The elder cousin's eyes narrowed, brows furrowing into a slight frown, still confused with the Crown Prince's invitation. "Your Highness, tell me where we are going first if you do not mind."
"I do not wish to entertain your questions. Just come with me, would you?"
"Alright, Your Highness. I will come with you. I was just worried about you. I could sense something bad with the tone of your voice. Are you sure that you know what you are doing?"
Sae Joo smiled and bent his neck to the right, "I guess. I actually want to thank you for awakening my sleeping senses. Thank you, hyung. Shall we go?"
"If you please, Your Highness."
The Prince led the way, and Jung Min followed. Unknowingly, Jin Ri saw the two of them as she was pacing down the right side of the courtyard, going to her chambers. She paused and craned her neck to their directions, wondering why the Prince was with her brother. Thinking that maybe her brother was planning a huge wave that could shatter the Crown Prince, she just shrugged her shoulders off and continued walking, until she bumped into her father.
She bowed her head and greeted, "Father."
"Jin Ri, let us talk... in my chambers."
"Alright, Father."
The two went to the Prime Minister's chambers and sat at the center table. "What is this all about, Father?"
"About your relationship with the Prince. Have you already talked to him?"
Jin Ri bowed her head down, avoiding his father's hard as a steel stare. "Not yet, Father. I am starting to get uncomfortable now that he is back. I could sense that he had changed."
Leaning his elbow on the table, Jung Ho caressed his chin and thought about what his daughter just said. Back in the council meeting, he noticed the difference in Sae Joo's actions through his eyes, yet he also sensed that there was still a certain level of fear inside him. "Changed? Well, you could say that. After all the things that happened to him, it would be impossible that he would remain the same. We are the ones who made him that way. If someone escapes death, that person becomes stronger."
"What shall we do, Father?"
Jung Ho smiled and tore a small portion of white cloth under his cloak. He placed it on the tip of a candle at the middle of the table. Jin Ri just observed that her father was doing. Then, after a split of a second, her bladder almost burst out when her father threw the burning cloth in front of her. She screamed and bailed out of her chair in extreme horror. "Father, what are you doing?"
"No, Jin Ri. What are you doing?" he slammed the table as he yelled to his frightened daughter.
He stood and continued, "Are you not going to do something? That fire could destroy the table, your whole room."
The girl's stiff neck loosened up as it moved left and right, looking for something that could extinguish the growing fire. She scanned the entire room quickly, and finally, her attention was grabbed by a porcelain flower vase on top of a small table beside her bed. She quickly grabbed it and poured the water inside to the burning cloth, extinguishing it fully. When the sight of the red element completely disappeared, her heart rate started stabilizing as well. Feeling like her energy was drained by the extreme adrenaline, she sat back and leaned her body at the table.
"What was that all about, Father? You almost killed me!"
"Idiot! I was teaching you a lesson. When there was a growing fire in front of you, you try your best to put it out. Why? Because with every second wasted, it grows bigger; it gains more power to destroy everything it touches. So before it does, you better step on it and kill it—the same thing that we should do to the Prince. We are the ones who set up the dormant fire within him. Now, he wants to have a fight. Of course, we should not let that happen. We need to crush him fully before he grows bigger and eat us all."
After realizing the whole point of her father's scheme, Jin Ri sat erect and asked the Prime Minister. "I understand now, Father. You mentioned that he wants to have a fight. Do you think he still believes that we are the one who planned all that had happened?"
"That does not matter. As long as he does not have any evidence to incriminate us, we are safe. Trust me, he will not find anything. I am the Prime Minister, and I know how to clean my mess. ."
"So, what are we going to do?" asked the teenage girl.
"Just watch. I will make sure that Sae Joo will not even have a taste of his victory. After all, he is still a young boy."
~~•~~
The daylight almost faded slowly when Sae Joo and Jung Min finished what they did. The two separated ways as if nothing had happened. While walking down the bridge across an artificial lake, the Crown Prince met Dae Wong half-way. The minister bowed his head and asked, "Your Highness, why did you ask me for me?"
"Minister Dae Wong, how was that man—the one responsible for abducting me. Was he punished already?"
"Not yet, Your Highness. He was still at the dungeon, waiting for punishment. Strangely, Lord Jung Min moves slower than the usual."
"I want to see him," said Sae Joo, his light voice transformed into a mature, firm one.
Dae Wong's eyes bulged out in surprise. It seemed like everyone had been noticing the Prince's change in actions and attitude. He humbly asked, "Your Highness, are you sure about this?"
"Yes, Minister. You are the second person who asked me almost the same question. Is it really strange for you to see me this way? Did I change that much?"
"Not really, Your Highness. You did change, but I could still see your old self within you."
The Prince let go of a frustrated sigh. "If you were on my shoes, I guess you would act and think the same way. I still cannot believe that Jin Ri could do this to me. She told the whole palace that I was the one who ordered her to escape. She was more than a cousin to me. I treated her like a best friend, but she betrayed me just to save herself. Why is she like that? I have always thought that she was different from her father."
