Chapter 6.2

The two’s hands naturally overlapped. It was a moment in which each other’s warmth was transmitted. Doyoon grabbed Eunseol’s hand and quickly entered the sideways. And at that moment, Lee Hak Soo passed by the two of them and was moving away without noticing.

“Sigh. Sigh …”

Then Doyoon, who held Eunseol’s hand, headed for the Byeolgung Flower Garden at a fast pace. However, as she caught up with Doyoon, who had a big stride, Eunseol ran out of breath and breathed heavily.

“Can’t you walk slower?”

Eunseol exhaled loudly and tapped his back. Only then, Doyoon, who was looking straight ahead, stopped his steps and looked back at Eunseol.

Eunseol struck her chest with her palms and sat down as if she was struggling with strength. Then Doyoon released her wrist, which he had been holding.

“Why are you walking so fast?”

“Weren’t we supposed to avoid Lee Hak Soo? If you walk slowly then you will get caught.”

“But where are we? Can I enter such a place without permission?”

Eunseol took a quick breath and looked around. It seemed to be a flower garden. They were finely decorated flower branches and flowers were in full bloom. Eunseol stood up straight and gently looked inside the garden.

“Is this a flower garden of a separate palace? Yes?”

“It’s a place where no one can enter, so you can rest assured.”

Eunseol opened her eyes round at Doyoon’s words, ‘A place where no one can enter?’

Then she looked up at him with a curious face. It was a moment when the eyes of the two were overlapping. It was the moment when her face that looked prettier than any other flower in the palace. Doyoon had seen many of the most beautiful women in Joseon, but somehow it seemed that this woman had a different atmosphere from them. Her face was so pretty but she seemed to have an indescribable, noble spirit flowing out of her. Doyoon’s deep gaze ran across her face.

“Now, how do you know this is a place where nobody is allowed to enter?”

Eunseol asked Doyoon with a curious face. Then Doyoon coughed as if he was embarrassed and drew attention from Eunseol.

“Because I am Gungin…”

Eunseol looked a little surprised at Doyoon’s word ‘Gungin’. Doyoon looked at her back at an angle and touched her forehead.

“I am the Guard’s Captain.”

When the word “the captain of the Guard” came to mind, Eunseol finally let out a low sigh as if she finally understood what the word meant . She glanced at him with suspicion, then looked back at the flowers in the garden. Doyoon gazed gently at Eunseol’s back.

“However, is it okay for the captain of the guards to go in and out of this flower garden, where even the courtiers are unable to enter?”

Eunseol bowed her back and brought her face closer to the peony. Eunseol, who looked at the peonies with a smile-filled face, suddenly looked back at Doyoon. He was standing close by and staring at Eunseol.

“Why are you avoiding Daewon-gun?”

At the unexpected question, Eunseol found it hard to answer. Then she gently bit her lips, as she wanted to avoid the question and asked back at Doyoon.

“Then why did the guard’s captain help me?”

Doyoon gave strength to his lips with a stiff face as if he wasn’t going to avoid her question.

“Because I also had to avoid Daewon-gun.”

At Doyoon’s words, she thought there was a strange intersection between this man and herself. Eunseol nodded.

“l am too. I had to avoid him.”

“What is the reason?”

“I don’t know why. I don’t understand, but.. It has been since I was young. There was something about him, in fact, instinctively, whenever I saw Daewon-gun, my heart would beat so fast and my legs would shake uncontrollably. I wasn’t afraid, but the strange energy that I felt from him was telling me to avoid him or step back.”

At Eunseol’s answer, Doyoon looked at her for a long time. It seemed like he had a little bit of an unknown pain that occurred in his cold chest. The more he looked into her eyes, the more firmly the reason he was holding seemed to shake in an instant. Eunseol also stared at Doyoon’s eyes with a slightly deeper gaze.

“Anyway, thank you so much for today. I owed you a lot, Captain of the guards.”

Eunseol bowed her head and turned her back away from Doyoon, who still was still looking at her. As soon as she turned her back, Doyoon’s heart became confused. If she stayed a little longer, he would feel embarrassed. Doyoon was confused as to why such thoughts were eating his mind. At that time, Eunseol turned around and looked at Doyoon as if she was embarrassed not knowing which way to go back.

“Ummmm…..Would it be okay if you help me a little more? I don’t know which way to go.”

Doyoon, who was bowing his head, raised his face and looked at her. Eunseol was also looking at him. Doyoon passed by Eunseol without a word and walked ahead.

“Follow me.”

Eunseol glanced over the back of Doyoon. Although not all of the rudeness on the first day had gone away, still he was a kinder man than she thought. However, the cold and bitter cold air from him was getting thicker as she faced him.

“Thank you.”

