Chapter : 07
The Switched Wedding (2)
The man had a splendid appearance Jo-young had never seen before.
His jawline was smooth, as if carved, and his moderately tanned skin with just the right firmness looked masculine. Yet his sharp nose bridge and eyes were beautiful, immediately catching one’s gaze. His clear, luminous eyes stared straight at her, and it felt as though that gaze reached all the way to her heart.
What is this?
It was the most powerful first impression she had ever felt from looking at another person.
“Were you very startled?”
“!”
Jo-young, who had been staring at him blankly, came to her senses at his question.
“Ah! I, um…”
“I arrived late. I should have come sooner—are you hurt anywhere?”
He was worried about her.
Jo-young could not understand the situation at all.
Does he know me?
She looked around. As far as her eyes could see, she was the only living person there.
Yeonho watched the woman looking around with a slight frown.
Is she so shocked that she’s out of her mind? For someone who’s a princess of a nation, she’s terribly fragile.
No matter how sheltered a princess might be, seeing people die like this would naturally terrify her. Especially when her own life had been in danger—of course she would be frightened.
Still, wasn’t a princess supposed to show composure and resolve in any situation, especially when her life was threatened? On top of that, the woman who was to become a general’s wife was so timid and weak that Yeonho was already disappointed in the princess.
Love at first sight? That would have been better, at least.
The thought of having to abase himself to gain the favor of a woman he did not particularly like gave him a headache.
“Your Highness, Princess?”
Yeonho called her again when she only rolled her eyes in response to his question about her well-being. Thanks to that, Jo-young realized that he was indeed looking straight at her and calling her a princess.
“Um… I think there’s some misunderstanding. I’m not a princess.”
Yeonho stared intently at the woman looking up at him with nervous eyes. As she said she was not a princess, she swallowed hard.
Cornered, she’s resorting to something absurd.
Did she really think such a claim would work?
It was ridiculous, yet at the same time her naïve expression—clearly hoping he would believe her—was oddly endearing. He almost laughed, but Yeonho forced it into a gentle smile instead.
To Jo-young’s eyes, however, that affected smile looked like mockery.
He treats me respectfully as “Your Highness,” yet he’s laughing at me?
Jo-young began to suspect that despite his handsome looks, this man might have a despicable personality. No—was he really someone who had come to rescue the princess?
“That’s an interesting excuse.”
“Pardon? It’s not an excuse—”
“We already know that Your Highness attempted to flee.”
“What are you—! I don’t know anything about that! I really am not a princess—!”
“Your Highness.”
Yeonho emphasized the title, as if to confirm her identity.
“Today, because of your reckless actions, you nearly lost your life. If Your Highness had not fled and crossed paths with me, no one here would have died.”
“Well, please listen to me! I was on my way to get married!”
“Yes. And I know that the marriage was to be with me.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not a princess. I’m grateful that you saved me, but you’re mistaken.”
“The Crown Prince is very concerned. We can talk later; for now, I will escort you to Bisan Fortress.”
“Bisan Fortress…”
Hearing “Bisan Fortress” and “princess” together, Jo-young suddenly recalled the story that the princess was to marry the lord of Bisan Fortress. Then this man in armor must be that very lord.
Right—that’s it. But why does he think I’m the princess?
The princess’s procession had departed three days earlier than hers—what had happened that led to this? Her mind was in complete chaos. According to his words, those assailants had tried to kill her because they believed she was the princess.
So they weren’t sent by my brother after all.
And it seemed the princess had fled somewhere with her beloved.
The lord of Bisan Fortress must have been abandoned by his bride—what a blow to his pride. He wants to believe I’m the princess.
It was frightening enough to have learned secrets of the imperial family and the lord, things she was never meant to know. Worse still, she had been swept up into this storm.
“It’s not only I who would be inconvenienced if you continue this now. Today’s reckless behavior could have caused great turmoil in the court. Do you think the man you love so dearly, Jeong Jae-in, and the Jeong family would remain unharmed?”
