"Is that him?"
"Oh...he is not that ugly."
Wonwoo walked past the humdrum of the people at the palace as he concentrated on the path adorned with circular rocks.
"Third Prince. I hope you are feeling well. The Queen told me that you have started training." A long bearded middle aged man walked up to Wonwoo and ambushed him with questions. He was accompanied by a few eunches and a sweet looking lady.
Wonwoo was baffled and looked at Mingyu asking for help.
Mingyu bowed to that man and explained " This is Minister Kim. And this is Lady Yunhee, his daughter."
Wonwoo had a gut feeling this man was bad news. The ministers are the bad ones pulling the strings in dramas.
"Please accompany me and my daughter to tea. You were so little when I first saw you. We have a lot to catch up on. Hahaaaaaa..." He gave out a roaring laughter alarming Wonwoo.
"We have to return actually. " Wonwoo explained.
"Oh! now that you are all grown up you won't talk with me. Mingyu ya you will accompany your uncle won't you?"
Wonwoo already figured that General Kim and Minster Kim were related. He was now more than sure these people are dangerous. He even wondered if Mingyu was assigned to him as a spy.
"I will accompany you then." Wonwoo decided it was better to not offend powerful people. He won't be surprised if half of the people in power are Kims.
He followed the minister to a house that looked like a library as he stepped inside. The minister only allowed Mingyu, Yunhee and Wonwoo to stay in as he made others walk out.
"Please take a seat."
"Uh..Yes." Wonwoo nodded as he took a seat and gestured Mingyu to seat beside him.
"How are you feeling?"
"Huh?"
"Your health I mean."
"Oh I am a weak person. Health is not really my strong point." Wonwoo decided to present himself as a weak person.
"Haaha. But you are trying to be strong right with your training and all?"
"Actually I was hoping if you could stop this training. The King insists on it but I don't think I can live another day training. " Wonwoo tried to kill two birds with one stone. On one hand he won't be a threat and on the other hand he can escape this training.
The Lady chuckled as Wonwoo pleaded the old man.
"I will ask my sister, the queen to convey your message to the King. You are an amusing one." The minister eyed him like a prey.
"Thanks a lot."
"Why don't you try to take the throne. The King adores you despite your shortcomings. You should take these lessons, the King has decided you to be the crown prince if anything happens to Prince Jeonghan. I think I will support you."
"No I am not really interested in the throne or lessons." Wonwoo guessed the minster would be powerful but never guessed he would be the Queen's brother.
"But think about it when you return to your chamber. You might change your mind sooner or later. I will be on my way to the Queen, you young people enjoy the tea."
So much for inviting to tea, the host himself disappeared.
There was a long akward silence as the minister left the room. A maid walked inside and poured the tea but Wonwoo didn't dare to sip it.
"I think you should wait outside. Third Prince and I will enjoy our tea now." The lady sneered as she looked at Mingyu.
The Lady was really pretty but the first thing Wonwoo noticed about her is the audacity.
"No. We will leave now. You may have your tea." Wonwoo shot a glance towards Mingyu as he walked out.
Mingyu followed him hurriedly.
"Aren't you like relatives?"
"Huh"
"I mean she was sort of rude with you. Do you both hate each other or what?" Wonwoo explained the confused Mingyu.
"Oww My father is from the lower branches of the clan. They don't really acknowledge me or my father. "
Even though Wonwoo felt bad for Mingyu, it didn't mean he was less wary of him now.
"Am I am Kim too?" Wonwoo wondered before assuming the worst.
"No you are from the Jeon clan."
"Oh" Danger from the Kims have been materialized for Wonwoo as he walked into his residence.
He asked for the cook to prepare a meal. He hoped even if Mingyu was a spy, he would at least not kill Wonwoo for the sake of feeding him on time.
Mingyu was embarrassed in front of the prince,Yunhee stripped him of his pride. He knew she was not a bad girl, it was the influence of her father but it didn't stop him from hating her more.
He ate in silence as the prince pondered around the room. By the time he was finished he was struggling to make a conversation to feel less akward.
