Daldal: Main story

Chapter 146

Late at night, Crown Prince, accompanied by his guards, left the residence.

"Why the rush? You should take a few days to rest while you're here."

"No. Given the circumstances, can the leader afford to leave the seat vacant for long?"

The conflict in Yeonam had reached a temporary ceasefire with the Ministry of Affairs gaining the upper hand. However, it was the calm before the storm. Instead of being intoxicated by victory, they had to be even more vigilant.

They had only taken one step, and the road ahead was still long.

"Why don't you go and meet the General."

"General Do is probably very busy. From their perspective, it's a delicate situation to handle. Lady Do will have a hard time for a while. It's regrettable to separate such a harmonious couple."

"Don't mention it. Honestly, being apart from General Do is more comfortable for me."

"f the General Do hears this, he might cry."

"Let him. What's the use of marrying a man who jumps into a pit unable to forget his old wife? These days, I truly regret even marrying."

"Haha! That's true. How can you cling to the past with such a beautiful wife by your side?"

Do Wook siding with Crown Prince was purely driven by personal vengeance-settling the deep grudge from his first wife's agonizing death, forced into marriage by the Emperor.

"Still, Lady Do takes care of things generously. It's because of the guilt of not being able to protect her that General Do acts this way."

"I know. I got into this marriage thinking he was a very strong man. I'm sorry, Sir. I involuntarily made fun of him."

"No, if venting to me helps ease your heart, feel free to do so anytime. Anyway, I'll leave now. We'll meet again soon. Take good care of Master Chae during my absence. Oh, and pay attention to Eun-oh and the fox too."

"Leave it to me. ...Oh, by the way, did you hear? About what happened?"

At Lady Do's subtle inquiry, Crown Prince pondered over the story he had heard during the day.

"Hmm... I did hear."

It was a very long story. Eun-oh truly disclosed everything about his time with Chae Yoon-sa, as ordered, without lies or concealment.

Crown Prince's impression of it was:

"It was quite entertaining. Very intriguing."

It was indeed a captivating story. A guy who claimed to know nothing about the world while living in the mountains only to be drawn into a life of thievery, then to Chae Ga-won, where he discovers his true nature as a Yokai and runs away..Despite its length, the story was incredibly fascinating. Crown Prince, engrossed in the narrative, lost track of time and spent the day.

Thanks to Eun-oh's occasional humorous and absurd anecdotes while narrating, Crown Prince even forgot about his dignity and burst into genuine laughter. Especially when Eun-oh expressed regret about not buying the Buddha statue in the marketplace in spring, insisting that if he prayed hard enough, his Young Master might wake up soon. Crown Prince found it pathetic yet amusing, and unknowingly, he ended up patting Eun-oh's head.

It was the first time in several years that he had laughed so heartily.

Regardless of the story, Crown Prince found significant interest in Eun-oh himself. When Eun-oh confessed to being a Yokai, it initially felt awkward and slightly repulsive, but as he continued to observe and listen, Crown Prince couldn't help but wonder if this was why people could be possessed by Yokai.

As he kept seeing Eun-oh and paying attention to his voice... it was undeniably a charm. However, whether this charm was due to typical Yokai enchantment or simply because Crown Prince liked Eun-oh's appearance and actions was uncertain. The crucial point was that there was an enchanting quality about Eun-oh that captivated people hearts.

Yet, not all charms turns into love in the world.

Crown Prince's feelings stopped just short of that. It was merely a liking, a sentiment that said:

"This is about as far as it goes. I enjoy this, but I don't feel the desire to live with or be entwined with him."

Then, what about Chae Yoon-sa emotion?
Regardless of the catalyst, it was undoubtedly love. The Crown Prince concluded that what drove Chae Yoon-sa's actions, as recounted in Eun-oh's story, was undoubtedly love.

Without it, too many parts wouldn't make sense.

To spend a fortune searching for a mere servant, willingly walk into what was known to be a trap, dropping the sword when Eun-oh was in danger, and even kneeling down, only to end up severely wounded by an arrow. Could such actions be attributed to hatred, disdain, or mere obsession?

No, Crown Prince never thought so.

Regardless of the twists and turns, interpreting Chae Yoon-sa's actions as being in love was undoubtedly correct.

"A Yokai..."

Crown Prince recalled Eun-oh, who behaved like a sinner. Eun-oh had begged, head bowed, not to harm himself until the Young Master recovered. Of course, Crown Prince had no intention of harming Eun-oh. Not only did he like Eun-oh, but he never harbored any aversion or denial toward Yokai in the first place.

"It's truly sad."

That was how he felt when he first saw the Yokai he had only heard about. It was sad. How miserable it is to live a life where one feels that one's very existence is wrong. The situation of Eun-oh, who said that he chose to run away because he did not want to be hated by his master, and that he was prepared to die, just felt heartbreaking to Crown Prince.

This experience raised new questions for him.

Was defining Yokai as harmful being and banishing them from this land truly the will of the heavens? If so, why did God permit the existence of Yokai to descend to the earth?

"There is no inherently wrong life in this world..."

The more he pondered, the more complex the issue became. Crown Prince sighed deeply as he gazed up at the night sky.

"I apologize, Sir. I haven't been able to hear what you've been saying since earlier, your voice is too soft for me."

Frustrated by Crown Prince, who kept muttering incomprehensible words without explaining the situation she wanted to know, Lady Do spoke up.

Crown Prince dismissed it as meaningless chatter and waved his hand.

"Don't mind it."

"You're being too much. Pretending not to know after making me so curious. Are you telling me to be frustrated to death?"

When Lady Do made a sarcastic remark, Crown Prince chuckled. Then, as if contemplating, he scratched his chin and said

"Well, from what I heard, it just sounded like a bit of a tumultuous and rough love story."

For Crown Prince, that was the only way to express the story.