Chapter 36

As Prince Binsung was used to seeing women with fair skin and black eyes and hair, he was instantly attracted to this exotic princess. He implored his mother, the second wife of the Emperor, Concubine Jeyong, to allow him to marry her. Finally, he got married to this woman from the kingdom of Jinsung.

This woman was none other than Princess Heyjin. Lying on the bed, she, who was big with child, raised herself gently.

“Long live the Crown Princess! I’m honored to see you. Please forgive me for not bowing to you as I feel uncomfortable with pregnancy.”

“No, no, that’s fine.”

Kyosul looked at her blankly for a moment as she was surprised at Heyjin’s exotic face. Then, she approached Heyjin with a smile.

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“I’m sorry I’ve come here so late as I heard about your pregnancy belatedly.”

“How can I be upset you? I am just grateful for coming here.”

Heyjin showed courtesy to her by bowing.

Looking at her big belly, Kyosul cautiously asked, “Can I touch it?”

Heyjin looked at her quietly on hearing that. Embarrassed by her gaze, Kyosul just sat face to face with her, at a loss what to do. Heyjin’s eyes were so blue. Her rather dark pupils seemed to contract at the moment.

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Looking at Kyosul for a minute, she nodded. Then Kyosul grinned and put her hand on her swollen belly cautiously.

She exclaimed before she knew.

“Wow! Your baby is growing inside here, right? How wonderful!”

“I’m sure you’re going to get pregnant some day.”

Her beautiful voice echoed into Kyosul’s ears. Looking at Heyjin with a surprised expression, Kyosul seemed a bit sad but laughed it off by saying, “Can I? I’m afraid I can’t.”

Though Kyosul took pains to hide her feelings, she had a sad smile.

“No, I can reassure you that you can get pregnant,” Heyjin said resolutely.

At that moment, Kyosul was so embarrassed that she changed the topic.

“By the way, I’m surprised to know you’re speaking the language of the Mok Kingdom very well.”

“My country, Jinsungkuk, doesn’t have a language of its own, so it borrowed the letters from the Mok Kingdom. Though we had our own language in Jinsungguk, the intelligent and high-ranking people intentionally used the Mok language for an air of conceit.”

“Oh, Jinsungkuk.”

Kyosul quietly rolled her eyes at her confession that she was from Jinsungkuk and opened her mouth as if something came to her mind.

“Well, my mother liked the ornaments and accessories made in Jinsungkuk. Beautiful ornaments studded with gems of beautiful colors. In particular, my mother used to put on a necklace made there all the time.”

Holding her hand, Kyousl talked excitedly. Come to think of it, Heyjin was wearing a necklace similar to the one that her mother Queen Yo wore. While Kyosul was excited about talking about it, Heyjin maintained a confused expression all along.

Looking around her room, Kyosul carefully looked inside her room as if she felt something strange. At a glance, it was similar to Kyosul’s in the room design with a desk, a cushioned mat, a cornet cabinet, and a large bookshelf. Of course, Kyosul’s room was much larger.

But when Kyosul took a closer look, all the precious things for the study on the desk as well as all the ornaments on the corner cabinet and the bookshelf were not made in the Mok Kingdom.

“Wow! Have you brought all this stuff from your motherland?”

“Yes.”

“Beautiful. Just marvelous!”

In no time, she came closer to the ornaments and looked around them when she noticed a strange and large sculpture shaped like a horse with a long neck right next to the bookshelf.

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“What is this?”

She couldn’t see it from the bedside, but Heyjin answered, knowing already what she asked.

“That’s an animal called Kusobo in Jinsungkuk. It’s regarded as a sacred animal there.”

“I’ve never seen it before. Can I look at it in detail?”

Turning around, she asked, and Heyjin nodded.

Lowering her body, Kyosul carefully examined the animal sculpture.

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Overall, it was shaped like a horse, but it had a deer’s horns and large ears on both sides. Its eyes were large and its long face was sharp at its end, with two sharp teeth sticking out.

