The King's entourage gasped in shock when they saw the prince alive and well. Man-Ju remained rooted where he stood, unable to move as Prince Young-Sik approached him. He flinched when Young-Sik embraced him. "I missed you, brother," the prince said to him. The shock rendered him speechless and all he could do was gaze at the beaming Jin-Ri.
The King's entourage excitedly bowed to the prince and, in unison said "Thank the heavens you have returned your Highness!"
The prince broke his embrace and smiled at the people bowing to him. He then takes a look at the King "Brother, are you so happy to see me alive that you could not even speak?" Young-Sik jokingly inquired
"H-How? I thought...we all thought you were dead; how did you survive?" Man-Ju asked confused and shocked, he stammered his words.
Young-Sik smiled as he shrugged his shoulders "Luck I guess! I was able to run behind a mast, that shielded me from the explosion. The shockwave however was still strong enough, to throw me overboard. I think it knocked me unconscious, because the next time I opened my eyes, I was inside the tent of this old couple that nursed me back to health" he explained to the King
Regaining his composure he said to the prince "Then we should reward this couple that you say, they have after all saved the life of the prince"
"Unfortunately, brother, they are nomads a wandering family, I don't know where they might be right now" He gave a sad smile as he thought to himself "Forgive me brother, but I made a promise to Seo-Joon to let him continue having a normal life with his family"
"Is that so? Then it is a shame I cannot thank them personally; I shall instruct the servants to prepare a grand feast in honor of your leadership during the war and of course because of your safe return." The King said proudly.
Young-Sik smiled at his brother and gave him another embrace "Sure, but I need to see some friends, I'll come back later for that feast!" He then takes Jin-Ri by the hand as they run exiting the palace.
Man-Ju clenched his teeth while his fists trembled in anger at the fact that his brother was still alive. "Prepare the feast!" he coldly instructed the head eunuch and head court lady.
"Where are we going your..." Jin-Ri was about to ask, but Young-Sik gently touched her lips to stop her from finishing her question.
"I just confessed my love to you, you know what to call me," he told her with a smile though his voice had a hint of sulking
She gently took his hand and replied with the sweetest smile, "I believe...I confessed my love for you first...Yong" The couple giggled as they continued to their destination.
In the Cherry Blossom, inside Lady Hu's private chambers, she was pouring Kwan a drink, when suddenly they heard a commotion. "What the hell is that?" she blurted out
"One of your girls might have seen a rat" Kwan jokingly answered
"A rat? Impossible. I made sure myself that such a filthy animal wouldn't be able to enter these premises," she said. She then stood up to check what was going on. "Wait here. I'll just check what is wrong." Lady Hu stood up from her seat and proceeded to the door.
She was about to reach the door when it flew open, and outside an old man was panting, he was so pale from the terror that he stuttered "M-my Lady, the exclusive r-room"
Kwan stood up from his seat, alarmed by the old man's fear "What happened? Is there something wrong?" he asked, but the old man just ran away. Lady Hu and Kwan shared worried glances, before hurrying to the room the old man mentioned.
In the corridors leading to the room in question, the two started to worry when they saw servants running away, screaming as if they saw a ghost. The door of the exclusive room was closed when they arrived.
They shot each other a glance that screamed, "Did you just see that?" Kwan was reaching for the door handles when, out of nowhere, the doors whooshed open. Their eyes popped wide open, goosebumps were doing the cha-cha on their arms, and their hair was standing up like they were struck by lightning. They turned as white as a sheet because, right in front of them, was Prince Young-Sik, beaming like he upon seeing his two closest friends. "Lady Hu, Captain Gi! What a treat to see you both!" he said.
Instead of a cozy hello, "EEEEHHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHH!" the duo unleashed a scream that could wake the dead. Young-Sik watched as they scurried off like two terrified mice, bumping into each other like they were in a cartoon. Jin-Ri poked her head out the door and quipped, "Maybe you should've sent them a smoke signal first!"
Young-Sik scratched his head, looking confused. "I guess they thought I was a ghost trying to haunt them!" He sprinted after them, calling out, "Hey! You two! Is this how you welcome a long-lost friend?"
Young-Sik dashed into Lady Hu's chambers just in time to see the door start to close. With the finesse of a ninja, he wedged his foot in the way. "Hold up, you two! I didn't trek all this way just to be ghosted!" he shouted, flailing his arms like a confused octopus.
"Seriously? Can't you go haunt someone else? How about that shameless girl? Go and haunt her for all I care!" Lady Hu yelled, trying to slam the door shut like it owed her money.
"Your Highness, forgive me. I failed to keep you safe, but I swear on my collection of naughty books, I'll bring you your favorite wine every single day! Just please, for the love of all things spooky, return to your grave!" Kwan chimed in, pushing against the door like it was a stubborn piece of furniture.
"What are you two talking about? I'm not a ghost I'm not even dead! I am alive and well!" Young-Sik shouted, "Common open the door, my foot is getting crushed!"
"I don't want to...you're going to drink my blood!" Kwan yelled back
"Captain Gi, Lady Hu...common open the door, It's me Jin-Ri. It's really Yong, he's not dead he's alive and well" Jin-Ri shouted from the other side of the door assuring the two that the prince is alive and not a ghost
"Miss shameless is that you? Oh, my goodness he got you first now he's after us!" Lady Hu shouted, assuming that Jin-Ri was under the control of the prince's ghost
"If I were a ghost, why would I bother to open the door when I could just pass through it?" Young-Sik explained.
