Chapter 57 - The Old Man [2]

"What's with the commotion at here?"

The loud voice brought Moon Jiwoo out of the trance, and blinking her eyes multiple times, she stood up straight. She realized what she was about to do, and her eyes widened at that. Apparently, she was tempted by the blood of that snake.

Being slightly frightened by that, she turned her head back and saw that the fortune teller from yesterday was standing before her. While a frigid expression sat on his face, he sternly stated at the two of them.

"Oh! You are the Old Man! Finding your house was such a hassle!" she commented.

Looking at Oh Sookyung, the Old Man bowed and respectfully voiced out, "Your Highness, I apologize if it was an inconvenience to come at here, but I am required to stay at this place for a reason."

"It was not that big of a problem, so you don't need to do bow, uhm," Sookyung vocalised, not knowing how to address the man before him.

"Call me Min Hyungwon, Your Highness," he spoke out, "I have been serving the Min family for years, and now, I am tasked with the honorable job of guiding you two. I can't be more thankful for this opportunity."

"Hyungwon-ssi, you don't need to be this formal with us. I am really grateful for your help. I was really lost after finding out about everything, but fortunately, you are there to guide us," Sookyung spoke out, flashing the Old Man an innocent and bright smile.

Looking at that expression on Sookyung's face caused her to let out a scoff— for she was aware that it was fake— and she mumbled, "I wonder how much thankful you truly are, You Thief."

The Old Man shot a glare at Jiwoo's direction after those words left her mouth before saying, "Using such words against the Prince is disrespectful. You should be taught manners as well."

Raising her head, Jiwoo curved her lips to form a smirk and questioned, "Why?"

"Do I need to spell out the reason for you? He is clearly your Prince, and in that sense, you need to show appropriate amount of respect to him!" the Old Man expressed— his voice showing anger.

"Unlike you, I am not going to blindly show everyone who is supposed to be influential respect. Only when he proves to be worthy of it will I show it. At this moment, he is a scrawny boy who is an utter coward," she vocalised, "There is no attribute of him that deserves my respect."

"How dare you use that tone!" He exclaimed, "He is clearly goin g to be the King, and you dare use such words for him! You need to be really disciplined! You ill-mannered brat!"

"How are you so sure he is going to be the King? What if he is dead? What if I kill him before he is going to be the king? Then, what can you do? That's why, don't try to challenge me. My only part of the job is to protect him, not be his loyal citizen. Remember that, Old Man," Jiwoo vocalised— staring at the man before her sternly.

Moon Jiwoo was not the one to easily bow down get head, and there was no way she was going to fawn over Sookyung. Currently, it was him who needed her help— not her needing his help— and therefore, it should be the other way around.

Before Hyungwon was able to let out his anger filled words at Jiwoo, Sookyung defended her by saying, "Hyungwon-ssi, I have no problems with how she currently is, so let it be. I will make sure to earn her respect."

"But, Your Highness—"

"And just call me 'Sookyung'. The 'Your Highness' thing feels weird to me. I hope you can understand," Sookyung spoke out.

"Yes, Sookyung. Now, follow after me. There will be more beasts appearing. Let's get out of here fast," Hyungwon voiced out before turning his back on them and beginning to walk.

Oh Sookyung moved towards Jiwoo, and placing his hand over her shoulders, he stated, "I saved you this time around."

As she started moving forward, she replied, "Yes, I admit that you have helped me from his nagging this time around, but we are not even until now. I might consider it being even if you protect me from that Old Man's nagging the entire time around or else I will really end up beating him up."

"Why should I be doing that? I derive pŀėȧsurė from seeing you being scolded by him, and I don't want to let go of that," he vocalised.

"If you don't then, You Thief, I will really end up beating you up," she spoke out, "Those words of mine are not empty words. Remember that."

As if he had heard those words of hers, Hyungwon turned back and shot Jiwoo a warning glance. She returned that will a roll of her eyes before glaring at Sookyung.

"Fix those loyal subjects of yours. They are as annoying as you are, and if this ends up affecting my mood, your life will be in danger as well," she stated before moving his hand from her shoulder.

°°°

After ten minutes of walk, the three of them stood before a decrepit mansion, and with a judgemental expression, Moon Jiwoo stared at the mansion before her, pursing her lips into a thin line.

"Ah! So, this is where you stay, Old Man," she started out, "No wonder you are so cranky. I would be in a horrible mood after staying at such a place as well."

Once again, ignoring her words, Hyungwon turned to look at Sookyung and stated, "Your Highness, this is currently where I am residing at, and you will be at the future as well. I apologise for the house's current state, but it is a really good cover. However, the insides would not be disappointing you, Your Highness. I ȧssure you that."

"How good the insides can be?" Moon Jiwoo mumbled before taking a step closer to the door.

Noticing that the door was not locked, she turned the knob of the door and pushed it open. Her eyes widened at the interior of the grand mansion in front of her.

"Wow! This is incredible!" she exclaimed.

Although the mansion was completely empty and eerily silent, it was huge from the inside and appeared quite antique. Even the Moon Mansion in her previous life was incomparable to this.

Without wasting a second further, she stepped into the mansion and began to scan everything with her eyes filled with wonder. Staying at a grand mansion was something she was very much fond of.

"Hey, You Ill-mannered Brat! You should have at least waited for the Prince to enter in," the Old Man voiced out.

Looking at the Old Man, she spoke out, "Oops! You should have mentioned about this to her further, and if the so-called Prince doesn't mind it, why do you care about it so much? You are really annoying!"

"Just ignore her, Hyungwon-ssi. I will apologise in her stead for everything—"

"Hold on! Why will you apologize in my place when I haven't done anything? I am new to this, and that's why, it's expected for me to know nothing. The Old Man is being too irritating. 

If you keep this up, I am backing away from it. You are in my favour now, and if you think that you will be able to keep this Prince of yours safe without my help, then go ahead," she vocalised, folding her arms across her ċhėst.

Realizing that she completely meant those words of her from her gaze, Hyungwon could only give up and said, "Fine, keep up with that attitude of yours, but you will be punished if you do something offending."

"See, I won at the end, Old Man. You should not have tried to fight against me in the first place. Now, serve me some food. I am starved after the tiresome walk at here," she voiced out.

"The food will be served to you in a while, and refrain from calling me an Old Man. I have a name," Hyungwon stated sternly.

"Omo! You do? I am afraid I am not aware of that name of yours. You should have introduced yourself to me earlier if you wanted me to call you your name," she said.

Min Hyungwon was clearly cognizant of how Jiwoo knew about his name, and this was her clearly mocking him. Nevertheless, he did not let his temper take him over, aware that this will only be ruining everything.

"I am Min Hyungwon, Shin Daerin," he replied, "Do remember that name, and do not address me by Old Man."

"I will try to keep that in mind, Hyungwon. But the thing is that I forget really fast, and at times, when I forget other people's name, I use words that describe them to call them. I am sure you will be having no problem with that. You are not that petty, right?" she raised one of her eyebrows.