Dae Wong noticed the pain and loneliness in Sae Joo's eyes despite his act of being strong. Surely, his heart was shattered into pieces because he invested a part of him to a person that would just betray him eventually. Feeling sorry for what happened to the Prince, the minister tried to comfort him with his advice. "Wangja-nim, you have to understand that you cannot trust people easily. You can be nice to people, you can be accommodating, but you have to choose where to invest that priceless treasure of yours. Trust is not malleable like gold. It is fragile and brittle as a ceramic plate. Once it is broken, you cannot bring it back to its original form."
The Prince did not respond; his eyes just focused on Dae Wong as he was listening to the minister's words of wisdom. Dae Wong resumed, "Just put it this way: Use the pain that you are feeling right now as a fuel for learning. Now that you have learned Jin Ri's true color, use that positively. Learn to filter people that you will trust. You cannot always stay warm-hearted forever. Like the Earth's seasons, people should be dynamic, adaptable to changes. Learn when to show your soft side, and learn when to express your tough side. In that way, you could survive."
A bright ray of sunshine illuminated on the Prince's face after hearing some inspirational words from the minister. The idea of change for the better and flexibility towards people and situation became more vivid in him. He knew that he still had a lot to learn, but he also knew that there were good people who would hold his back whenever the need to. With more determination, the Crown Prince was even more eager to dig more information about what had happened to him in the forest where he was abducted.
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"Minister Dae Wong, I want to talk with that man. Please bring me to him."
"Wangja-nim, not that I wish to meddle with your action, but are you really ready to talk to him alone?"
"Lord Dae Wong, if not now, when? I, too have doubts. It terrifies me as well, but I really want to know the truth. I could feel that Shun was right. The whole abduction thing was staged. Someone really wants to get rid of me."
Dae Wong could not argue more, thinking that it would be better if the Prince would learn to be cynical about all the information that was given to him. He nodded, agreeing to follow the Prince's request. "If you say so, Your Highness. I will go with you."
~~•~~
The two went down the underground dungeon, passing through prison cells occupied with the kingdom's notorious offenders, waiting for trial. The man that they wanted to see was at the middle cell on their right. When Sae Joo stood in front of his cell, the man woke up from his sleep in the hay bed. Rubbing his eyes, he crawled to the wooden bars and stretched an arm on the gaps, trying to beg to the Prince.
"Your Highness, please have mercy. Do not kill me!"
Sae Joo gave him a cold stare before bending forward, leveling the man's face. "I just want you to tell the truth. Do you seriously believe that everyone in the council hall believed in everything that you have said?"
The man avoided his gaze, not uttering a single word in response. Sae Joo reiterated his point but the man's metaphorical shield protecting him to spill out the truth remained impermeable. Dae Wong could not help but to snap out, seeing that the man had been ignoring the Prince, taking him for granted. "You scum! How dare you not answer the Prince? Do you really wish to lose your head?" his thick full-lyric tenor voice echoed on the four sides of the dungeon.
The Prince held the furious minister's arm, calming him down. "Lord Dae Wong, please lower your voice." he turned to the apprehended man again and repeated his concern. "Ahjussi, please tell me the truth. I could see in your eyes and actions that you are hiding something. I am not a judgmental person, but you are being too obvious. This is getting tiring for me as well. So, please, tell me the truth, and I will try to appeal to the Prosecution Department to lessen your sentence. Trust me."
The man's eyes melted as it darted sideways. He also bit his lips and scratched his head, hesitant to answer the pop question.
"I will talk if could promise me that you will not kill me."
Sae Joo replied in a soft voice, "I promise."
Leaning his body forward, the man signaled the Prince to move his ears closer to his lips. Sae Joo crouched and bent forward again, following the man's request. The convicted man then whispered. "There is only one thing that I am allowed to say. A powerful man was behind this. Take care, Your Highness, because this is just the beginning."
Upon hearing the words, Sae Joo's eyes almost popped out from its socket in shock. He straightened and stood. After a deep gulp down his throat, he shook his head and stepped back away from the cell. The imprisoned man crawled back to his bed as if nothing happened. Dae Wong observed that the Prince's face lost some of its colors so he asked, "Your Highness, what did he say?"
Sae Joo was not able to respond for the first five seconds as he just stared blankly in the space in front of him. Dae Wong repeated the question, and this time the Prince was able to return back to his senses. "Wangja-nim, are you alright?"
The Prince turned his head to the minister and mumbled, "Me?"
"Your Highness, what did he say?"
With his shaky voice, Sae Joo answered back, holding the minister in his arm. "Let us get out of here!"
After getting out of the underground dungeon, Sae Joo felt like a massive boulder just unloaded from his chest. The fresh scent of the summer breeze, with the colorful leaves of the trees surrounding the courtyard, helped him breathe properly. The Prince let out a deep exhale before speaking. Looking straight to the minister's eyes, he convinced him to bring out the topic Dae Wong never wanted to reminisce. "Lord Dae Wong, please tell me everything that happened to my father and my uncle before I was even born."
Dae Wong's throat constricted, air could not travel out from his lungs in surprise. "What did that man tell you, Your Highness?"
