Chapter Twelve
On getting back to his second child's courtyard, he found out that the royal physician had arrived and was attending to her. Rushing inside, he was stopped right outside the door by the apprentice of the royal physician who was just returning from boiling some herbs to reduce fever.
"Greetings to the fourth prince, my lord I am sorry to interrupt your entry but due to certain necessary measures in order not to interrupt an already ongoing session as this can lead to an accident occurring, it will be in your best interest to not barge in when the treatment has already commenced but you can also come in once you have calmed down and are certain you won't unnecessarily do anything that will interrupt the treatment"
If he had just stopped there perhaps the fourth prince would have calmed down earlier and not be more agitated than he already was but he just had to conclude with what he said next
"Also you don't have to worry, the second princess has a young man by her side(he bows and takes his leave)
"_-_"
Almost rushing in but he was held back by his personal knight who knew what was probably going on in his head
"Yeah, what are you doing? unhand me this instant, if I don't cut off that bastard head call me incompetent (struggling to release himself)
"My lord please calm down if you go in like this you will disrupt the second Miss treatment and you will end up regretting it if anything bad happens"
(Running his right hand through his hair, he tries to calm down but anytime he remembers that a total stranger was accompanying his daughter, he felt like blowing up the entire building) pretending to be calm)"am calm, it's ok, you can let go now (the moment he was let go he attempted rushing in again only to be held back once more)
While this was ongoing, a certain someone who was rushing towards their direction had had enough so she went closer and grabbed him by his left ear. This person was none other than the wife of the fourth prince, although known for her elegance, she was also a strict mother and the only other person apart from the king himself who could get the fourth prince to control himself. Dragging him by the ear, she gave him no face at all, then again this was almost a frequently occurring situation at the Fourth Prince mansion so the personal knight of the Fourth Prince and some other inner courtyard maidservants were already used to seeing this, so like always they turned a blind eye. It's not like they had any choice, once a maidservant had attempted to sound the madam out, only to be murdered by the fourth prince for speaking rudely to his wife, then again it's no secret that the fourth prince is a slave to her ladyship.
(Exasperated)"what do you think you're doing right now?"
(Blushing from embarrassment and trying to release himself from her clutches) "ah...ah.....ah o..ok..okay am so....sorry uh have mercy "
(Releasing him)"you had better give me an explanation for why my daughter is lying in there (she says with a sad expression pointing towards her daughters' room)"
Seeing his wife looking like she was about to break down, the fourth prince panicked, he could take anything but not his wife crying or feeling bad and so he went close to her, hugged her and tries to console her while patting her back and reassuring her..
"I will get to the bottom of this,I promise. Whosoever is responsible for putting our child in this condition will pay (he said with a harsh glint in his eyes while clenching his other free hand)
This was the scene Chung-Jo met when she returned to her sister's courtyard.
Chung-Jo POV
Looking at those two I felt a dull pain in my heart, it has always been like this whenever we are both sick, priority is given to her, it's like they don't see me, I won't let this go on forever, she already has my parents love, she can't take the man I want away from me too, I don't care what method I will have to make use of but I won't allow it.
She thought looking at Yeol-wool's room with an obvious sign of anger while clenching her hands and this was the sight the fourth prince accidentally came upon while still consoling his wife. Feeling like someone was staring at her, she looked away from her sister's room only to come face to face with her father, her heart skip a beat but she immediately calmed down and walked towards their direction.
Cupping her hands together she greets "I greet father and mother, am sorry for arriving just now"
Stepping out from her husband hands, she turned towards her daughter with the intention of asking for answers only to see her looking pale, stepping closer to her child,she reached out to touch her forehead"oh no,aga-ya, you shouldn't have come if you know you were sick, how about going back to your courtyard to rest some more (she spoke looking worried for her child's health)
Looking at her mother's face, she could not come to dislike or like it. At a point in her life she was satisfied with this little attention but now she wants more. Pretending to trip out of weakness, she noticed her how mother held her like a fragile egg that would break at any time, berating herself for being stupid and not using tricks like this in the past, she held onto her mom and forced her tears down"sniff...I..ii.i am so sorry all of this happened because of me, if I had paid a little more attention to my sister none of this would have happened,(sob louder) I am so sorry, if only, if only i was the one lying down there father and mother won't be so worried like this"
Alarmed at her daughter's thought and actions(pulling her in for a hug) "what are you talking about? What sort of mother would I be if I don't worry about my child (pulling out of her hug to look at the face of her crying daughter) listen to me, no matter what anyone says I love you as much as I love your sister, never doubt that, if I can give my life up for your sister, I will do the same for you (pulls her in to give her another hug)
....
San-ho inner thought
At this point am asking myself why am I still watching this. I mean, she's clearly my daughter but why do I not feel bad for her rather I feel like am watching a show. Is it because she is just like my younger self?.
....
Suddenly he stops thinking
Move towards his wife and child and separate the both of them, (anxiously he asks facing his wife)"what do you mean by dying? Listen to me anybody can die but not you,ok?"
Thinking he's just saying things, she rolled her eyes at him and pushed him away"it's not like anybody is dying, am just making an analogy here"
Insisting he says"even if it's an analogy, you can't be the one dying (suddenly becomes sad)if you die what am I supposed to do (he shudders)
Figuring out her husband wasn't joking, she reassures him"I apologize for my statement, I meant no harm, am not dying, nobody is dying,ok;"
Smiling"I know but even if anybody is dying it's going to be me(holding her hands)ok?