"My Lord. The Queen is a nice person but Minister Kim please never trust him or accompany him anywhere anymore. He will get you in trouble." Mingyu was fond of this prince and he didn't want such a nice person to end up being a pawn in Minister Kim's plotting.
"I don't plan to take any lessons or
become the crown prince."
"The training is for your own good."
"Training is tiresome. And I don't think your father is too fond of me."
"I am afraid the Minister will make you look like a person who disregards the king with this. You always stayed out of these stuff. But the moment you went out of your residence yesterday you have become the target of a lot of people. " Mingyu knew sooner or later his father will force him to take part in the war. He wanted the prince to be safe.
"I was already poisoned, I don't think the training will help anyways. I have my brain to keep me safe."
The sky dusked outside the window as they chatted on about the training.
"My Lord. May I walk in."
Mingyu jumped up from his sitting position and walked up to thr prince to protect him. He was overwhelmed with paranoia after meeting the minister.
"Yes." Wonwoo called.
"My Lord...ahh...ummm..a maid of your residence was found dead behind the training grounds." The eunuch stammered in fear.
"How did she die?"
"She was apparently pricked by poisoned needles. Prince Iseul found her lying dead and he called for the physician."
"Was the culprit found?" Wonwoo more or less guessed the culprit was not found.
"No, My Lord. The King has asked for more guards around this residence. And you don't have to go to training anymore, you have been asked to never leave the sight of your guard. "
"Ah..I see. You can leave now."
The eunuch gladly left the room.
Wonwoo was happy that he didn't have to train anymore but a maid of his residence died. It happened on the day he went to the training grounds, it sure wasn't a coincidence. He wanted to know if it really was the deed of the minister or Prince Iseul or maybe the crown prince.
His wished there was google to search for all the deaths that happened all these years. In palace life where the powerful bullies the weaker ones, murders sure wasn't uncommon.
While his gamer mind wanted to solve this mystery looming around the palace, his rational mind wanted to stay neutral.
"My Lord, I don't know how long but I will try to protect you. So please let me train you. No one have to know. You need to know these skills because without the
King, no one will look out for you."
"Why do you care?" Wonwoo couldn't just believe the guy he had known for one day cares so much about his well-being.
"Because the King gave me this job. And you were kind to me. Even if you don't believe me, you can trust my teaching. I am less strict than my father. " Mingyu pleaded.
"Alright. I have been working out, even if I can't swing the sword I sure can throw a punch. But you are welcome to teach me your skills."
"Okay."
"Let's go out and see the maid." Wonwoo suggested. Even though he wanted to be neutral, his mind was racing.
"But...." Mingyu hesitated to continue.
"You can protect me right. I will trust you this once."
Mingyu agreed and led the prince to the physician's residence.
Prince Iseul, the Crown Prince and Minister Kim were among the people who were there to see the maid's corpse.
The physician who was checking the corpse was not the royal physician, so Wonwoo was unsure of how to approach this person.
He waited till everyone left and only Minster Kim and the Crown Prince
stayed behind.
"Minister Kim. Would you mind leaving the room? I have some business with the physician." Wonwoo's ears perked up as Prince Jeonghan spoke.
"Oh Wonwoo ya. You can stay back but your guard has to leave."
Wonwoo nodded and hinted Mingyu to wait outside.
Minister Kim left the room in distaste eyeing Wonwoo.
"So is her poison same as the poison used on Wonwoo?" Prince Jeonghan didn't waste any time to ask that question. Wonwoo was wondering about the same.
"Oh I won't know that." The physician flustered.
"Call for the royal physician will you?"
"Huh? Yes...sure Crown Prince. " The physician rushed to call the royal physician.
It was not first time for Wonwoo seeing a dead body and looking at the crown prince it was not his first time either.
Wonwoo wanted to ask if the crown prince was from Kim clan too but he didn't dare.
"Be wary of the Kim clan. They nearly wiped out our Yoon clan. If I wasn't the crown prince, our clan would have been completely destroyed."
Wonwoo didn't expect the prince to disclose this information without a struggle. He wanted more details but his memory loss won't make sense to the prince.
"I didn't know anything about the outside world to be honest." Wonwoo tried to work out the hermit angle.