Eunseol spoke softly and followed him who was ahead. The two slowly left the garden. Doyoon was concerned about Eunseol, so he walked with slower steps this time. Doyoon walked in search of hidden roads that the palace men wouldn’t know very well. Doyoon’s whole nerves, who walked sternly and only started at the front, were in fact poured into Eunseol, who eagerly followed behind. Suddenly, he remembered the image of Eunseol sitting on the ground gasping for breath a while ago, and casually looked down at his feet thinking that his steps were too fast and that it seemed to be too much for her.

Doyoon slowly took a step back. The second step was slower. The third step he took was a lot slower than usual and with a much shorter stride. By this time, Eunseol, who was rushing after Doyoon, came to his side.

“By the way, why did you avoid Daewon-gun?”

In response to Eunseol’s unexpected question, Doyoon shifted his gaze from Eunseol to another place. Then he opened his mouth.

“Because I hate him.”

It was his father. He was the father who gave life to him, but Doyoon didn’t want to believe in him. Because there were more days he wished he wasn’t his child.

Doyoon, who couldn’t even spit out all the words he wanted, kept his mouth shut. Eunseol wasn’t looking at him, but she nodded, recalling his eyes, perhaps a little colder.

“Yes. Sometimes people don’t need a reason to dislike someone. Even if you don’t say more, I would know.”

Then Doyoon gently drew a smile to avoid being embarrassed. Doyoon looked at Eunseol, who was just silently looking straight ahead. Doyoon has never walked side by side with someone like this.

No one in the palace could stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Doyoon’s tightly closed his heart, which did not allow her to stand by him or get close to him. It was because it was harder to face his bitter eyes than the reason he was the King of this country.

“I see, it seems that Captain is also participating in the match today. Could you tell me where the waiting area is?”

Suddenly, Eunseol, who was staring straight ahead, looked at Doyoon. Doyoon was amazed to see himself standing side by side with someone like this and making a conversation.

At Eunseol’s question, Doyoon hardened his expression and pointed somewhere. It was not far from where the two first met.

“Oh, thank you.”

Eunseol, looking at Doyoon’s pointed finger for a while, smiled and nodded. Then she greeted him with courtesy and stepped forward. Suddenly, he didn’t know where the courage came from, he reached for Eunseol’s delicate shoulder.

“Yes?”

Without saying anything, Doyoon just rattled her shoulder, and Eunseol looked back with a surprised face. He wanted to ask what kind of family she came from. After knowing the name Eunseol, he now wanted to know her family as well. Then he could meet her a little easier next time. Suddenly, like waking up from a dream, he asked himself ‘Why am I drawn to this woman now?’ At that moment, Doyoon’s mind turned blank. He thought he had to say something but he couldn’t organize his thoughts.

At their first meeting, Doyoon thought Eunseol was a spy who was sent to kill him and he thought that she was a rude person for staring and yelling at him. At the second meeting, he thought she was sent to the palace to be his concubine to get his heart and secrets.

However, this woman was neither a spy nor a concubine chosen by Daewon-gun. She was just a strange woman who he met in a funny accident. So, if he knew this woman’s family, Doyoon felt like his mind would break down without help. So he just stared at Eunseol who was moving away.

“Because to be close to someone means to be far away from someone else.”

His mind was trembling for a moment, then he turned his back without regret. There was no regret to be tied or feeling to look back. Doyoon turned around like a person who would never face her again. At that time, Eunseol, who had been away from Doyoon, suddenly stopped walking. Then gently turned back and looked at him as he was moving away.

“He looked so lonely. Just looking at him makes me feel sad.”

His cold eyes kept fluttering in front of Eunseol’s eyes. She was strangely bothered.

“Eunseol!”

It was then. Eunseol’s brother, Yeonggwang, was running towards her. Eunseol looked at him and was overjoyed.

“Brother.”

“Where have you been? I have been looking for you for a while. I told you not to go around alone.”

Yeonggwang took a rough breath and squeezed Eunseol’s shoulders. Then Eunseol looked at him back and forth with an anxious face, wondering if there was something wrong.

“While looking for the waiting area, I almost encountered Daewon-gun.”

“What?!”

“But, fortunately, l avoided him. The captain of the guards helped me. When he saw I was in distress, he took me to a place like a flower garden.”

“What on earth are you talking about? “

The words flowing out of Eunseol’s mouth made her brother’s heart sink. Today, the captain of the guards was excluded from the game. Yeonggwang’s head felt mixed up and he looked at Eunseol with a confused face. Who was the guy Eunseol met? His heart started beating faster.

“The man you met, where did he go?”

“There. He disappeared over there”

As Eunseol looked toward the stadium, Yeonggwang followed her eyes.

“What color band was he wearing on his waist?”

“It’s the same color as yours, brother. Scarlet. Oh, he was also quite tall. His face was also white like a woman. He has a good appearance.”

“……..”

“Also his eyes were cold, but strangely sad. Somehow, in the man’s way … Oh, he also wore a gold and jade crest.”

It was the King.

Doyoon was not the guard’s captain, but the monarch of this country and the son of Daewon-gun.

A person who Eunseol should never face, nor should she ever be closed to… He was the enemy’s son!

💔💔💔