บท 36: Chapter thirty-six: Where is the crown prince?

*A woman is seen walking in a field of flowers, the flowers are blooming beautifully, so beautiful it draws you to touch them.

The woman grabbed the flower gently , closed her eyes and sniffed it but there was a weird smell on it , not the usual fragrance but a smell of something metallic and pungent... she opened her eyes swiftly and saw blood on her hands and the whole field covered in blood , she threw the flowers away while stifling a scream so as not to alert whatever or whoever was the cause of such an unsightly view , she strode softly while muffling the sound of her feet and arrived at a field of bloody flowers...

"Why...why?" she roared like a wounded animal*

"Madam! wake up...wake up"

The madam trembling from the ordeal of the dream sat up from the bed and ran out barefooted towards her husband's room.

"My lord,... I need to talk to you... it's Ga-young"

*No response*

She dived into the room only to meet an empty room with no master, running out to search other places he might be at that moment, she ran into a servant who gave her a message to wait for the old master for at least two more hours according to the instructions.

She felt a little bit of relief but didn't dispense her whole fear. Like a meek lamb about to be slaughtered, she went back into her room but not back to bed to avoid a repetition of such horrendous dream.

_______________

The empress, the two princesses and their entourages invaded the palace of the crown prince without invitation to catch him unawares and have lunch with him.

What greeted them was the solemn faces of the eunuchs, the palace attendants and the royal guards but no sign of the master of the building.

Everybody greeted them respectfully while shivering that their cup has overflown as there is no way of bringing back the crown prince to answer his mother.

The chief eunuch ransacked his brain to find a thousand and one excuses for the absence of the crown prince, not that he had any reason to but because he knows the temper of the empress, and considering the fact that last similar circumstances was evaded successfully ,he swore never to be in that kind of situation. With a sigh , he decided to tell the truth .

"Your Majesty, your highnesses... the crown prince is not in the palace right now"

"We can see that but go tell him that his mother and two sisters are waiting for him to have lunch together" she said so softly that the eunuch dared not tell a lie.

"Yeah sir eunuch, tell him if he doesn't come now we won't eat and starve to death" Min-seo in her childish but melodious voice chipped in happily while looking at the approving face of the empress.

*Your highness, my hour of reckoning has finally come... what excuse will l give this royalties before me without alerting them that you are not even within the four corners of the palace?" the chief eunuch lamented in his heart.

"Ahem... why aren't you answering or even making an attempt to call your master?" the empress is beginning to get irritated with the eunuch getting lost in thought before her. Waking up from his moping, he answered the empress ambiguously.

"I'm afraid your Majesty, l can't call the crown prince right now"

"How dare you!" she flared up while looking at him with the intention to kill.

"I'm sorry your Majesty but I can't call his Highness right now not because I don't want to,but because he is not in the palace" he answered cowering on the ground not daring to look at that gaze throwing daggers at him.

Fist clenched , she asked in a shaky voice "Why is he not in the palace?" but the eunuch dared not tell her it's because of a girl, the responsible crown prince left the palace and without a guard too because of a girl.

The information was too big for her to digest and was about to slump on the ground when two palace maids rushed towards her and used their hands to steady her and lead her inside one of the rooms to catch her breath.

The two princesses went in with her and sat down across the table away from her eyeing her cautiously.

Suddenly Min-seo broke into tears asking if anything will happen to their brother while Ha-eun patted her back comforting her and comforting her own heart that everything will be OK.

Princess Ha-eun may not be one who wears her emotions on her face but right now she looks dilapidated . Among all the people she cares about deeply, he is her favorite. She may act nonchalant towards him sometime but she knows he dotes on her very much.That is why when she heard he's out of the palace, she was shocked, so shocked she almost cried out.

Ever since their birth, they have been living inside the fours corners of the palace not given the chance to go out , not that they ever had the need to because of the abundance of resources and things that are necessary for their livelihood. Yet because of their oldest brother living outside the palace, they are able to envisage what outside the palace looks like because of his stories and adventure, the good things happening and the bad vices thriving.

They have sometimes fantasized about experiencing it first-hand but remembering the bad aspect of leaving they had disregarded the idea and buried the desire. She can't help but shiver when knowing that her brother is outside the protection of the palace unless he went out with the guards.

Trying to put her mind at ease, she spoke up for the first time and asked the chief eunuch how many guards left with him but he looked so pale she got scared . She thought he left with maybe one-quarter of his guards which might not be enough to fend off evil people that might attack him but the man shocked him with the confession that he left alone and sent back his guards.

Blood drained from the face of the empress and she started trembling imagining the worst case scenarios of what he might be passing through right now.

"Chief eunuch,listen attentively and listen good... where was his destination and who did he went to see?"

Yes, chief eunuch is afraid, very afraid, but even if he is given ten mouths , he would never ever betray his master by telling his mother that he risked his safety in order to meet a girl he barely know anything about.

He swore to himself that no matter what the empress might do to him, he will never answer that question.

Lunch forgotten, happiness gone and running out of patience, she stood up and stretched her gown but her hands wavered. Whoever that told her she would experience this kind of apprehension would have been deemed a liar but right now she is focusing on regaining her composure and sanity.

"The last time I came here unannounced... was... was it... he wasn't also in the palace, right?"

A mother is standing before him, not the almighty empress nor the wife of the emperor, and that mother now is seeking answers... answers regarding her son's whereabout and safety, how could he deny her the truth she seeks for?

Standing properly, he affirmed her suspicion but told her that the crown prince will be back before his lessons. With a tiny piece of hope, she ordered the kitchen to prepare something for them all as the children were starving.

The meals arrived and the table was set , the trio began eating but the empress had no appetite and was barely touching her meal. Seeing the worried look of Ha-eun,she forced herself and stabbed into the pork meat prepared pretending to munch and enjoy it while barely tasting the food.

Lunch ended quickly and with it the agonizing moment of silence and eating something you can't taste in your mouth .

She ordered the maids and guards to escort the princesses back to their palace while she stayed behind to wait for her son's return, praying that heavens protects her son and swearing that if anything happens to him ,she would kill all the people involved with her bare hands.