Eps 23 : The Night Incident

Flasback Scene

That night, the atmosphere at the East Palace looked busy. Even though it was late at night, the servant seemed to keep working. All of this because the Crown Prince had gone without informing the servant.

In the midst of the chaos that occurred in the East Palace, Eunuch Jang tried to regulate his breath, even though his tears looked even more murky. The servant repeatedly stared anxiously at the entrance to the East Palace area. A long sigh was heard from Eunuch Jang in the midst of the noise of the servants.

"Palace Maid Song, have you been looking for it in the study room?" Eunuch Jang stopped a palace maid who had just passed in front of him.

Palace Maid Song shook his head quickly in response. Just like Eunuch Jang, his expression was so tangled and filled with fear.

"We've looked everywhere, sir," explained Palace Maid Song nervously.

"If His Majesty knows this, we can all be punished," Eunuch Jang murmured. "For the umpteenth time, his highness simply vanishes every time the night lesson is held."

Both ended their brief conversation and continued the search for the entire East Palace Pavilion. All the servants of the East Palace certainly know how serious the situation is now, considering that a few weeks ago, the king was so angry with the absence of the crown of Yeongan from the night lessons organized by the king.

They do not want to cause the same problem, and they certainly try their best to find out about the existence of the Crown Prince. Even though the young man in blue with the silver dragon embroidery was still in his residence a few hours ago, he was left alone by Eunuch Jang when preparing a snack while studying later.

As the personal servant of the Crown Prince, Eunuch Jang was not just waiting. The man in the jade green uniform also looked for the existence of the Crown Prince Yeongan. Slowly, Eunuch Jang followed the buildings again in the East Palace Complex. He opened his eyes wide so he could see something as slight as possible. Until his ears caught the sound in the empty pavilion of the dark East Palace,

All the hair on Eunuch Jang's neck was slightly bristling when the voice greeted his ear. Feeling curious, Eunuch Jang walked slowly toward the source of the sound that seemed to come from the backyard of the building.

The back area of the building is so dark that only the silver rays of the moon are the source of lighting when Eunuch Jang walks along the road to the back of the building. Until his eyes captured the shadow in the corner of the yard close to the barrier wall, the shadow was crouching while playing with something that was piled on the ground.

Sawing rays slightly hit the cloth that wrapped the shadow, until the eyes of Eunuch Jang recognized it. From where he stood, Eunuch Jang did not necessarily approach, but instead confirmed his allegations.

"Your highness? "Is that you?"

The shadow stopped his activities and turned to Eunuch Jang. According to his guess, Eunuch Jang was surprised when he saw the figure of the shadow. Without saying much, the servant approached the crown prince, but his steps stopped when he realized the activities being carried out by the crown prince.

"Y-Your Highness...." Eunuch Jang lost a word.

"Eunuch Jang, you came on time. You see? Isn't it a lovely red? I found it while walking in the forest behind the palace. Instead of pain, isn't it better like this? asked the crown of Yeongan, who was in front of the robe with his face covered in blood from animals that were dying on the ground.

"Your highness, you should change clothes. Soon-"

"No," the crown prince quickly interrupted, "I want to be here to see something beautiful," he added calmly, even cheerfully.

"I want to know how many red colors it has in his body." said Yeongan's crown, who caused new wounds and drained new blood.

....

The day was moving so slowly, but the whole series of marriage processions never finished. As soon as the party was over, the couple still had to do the ritual—the refinement of marriage. Although the wedding dinner dish has been taken care of by the Palace Maid, the Crown Prince of Yeongan seems to not want to move from his seat. The prince, who was still wearing the luxurious wedding robe, looked as if he was not tired of drinking the rice wine served. Yi Baek did not care about the restless expression attached to Eunuch Jang's face.

When Yi Baek's hand reached back for the bottle of rice wine and was about to fill the cup again, Eunuch Jang's voice was heard. making Yi Baek's hand stop in the air.

"Crown Prince, a wedding banquet is over. The day is getting late; you should immediately move the room. I am sure Her Highness is waiting for you.

Yi Baek chuckled at Eunuch Jang's words, which seemed to remind him. Yi Baek, on the other hand, continued his activities, enjoying the rice wine. Eunuch Jang, who saw the cold attitude, could only take a deep breath until the sound of the palace maid made Yi Baek and Eunuch Jang's attention focus on the entrance door.

A palace maid came to see Yi Baek while carrying a decorated box. After saluting, the palace maid explained the purpose of his arrival at Yi Baek.

"Pardon my rudeness, your highness. I'll come here to bring your wedding gift."

Eunuch Jang frowned at the palace maid's words. Although it is customary for the Crown Prince of Yeongan to receive a wedding gift, it is usually handled by the palace maid of the East Palace rather than being specially delivered as it is now.

