Chapter 62
The Crown Prince’s laughter hardly ceased.
I couldn’t hide my slight annoyance and gently poked Hyurok’s side. I had forgotten to ask him first before refusing.
“Do you want to become the Crown Prince?”
“No.”
Hyurok denied it outright.
“Even now, the time I spend with you is too little. If you became a Crown Prince overwhelmed by work…”
Whatever he imagined, my fiancé’s expression instantly turned gloomy.
It happened to be the time when the sunset was soft and glowing, and in that early evening light, he looked unbearably forlorn.
“Our time together would become so short. What meaning would such a life even have?”
Hyurok’s silver hair flowed over my shoulder.
I hugged him closely, seeing him curled up as if clinging to me. At that moment, the Crown Prince’s laughter abruptly stopped.
“Don’t you think I should reconsider the fact that I’m the spitting image of my father?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Don’t be fooled, fiancée. Right now, my brother is just putting on an act.”
The Crown Prince’s tattling made me laugh, and I combed Hyurok’s hair with my hands.
Observing my calm demeanor, the Crown Prince squinted his eyes.
“So you accepted him even knowing it’s an act?”
“Isn’t it cute?”
How adorable he looked, pretending to be weak despite his large frame.
The Crown Prince’s face twisted like someone chewing on something bitter.
“You must feel lucky to have found your destined partner.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Ha, brother, just keep your mouth shut.”
Returning to the main topic.
The Crown Prince said he wasn’t inclined to relinquish his position lightly, but in case of an accident, he requested that I take care of things afterward.
“I hope Your Highness has prepared well so that nothing of the sort happens.”
“Haha! That’s part of why I’m telling you. If my fiancée weren’t Hyurok, I’d have kept this a secret.”
“Are you afraid I might covet the Crown Prince?”
“It’s natural. One desires what is better and wants to wield it.”
“Not everyone thinks that way.”
“If I may give you one piece of advice, fiancée.”
The man who would rule this country smiled calmly.
“Such sages only exist among the common people, not in the royal palace.”
His tone was decisively firm.
“By the way, was there anyone at the banquet who seemed suspicious?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Of course, I thought it might help with state affairs.”
My mouth fell open.
The first person to immediately try to use me the moment they realized I was Hyurok was the Crown Prince.
“That’s what family is for. Helping each other, isn’t it?”
Audacious!
“I’m not trying to exploit you for free. There’s compensation. Just hint at it, and we’ll take care of the investigation.”
He ultimately received a list from me of a few people who gave off a foul aura.
“There’s something else you should know, fiancée.”
“As long as it’s not related to the throne, anything is fine now.”
“Really interesting. Brother, where did you find such a match?”
“Destiny brought us together.”
“I hope that destiny comes for me too. Maybe it hasn’t been born yet—or shows no sign.”
The Crown Prince, slightly sulking about not having a partner, was about to tell me a secret concerning the royal family.
He said it was something our generation didn’t know—an incident from the previous generation. Knowing this secret would explain why the current royal family and state affairs ended up this way.
“Ugh, do I really have to hear this?”
“Only a few years remain until the formal marriage between the two of you. And human affairs are unpredictable.”
“You said you don’t intend to step down from your position, right?”
“Still, we must prepare in advance for the possibility that brother might have to act in my stead.”
He explained that assuming the worst-case scenario and preparing accordingly was the duty of a ruler.
“Alright then.”
The Crown Prince, who had been lounging, stood up.
He stood in the center of the hall as if strolling leisurely, lightly stamping his foot.
Thud.
As if by magic, the floor split open, revealing stairs leading underground.
“Shall we move to another location?”
It was a secret passage.
When I looked at Hyurok, he seemed aware of the passage as well. I tilted my head at his deepening gaze.
“You really plan to tell Hyeon everything?”
“Of course.”
Hyurok suddenly spoke, and the Crown Prince smiled wryly.
“He will become family. You should tell him everything, right?”
“……”
Hyurok intertwined his fingers with mine. It looked like he was holding onto me, but in reality, it was the opposite.
It was his habit to lean on me when he felt uneasy.
“It’s fine.”
“But—”
“Hyurok knows I’m strong.”
“From here, you’ll have to hear some heavier truths.”
His voice sank low, almost like a whisper.
But I was truly fine. No truth could shock me more than remembering my past life.
“Let’s go.”
Sensing the night would pass if we delayed, I grabbed Hyurok’s hand and led him. He followed obediently.
Seeing that, the Crown Prince laughed again. Strangely, he had as much laughter as Baeksan did.
“Fiancée.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why the dragons overthrew the former royal family and established a new dynasty?”
I tilted my head at the sudden question, then answered.
“History books only say that the revolution occurred because people couldn’t endure the corruption of the old royal family.”
“Half the truth.”
“What’s the other half?”
“It erupted from the long-standing conflict with the previous royal family.”
Hyurok answered my question. He had stayed silent the entire time with the Crown Prince, then sighed and spoke.
“Dragons were always few but powerful. Long-lived and virtuous, they were highly respected. The old royal family resented this.”
The Baek and Ho families also wielded influence like royalty, but the Cheong family wielded power rivaling even the royal family in the capital.
And dragons could fly.
The ruling new races used to justify discriminating against others because only they had wings that could fly—but dragons directly disproved this claim.
Naturally, they were a thorn in the side.
Yet dragons tried to maintain harmony with the Phoenix Tribe. Their nature was to endure and achieve balance.
But the previous royal family’s persecution of dragons grew harsher by the day. When the leaders of the Cheong family protested,
The Phoenix Tribe killed the couple.
“The heads of the Cheong family?”
“My grandparents—His Majesty’s parents.”
Thus, their daughter and the Cheong family heir—
“The deaths of my grandmother and grandfather became the catalyst for war for Gyuheon and me.”
Cheong Heun-rin took up the sword of revenge and danced with it—the revolution began.