Stroking its back, Kyosul felt the feel of the gift box she put in her bosom and came back to Heyjin.

“It really looks like a mysterious animal. I would like to see the animal in person,” Kyosul said, as she couldn’t take her eyes off the animal sculpture.

“Prince Binsung really likes the sculptures of Jinsungkuk very much.”

When Kyosul mentioned her husband, Heyjin blushed. At first Kyosul could not figure out how to understand her mysterious expression, but when she blushed thinking of Prince Jinsung, Kyosul felt relaxed. Looking at her stroking her big belly, she offered the wedding gift wrapped in silk to Heyjin.

“This is my gift to celebrate your pregnancy. This can be obtained only in my motherland, the Hwa Kingdom.”

Heyjin bowed to her, expressing thanks. When she unwrapped the silk cover, there was a little box inlaid with mother-of-pearl. When she opened it, she found a pair of little shoes embroidered with all kinds of colors. At the end of the cloth shoes soft fur was attached.

“This box is my gift to you, the little shoes for your baby. They are the traditional handiwork of the Hwa Kingdom.”

“Thanks so much, Your Highness. I’m so happy to receive this precious gift from you.”

While looking at her, Heyjin lowered her head and put her hand on Kyosul’s forehead.

Embarrassed by her sudden act, Kyosul couldn’t avoid her hand.

“As you gave me this gift, I would like to repay your favor.”

After she spoke in a clear and bright voice, Heyjin murmured in the language of Jinsung Kingdom. After she finished murmuring, she pulled her face toward her gently and kissed her forehead.

“I wish you all the luck in the days ahead.”

Having said that, she took her hand off Kyosul’s forehead. Kyosul, who was sitting blankly for a minute, smiled and expressed gratitude to her.

After that, Kyosul chatted with her a little more but left her room because the latter might feel tired. Accompanied by court ladies and her nanny, Kyosul was about to leave the North Palace when she saw a guy approaching her from a distance. She began to go closer to him, thinking he must be Prince Jinsung, but she stopped when she noticed his face as if she got cold feet.

When she was about to turn with a heavy heart, he apparently found her out and quickly came to her. Her face turned white.

“Your Highness Crown Princess Kyosul!”

He was none other than Ruhae!

Actually, she tried to erase his image from her mind by not seeing him or conjuring up his face. He was a presence to her that she should not get close to. She felt so broken-hearted as she had to live with her heartless husband.

As she was so loved in her motherland while she lived there, she was resigned to the thinking that she would no longer be loved during her life. She was resigned to the reality where she had to live alone while taking pains to forget him by all means.

She vowed that she would never go to the South Palace where Prince Ruhae was located. It was obvious that she could not reject his voice when he saw her at a distance and called her.

Then, she bumped into him in a totally unexpected place. She had no other choice but to see him face to face.

As if he were about to collapse any moment, he approached her fast with faltering steps. A warm summer breeze blew over them.

“Your Highness Crown Princess Kyosul!”

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He was calling her from a distance.

Kyosul wanted to see but tried not to see his face. She missed his face. The moment she heard his voice, she felt some heart-broken feelings surging from deep inside. She thought it was okay to meet a friend like him. She thought it would be okay to just casually meet him, chat with him and spend time with him in the boring palace as if nothing had happened between them.

Ruhae was approaching him and said in an excited voice, “You’re the Crown Princess, as I expected!”

Her nanny, along with the court ladies, disappeared. Sensing the atmosphere, she was tactful enough to have them meet privately on the untrodden road in the North Palace.

Meeting him for the first time in a long time, she found him pretty skinny and haggard, with a pale face.

But his two eyes were glittering sharply. After watching her briefly, he kneeled down to greet her.

“Long live the Crown Princess! I’m honored to see you here.”

While raising himself, he staggered a bit as he was too excited and happy. He even felt dizzy momentarily as he bumped into her at an unexpected place.

“Yuuljin!”

Calling his name, she held his hand with astonishment when he seemed to fall, but she quickly stepped back after she realized what she said to him.