Marco patiently waited. He patiently waited for the person who was secretly watching his back to disappear, to stop following him.
There were times that he just wanted to run as fast as he could to lose him and then, go straight to the palace, but he had doubts if his age would ever catch up with that.
Sneaking out in the middle of the night had also crossed his mind, but he never got the courage to try that.
Now, all those days that he spent patiently waiting had finally become fruitful.
The man who'd been following him wherever he went suddenly disappeared after 1 month of closely watching him. He doesn't know what happened to him. He just assumed that maybe he was already convinced that Marco wouldn't do anything against the beast.
He didn't waste that opportunity. He immediately prepared himself to go to the palace upon realizing that.
Today was the day he would finally spill everything that he learned about the beast.
Today was the day he would talk with the prince about the beast's weakness.
Marco left their tiny house two hours after the clock hit the afternoon. He informed his daughter Ema that he would go somewhere and he wasn't sure what time he would be back. He asked her to no longer wait for him at dinner time and to feed her little brothers. He also reminded her that if a stranger looked for him, just say that he went to the market to buy some goods.
Marco's steps were big and fast. He also kept looking back at his sides and back, to check if someone was following him. He was so conscious of every step of him. He was so nervous that he would mess up, but gladly, no one seemed to be following him or at least minding his presence.
When he finally reached the humongous gate of the palace, he was breathing heavily because of walking too fast.
He suddenly became worried about his appearance. He would face the prince with worn-out clothes, reeking of sweat, and disheveled hair. He would surely look like arug to him. But what can he do? He was in a hurry to talk with the prince and he was sure that the prince would be happy with the information in his head.
The two guards stopped Marco from stepping inside the palace. They moved their arms and obscured the way with their spears, which made the old man step back.
"You aren't allowed to enter the palace." One of the guards said with a straight face.
"I-I just need to talk with Prince Jungkook. I-I promise to be quick." Marco explained, but the guards didn't budge.
"It's better for you to leave already, old man. Your Highness has his hands full on finding his girl, so he won't be able to help you with whatever problems you have." The other guard explained, sounding stern but not really offensive.
Marco eagerly nodded his head at the mention of his daughter.
"That's right. I was the father of the girl that Your Highness was looking for and I'm here to tell him some important news that will help us get my daughter back."
The guards looked back at each other, contemplating if they would believe what the old man said.
Marco soon realized that these two guards wouldn't believe him. He no longer knew what he would say to convince them. He's slowly getting frustrated when a deep, authoritative voice is heard behind him.
