The Crown Prince's Bodyguard

41 ♛ His Absence

Embarrassed, Long'Er eased herself into a comfortable sitting position. "I'm feeling better," she answered meekly.

Being this close to her father again was nerve-wracking and she tried to steady her pounding heart. She watched as he took a seat beside her, taking in the confusion written across her face.

"This is one of the Intelligence Bureau's secret hideouts," he explained patiently. "Since our job is to gather information from all sorts of places, our people are scattered across the lands and we need living quarters. You'll be safe here under our care until further orders from the Crown Prince."

She nodded her head in understanding. "When will he be back?"

"When he has caught the perpetrators and deemed that everything is safe, he'll arrange for your return."

Nodding her head once more, she fiddled with the hem of her sleeves anxiously. Unable to look at her father right in the eye. And being the observant man that he was, he caught her anxiety.

"Are you alright, Miss? Are you in shock from the attack earlier? Please rest assured that you're safe here–"

"It's not about that," she interrupted him quickly to clear his worries. "It's just that...there's something that I've been meaning to return to you."

He didn't understand her. "Return me what?"

Long'Er was at a loss at how she should explain herself. After squirming nervously for a few seconds, she gave up. Her hand slipped under the collar of her clothes, pulling out a red-thread necklace and showing him the object attached to it.

The sight of the familiar gold ring stunned Minister Han. "T–that's–" He stumbled over his words, shattering his normally calm appearance. He knew exactly what she was holding in her hand. "How is it possible?" he gasped. "I-I've the same identical ring in my safe back at home. I–It can't be..."

Tearing his gaze away from the ring, he stared at her. Incredulous and utterly speechless.

"It belonged to my mother," Long'Er explained slowly. "However, she had passed on several years ago and this was the only thing she left behind."

"Your mother... Who is she?" He grasped her wrists with trembling hands. Beseeching her with a pleading look. "Tell me."

She lowered her eyes to the ground and answered quietly.

"Her name was Huang An Qi."

Her revelation stunned him.

His lips quivered. "You're saying the ring belonged to my first wife? Then does it mean that you are m-my–?"

He couldn't seem to finish his sentence but she already knew what he was asking and began nodding her head. If the ring wasn't enough, there was something else that she could do to prove her identity.

"Mother and you were childhood friends. You've a small scar right below your right knee. She mentioned that you had gotten it after falling off a tree when you were young. You were trying to jump over the walls to play with your friends."

Bereft of speech, Minister Han pulled her into his embrace. He buried his face into her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably at the fact that he had just discovered himself having a daughter with his first love. Years of grief and longing were brought to the surface and he couldn't seem to stop his tears from flowing.

"I can't believe it," he rasped. "I've a daughter. We have a daughter."

His reaction surprised Long'Er and she burst out crying as well. Her fear of rejection vanished immediately.