Author's Note:
NSFW. Angst. You've been warned.
***********************************************
"He entered the room with the courtesan and......spent one hour inside. I heard her screamed..... many times."
Go Eun hugged herself on her bed.
"Princess?"
"Leave me alone."
"May I—"
"No! Leave me alone!"
Sung Kyung bowed and sadly left the chamber.
The princess had asked for "The truth, Sung Kyung-ah. Tell it all to me without fabricating anything."
Well, she had the truth, then.
Be broad minded and patient enough because I know he will take another woman sooner or later?
What a stupid lie.
She felt her world had collapsed into a void as she curled on her bed and cried.
Every beat of her heart was so painful she wished she could take it out and threw it away.
How could he spend his nights with me all these time, saying all those things to me, and then lose interest so soon?
Has his interest in me run out so fast?
I thought he needed me.
I thought he was satisfied with me.
I thought he loved me.
The last sentence tore her apart and she lied on her bed, hitting her chest to choke out the pain, sobbing in grief.
Those hands that touched me already touched someone else.
Those eyes that looked at me already turned to someone else.
How will I survive another day knowing I am not his only one?
Where did Sung Kyung put that blade Ommoni gave me?
"Go Eun? Are you crying?"
She sat up in surprise.
"My lady? What happened?"
For several seconds, Go Eun could only stare at the man who had abused her heart so terribly, before she sobbed some more and told him to "Go away!"
Naturally, Min Ho sat on the bed and reached for her.
"Go Eun-ah, why—"
"TAKE YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF ME!!!!!"
Min Ho stilled, his hands stopped midway.
Go Eun crawled away from him, sitting on one corner of her bed, and he could only stare at her.
And then it dawned upon him.
Another part of Hae Soo's plan.
"Did you know?"
"Of course I know! Your new present is the topic of the city!"
"Did you send Sung Kyung to spy on me?"
"Yes! Why? Can't I?" she asked defiantly, having no will to be polite at all.
"It's not like what you think."
"Please. I'm not that innocent to not know what a man must be doing in a locked bedroom with a courtesan who screamed again and again."
"It was a set-up."
"I'm not a fool either, Prince. I know a lie when I hear one!"
"Park Hae Soo bought her for me."
"And you delightfully enjoyed her!"
"I made it looked that way."
Go Eun laughed and cried at the same time, already exhausted by the argument.
"I want to go back to my parents' house. But maybe it would be too humiliating for you. So I want to go to that resident you have in Busan instead. You can have as much fun as you want, but don't expect I will be here to witness it all!"
Min Ho listened to her speaking in a mix of anger and disbelief.
"You want to leave me and live in Busan?"
"Yes. I know wise ladies should accept their husbands seeking pleasures with other women, but I'm not that wise! I am unwilling to be put in that situation! Because my father could stay loyal to my mother! Therefore I know it's not impossible! Had you behaved differently, I would have been willing to spend my whole life with you! But I don't want to! I was raised to think that women are precious too and have rights for respect. I don't think you respect me, Prince! So either you let me go or I'll end my life as soon as I can!"
Every word she said had hurt, shocked, and amazed him.
This woman had enough strength than any other women he had met.
She was unwilling to face pain blindly and had enough courage to fight it. Even if the enemy was her own husband.
Her face was shimmering with tears but he could see she was determined.
"You know what my plans are for Park Hae Soo. Until that happens, I need to appear as his comrade".
"And therefore you slept with the courtesan? I understand. But your strategy for Park Hae Soo has nothing to do with what I feel! I can't accept what you did, so it shall be me who leaves you!"
"You, Lady Go Eun, are behaving so disobediently I have the right to punish you right now."
"I know. You can do whatever you want but I will stay with my decision. I will go to Busan and live there with my maid."
"You can't because I won't allow you to do so."
"You have to!"
"I will not."
"WHY?"
"Because you're my wife and it's your duty to stay by my side."
"I refuse to stay true to someone who can't be loyal to me!"
"I am loyal to you."
"Liar!"
"JO YEONG! COME HERE!"
