Chapter 61

Bipaan slanted one of his brows as if he couldn’t understand her motive at all.

“You said you decided to confess because you wanted to see Prince Binsung?”

Instead of replying, she nodded. She committed another big discourtesy by nodding at the Crown Prince’s question instead of replying politely, but Bipaan didn’t care and asked, “Do you want to put forward this condition in return for your confession?”

She shook her head and replied, “No, I don’t want to incur his hatred, Your Majesty.”

Hosana was the very woman who put Heyjin, who Prince Binsung loved so much, and her pregnant baby at risk. So, while proceeding with the interrogation, Bipaan made sure Prince Binsung did not approach Hosana personally.

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Nobody would predict what would happen if the hot-blooded Prince Binsung were allowed to approach her.

“You just said you would confess because you wanted to see Prince Bisung, right?”

“Yes, I would love to see him.”

The interrogation didn’t move forward smoothly because Hosana, who offered to confess, suddenly said something nonsensical. Bipaan narrowed down his questions and asked pointedly, “Tell me how Prince Ruhae was involved in this conspiracy.”

“Prince Ruhae…”

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As if her offer to confess was serious, she now began to reply to Bipaan’s questions in detail. All the officials present turned their attention to her. It was the first time she mentioned Prince Ruhae’s name.

In the end, Hosana continued with difficulty, “Prince Ruhae has nothing to do with this plot.”

The tense string that bound the whole interrogation was pulled apart instantly.

“I alone was totally responsible.”

“How can an ordinary court lady like you commit such a despicable and wicked crime? Do you think I can believe you?”

Hosana cast down her focusless eyes and then said in a spiritless voice, “I just wanted to give birth to his baby as I missed him so much.”

She spoke each word clearly in a monotonous tone.

Her confession shocked the officials. Some of them clicked their tongues and looked down at her in contempt.

Her confession was more convincing than circumstantial evidence, and it seemed that the whole interrogation would end quickly.

But Bipaan didn’t easily believe her testimony, the only direct evidence. Though he gave lots of weight to her confession, he continued the investigation to completely clear away all the suspicions involved.

The Imperial Army soldiers searched not only Hosana’s room but also the North Palace and even Prince Heyjin’s residence. When they searched the South Palace, the faithful eunuch of Ruhae cried and followed them all along.

“We found an incense pouch in Hosana’s room.”

They lowered their heads and presented the pouch to Bipaan.

It was the pouch that Ruhae argued he picked up and gave to her, but they couldn’t find anything like a pouch or material evidence in the South Palace, which they could link with Ruhae.

“I would love to see him…”

Hosana kept repeating the same words after she confessed. She cast a glance somewhere in the sky as if she were missing somebody over the imperial palace.

“Free Prince Ruhae!”

In the end, it didn’t take long for Bipaan to free Ruhae.

It was a tense, breathless and harrowing moment from the moment of his arrest by the Imperial Army until his release.

“What did I tell you before? This time I was right.”

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Though Ruhae himself didn’t prove his innocence, he didn’t get impatient nor did he hurry up. He just accepted Bipaan’s interrogation process obediently. He didn’t refuse it while defending himself with the truth.

He trusted the power of the truth.

Ruhae’s smile was bright because he believed that he survived the dirty conspiracy against him honorably and proudly, but there was something that he didn’t notice yet. As he was so innocent, Ruhae never sensed the presence of the smokescreen that ridiculed him.

Though he was not physically harassed, he was in bad condition while he was in prison.

As soon as he was out of the Headquarters of the Imperial Army, he quickly headed somewhere.

‘I would love to see you right now.’

He wanted to see Kyosul more than anybody else, but there was somebody who was secretly watching him heading for his love Kyosul’s place.

In the meantime, Kyosul headed for the outer palace as soon as she heard that Ruhae was freed. She felt it a regret that she couldn’t move quickly because of her capacity as the official wife of the Crown Prince. Accordingly she wanted to keep her demeanor and dignity.

‘Don’t stand in my way!’

The only place she could forget about her annoying duty as the Crown Princess was the back garden of the outer palace. There was nobody who watched or looked for her in this place. In this place she could just let herself follow her heart, forgetting all about the rules and formality of the Mok Kingdom.

Kyosul went out to the outer palace a lot. She spent most of the day in the back garden of the palace. When she headed for the palace, she didn’t take her nanny. Her nanny was aware of the reason why Kyosul went to the back garden of the palace alone, and she could not help but feel worried about Kyosul’s frequent outings to the back garden.

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Kyosul was always happy when she got out of the palace. She didn’t hide her joy. She even hummed a tune when she entered her room.

“Your Highness Kyosul!”

“Ugh?”

“Have you written any love letters to the Crown Prince these days?”

“No, I haven’t.”

She calmly sat on a cushioned mat. There was no more joy on her face.

“It’s been several days since I have written a letter to him.”

In fact, she forgot to write to him since she visited the prison to meet with Ruhae. She didn’t think of it at all. As she just focused on Ruhae, she couldn’t think of the courtesy she used to show to Bipaan. She wrote letters to Bipaan out of courtesy, not love.

It was the minimum courtesy she could show toward him, as well as an obligation that she had to remind herself of her status as Bipaan’s official wife.

“It’s all useless now.”

Her letters to Bipaan lost any meaning since the moment she confessed her love to Ruhae.

She stood up from the mat and passed by the nanny quickly. The nanny looked at her with a worried expression.

“Your Highness!”

“You know that I don’t love Bipaan, don’t you?”

“Your Highness!”

The nanny helplessly sat down on the floor and lowered her head, trembling.

“Please! Your Highness! I’m scared, Your Highness!”

“Nanny.”

Kyosul touched her shoulder with her hand gently. She could feel the nanny trembling. A”Nanny, I’m happy now.”

“Your Highness…”

“You always told me that you wanted me to be happy, right? You always whispered into my ear that you wouldn’t have any regrets as long as I was happy, right?”

She then wrapped her shoulders with both hands.

“In this terrifying palace, I’m happy at last! I think I can be happy.”

“But I’m still….”

Her nanny’s lips trembled in her wrinkled face. It was just not because she couldn’t find the right words.

“I’ll be alright, nanny. My heart tells me what I’m doing now is right.”

“Yes, I just wish you were always happy.”

She hugged the nanny tightly. Though it was the nanny who hugged her all the time, Kyosul hugged her first this time.

‘Yes, I’ll be alright.’

Kyosul felt she could be alright.

She felt she could be courageous as long as she was with Ruhae.

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She walked into her room. On the wall beside the bed hung Bipaan’s robe. She stopped looking at it for a long time. The moment she looked at it, she grew sad. She approached the wall slowly where the robe hung.

The robe was embroidered with flowers and butterflies of various colors along the hem. Among the butterflies was a blue one that caught her eyes. While stroking it, she touched its wings. Dotted with blue colored threads, its wings were soft and rough along the grain.

“Nanny!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Without turning to her, Kyosul was still stroking the ceremonial dress.

“Can I see the Crown Prince? I think I have to convey him something. I think he will never come to see me in this place. He told me that he would never.”

“Aren’t you the official wife of the Crown Prince?”

Did she mean Kyosul could go and see him or not?

Kyosul once again touched the red robe from its collar down to its end gently. She kept that dress as a replica of Bipaan as he would not come to see her in the past when she felt cold and lonely all the time. Though he might not need it, she needed it to spend every night all alone, but she didn’t need it anymore. She found a man who could make her warm.

While stroking the dress for a while, she made the decision at last.