The Crown Prince (Taegi AU)

Chapter 42

Twenty-four court officials were caught up in this scandal. Some were stripped off of their titles while others were imprisoned and some exceptionally special people who had done too much were given a death penalty alongside Official Hwang.  

The court had been cleaned, however, the leftover officials who hadn't done anything wrong couldn't help but feel a little bitter as they saw how ruthless the crown prince had been.  

Sure, they hadn't been affected this time, but who could assure that it wouldn't be them in the future? 

If the crown prince wanted to get rid of them as well, who was to say that he wouldn't come up with fake evidence and get rid of them as well. 

If he could get rid of Official Hwang so easily, he would certainly have no problem getting rid of everyone else as well. After all Official Hwang had been a person who had been here even before Yoongi was born. He had been a part of the late king's court and had transferred to Yoongi's court as well. His rank among the other officials was naturally pretty high and there was almost no one else in this court who would even be able to trash the guy's name. 

From this whole incident, the fear and dissatisfaction they had of Yoongi strengthened as their beliefs also underwent a change and more people grew unhappy with the way Yoongi dealt with everything. 

The crown prince clearly didn't care about the country anymore. All they could see him caring about was his new boy toy. 

It wouldn't take a genius to realize that the hostage prince had their crown prince completely wrapped around his fingers. Whatever he said, the crown prince would do and if there was anyone who would dare to slander the hostage, the crown prince would bite that courageous person to death. 

Two days later, it was Lady Mirae's birthday but there was no celebration. 

Her father was being beheaded along with some other officials while she was already escorted out of the country, or to be more exact, kicked out from the country. 

She had no home outside and no family or servants to take care of her, however, there was no sense of grief on her face nor was there a hint of happiness. If anything, her face looked dead as if she had gained and lost at the same time. 

She was wearing a cloak that covered her entire person. She walked and walked without stopping, her footsteps completely calm and unbothered. In just a day's time, she had already entered Gim, a place that clearly didn't welcome her nor did it kick her away. 

She stopped by a food stall as she heard her stomach growling. Thankfully she still had some money on her, so without a worry, she ordered a bowl of warm seaweed soup (Miyeok Guk).

The waitress brought her the order and smiled as she asked with a bit of worry, "You look tired, Miss. You're not from around here, are you?" 

Lady Mirae didn't bother turning her head up to look at the waitress as she answered, "You're right." 

The waitress clicked her tongue in a delighted tone as she added, "I knew it! What brings you here?" 

"..." Lady Mirae didn't know if she should laugh or cry as she heard this. 

Could she really answer honestly? Could she really say that she was exiled and forced to come here? 

She'll have to be extremely stupid if she were to say that and hence, she was simply silent. 

The waitress could sense that she had knocked on an awkward topic so she lightly chuckled and asked another question to lighten up the mood, "Is it your birthday today?"