Jo Yeong came running to the bedroom.
"What did I do with the courtesan earlier? Tell the princess."
"..........You made it sound as if you were taking her, My Lord."
"See? I made it sounded as if I took her. But it didn't really happen," Min Ho said to his wife.
"How absurd! Of course your guard will support what you say!"
"I can call that courtesan and ask her to testify before you."
"I don't even want to see her face!"
"Princess. I beg you. Please believe the Prince. He hasn't taken pleasure from another woman since he met you," Jo Yeong pleaded.
"Thank you, Yeong-ah. You may leave us" Min Ho said, dismissing the guard.
Go Eun was swayed by what Jo Yeong told her. She tried to think and she realized this was the first time he heard about him taking a courtesan. He partied with Park Hae Soo often after they married but she had believed him when he said he felt so disgusted with those parties.
"My Lady, listen. Listen clearly. I touched a courtesan, but I didn't ride her."
Her eyes filled with tears as she angrily glared at him.
"You still touched another woman! I can't accept that! I don't want to! Please let me go!"
He climbed the the bed and reached for her.
"Stay away from me!"
"I'll show you what I did with her."
He was holding her body but she was furious, her hands were slapping his, and pushing at his chest with all her might.
"LISTEN FIRST!!!" he yelled.
"NO! GET OFF ME! YOU JUST TOUCHED ANOTHER WOMAN! I DON'T WANT YOU!"
She was crying and hitting him everywhere she could reach.
He lost his patience and caught her hands, before pushing her down the mattress and trapping her with his legs.
"I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!! DON'T TOUCH ME!!!"
"STOP IT, KIM GO EUN!!! LISTEN TO ME FIRST!!!" he screamed.
She suddenly became silent, her body frozen.
He slipped his hand between her legs and put the other on her breast.
"I touched her here and here. I had to make it sounded as if we were doing it. But I didn't went inside her. I didn't take her."
Fully dressed, she lied beneath him as he told her what he did with another woman.
Her tears flooded down, as her mind digested what it was that he was explaining.
"Does it mean I shouldn't feel hurt?" she asked brokenly. "Because I still do. You told me I was your only one since we wed, and would stay so!"
"I apologize. It was hard for me as well," he confessed.
"Was it? Wasn't it nice to touch another woman? I heard Im Jin Ah is pretty and tempting."
Her voice sounded hollow, and it hurt to listen to her.
"I was disgusted," he whispered.
It's his tone that made her stop crying. More than what he was saying, it's his tone. She had never heard him sounded that way. Defeated and so tired.
"At her. At myself. At Park Hae Soo."
Her tears wouldn't stop falling.
"It's true. I have wronged you. And you have the right for wanting to leave me. But I apologize, my Lady. Because I'll never let you. I'll lock you here if I have to. I need you. I need to know I have you at home. Waiting for me. That no matter how rotten the world becomes, I can still come home to you."
His words made her silent. She really wanted to believe him.
How to not be angry and believe him?
"Do you really want to leave me?" he asked.
She sobbed.
And grabbed a handful of his robe, just to hold a piece of him.
"No," she said in surrender.
Maybe I'm stupid. But I've fallen for you. I actually want to always be with you.
"Can I have my wife tonight? I need you."
She sobbed again, but she got up to hug him.
He was stunned for a second, not expecting the embrace at all.
She's shaking with emotion, and he hugged her back, running a hand along her back to soothe her.
He then moved to hold her face in his hands, at the tears that wouldn't stop falling.
"I love you, My Lady. I've been yours since I first laid my eyes on you by that lake. There's no one else since then. There never will be. I'm a sinner and I've hurt you. But I am telling the truth. I am always the real me when I'm with you. You bring calmness in my life. I desperately need you to stay by my side."
She cried as if she's going to die.
Her mind and heart fought against one another and she finally chose to believe him.
His heart hurt, but when he kissed her, she didn't resist.
Instead, she held him, circling his arms around his neck and kissing him back, pressing her body to him.
He closed his eyes to savour the kiss.
Thank the Gods, I'm not going to lose you, he thought.
