✓ the hooded princess • kim seungmin

t h i r t y t w o

The king exchanged glances with Haknyeon, who had his ears red from holding back anger. Then he returned to his princess, "I'm afraid not, darling."

"But why–" Eunkyung groaned, finally understanding the reason why Hanyeon looked so mad right now. "Father, that guy is bringing so much discomfort to us right now. The town people might do not know about this so they are not aware of this. We cannot let him be free!"

"As I said, my daughter. As long as we don't have witnesses we cannot do that. He is a citizen here."

"You're being so kind toward the suspect yet letting the villagers die every month!"

The room fell silent. Eunkyung breathed heavily as her father's expression has changed. She was slightly terrified but as long as the main suspect is not executed, she will not move from her stance.

"Haknyeon, leave."

The man bowed and left, leaving the father and the daughter alone.

The king rubbed his face with his big hands. "We have talked about this."

"And I am not agreeing with what you are doing."

"I do not need your approval in this."

"Well, you do! If you are not going to do anything then I'm doing it myself." she said firmly and turned to leave. However, what the king said afterwards halted her steps.

"I have no choice other than grounding you if you rebel against me one more time."

That set her heart on fire.

The girl turned back to him and scoffed. At this point she almost lose her respect for the man who had ruled the kingdom for years. She's aware of what her father capable of but decided to take the risk.

"All you know is grounding me. Have you asked me why I did that?"

"This is for your safety, Eunkyung. For our family's safety."

"Have you ever considered my feelings when I see Mina died in front of me and mourn over Sonia's death? Has everyone ever told me the truth about Han? About Seungmin? All you guys ever said to me was to stay away from Han without telling me why! And asked Seungmin to look after me as if I am a child? Acting like you just knew him this year when in fact you've known him since before I came?" she blurted out, immediately silencing the king. "Everyone has secrets they keep from me! Why?! Am I not a family member too?"

Her voice echoed in the enormous soundproof office and followed by small sobs. Eunkyung quickly wiped her cheeks as she didn't even realise she was crying in front of her father.

She barely cried in front of him. The last princess often hide her emotions from her family. She was not like Eunhee, who's openly showing different sides of her – talking about her crush Minho and sometimes cry. She was not like Eunji, her second sister who's always loud and the mood maker between them four. She was not like Eunsoo, a sister she adored so much because of her calm demeanour and the peacemaker between the sister.

She's just... Eunkyung. The last princess who her family sees her as a rebellious kid. Attending homeschool for a week because she got caught joining the swording class, creating chaos in the town by chasing the suspect, getting scolded for hurting Seungmin with the bullet, and probably more that she couldn't list down. Maybe because of that, her father won't take her request in consideration.

"I cannot find the one who killed Mina, but please, at least do something as he's the suspect of being the murderer of the villagers. He even tried to abduct me once, why can't you see?"

"That's the sole reason why you did all of this and danger yourself." the father concluded after a long silence. Eunkyung shot her head up in anger.

"I had to cover myself with a fake name because I don't want anyone to know I am a princess who's desperate for a revenge. And none of you supported me, except for the hood that covered me all the time. It wouldn't be a danger if you let me join the swording class in the first place."