Chapter 12

Despite Bipaan’s cold attitude, Kyosul tried her best to get closer to him because he was her husband, but she ended up being disappointed. The harder she tried on her own, the more he seemed to stay away from her. Even though she came here to get married to him, he didn’t even smile at her.

I still remember his hands felt pretty warm…

She looked at her hands blankly. On the wedding day, he came to her when she was prettying herself up with dress decorations and makeup and held her hands. That was the first and last contact he made with her. After that, he had never touched her, let alone her skirt.

On the contrary, he was so kind to me.

After she saw the cold-hearted Crown Prince, she naturally conjured up Ruhae. He was polite, soft, kind and comfortable to be around. He was a pleasant man who made her comfortable. She tended to talk and laugh more before him.

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Ruhae, who always gave her a kind smile since their first encounter, was the opposite of Bipaan in terms of personality and characteristics. That’s why she would compare them often. Her husband was cold-hearted while Ruhae was more than kind-hearted, so she thought ill of Bipaan all the more. At the same time, she felt something wistful, which she couldn’t figure out.

As she was lost in deep thought, she naturally began to walk slowly. She stopped walking before she knew. The court ladies including her nanny waited silently.

***

As she was kicked out of Bipaan’s residence every time she went there, Kyosul stayed at her residence quietly as she got upset today of all days. A court lady announced a message to her.

“Your Highness Crown Princess, Princess Kyoyoung, the second wife of the Crown Prince, has arrived to say hello to you.”

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Second wife of the Crown Prince?

Come to think of it, the Crown Prince Bipaan alone had a second wife, compared with other throne competitors who only had one official wife. Based on what she heard from a court lady recently, the Crown Prince took this woman first as his wife with the intention to make her his second wife. She couldn’t understand how he took his second wife first before getting married to the Crown Princess, but she felt there were political interests involved in that arrangement. In the Mok Kingdom, power and social status were the priority. They sought women for their own political purposes, so they chose their official wives, second wives, and concubines depending on their political calculations.

Kyoyoung was a woman who was one year older than Kyosul. She was from a family prominent enough for any prince to take her as his wife, but she failed to get the position of the Crown Princes’ official wife.

“Please let her in.”

Kyosul’s instruction was conveyed from a court lady to another down to the hall of her residence. The court lady standing at the outermost door conveyed the message to Kyoyoung and opened the door.

Kyoyoung looked straight ahead with her back straight. She was strong and tall for a woman. Her small and round face seemed all the more so compared with her height. Her blank eyes and plain lips resembled Bipaan’s facial expression. She looked like a woman sticking to formality.

“She says you can come in,” the court lady conveyed Kyosul’s message.

She took off her shoes on the stepping stone before the gate and stepped on the wooden porch. The little court girl quickly put her shoes in order. Kyoyoung went through several doors to reach Kyosul’s main room.

There was a woman sitting on a cushioned mat, who looked weak at Kyoyoung’s first glance. Standing side by side, I would look stronger and taller than her. Kyoyoung felt that way for a second. Pretending not to have examined Kyosul, however, she bowed politely.

“Long live the Crown Princess! I’m honored to see you.”

“Princess Kyoyoung,” she said in a small but elegant voice.

Kyoyoung felt that just like the princess of the Hwa Kingdom, Kyosul showed grace and elegance different from hers.

“I should have come to exchange greetings with you much earlier. Please forgive me.”

“No, never mind.”

When Kyoyoung raised her head, Kyosul had a faint smile on her lips. Kyosul had a small and skinny figure with a white face and a flush, and she was smiling brightly at her now.

How lovely she was! Kyoyoung wondered how Kyosul spent the wedding night with the Crown Prince. When she recalled the wedding night, Kyoyoung felt heartbroken. Though she underwent it several years ago, he wounded her heart, which she remembered vividly just like it happened yesterday. There could be no sadder and more shameful than this for a woman, so she wanted to say something to Kyosul. And that’s why she came here to see her.