Jo-young barely heard a word of the lord’s scolding.
This was an opportunity.
The deaths were tragic, but strictly speaking, those people had been assigned by Hajinsan to watch her. Now that they were all dead, wasn’t she free?
All she had to do was explain things properly to the lord and leave this place.
“So you are the lord of Bisan Fortress.”
As Jo-young hurriedly tried to kneel, Yeonho grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Your Highness!”
“My lord. I have heard that you are to marry the princess. However, I am not a princess.”
Her voice trembled with agitation.
“Please look at me. How could someone in this state be mistaken for a princess of a nation? You truly have it wrong.”
She spread her arms wide to prove her point.
Clang.
From between her disheveled collar, a concealed dagger fell to the ground.
“Ah!”
Jo-young froze when she saw Yeonho pick up the blade. He drew it from its small sheath. Though only palm-sized, unlike ornamental blades worn by noblewomen, it was a practical knife with a well-kept edge.
“You’re carrying something dangerous. Were you planning to kill yourself once you reached Bisan Fortress? Or to take your precious self hostage and flee?”
It was a little different. If it had been Jiman-il, he wouldn’t have blinked at a knife to his throat. She had planned to stab Jiman-il and run—or, if that failed, to kill herself.
Clack.
Yeonho tossed the dagger to the ground in front of her and then struck it with his own sword, snapping the blade.
“!”
As if nothing had happened, he continued the conversation.
“You look perfectly dressed for an escape. I almost failed to believe you were the princess.”
“No. You should trust your own discernment, my lord. It’s not a disguise. I’m just an ordinary woman.”
Her urgent, earnest words began to sound increasingly plausible to Yeonho.
Could it be true? Her eyes don’t seem to be lying.
Jo-young noticed the hesitation in the lord’s gaze.
“If you’re looking for the princess, please go elsewhere at once. As for what happened here, I’ll act as if I heard nothing. I won’t tell anyone—so please, let me go.”
“So many people have died. How do you intend to explain it if you don’t tell anyone?”
“I’ll say we encountered bandits and barely escaped with our lives.”
“And you expect me to allow rumors to spread that such vicious bandits roam within Bisan Fortress’s jurisdiction?”
“Well, that—that is…!”
“Very well. I’ll escort you to the destination you were headed for. I’ll say I wiped out the bandits. Which household were you on your way to marry into?”
“!”
Jo-young, who had been planning to flee, could not bring herself to say Jiman-il’s name.
At that moment, someone approached Yeonho.
“My lord, look at this.”
Yulbok picked up a jade token from inside the carriage and handed it to Yeonho. As Jo-young watched the auspicious glow of the jade pass into the lord’s hand, her heart sank.
A token of high status! Those characters represent Princess Shin Hye-ok.
She had never imagined the princess’s identity token would be lying in the middle of a mountain stream.
This is bad. Now that he’s seen it, he won’t believe me anymore.
Just as she feared, Yeonho wiped the blood from the jade token with his finger, frowning. Then he held it out to Jo-young and said reproachfully,
“Are you still going to deny it?”
Startled by his cold tone, Jo-young waved her hands.
“No, I—! I picked that up. It was in the water, submerged over there in the valley. It seems the princess passed through here earlier. I can show you where I found it.”
To Yeonho, the woman who had been rolling her eyes and lying nonstop was simply laughable.
How could a princess be so selfish and cowardly? And on top of that, so foolish. If she was going to lie, shouldn’t she at least fabricate a story that fit the circumstances?
“Since you were born a princess, you cannot abandon your status over personal feelings. Cast aside the heart of a woman. That would be far more realistic than trying to discard your identity. Even if you change clothes and flee pretending not to be a princess, you cannot escape the status of a princess!”
At his outburst, Yulbok shook his head and stepped back. Whether Yeonho had forgotten or ignored the Crown Prince’s instruction to gently soothe the princess’s wounded heart, Yulbok wanted to put some distance between himself and Yeonho, who was venting his temper freely.
