Exhausted by the relentless ambushes, we moved along in heavy silence.
Just how many times had we been attacked in the span of a few hours?
My brother fought like a one-man army to subdue them every single time, but against such a dogged chase, even the strongest would eventually wear down.
To make matters worse, even innocent Han Heesung got hurt because of this.
I had called this young kid knowing full well it was dangerous. I was drowning in profound regret.
I kept pressing a handkerchief against Heesung’s cheek to wipe away the blood and stanch the flow.
Fortunately, the blade hadn’t pierced deeply; it was merely a graze, so it didn’t look like it would leave a major scar.
While waiting for the captive—whose arms and legs were securely bound—to wake up, Brother Hanbin also kept a close eye on Heesung, clearly bothered by the injury.
Yet, for some reason, the boy just stared back at me with a carefree, dimpled smile.
“Heesung. How can you even smile right now? I’m so incredibly sorry. I’m such an absolute fool. What possessed me to drag you into a place this dangerous? I was so desperate to save my own skin that I called you without even thinking.”
I meant every word. It broke my heart that I had exposed this kid to such violence just to save myself.
At my earnest apology, Heesung practically jumped in his seat and shook his head vigorously.
“What do you mean by that, Your Highness? I came because I wanted to! I was actually thrilled. You contacted me in a moment of absolute urgency. That means you thought of me when you were in danger. That alone makes me happy. This scratch is really nothing.”
“It hasn’t been that long since you recovered from the cuts you got from the window glass. Exactly how many scars are you planning to put on your face?”
“But this isn’t anyone else’s fault. It happened entirely because of my own choice. It truly doesn’t matter, as long as it was of some help to Your Highness.”
Watching Heesung smile so innocently, I found myself instinctively patting his head. He was so gentle and kind by nature.
I truly hoped a day would come when I could repay this child for his help.
My brother searched the hostage’s body once more to ensure there were no hidden weapons or anything unusual.
Though nothing notable turned up, he didn’t lower his guard for a second.
As we traveled through the thick layer of tension, Dad, who had been speaking to someone on the phone, turned to address us.
“Haejoo. Listen carefully and make a choice. Right now, I have a ship docked in Busan. It’s a cruise liner that departs from Busan and heads to Japan. What do you think about boarding it to lay low for a while?”
“…Are you suggesting we move by sea?” my brother’s heavy voice drifted from the front.
“It’s currently the best way to evade them. We’d be leaving Korean soil for a brief period. Everyone rushed out in such a hurry that no one has identification cards, passports, or anything, so wouldn’t it be incredibly difficult to go anywhere else? No matter how much I think about it, my ship is the safest option. Afterward, we can negotiate or meet the Emperor. We might be fugitives, but a waterway will give us more breathing room than the mainland.”
“Dad! If we do that, then even you…”
“I’m fine. As long as I can keep you kids safe.”
“What about Seojoo? What about Seojoo’s family…?”
“It’s fine, Brother,” Seojoo interjected casually. “I live alone anyway. I can just hide out for now and call them later.”
Seojoo brushed it off as if it were no big deal, but it wasn’t that simple.
I worried that Joo Minhyuk might put pressure on Seojoo’s family.
The same concern applied to Hyunwook.
Still, Dad’s reasoning made sense.
Now that Joo Minhyuk was aware, we couldn’t keep traveling by car indefinitely.
One way or another, a decision had to be made.
Just then, Heesung’s voice piped up from the side, filled with utter bewilderment.
“…Dad? Brother?”
Heesung was staring at my dad with a completely blank expression. In that instant, it hit me— ‘ah, right.’
Hyunwook, who had been conversing with Seojoo, and my brother both clamped their mouths shut in embarrassment. How on earth were we supposed to explain these titles to him?
“Heesung, about those titles…”
Unable to hide his awkwardness, my brother subtly called out to Heesung to shift the topic.
“More importantly, young Master Heesung. If we head to Busan, your journey back home will become much longer. I’ll make sure to fully repay you later for what happened to your face. I’m truly sorry for causing that wound, and I will never forget the grace you showed by helping us like this. Therefore, we will drop you off at home first. The moment it gets bright, go straight to a hospital and get treated. And Hyunwook, let’s think carefully about your situation too.”
“I don’t want to! I’m going with Your Highness too!”
“What is there to think about? I’m going too!”
Han Heesung and Hyunwook’s stubborn voices rang out at the exact same time.
Ah, my head is spinning.
Heesung is one thing, but Hyunwook is the real issue.
Hyunwook was already deeply entangled in our mess, and it felt like it would be unsafe to leave him behind alone.
While I was agonizing over what to do with them, the unconscious man’s body suddenly twitched.
“Woke up sooner than I thought, didn’t you?”
The dazed eyes of the man, who hadn’t fully regained his senses, instantly filled with terror.
I could see him racking his brain, completely bound as he was.
But my brother didn’t tolerate even the slightest movement.
“It’s useless to try and roll a brain the size of a pebble, so just answer what you’re asked. Tell us exactly what happened and who ordered this.”
Pressing his gun against the man’s head, my brother questioned him with a consistently merciless expression.
However, just as expected, there was absolutely no sign that the man intended to answer.
“That is the only way you will walk away from this alive. I will only say this one more time. I do not keep hostages alive if they have no information to offer. It’s safer to kill you and leave you behind. Or, I can resort to other methods. And… what kind of things do you think someone like me did when deployed overseas? What I’m best at is extracting confessions.”
My brother pressured the target in a flat, bone-chilling tone.
Whether his words were true or false, they were more than enough to make anyone break out in a cold sweat.