"He said that a powerful man was behind all of this. He told me to watch myself because this is just the beginning."
The minister was speechless, just looking down. He practically deflected from the Prince's eyes clouded with fears. "Wangja-nim, worry not. You can assure that the King and I will do our best to protect you."
"I know that, Minister. I just want to know how all of these things started? I am aware that there is an on-going rift between the King and the Prime Minister, but I did not know that he is actually capable of doing this to his own nephew. Even though that man did not verbatimly reveal the name of the person, I could feel deep inside that it was my uncle—the Prime Minister."
"Your Highness..."
Sae Joo continued. His tone seemed to be fuller compared to the last time he spoke. "This cannot be. I cannot let myself die. I need to survive. Help me, Lord Dae Wong."
The minister's lips curved into a faint smile as he nodded, totally agreeing to what the Prince had said. He was actually moved by the fact that the Prince was using fear positively in order to survive. All he had hoped was that Sae Joo to remain consistent in his new driving goal inside the palace.
"Your Highness, come with me. I will tell you everything."
When the two resumed walking down the courtyard going to Dae Wong's chambers to talk about what had happened in the past, Jin Ri crossed paths with them. The lady bowed her head slowly and greeted the Prince, while Sae Joo just gazed at her with eyes as cold as a frigid snowflake—soulless.
"Your Highness, may I please talk you?"
"Not now, Jin Ri. I have many things to do." Sae Joo started walking, but the young lady held his arm. The Prince raised a brow and clutched his glacial eyes to his cousin. Like a tamed lioness, the young lady slowly slid her hand, letting the Prince's arm go. "Please, Your Highness. This will not take long."
Sae Joo flashed a sideward glance to his retinues as he requested them to leave. Dae Wong insisted that they shall not leave the Prince's side since it was the King's orders to guard him at all times. However, Sae Joo clarified that he would not go anywhere—he just wished to have a short lone time with his cousin to clarify all the misunderstandings between the two of them.
"Rest assured that I will not trick you again and leave the palace without notice. I would just like to speak with my cousin."
"But, Your Highness," insisted Dae Wong.
"Fine. Two hwarangs will come with me. Would that suffice?" Dae Wong just bowed his head, in agreement with the Prince.
"Let us talk in my mother's garden," said Sae Joo, talking back to Jin Ri.
~~•~~
Jin Ri and Sae Joo went to a gazebo, standing on an artificial lake near the deceased Queen's garden, which was filled with magnolia flowers, some green low shrubs, and unknown short, yet stout herbs. The young lady could not even utter words initially to restart the conversation. Sae Joo just crossed his arms, waiting for the girl in front to speak. After a few gentle blows of winds, Jin Ri was able to unlock her mouth and spoke, "Your Highness, please forgive me."
Sae Joo's icy stare remained frosty as he responded, "For what? For telling all people that I was the one who ordered you to make a plan so that I could escape? Or for not telling the truth and defending yourself, claiming that Shun was giving you false accusations? Which one of the two? Give me your explanation. I will listen."
Tears started to run down Jin Ri's cheeks. She also fell on the floor and groveled, holding the Prince's boots as she pleaded, "Your Highness, I am at fault. I had no choice. I was afraid that I might face big consequences and punishments if I told them that I was the one who planned all of it."
Looking down on the poor lady below him, Sae Joo's brows folded in disgust. He could not believe that the person he trusted betrayed him in order to save herself. In a strange twist of chaotic emotions, anger was not the most dominant emotion inside him—it was disappointment.
"You still did it for yourself, and for once, people thought of me differently. You still lied, Jin Ri. I could still remember the moment when we were in your chambers. You said that when things get rough and ugly, you will be the one who will shoulder the consequences. But what did you do?... I am at fault for leaving the palace without permission, but do you know what my biggest mistake is?... I put my precious trust on a person like you.
Jin Ri's voice became muffled as she continued sobbing and begging for the Prince's forgiveness. "Please Your Highness, is it not possible for me to have a second chance? I am truly sorry for what I did. Give me another chance, please... I truly regret everything."
Curling his lips, Sae Joo commanded Jin Ri to stand up, for he could not stand the sight of a woman begging down before him. "Stand. I do not want to see you go low like that." the young lady stood, fixed her skirt and snorted, wiping her tears. Her bloodshot eyes with dews of tears on the corners gazed before the Prince.
"Are you truly sorry?"
Jin Ri nodded her head quickly, biting her lips. "Yes, Your Highness."
"How are you going to prove that you are sorry then?"
The lady rubbed her palms and beseeched again before the Prince. "Please, Your Highness. Forgive me. I will do whatever you desire."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, Your Highness—if that is what will make you forgive me, I will do it."
"Now that you have mentioned it, might as well do it sincerely. I have a request for you... oh... no—I have an order for you."
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__________ [https://em.wattpad.com/8092335f2f56535b75b5c7c2f260d66c4cde6ca8/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4361434f4d6f70383257386556673d3d2d3730393836393236332e313538653433613538383530306139373532353530363235383630372e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]