“I would like to tell you something, Your Highness.”

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Kyoyoung opened her mouth with a heavy heart. She kept repeating it in her heard from the moment Bipaan took her as the Crown Princess, but it was hard for her to confess now.

“In fact…”

“Yes, please go ahead. Make yourself at home here.”

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Without knowing what she was going to say, Kyosul smiled at Kyoyoung warmly. Was it because of Kyosul’s carefree response? Kyoyoung could speak out freely.

“In fact, I deliberately haven’t come to see you up to now out of jealousy, Your Highness.”

With a curious look, she looked at Kyoyoung.

“Though it’s a bit indecent for me to tell you this, the Crown Prince didn’t have the ritual of sleeping with me on the wedding night.”

“The ritual of sleeping with you?”

Kyosul blushed her face. Obviously, she didn’t get what Kyoyong meant. When she asked, Kyoyoung got annoyed a bit. She would feel even more heartbroken if she told Kyosul in detail about what happened on their wedding night, but she continued with difficulty.

“After he took off my crown on the wedding night, the Crown Prince just left my room. That’s all, no more and no less,” she said as if she had nothing to do with it.

It was difficult for her to confess to Kyosul what happened on the wedding night, but everybody was aware of the rumor about her in the imperial palace, though they kept mum about it. So, Kyoyoung decided that she might as well see the Crown Princess to confess it in person. And that was her pride.

Now, what are you going to do with me?

After confessing to her, Kyoyoung pulled herself together and looked at Kyosul. But something she didn’t expect at all happened. Kyosul’s eyes were getting wet with tears.

This can’t be right! Is she shedding tears for me who got deserted by the Crown Prince?

Several times a day Kyoyoung imagined how Kyosul would respond to her confession, but she had never imagined Kyosul’s reaction like this. She was really embarrassed. She was trying her best to find out Kyosul’s genuine feelings.

Finally, Kyosul’s small lips opened.

“I thought the Crown Prince didn’t hug me simply because I was a woman from the Hwa Kingdom.”

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“What are you talking about?”

It was another unexpected development. Kyoyoung revealed her sheer embarrassment.

“You suffered the same sorrow that I did.”

With eyes wet with tears Kyosul stood up from the cushion mat. Tottering toward her, Kyosul hugged her suddenly. Kyoyoung felt warm when Kyosul hugged her, but she was at a loss for words when Kyosul showed such an unexpected reaction.

Not caring about her, though, Kyosul asked, choked with emotion. “By the way, how come you stay so peaceful and relaxed? I really can’t stand it. I just don’t know what to do. He is so scary.”

At first, Kyoyoung was startled when she came to without reserve and hugged her, but she awkwardly extended her hands to hug her, too. As she was bigger than Kyosul, she wrapped her in her arms. Hugging Kyoyoung, she grabbed her tightly. Her tears soaked Kyoyoung’s shoulders. The more her tears soaked her shoulders, the more her frozen heart melted away.

I wonder if she is only a young and weak girl…

Kyoyoung began to let down her guard slowly and stroked her small back slowly. Now, Kyosul’s trembling began to stop. When Kyosul seemed to calm down, Kyoyoung whispered into her ears, “You didn’t sleep with the Crown Prince on the wedding night like me?”

Kyosul nodded quietly. Kyoyoung tilted her head to one side. Based on what the court lady told her, the little court girls serving at the Crown Princess’s residence brought her blood-stained bedspread and white clothes to the royal laundry center. How come the bedspread was stained with blood?

While Kyoyoung was wondering about it, she saw the nanny taking care of Kyosul, who was standing near the wall at the moment. She noticed the nanny’s left hand wrapped with a bandage, showing one of its fingers cut. The moment she saw the bandage, Kyoyoung’s doubt was cleared. And she envied Kyoyoung for having such a loyal servant like the nanny.