Hugs her husband with a smile but says nothing....
Looking at her parents, she swore to have a relationship like theirs.
While they were having their family moment, the light general appeared with his teammates and asked for an audience with the fourth prince.
"I greet the fourth prince of the dragons, may the light guard your path(turning to the lady of the house) I greet the first light of Tamra)"
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He called her the first light because she is a very powerful fairy with a strong healing ability, be it the land itself or a person she is able to bring them back to their full health and she is also in charge of the fairies
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Bless you they replied together
"I request an audience with the fourth prince"
Looks back at his daughter's room with a reluctant expression but seeing how his wife was here and there was also the fact that this was the King's special knight, he decided to go along with them"sure let's head over to my office"
They bowed and moved aside in an orderly manner for him to lead the way. On reaching the office, the fourth prince step inside with his personal knight and the light general army went in with his assistant while the others stayed behind.
________________A SOLEMN ATMOSPHERE_________
After sitting down "have a seat"
(Cupping their hands together)"Hai"
"So what seems to be the problem?"
"Your highness, I am aware that it was your suggestion to the king that brought us out of hiding to figure out the happenings that made the surrounding reek with a murderous aura"
"Hmmm, I had indeed given such a suggestion to the king, so?"
"Pardon me your highness but I will like to invite the first Miss and the gentlemen who arrived with us for an indent investigation, as they are the only ones aware of what happened. As much as I would like to invite the second Miss, am aware that that would be impossible at the moment"
"I see (stroking his slightly grown beards), you and the light armies can go ahead first, I will inform the butler to go with you and inform the king of the happenings surrounding my household which led to your late return and he will also inform the king that as early as the first cock crow, I will be in the palace with the people involved"
Rising to their feet and cupping their hands"alright we'll go ahead first"
On leaving the fourth prince office, the general suddenly remembered something, so he motioned to his assistant asking him to go ahead first saying he would like a private audience with the fourth prince.
Turning back to the fourth prince office, he knocked and announced his presence, on getting permission to come in, he noticed that the fourth prince was no longer alone but rather he was with a shadow guard, so he had to stand aside until the fourth prince was done and until given permission to step forward.
After ordering his shadow guard to pass a message to the butler, he turned to the general "is something the matter"
"Pardon my intrusion but I'll like to have a conversation with you concerning the young man at your daughter's side"
Sitting more uprightly, he motioned for him to take a seat"go on, spill, what is wrong with him"
"As much as I want to say this with certainty, I myself am uncertain about the whole situation"
Putting on a more serious look"what exactly are you trying to say?"
"My lord, the young man bears the resemblance of an elf but there is a hint of demonic aura in him"
(Slamming his hands on the office desk)"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT A DEMON IS CURRENTLY WITH MY CHILD?"
(Standing to his feet and cupping his hands) "forgive my abrupt words but I did not say anything because I myself am still not sure if the entire situation"
With a murderous glint in his eyes while clenching his fist, he calls the light army general by his name "Kim San Wol, I will ask again and I want a certain answer this time, is the young man in my daughter's room really a demon, on let me rephrase my question, is the man MY DAUGHTER is clinging to an offspring of a demon"
Feeling the pressure from the fourth prince aimed at him, he knelt down and bowed to the fourth prince, only this time he didn't refer to him as the fourth prince but Master.
"Master, the young man looks like and behave like an elven, the only reason I dared to say he had the aura of a demon was because I had smelled a demonic presence in him, then again it could be a misunderstanding since according to the first young Miss, they had battled the demonic possessed beast, I intend to bring him with me inorder to carry out a thorough investigation on him"
Slightly calming down, he motioned for him to stand up"I see, as much as I hate this, I cannot let you take him now,as you can see, the fact that he saved my daughter's life is irrefutable but I will grant you permission to go out and investigate, in a week's time I hope to receive a valid report, you can leave"
General POV
After the conversation with the fourth prince, I and my assistant left only for me to remember that I had failed to warn the prince about the suspicious young man. Returning back to the fourth prince office, I laid my suspicion to him, only for it to fire back at me(sighs). Then again it is no secret to anybody in the whole island that the fourth prince pampered his second daughter not like I blame him tho, the little one is quite small and seeing her so ill, it shows how quite delicate she is. I remember back then when we were being trained as children if there was anyone that scared the hell out of me apart from the personal knight of the king who was also one of our trainers then, is the fourth prince. The fourth prince might portray a feeling of kindness but he is also an individual recognized for his strictness. I'm just glad I didn't get to be punished (shakes his head).
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Son-Wook POV
I don't get it, her hair color is already back to normal but why is she yet to wake up?. Could it be she has fallen into a deep sleep because of how long she has been out of water (rubbing his temples tiredly) I should go see if the royal physician is done with the lady, then I'll invite him over to take a look at her.
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On getting to the second Miss courtyard, a little bit closer and he heard the royal physician telling the people he was yet to see that he had given it his all but the young lady is yet to wake up.
In his exact words "I have done all I can, it is up to the young lady to wake up now"
Stunned, he stopped his feet from taking him any further. At this point in time the only thing he could say was "shit, we're fucked!".