Lady of YeonSung (Lisrene)

Chapter 19

How stupid am I?

Joohyun didn't wipe away the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She couldn't stop them anymore. She didn't even have the energy to do so. Right now, she only focused on walking.

Every time she took a step, something pierced the deepest part of her heart. The haphazardly draped clothes on her body looked like rags, and her hair was an absolute mess. Anyone who saw her would think she was crazy. But it didn't matter. She felt like she was a crazy woman at heart.

She made all the palace maids faint when they came to attend to her bath. Then she disguised herself as a palace maid and escaped the Red King's palace. The whole while, her body was trembling uncontrollably.

How could he be the Red King? Why did he have to be the Red King?!

She was going to go back. She was going to go back to Yeha. She didn't want to stay in the disgusting Silver Nation for one more second. Joohyun stole a horse and led the horse northward. She wanted to see her brother.

She missed Yeha. She was going to throw away all this suffering and pain. With her brother and her people, she was going to overcome the fate that lied before them.

The horse raced down the road for a long while. She could see the lotus gates that led northward. Joohyun lowered her head. Suddenly, an arrow flew towards her from far away.

By the time she realized that her horse had been hit, the horse had already reared up on its hind legs as it wailed. The earth and sky flipped.

Everything was a mess. Her body was flung up into the air before her head slammed onto the ground. A black darkness swallowed her up.

***

"Find her."

Lisa ordered with a pale face. His gaze was cold as he looked around the bathing room. All the palace maids who had entered to assist Joohyun with her bath were unconscious. That woman had easily escaped the Red King's residence!

"Your Highness."

YulMok, Lisa's subordinate, approached him from behind as he spoke in a low voice.

"A horse has gone missing from the residence."

Boom!

Lisa rammed his fist into the wall. YulMok stepped back in surprise. He had never seen his master so enraged before.

"Don't leave a single blade of grass in YeonSung unturned and bring her to me."

Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know her name. She never told him anything about herself. Why did she disappear like this?

He didn't want to answer his question. He didn't want to believe the answer that was forming inside his heart. But he was quick enough to deduce why she had left.

She left because he was the 'Red King'. The moment his identity was revealed, he felt how stiff her body had become. At the time, he thought it was only because she was surprised. Or was there another reason?

The warmth and the softness that had surrounded him last night had disappeared. The desolate disappointment and betrayal shook him to his core.

"Your Highness."

Another subordinate entered the room and called out to him.

"The secret room in YeonSung has burned to the ground."

Lisa turned around.

"What did you say?"

He had only shown that room to one other person, and it was her. That was where the bamboo slip shards and the texts about black magic and the icy-fire stone were stored.