He pulled her to his lap and they kissed deeper. She shuddered when he caught her tongue with his teeth and sucked it.
He ran kisses all over her face, then down on her neck.
She smelled like cherry blossoms and tea, his tongue ran on her neck, and he inhaled.
She watched his half-lidded eyes and his hands stilled.
"Your eyes are dangerous, my Lady. They make me feel weak."
She frowned.
"And you, My Lord, your entire existence is dangerous."
He chuckled, before taking a deep breath.
"I've been your slave since we first met, my Lady. If you think honestly, you'll see that I'm right."
He untied her blouse. She was already in her white underdress.
Then he did the same thing that he did to Im Jin Ah earlier, but this time with a serious wish to pleasure the woman in front of him.
He pushed her to the mattress and squeezed then palmed her breasts with his hand, his other hand massaging her core deeply.
Go Eun closed her eyes and let his hands brought her to her first climax.
Then her prince bent between her legs, drinking her wetness and coaxing more to come out.
She moaned louder and louder, his tongue was devilish and too good resist.
Her second release got her fisting the sheets beneath her.
He then helped her got out the rest of her dress, then stripped his own clothes.
He made the time to kiss all over her, until her breathings turned to gasps.
When he knelt above her and spread her legs, she opened her eyes and stared at him.
Eyes locked, he plunged slowly inside her.
"Wife of mine, you're born for me."
He began rolling her hips and Go Eun threw her head back, calling out, "Ah......Yeobo........"
He once taught her to cross her ankles behind him, and she did just that.
She said something, but he didn't hear it.
"What?"
"Use me," she begged.
Shock crossed over his face.
"Use me like I'm not a good girl, Yeobo. If there's something I haven't given you, take it all."
He stilled above her for several heartbeat, before his expression changed.
"My Lady, are you inviting me to go hard?"
"I don't know. But if I could give you something more, I'd do it."
He said nothing, yet his smile turned predatory.
"I really like it when a woman raise her legs high in the air. Can you do that?"
She hesitantly raised her legs higher.
"Up in the air," he ordered.
She was embarrassed, but she did it, opening her legs wide and high for him.
He groaned, savouring the scene in front of him.
Then he thrust back inside her.
"You said I could, so......"
He hit her hard, and she moaned loudly at that.
He grounded down into her, moving fast and intense, not minding to be gentle.
She shut her eyes. He's so deep and she felt so full until she couldn't speak.
He pecked her lips, then held on to her calves, and rode her greedily.
Her body sank lower onto the mattress, and she found her hips raising, her hands leaning down the mattress beneath her, and she met him with each thrust.
His saliva nearly dropped at the scene she presented.
Hell, she felt like heaven!
On and on they went, their hips crashing against each other, as her cries grew louder.
There's something in her cries that burnt his blood.
"Forgive me," he said on her lips, before he thrust into her as hard as he could.
Go Eun clamped her mouth with her hand and screamed out loud.
If she didn't do that, the whole palace might hear her scream.
He kissed the palm that she covered on her mouth as an apology but he didn't stop. He kept thrusting into her, harder and harder, panting for breath and desperately whispering her name on her ears. The hands that were holding her gripped tight, pressing her down to the mattress.
It was a mix of pleasure and pain all over again but more intense. It was terrifying and overwhelming at the same time. He succeeded in changing her mind though. He was so fierce he showed her she's the only one he wanted.
I will trust you, she decided, looping her arms around his back.
He forgot everything else except how good it felt to be moving inside her, his hands reaching down, bending and spreading her legs farther apart.
Usually at moments like this, he moved within her while consoling her with kisses and caresses. But he didn't this time. He behaved entirely selfish and just chased his own release.
She lost her ability to do anything else except giving him her body. If that's what he wanted, if that's what he needed, he's going to get it. Because she had no willingness to stop him.
He hit very hard one last time before giving up to shudders and slowed down, closing his eyes and let the spasms washed every other feelings away. These were the moments where he existed only for her.
He was groaning with raw pleasure and she found herself hooking her legs around his waist, silently looking at him until he stopped trembling above her.
