Chapter 102

“Brother, please ask me questions one by one.”

When he asked her a barrage of questions, she burst into laughter like a child.

With a good smile, he stepped back and asked, “So, are you happy?”

Suddenly she made a blank expression for a moment, but she nodded, with a big smile.

“Yeah, I’m happy.”

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She felt as if she had returned to her childhood.

Her babbling, clinging to her brother’s arms, who she met in a long time, made her forget her age. The court ladies who were passing by greeted her, but laughed at her playing the baby before her brother among themselves. Without caring about them at all, she escorted him to her residence in the Dongbi Palace.

When they arrived there, there were already two pairs of fine shoes on the stepping stones.

One of them must have belonged to concubine Sassi, who said she would be waiting for the Crown Princess. But they didn’t know who the other shoes belonged to.

When Kyosul tilted her head, wondering about the other shoes, one of the court ladies said, “Princess Kyoyoung is waiting for you.”

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Only then did she realize that she had forgotten about her and hastily left the Central Palace alone. She quickly led Mingung into her residence.

Court ladies at the Dongbi Palace already knew who he was.

As she met her brother for the first time in a long time, they were as happy as she.

While passing by the gate, Mingung asked her furtively, “There are as many gates here at my father’s. The gates at my place are not as many as these.”

“Oh, don’t say that, brother,” she said shyly.

When she quickened her pace silently, he just smiled and looked at her. Finally, they entered Kyosul’s room, where Sassi and Kyoyoung welcomed him.

“My name is Sassi, and I am the Emperor’s first concubine. I heard from her that you are her brother. You’ve come a long way, and thanks for that,” said Sassi, lowering her head.

Watching her speak comfortably, he felt much relieved because Kyosul seemed to have made a good person in the Mok Kingdom.

Originally the palace customs here required that Sassi use honorific language for Prince Mingung, but nobody pointed it out.

In his eyes, Sassi seemed older than his mother Queen Yo in the Hwa Kingdom.

Obviously Woorum must have relied on Sassi as she missed her biological mother’s warm love.

When he furtively smiled at her, thinking of that, she nudged him in the ribs gently.

This time Princess Kyoyoung introduced herself to him.

“I’m Princess Kyoyoung. I’ve heard a lot about you from the Crown Princess. So, I feel as if I haven’t seen you for the first time.”

Mingung burst into a hearty laugh at her joke.

“I think I can worry about her less and relax as much as I can because she has good friends like you here.”

Mingung knew that Bipaan had a second wife, so he was worried that Kyoyoung might feel jealous of her who was belatedly selected as his official wife. He was relieved when he discovered that she and Kyoyoung seemed to get along well.

When she was far away, Mingung was always worried about her. When he found out she was keeping well, though, he was so happy, but he was careful not to reveal his feelings.

At that moment Kyosul, standing beside Mingung, approached Sassi and embraced her arm.

“Brother, I regard Sassi as my mother here.”

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As if he expected, Mingung nodded his head.

“Thanks a lot for taking care of her.”

“Well, I’m so blessed to have such a precious daughter at my late age.”

After exchanging a dialogue with him for a while, Sassi and Kyoyoung stood up first, so that Kyosul and her brother could enjoy their private time.

Even though they were close to Kyosul, Sassi and Kyoyoung knew that there was something only Kyosul and her brother could share between them. Kyosul didn’t hold them and saw them off.

When they were left alone in her room, Prince Mingung asked the question he wanted to ask all along.

“So, is the Crown Prince treating you well?”

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“Ah… as for that…”

When she stammered after hesitating a bit, he sighed as if he knew her situation.

Though she got married to the Crown Princess in the Mok Kingdom, Mingung was already aware of the rumors about her.

“I already knew it when you were sent off here for marriage. I know your husband Bipaan has no expression on his face, as his official name implies, he is cold-hearted and cool-headed. I think I can imagine how distressed you must have been when you got here.”

He bitterly clicked his tongue. Though she wanted to deny it and ease his worries, she couldn’t say anything. She bowed her head, at a loss for words.

“But I am much more relieved that you say you’re happy, and that you have such good friends like them. I think you can cultivate your marital relationship over time. As you know, most of the royal marriages are arranged for the sake of political interests of the kingdoms involved. So, those who can get married through their genuine love are really blessed.”

He caressed her hair with his big hands and said, “I wish I could see your husband Bipaan, but I am not sure if I can see him in my capacity as the envoy. If he can visit us here, I may see him.”

“Probably he won’t come here,” she said cautiously.

He stopped caressing her hair for a moment then pulled his hand away awkwardly.

Silent for a moment, they changed the topic.

“By the way, I’m not sure if you remember this.”

“What is that?”

“When you were very young, he visited the Hwa Kingdom.”

She knew who he was when her brother used that expression ‘he’.

He was obviously Bipaan.

“You mean the Crown Prince of the Mok Kingdom visited our motherland as a child?”

“Yes. Bipaan visited several countries at the Emperor’s order as a child, and the Hwa Kingdom was one of the countries.”

“I didn’t know that at all.”

“Maybe because you were so young, you couldn’t remember him.”

“If that’s true, I think Bipaan was also young. How come such a young child could visit foreign countries? I can’t believe that.”

“Even then he was confident. He was very calm and political for a child.”

As if she tried to recall his childhood days, Mingung closed his eyes for a moment.

Watching his friendly face, with his eyes closed, she smiled. She expected she would never see his face again after she came to the Mok Kingdom, but now she was looking at his face right before her eyes, which reminded her of her happy days in the Hwa Kingdom where she was happy everyday, loved by everybody around her.

“Brother, you’re going to stay here a little longer, right?”

“My beloved Woorum!”

Instead of replying, he called her name and caressed her face.

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“In my frame of mind, I would like to stay here for many years and see you leading a happy married life, but my position as the Crown Prince of the Hwa Kingdom doesn’t allow me to stay long,” he said bitterly.

He continued, “By the way, brother Yulso also missed you a lot. Brothers Chum, Pyong, Yojin, Hasok, Chang and Yemyong also wanted to come here as an envoy. Do you know how many games we played to be chosen as the final winner and get the chance to come here as the envoy? Our youngest brother Yemyong insisted on riding a horse he couldn’t mount. In the end, he got on a horse while crying and participated in the game.”

“Are you sure even Yemyong took part in the game? That little boy?”

“Yeah, it’s true. He just missed you so much.”

Although she almost burst into laughter, she was choked on her tears.

As her brothers got along very well with her, they missed her so much.

“So, I beat them all and came here, but it was too tough for me to overcome the top officials’ objection to my request for me to stay here a little longer. They insisted that I come back after just one day. When I go back I will have to deal with lots of petitions. My beloved Woorum! I can stay here with you for only one day.”

After all, she couldn’t help but cry. Her joy of meeting her brother after such a long time turned into sadness when she realized that she could only spent a day with him.

“When can I see you again if you go back now? Are you going to come back as an envoy next year? It’s going to be more difficult for you. And then I may not see you again forever? If you succeed the throne and become the new king of the Hwa Kingdom, I might be able to see you again.”