"The Crown Prince's wedding gift will be taken care of by Palace Maid East Palace. Why do you need to bother carrying it here?" asked Eunuch Jang, who could not hold back his curiosity.

"I am only asked to deliver this gift directly to his highness."

Without a word, Yi Baek gave a sign to Eunuch Jang to let the palace maid and begin carry the box to him. Eunuch Jang nodded, took the decorated box, and immediately gave it to Yi Baek.

Yi Baek carefully examined the contents of the box once it was close to him. "Who gave you the command to bring this to me?" asked Yi Baek, who then took off the tape so he could open the box.

Before Palace Maid answered the question, Yi Baek was already surprised by the contents of the prize. A sok-jeogori-inner, plain white hanbok—covered in blood—was lifted by Yi Baek from inside the box. His eyes stared intently at the shabby cloth before realizing there was a letter stored under the folds of the fabric. Immediately, Yi Baek read the contents of the letter before finally feeling his chest tight.

Her Majesty Queen Yoo wore this shabby outfit for the last time.

The blood that stained was a proof of torture before on her last breath.

Tonight you marry the daughter of Her Majesty the Queen's assassin.

Are you going to keep quiet?

....

That night, the air felt cooler than usual. Even though the whole window of the room has been closed, the night breeze can still penetrate through a small window gap. Cold air moves through the room, occasionally making the candle's flame move.

The sound of the gong in the middle of the night was heard a few moments ago. The Crown Prince sat on his throne, drinking rice wine and enjoying the night. Previously, the crown prince had just returned from his night walking activities, combing the edge of the palace lake and watching the sound of the night animal.

In the midst of the night's silence, where only the gurgling of rice wine filled the cup, suddenly a noise sounded. All of that comes from outdoors, or more precisely, the main entrance. Shortly after, someone spoke in hushed tones to the palace maid, who was standing guard in front of the door, before the door slowly opened and the figure who had caused such a commotion entered the room.

Crown Princess Souin stepped quickly into the room with tangled tears. Yi Baek even took a sip of casual wine without bothering to pay attention to his wife, who was now standing not far from him.

"You made a noise at my residence. Behind the elegant and calm attitude that has been shown, is this your real character?hown, is this your real character?" Yi Baek said with a sly grin.

The Crown Princess did not feel the slightest level of tension that she had created since she entered her husband's room. Her eyes remained fixed on the man, who was ignoring herself but had just touched the concubine she had lifted last week.

"Your highness, what exactly are the weaknesses that I have until you did want tp touch me?"

Yi Baek put his cup down and looked back at his wife with a mocking look. "I'm not sure you want to hear the reason." "Come back before I get sick of you," Yi Baek replied in a tone that made Crown Princess Souin shiver.

Crown Princess Souin insisted on remaining motionless. Her determination was strong before she left her private room to meet The Crown Prince. However, she could not stand hearing the slanted news about her in the Eastern Palace. She couldn't bear the East Palace ladies' rumour about her for any longer. For whatever sake, tonight she will do it. She will persuade the Crown Prince to touch her.

Crown Princess Souin's hand stretched out towards the ribbon she was wearing. Slowly opening the bond and let her gown fall to the floor. One by one, she took off the cloth that wrapped around the body to leave an internal skirt and let the cold wind blowing her naked shoulders.

"What did you do?" Hissed Yi Baek without hiding the tone of hatred. His eyes looked darker than usual and stared sharply.

Crown Princess Souin approached before finally sitting in the lap of Yi Baek. A little trembling, she tried to persuade and tease Yi Baek. She grabbed Yi Baek's fingers and let the cold palm touch her shoulder. Crown Princess Souin does not care about Yi Baek's dark eyes, especially the cold expression on his face.

"Your highness, let me fulfill my duty as your wife. Tonight, I will serve you whatever you want."

A grin appeared on Yi Baek's lips to hear his wife's request. Without moving his wife, who was in his lap, Yi Baek moved to open one of the drawers and grabbed something shabby cloth from the drawer. Yi Baek showed a shabby cloth that appeared filled with blood stains that had turned brown.

"Y-Your Highness..."

"You said you would let me do what I want to do to you, right? What if, after serving me, I want to change this white color," Yi Baek said, pointing to a thin cloth that lines his wife's body, "to this color?"

"Your Highness, what is that?"

Yi Baek chuckled at his wife's curiosity. With one of his fingers, played on his wife's naked shoulder and then whispered softly. "This is my favorite color, My Crown Princess. You will look stunning with this color, especially since your father did it to my late mother years ago."

Crown Princess Souin's face was immediately filled with horror. The woman was about to stay away from Crown Prince Yeongan. Crown Princess Souin is very afraid of the expression shown by Crown Prince Yeongan at this time. Nobody ever imagined that night would be Crown Princess Souin's last day in the world.