When he stopped, he opened his eyes and stared at her.
He quickly turned them around until she was lying above him and he hugged her tight. So tight she thought her bones would break.
What is this feeling washing over me? What are you doing to me?
He held her like that, wanting to be connected with her like this. Forever.
And then he realized he had hurt her. Terribly, maybe.
He wanted to whisper "Forgive me" one hundred times, but instead, he lied her back down on the bed, kissing her softly. Her forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, chin, and lips.
He was saying "thank you", "I love you", and "you're my only one" with his actions.
They lied silently for a while afterwards, then his stomach grumbled loudly.
"Didn't you eat something, My Lord?"
"No, I haven't had dinner."
That was how they sat in their robes fifteen minutes later, as he had his supper and she accompanied him.
Once they finished their supper, they returned to bed.
He loosened her hair and combed it with his fingers.
He did intend to stop at that point. Letting her rest after such an intense lovemaking was all appropriate and gentlemanlike and.........
Before he knew it, he was untying the sash of her outer robe.
"I allow you to stop me this time. If you don't want this, say so"
It was another first.
Go Eun stared at him, pondering what she really wanted. To rest or........
And then she suddenly sat up and kissed him, not really thinking, just wanting to show him, just wanted him to know about this feeling building inside her, this feeling of wanting to be closer to him.
Call it cliché, but his heart stopped beating for a second.
Seeing that he gave no response, she gently held his cheeks and kissed him some more, her lips massaging his ever so softly.
His heart fell apart and tumbled on her lap.
He circled her arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and hugged her while deepening the kiss.
She did it again. Maybe she would be able to do this all the time.
She turned his horrible life into something worth living, day after day.
She refused to stop kissing him. She had the courage to at least kiss him then, which was a huge milestone between them. He, of course had no objection to her sweet seduction.
Their third time that night was even more consuming and fulfilling.
He took her with the passion of someone deeply in love, driving deep and eager all the time. She threw caution to the wind and let him played with her body like she's a musical instrument.
His hands travelled all over her, like he's painting a poem on her skin. He moved against her, on top of her, and inside her, groaning and breathing hard, kissing her over and over again.
It was steamy. She felt like she's burning with heat, but it's also delicious, she never wanted him to stop. The way he moved within her made her inched closer to madness. His skin brushed against her, his sweat dropping on her, his eyes wreaking havoc in her soul. She felt like she's claimed not only physically, but also mentally, her soul seemed to reach out to his.
Why was I afraid of this, she wondered. Lovemaking was so amazing and addictive. She knew she'd never be able to refuse him.
"Hm......"
She opened her eyes at that.
"You're getting wetter, My Lady. Do I feel that good inside you?"
She could feel her cheeks getting warmer, and knew she was blushing.
"Have some more," he offered, before he pressed down harder, slamming into her almost violently.
When her eyes shut and she threw her head back again, he reached between her legs and massaged the top of her core.
Then she shuddered, and came with a violent shake all over him.
He jammed deeply inside her.
When she stopped, he began, washed away completely with pleasure.
Go Eun watched her prince throwing his head back and his body shuddered, before she felt the release he sprayed her within.
"Yeobo."
When he's done, he tumbled down to her body, kissing her deeply, as if he wished to fuse their bodies into one.
*********************************************************
He was holding her waist and she had her back on him. They had finally evened their breathing.
"I love you, too."
"...........don't be a coward. Say it while looking at my face."
She bit her lip, trying to lie very still.
"Yah! Don't pretend to fall asleep! I know you're still awake!"
Reluctantly, she turned around to face him.
"I love you too,My Lord."
He smiled very, very wide.
"Gamsahamnida, Lady Go Eun. I thought you'd continue to hate me for at least a decade."
".........what would you do if I hate you for a decade?"
"I'll wait until the decade ends."
She couldn't believe he could say something like that. She felt herself blushing so she turned around again.
Min Ho chuckled, before he hugged her again.
They fell asleep like that, tangled together.