"How can we be sure that you won't eat us?" Kwan shouted from inside the room
"Captain Gi? I promise he won't eat you, drink your blood, or haunt you. Because Yong is alive and well" Jin-Ri shouted from outside the room, convincing the two to come out.
Slowly Young-Sik noticed that the door was opening. When the opening was big enough, he carefully entered the room so as not to startle their friends. Kwan and Lady Hu stared at the prince intently. "Your Highness?" the two asked.
Young-Sik raised both eyebrows while pointing at himself "Is that really you?" Lady Hu asked, she approached the prince and started to poke him. She retreated by a few steps and a gasp escaped her.
Kwan slowly extended his hands to touch the prince. Young-Sik grabbed Kwan's hand in a brotherly manner. "Your Highness...it is you! Thank the heavens you are alive, but how? We saw the ship explode and we scoured the sea for days" he asked the prince.
Young-Sik then proceeds to recall the tale of his survival, of how he was able to hide behind a mast before the explosion, how the blast had rendered him unconscious, how he was found and nursed back to health by a kind-hearted couple, and how he trekked back to the capital.
Captain Gi and Lady Hu dropped to their knees to show respect to their prince and friend. Young-Sik helped the two to stand up and hugged them both. Teary-eyed Captain Gi and Lady Hu hugged the prince back, happy that he was alive and well.
After everything was cleared up, Mun-He called for Yeng and the five of them settled around a table in the prince's secret room, "Your Highness, I wish happier circumstances would greet your return, but while you were gone, the three masters were suspended and held within their homes," Kwan reported, his eagerness evident as he sought to lend a hand in any upcoming arrangements.
"Your court maiden came up with the idea to send them supplies since they were not ever allowed to step out of their houses" Mun-He informed the prince
"Not only that, Jin-Ri was imprisoned under false accusations," Yeng told the prince.
Young-Sik surprised at the revelation, turned to Jin-Ri "You were what? Why didn't you tell me? Who had the gall to imprison you?" He asked, the anger boiling over his voice
All eyes were on Jin-Ri waiting for her to answer the prince's questions. However, instead of replying, she stood quiet and fidgeted with her fingers. "Jin-Ri, I want to know what happened, who had you imprisoned?" Young-Sik
"It's just a big misunderstanding, there's no sense bringing up something that was already resolved" Jin-Ri reasoned, trying to convince the prince to just let it go and forget about it
Young-Sik shook his head slowly. "I know what you are thinking, you are wishing that I just let it go. How can I let it go, when while I was thinking you were safe here in the palace, the truth was you were accused of something and imprisoned? What did the King do?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" To close the topic, Yeng told the harrowing tale. "She was accused by the Queen of stealing one a necklace. Lady Hu and I uncovered the truth: She was framed by the Queen's lady-in-waiting. We found clear evidence of her innocence and sent it to the Dowager Queen. Consequently, the King had her released, and the old woman was ultimately held accountable for her actions."
"I will have a long talk with the Queen later" Young-Sik exclaimed, he turned to Jin-Ri "No one and I mean no one has the right to hurt another person, let alone you"
Jin-Ri smiled at the prince's eagerness to protect her "The King, he protected me, so please let's just forget that ever happened, okay?"
Young-Sik replied "Fine" he then turned to Kwan "Captain, those Aranese gold where are they?"
"Most was transferred to the royal vaults, but the one with Aranese markings are hidden within your grandfather's estate, known only to me and several loyal soldiers" he answered, before asking his questions "What are your plans about that gold your Highness?"
"How is my grandfather?" Young-Sik asked Kwan
"He was devastated when he received news of your apparent death" Kwan earnestly replied, he bowed his head ashamed that he was the one to inform his grandfather of the tragic news.
"Do not fret about it, it was not your fault. You did what you felt was your duty." Young-Sik said while patting Kwan on the back. "You know I wanted to visit my grandfather for a while. This would give me an excellent reason not to delay it any further"
"We need to know, for who that gold is intended, I doubt that they brought much gold for nothing at all. They were going to use that to pay someone off, I need to find out who that traitor is" Young-Sik said. "Lady Hu, do you think you can make a list of any person with close ties with any high-ranking Aranese officials?"
"It may prove difficult, but I believe I can find out" Lady Hu confidently replied
"Captain, what about the Guiong weapons?" The prince then asked Kwan
"Most of them were sent to the palace military department for study. It was hard but I was able to secure two of the weapons and most of the steel projectiles" Kwan reported to the prince. "However, without the black powder, we could not make it work. I'm sure the Ministry of War is having the same troubles."
"The power of that weapon is devastating we will need it someday, keep working on that black powder" Young-Sik instructed Kwan "Jin-Ri, thank you for caring for my masters. Now it's my turn, I will go to the masters and see what they need"
Jin-Ri, astonished by the revelation, tugged at the prince's shoulders. "What's the matter?" Young-Sik asked.
"Yong! Shouldn't you be resting rather than setting off on another mission?" Jin-Ri said, her concern for her beloved evident as she worried, he was pushing his limits.
Young-Sik turned to Jin-Ri and smiled "Don't worry about me, I can..."
Interrupting the prince mid-sentence, Jin-Ri exclaimed, "You can't just tell me not to worry about you!" She didn't notice her voice had escalated, startling Young-Sik and the others. "I get that those issues are vital, but it won't help if your health wanes."