Truly, he hadn’t become the youngest brigadier general for noth—
“Wow, he’s seriously so cool…”
Huh?
Suddenly, a bewildering remark that completely clashed with the gravity of the situation echoed from beside me.
Heesung was staring at my brother, showering him with a barrage of marveling exclamations while his eyes shone with a bizarre light.
Uh, what is wrong with him now?
My neck stiffened as I turned to look at Heesung, before snapping my gaze back to my brother’s murderous tone.
“I’ve been noticing it this whole time, but the way you guys approach us is strangely clumsy, and your movements are incredibly unrefined. It’s obvious your objective is to drain our stamina, not to kill us. If you truly wanted us dead, you would have opened fire with guns from the very start instead of lunging with blades and fists. Am I right? Your goal isn’t assassination. Well?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Is the person who gave the order the Prime Minister? Did the Prime Minister and his eldest son orchestrate this?”
My brother’s voice was laced with absolute certainty.
It seemed he firmly believed that my grandfather and oldest uncle’s faction would never let us go this quietly.
And I, too, believed the exact same thing.
However, the reaction that came from the hostage completely subverted our expectations.
Biting his lip tightly as he listened to our conversation, the man closed his eyes and shook his head.
Huh? It wasn’t them?
“…It’s not? Then don’t tell me—is the one who gave the order His Majesty?”
“Yes. We moved under the strict orders of His Majesty.”
“What?”
…Is it true? It’s really Joo Minhyuk?
Truly?
I was so profoundly shocked that I slightly lifted my upper body.
I had guessed that the mastermind behind this had to be either Joo Minhyuk or my grandfather’s faction.
Even though I had considered the possibility, hearing the Emperor mentioned directly from that mouth was nothing short of a devastating shock.
In my heart, I had taken it for granted that it was the Prime Minister.
I believed that because they were traitrous bastards who had aligned themselves with the Imperial Family, they wouldn’t care about blood ties.
I believed it could absolutely never be Joo Minhyuk.
I wanted to believe that.
But then why—why on earth did Joo Minhyuk send men after me when I was staying quietly inside the palace?
“The initial plan was to secretly relocate Your Highness to another place without anyone finding out. But because you suddenly fled, the plan fell apart, leaving us with no choice but to pursue you like this.”
“Why? I don’t understand the reason. Why would His Majesty try to send Your Highness somewhere else?”
Despite the shocking revelation, my brother didn’t blink an eye as he continued to grill him.
“I don’t know the exact details either. I only heard it was because Your Highness stubbornly insisted on pushing through with the divorce and leaving the palace, and since the imprisoned Prime Minister keeps bringing up Your Highness, you have become His Majesty’s weakness. He said he couldn’t just let you go free. Fearing it would hold His Majesty back later on, we were told to apprehend you first and confine you in another location….”
‘Because I could become His Majesty’s weakness, apprehend and confine me.…’
Siyoon was right.
It turned out there hadn’t been a single lie in his words after all.
Keeping a sharp eye on the captive’s face, my brother turned around to look at me.
eeing his expression instantly crumple, I could easily surmise exactly what kind of wretched state my face was in right now.
I had been betrayed by Joo Minhyuk yet again.
No, no.
I can’t believe it.
It might have been a short time, but Joo Minhyuk had genuinely cherished me.
Could it all have been an illusion?
He was a man who didn’t stop at merely deceiving me; he was someone who had stood by and watched me get beaten to the brink of death just to secure definitive evidence of treason.
There was absolutely no rule saying a man like that wouldn’t commit such an act a second time.
“When did you receive the directive?”
“It has been a few days since we received orders to stand by, stating that a notification had come from the palace. And the final command to move came yesterday….”
“Still, your movements were far too unpolished to be His Majesty’s Imperial Guard. Are you even certain you belong to the guard? If so, who was the person who contacted you from inside the palace?”
“It’s true that I am a discharged soldier, but I don’t know about the others. I don’t know who the informant is either, other than the fact that they are someone close to His Majesty embedded within the Imperial Palace….”
As if entirely giving up, the man submissively spilled all the information he possessed.
“I think it’s Siyoon.”
At my lifeless answer, my brother snapped his head back toward the man.
Catching sight of my brother’s terrifying expression, the captive panicked and threw up his words in a frantic rush.
“I have told you everything I know! We were told that if the resistance was severe, we should subdue him just enough to keep him from moving—without causing severe injuries—and bring him to the location. It is an order directly handed down by His Majesty himself! Since it’s something that will all come to light once an investigation is launched anyway, I wouldn’t lie about a thing like that!”
Without a word, my brother struck the man’s neck, knocking him back into unconsciousness.
Staring at the slumped figure, Hyunwook muttered under his breath.
“Can we truly trust that guy’s words? He might have been trained to say exactly that.”
“We can’t know for certain based on this alone, but this bastard definitely lunged straight at Haejoo without a shred of hesitation. Seeing that made me realize he wasn’t just some small fry.”
As expected of a soldier, my brother had parsed even those details.
He had been calculating the man’s behavioral patterns.
Seeing that my brother’s expression remained entirely ambiguous, it was clear that just like Hyunwook said, he didn’t fully buy the story and harbored some suspicions.
But I could neither see nor hear any of those things anymore.
Just as the man said, there was no need to fabricate a story that would easily be exposed the moment an investigation took place.
After being deceived like that before, why did I go and trust Joo Minhyuk yet again?
Cha Haejoo. You absolute idiot.
If a person fooled you once, why wouldn’t they do it a second time?
This man’s testimony aligned perfectly with what Siyoon had said.
It seemed he had intended to deceive me all over again.