*********************************************
The prince and princess consort's relationship got better and more intimate from then on. They had admitted that they enjoyed being together and was grateful for it, though their beginning was unusual. He had confessed he needed her, and she honestly felt she belonged to him. They spent more meaningful time together. Not only at nights, but they also walked together around his palace. She played her gayageum and sang for him while he let her read all the investigation documents about the Park clan.
The first time she read it, she was completely horrified.
She sat in his office, and read the piles of documents one by one.
Corruption. Inhuman slavery. Murder. Raping. Poisoning. Beating. Conspiring.
There were also interviews and speculations about the murder of the former emperor.
Basically, they gathered people. Those who they could buy with wealth, they bought them.
Those who refused, were handled forcefully with threats, intimidation, beating, kidnapping, or in the end, murder.
"Are all of these true?" she asked, tears of anger pooling in her eyes.
"Yes."
"My Lord, please destroy the Park clan to its roots. You must succeed."
The prince nodded seriously at her.
"I will, Lady. I definitely will."
*****************************************
On the next high officers party, Min Ho and Hae Soo hardly spoke to each other.
With the other lords and officers, he showed his careless, easy attitude as always.
From the way the all cheerfully talked to him, he could tell that Hae Soo hadn't shared his suspicion to anyone else.
From his seat, Hae Soo calculated Min Ho's behavior.
He slept with that courtesan, it was true. So maybe he's not noble. Still, it didn't prove that he's not secretly working for the emperor.
He saw Min Ho laughed freely, his head thrown back in a gleeful abandon.
And Hae Soo realized how much he had turned to hate the prince.
Those people from the Lee dynasty, either the emperor or the Grand Prince. They werere all the same.
He had another plan on his sleeves.
He was sure this one will proof Min Ho's side once and for all.
*****************************************
Kim Bum, the little Grand Prince Jin's guard, was looking solemnly at the gates. One hinges of the gate was off, making the heavy gate hard to open. It was evident that someone or several people had taken it off. It must be done very silently, since no one heard anything suspicious last night.
It would be replaced, but it would take two days to make the new hinge that would fit the heavy gate.
The day passed by as usual.
Prince Jin was visited by the emperor and Lady Jeon in the morning. He ate with appetite as usual, and Kim Bum tasted everything before it was given to the prince.
The weather was cool but not cold yet, the autumn breeze was refreshing instead of freezing.
Jin was able to run fast for a few months now. And since the weather was good and he was liking his rattan ball very much, Kim Bum allowed him to play kicking balls with the other guards.
Jin happily ran here and there, kicking and jumping, laughing loudly, the sound filling his part of the imperial palace. Sometimes he stumbled and fell, dirtying his robe. But no matter how many times he fell, he always got back up and started chasing the ball again.
This little prince is not someone who gives up easily, Kim Bum thought. It's his character.
Finally, after more than an hour playing, Jin ran straight to Kim Bum, crashing his body to him, holding his legs and breathing heavily.
"Aigoo. Uri Jin Dae Goon's robe is all sweaty. You must bathe now, ahrasseo?" Kim Bum said, carrying the prince in his arms.
"Na!"
Jin had yet to learn to differentiate "Ne" and "Na". Well, there's still a lot of time.
The two year old boy sighed and leaned on Kim Bum's body, clinging on him.
He trusted Kim Bum completely, since they spent more or less 24 hours together.
"Tired, Dae Goon?"
"Na......."
"Do you want to eat again after bathing? You must be hungry after playing like that."
"Eat, eat!" Jin exclaimed happily, his feet kicking the air.
"Algesseumnida. You'll have a delicious meal after you bathe and change your clothes."
Four of Jin's courtiers quickly prepared his bath, filling the beautifully decorated tub with warm water. Jin was quiet when they undressed him, but asked for his toys when he was in the tub. Kim Bum gave the wooden turtle and fish Jin loved so much.
"The emperor has arrived!" the announcement was heard, not too loudly since the distance between the gates to Jin's room was a bit far.
After a while, he heard another announcement again, "The emperor has arrived!"
