Chapter 60

His face grew dark when she mentioned the East Palace. Neither Ruhae nor Kyosul wanted to speak directly of Bipaan.

“So, did you meet him?”

“Yes, I talked with him a lot, but…” she said, shaking her head from side to side.

Though she wandered around to search for Ruhae all day long, she couldn’t find him.

“I realized belatedly that it was just useless to wander around in the wrong places. The man I’m concerned about and searched for is only you, Ruhae.”

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She came running. As soon as she realized that belatedly, she put aside everything and came running to him as she missed him so much.

“I really missed you.”

“Thank you.”

He pulled her hand and put it on his lips.

That was the only way he could show his thanks.

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She felt his warm breathing between her fingers.

“Thanks so much for coming to this rough place out of concern for me.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t do anything to help you.”

“No, you did enough.”

He resolutely nodded at her as she lowered her head shyly.

“You plucked up the courage to come running to me like this, didn’t you?”

She was deeply touched by his sweet response. Each of his words seemed to contain honey.

Though his words were as sweet as honey, the situation surrounding him was far from sweet. First of all, the prison was too gloomy and lonely for the reunion of lovers. Ruhae was inside the prison while she was outside.

“What should I do?”

“I am not worried any longer.”

“Do you know any good way out of here?”

He then smiled at her the way he used to, “Didn’t I tell you before? I told you I would prove my love for you. You took pains to come here to prove your love for me, didn’t you?”

His reassurances ironically led her to come to his prison to prove her love. What was important now was for him to prove his innocence.

“How can you crack a joke at a time like this?”

“Oh, you’re right,” he said seriously, who spoke to her jokingly only a moment ago.

“Just like I did this time, I will surely prove my innocence with the truth only.”

“No matter how much Bipaan tries to set you up, he won’t be able to beat the truth,” she seconded, showing a firm resolution. What was more encouraging to him was that she didn’t try to ascertain his innocence at all.

“Do you trust me? Can you trust me even without asking me that I didn’t try to harm the princess or her pregnant baby?”

“Of course!”

Her conviction in his innocence deeply touched him.

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“I love you.”

That was the only response he could give to her in return for her trust.

She instantly blushed.

“You really make me blush if you say that…”

“I’m going to keep confessing to you until you don’t feel awkward about that.”

He extended his hands and wrapped them around the back of her neck. He wanted to pull to kiss her. However, he put his forehead to hers and took a deep breath.

He whispered, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

His trembling voice gradually echoed in her ears. “I only love you.”

There were no sweeter words than this to her. She wanted to leave everything to him, captivated by his sweet talk.

***

While Ruhae and Kyosul were enjoying a secret date in the Central Palace, there was another secret meeting going on in the West Palace. Prince Dukwol and his wife, Oran, were fully naked and making love in their room. Dukwol’s long pajamas barely covered her naked body. They were inside the canopy. While they were having sex inside, a secret informant stood stiffly outside and reported in a stern voice.

“The Crown Princess visited the East Palace.”

There was nothing special about his report.

At first, there were wild rumors that the Crown Princess from a foreign country entranced the cold-hearted Crown Prince. And recently there was another rumor that their relationship was not as close as before, but it was natural that the relationship between a man a woman went through ups and downs.

What what the informant said next rekindled Dukwol’s curiosity about her.

“Then, she appeared at the prison of the interrogation place in the Central Palace.”

Dukwol stopped savoring Oran. She gasped for breath and moaned as he stopped, “Huh? Why did she appear there?”

Because of the strange incident at the North Palace there was set up a makeshift interrogation place in the Central Palace, and Dukwol had an informant placed there to keep an eye on the situation the moment Bipaan started the interrogation.

He was watching the interrogation as it might bring about an unpredictable impact on the power structure of the royal family, but he was stunned to hear that unexpected news from the mole.

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“That’s very strange. Right now only Prince Ruhae is prisoned there, right?” said Oran, caressing Dukwol’s chest, slick with sweat. She crawled behind him and pressed her soft breasts against his back. She slid her legs on either side of his hips allowing him to stroke her leg while he considered the news.

Crown Princess Kyosul.

The East Palace.

Kings’ interrogation.

‘Prison.’

‘Prince Ruhae.’

‘Crown Princess…’

There was something pretty strange about Kyosul’s movements. The only link that connected the East Palace right to the interrogation was Ruhae.

“The Crown Prince…the Crown Princess? Then, is the rumor groundless?”

Touching every part of his body softly, she responded, “Do you mean the rumor that the Crown Princess won over Prince Ruhae’s heart?”

“Yes, that rumor.”

Durkwol turned and moved his hand back up her legs. Then, he moved his body away and looked at her. As he stroked between her thighs, she moaned.

“Wow! It looks like we’re going to find a treasure box sooner or later.”

“Treasure box?”

“Yes, treasure box. We set a trap to pave the way for our son Mutawhwang’s throne succession in the future, but Ruhae was unexpectedly trapped to our surprise…”

“Hurrah!”

As if she was overjoyed, she raised her upper body and wrapped her arms around his neck. Dukwol didn’t release his grip on her body, taking a deep breath.

“How come the Crown Princess was entrapped this time…”

“Don’t you think that court lady Hosana was so skillful in carrying out our secret order?”

It was unexpected that Ruhae became entangled with their plot. His arrest was embarrassing to them, but nothing bad for the West Palace. As things already happened, Dukwol and Oran originally planned to get rid of not only Heyjin and her baby but also Ruhae.

“I think we have to save Prince Ruhae,” said Dukwol, biting the soft skin of her hip. She wiggled beneath him.

“It looks like we’re going to witness a very interesting development.”

“Thanks for praising me. As you know, I recruited court lady Hosana.”

“What kind of prize should I give you then?”

“Well, I would like to have you, Prince Dukwol.”

She cupped his face as he pulled her into his lap and continued to make love to her the way she wanted.

***

Hosana couldn’t even enjoy the luxury of being sent to prison. She suffered severe torture during the day and endured the icy coldness during the night.

While she was tied to a chair in the open in the early hours in the morning, there appeared before her a man’s shade.

“I know you didn’t initiate this thing, right?’

That man pressed on her in a low and heavy voice.

“Tell the truth!”

“But…”

“You have to think about your family.”

“They will take good care of your family. Of course, you have to make confessions about this crime first,” said that man.

“What if I don’t?”

“If you don’t confess, your family, too, will be in big trouble like you.”

Then that man disappeared without giving her any time to think about his proposal.

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***

The interrogation now took a totally different turn because Hosana offered to confess after being tortured for days.

On the stylobate of the Central Palace were seated top officials and Bipaan. The Imperial Army soldiers surrounded the large yard. In the center of the yard were two big and hard chairs for the suspects facing another harsh interrogation. One of the chairs was clean, while the other was stained with blood and in tattered condition, torn and furrowed by various torturing devices.

As expected, Ruhae was tied around the clean chair while Hosana was bound to the other tattered one.

“Court lady Hosana!” Bipaan called her in a chilly voice. Her black and wobbly eyes slowly looked up. “Why did you suddenly decide to confess?”

“I would love to see…”

“Who do you want to see now?”

She tilted her head to one side and said, “I would love to see the prince….”

As it happened, Ruhae was sitting in the direction she tilted her head. In astonishment, the top officials present at the interrogation looked at Ruhae. He himself was also stunned and ready to spring to his feet out of anger.

“I would love to see Prince Binsung…”