"You are either a very smart person or a huge fool to be so indifferent. Maybe you know more. It's just my guess." The prince tried to pry.
"I wasn't poisoned before so I don't think I had a reason to care about other stuff." It was true to some point because he was a different person and he started to care because he ended up in this world.
"Yeah?. I don't know if I can trust you but you are a better option than other princes. Join me, you said you will help me right? So help me find the culprit. I think it's the same person. Come to my residence tomorrow. I will update you on the situation and let me know your thoughts too."
The Prince wasn't a fool to offer alliance with a prince he met one night before. Wonwoo knew there was more to it. But the crown prince felt like a safer option. He would rather help the future King than help a person against the future King.
"My Lord, you asked for me?" The familiar face of the royal physician came in and bowed to both the princes. The other physician followed him inside.
"First you tell me what was she poisoned with?" Prince Jeonghan gestured to the physician.
"She was pricked with a deadly poison, as evident from the blue mark in her right elbow. The death might have occurred instantly stopping her blood flow."
"Alright. You leave the room."
The physician reluctantly left the room.
"The royal physician is from our clan you don't have to worry. If you have ever any questions you can ask him."
Wonwoo nodded to the crown prince.
"So now tell us how was Wonwoo poisoned? He asked the Royal Physician.
"He was poisoned. Not the same poison as this maid though. He consumed a less amount of it and given that he throwed up, he was able to survive. Moreover there were traces of the dried flowers and leaves of the cannabis plant which was given to the prince over a long period. Someone was trying to make Prince Wonwoo eccentric and make him lose his memory."
"Why didn't you tell me about it before?" Wonwoo questioned.
"I didn't want you to become anxious."
Wonwoo knew better to not trust these people. But he needed more information to secure his peace and safety.
"So kind of you. I will retire to my residence. I will visit you tomorrow Crown Prince." Wonwoo bowed to both of them and walked out of the chamber as fast as he could.
No one could be trusted in palace life. He sighed to himself as he found Minister Kim waiting outside for him. This person looked the most problematic to Wonwoo.
"My Prince. What did you converse with the Crown Prince?"
Wonwoo realized from whom the daughter got all her audacity from.
"Nothing. Just that someone's been mixing drugs in my food all these years apparently. And no wonder I woke up today with no memory of who I was." Wonwoo made sure to give out this information. The people who were drugging the prince had something to hide, something that Prince Wonwoo knew. So this message will save his ass if these people believed in him.
"Wonwoo ya. Come here." A voice interrupted their conversation. It was Prince Iseul.
"Wonwoo gladly walked up to the second prince as he gestured Mingyu to follow him who was waiting by the door.
"Don't associate with the Kims or the Yoons. You are a Jeon, you need to come to me if you ever have a problem. You can trust no one but one of your own."
It was not hard for Wonwoo to guess that Isuel was from the Jeon clan. Wonwoo nodded to assure him.
Minister Kim from a distance was eyeing them in curiosity.
Wonwoo bowed to the prince and retired to his chambers unable to take any of the ongoing drama. He couldn't stop being paranoid from being drugged or poisoned again.
"How old are you?"
Mingyu was taken aback by this sudden question.
"I am 23." He replied.
"Oh. Younger than me. Are you okay if I call you Mingyu. You don't have to agree if it makes you uncomfortable. "
"No. I am alright. "
Wonwoo nodded in acknowledgement. He wasn't sure if he could trust Mingyu but he didn't have any other choice.
"So Mingyu. I would like you to make my meals from now on. I am afraid I have to remove the cook. I was drugged all these years. There's no guarantee that I won't be drugged or poisoned again."
"Sure my lord. I would be happy to obey your command."
"So let's go to the kitchen, it's already night-time."
"Yes. My Lord." Mingyu didn't mind cooking for the prince. He himself was paranoid about another poisoning incident. Silver couldn't detect some of these new poisons that were exported to this kingdom.
"Does that mean you trust me? Your Highness?" He couldn't help but ask.
"You are a better option that these other people. And I will be there with you all the time. You won't have much time to scheme. Of course you can stab me anytime but I can stab you back too."
"Fair. You really don't hold back do you?" Mingyu giggled.