The gate was massive and heavy, fit for the gate of the crown prince's residence. Maybe half of the guards were cleaning themselves and the ones working were not enough to move the gates.
Once, the emperor was angry because it was opened too slow, since he had only a short time to meet his son.
Kim Bum left Jin's room to take a look, running as fast as he could to the gate's direction.
The emperor wasn't there, nor his courtiers.
But he saw the two guards who usually stood behind the gates lying unmoving on the ground. Either they were attacked or poisoned.
But......
The prince!
Someone had lied and informed that the emperor was at the gates, so that he'd leave Jin's side.
Kim Bum ran, the fastest he ever ran in his life, unsheathing his sword on the way.
It was approximately two minutes since he left the prince.
When he burst into the bedroom, the four courtiers were pushing Jin's body, drowning him in the water.
He jumped to them all, his sword slashing their hands and throats. The usually soft spoken and calm courtiers were looking at him with venom in their eyes and insisted in holding Jin's head inside. Two of them then fell and died, as Kim Bum grabbed Jin's body from the water while pushing his sword to the heart of one courtier, kicking the last remaining one to the side.
Jin's little, naked body was limp and dripping with water. There were red marks on his throat, hands and feet, obviously because those courtiers held him hard as he fought to breathe. He was already unconscious and his face was blue.
Holding Jin, he stomped the chest of the last remaining courtier.
"WHO SENT YOU?"
"Foolish—guard. He was screaming—for you—when we drowned him......"
Kim Bum stabbed her on the left eye and she shrieked with unbearable pain.
"WHO SENT YOU?"
"The Joseon dynasty—is over......."
He slashed the courtier's throat and laid Jin on the floor, blowing at his mouth to make him breathe again, pushing at his chest.
Please don't die. You're only two years old!
He inhaled and blew harder into the baby's throat, his hands pressing the throat harder.
I am willing to be executed. As long as I know you're alive.
Please don't die! Don't die! Don't!
And Jin choked water, vomited a lot of phlegm, and his limbs shook into spasms.
He was alive. Though his eyes opened and closed as if he was on the brink of death.
"Hold on, Dae Goon! Hold on!"
He took a sheet to cover the prince and ran out of the palace, unable to seek help because the other guards were nowhere.
Later, he would find out that the guard drank water after playing with the prince.
And it was poisoned.
Ten of Jin's guards died that day. Two were confined to bed for the next two weeks.
Kim Bum could ask no one's help until he reached the imperial kitchen, which was close to Jin's palace.
"Call the physician! Jin Dae Goon is dying!"
The courtiers in the kitchen screamed in surprise before they moved into action. Some called the physician, the others ran to inform the emperor and Lady Jeon. While the rest of the courtiers stared silently at the young, beloved prince.
When Kim Bum laid the prince on a chair, he had lost consciousness again, barely breathing.
*******************************************
The news reached Min Ho when he was about to leave to Jung Il Woo's house.
A courier wearing the emperor's emblem rushed into the palace on a horse. Dismounting when seeing Min Ho and fell on his knees, he held a roll of paper high above his head.
"Urgent news from the Emperor, Your Highness!"
Puzzled, He received the scroll and opened it.
Min Ho-yah. Jin's courtiers were Park Clan's people. They drowned Jin in his tub this afternoon. He is still alive, but barely. I need you in this difficult time. Please come immediately.
Jin. No.
The scroll fell to the ground.
"Bring me to my brother. Now."
"What?" Jo Yeong exclaimed in surprise. "But you decide to only visit him once a month, My Lord!"
"Follow my order! NOW!"
Jo Yeong took the scroll and read it.
"This is very unfortunate but if you go there, you'll reveal your real loyalty, My Lord. Please wait for news here."
"JIN IS DYING! And you told me I have to wait here! MY BROTHER NEEDS ME!"
"My Lord! Please be rational!"
"How could this happen? That man, Kim Bum, guards him all the time! How could he let this happen?"
"Highness! Please! I am sure Jin Dae Goon is receiving the utmost care—"
"You told me that guard will take care of Jin! YOU told me he's the best in his generation. How could this happen?"
