter gave it to me. He couldn't go up here."

"Why is that so?"

"The murderer knew him. He was caught a few times but managed to escape. Two months ago the reporter died."

Looking up from the papers, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I went there every months, father. I checked on them without informing to any of you. I apologise."

As she expected, she earned a long sigh and her father rubbed his face with his hands. The crown on top of his head was crooked. Eunkyung could only look down to the floor, getting ready to receive punishment or scolding.

"There's a murderer down there."

"Yes, father."

"And you go there alone?"

"Yes..."

"You're aware of this yet you're still putting yourself on risk. What were you thinking?" he raised his voice and Eunkyung squirmed a bit.

"I need to visit Sonia's house and the villagers since no one seem to care about them. We're only managing the people who live up here and they were being pushed away," she braved herself to talk. "If the villagers down there are being killed slowly other ancestors from different kingdom will come and claim the land as theirs. Might as well dominate this area too. Not all kingdoms are nice to us."

"We have our knights to protect this kingdom."

"But what about the villagers?" she asked instantly. "We're being separated by social class and it is not fair. They need at least protection too. That's why I went there to meet them."

"Eunkyung's right, father." Eunji finally spoke up after minutes of staying silence.

"What do you know about this?"

"Eunkyung only tell me. And seems like the Han Jisung boy is involved in this—"

"What about him?" Eunkyung snapped with her eyebrows furrowed. "Why are people in this castle always doubting him and don't like him?"

"Seungmin reported to me," Eunji looked straight into her father's eyes. "The night where Eunkyung was found joining the sword fighting class, someone attacked her."

The princess' eyes widened at that. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. By now, her eyes didn't detach from her sister's figure as she felt rage raised inside her. "Eonnie,"

"Is that true?"

Her hands trembled as another secret was revealed.

"Min Eunkyung."

"Yes, it is true." she admitted with a low voice. "We were lost in the woods and someone attacked me but Seungmin came to help. That's how we returned late that night. But there is no proof that Han Jisung was the one who did it."

"Han Jisung went to the school with a crouch after the incident, father. Seungmin suspected it was because of Eunkyung's sword that cut off the skin at the ankle," she then turned to Eunkyung. "If only you didn't wash off the sword we would have brought them to see whose blood was it."

"It's no use. Seungmin's blood was there too. He was being suspicious."

Both Eunji and the king let out a sigh.

"Han Jisung has nothing to do with this."

"You are not allowed to go down there or the sword fighting class anymore, Eunkyung. I will have the knights down there for the villagers' safety and stay away from Han Jisung in the meantime. Stick with Seungmin."