"I don't know, My Lord. Maybe some unforeseen—"
"Is he part of the Park Clan? Did you send him to murder my nephew? ARE YOU FROM THE PARK'S CLAN TOO?"
Jo Yeong was surprised because Min Ho took the sword from his belt, aiming it at his throat.
"My Lord! Please! It's the courtiers that drowned the prince, not Kim Bum! Please calm down!"
"How can he let them drown Jin? He must be an accomplice! You sent an assassin for my nephew! YOU MUST BE FROM THE PARK'S CLAN TOO!"
Min Ho swayed the sword and Jo Yeong closed his eyes.
"STOP!!! YEOBO, STOP!!!"
Go Eun came running at them, reaching her husband and pulling at his hand.
Blinded by grief and rage, Min Ho swayed the sword to hit Go Eun.
Sung Kyung jumped between them, almost cutting her torso into two.
"SUNG KYUNG-AH!!!" Go Eun screamed in fear.
Luckily, Go Eun's voice broke into Min Ho's fury and he stopped before touching the sword into Sung Kyung's skin.
The sword fell to the ground.
Sung Kyung fell down on her knees.
"What's happening, My Lord? Why do you want to kill your own guard?"
Jo Yeong gave the scroll silently to the princess.
Go Eun read it in a hurry.
"No! He's only a child!"
"He's only two years old!" Min Ho yelled. "I'm going to the imperial palace!"
"I'm coming with you!"
"My Lord! Please! If you go there now, Park Hae Soo-ssi will know who you really are! Please stay here and wait for more news!"
"Don't you dare trying to stop me again, Yeong-ah!"
"I beg you! You will be the murder target once you do this! Your life will be in danger!"
"But Jo Yeong-ssi, this is his nephew. It's normal to want to be there for him!"
"Princess, you have to understand. My concern is only the Grand Prince here. This must be Park Hae Soo's plan. He is suspicious of the grand prince and this is the only way he could find out his true allegiance. So please don't go, My Lord!"
Min Ho knew Jo Yeong was telling the truth, but he wanted to be there for his brother and nephew.
He caught Go Eun's eyes and looked at her.
"Will you regret not going there now?"
"I will. Forever."
"Then you must go there. There will be consequences, but we can face that later."
"I'm leaving now."
"Let me come with you."
"Ne," he glanced to his guard, still kneeling on the ground.
"What say you?"
"I follow wherever you go, My Lord. Of course."
Though this would only make you a murder target. This must be what Park Hae Soo planned for, Jo Yeong thought.
There were times though, where you must risk your image in change of what you heart told you.
Min Ho decided he wanted to be present in this dangerous time between the people he cared for.
He mounted his palanquin and they all went to the imperial palace.
********************************************
Grand Prince Min Ho arrived a few moments ago with his wife and guards. He's sitting in the crown prince's chamber with the emperor and Lady Jeon now, and I was informed that he asked the physician about Jin Dae Goon's condition repeatedly. He looked really concerned for the boy's health.
Hae Soo put down the letter and smiled.
And smiled wider.
And then he laughed loudly.
So. I finally can read you, Prince Min Ho. I see your true color now.
Now, what will I need to do about this?
Tsk, tsk, tsk.......you played your cards really well to fool me for five years.
But no more. I swear, no more.
For tricking me, for making me believed in you, for making me feel envious of what you have.......
You must lose everything.
Everything.
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Author's Note :
Everything I wrote was related to the plot. I never told this is a romantic fic between a prince and an innocent lady. The politics are not just decoration, it's the real story.
Did you skip the part where he touched the courtesan?
No, I don't think he was being disloyal to his wife. He did it because situation forced him to, and there was no lust in it, only a cold heart doing a disgusting act.
I don't want to paint a weak princess. Lady Go Eun here is someone strong who dares to fight for her own happiness. At that time, it was obligatory for ladies to accept if their husbands sleep with other women or took mistresses and concubines. When she fought that, she showed extra ordinary bravery and a strong will.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me.
See you all soon.