A Tale About A: Forgotten Princess [Part 2]

Chapter 30: Plan

The journey to the palace was nerve wracking and terrifying as the once flourished city was now corrupted. The destroyed remainings of the people's belongings were left abandoned on the quiet streets. Some doors were completely wrecked, while others were too afraid as they shut tight.

We were all devastated as none of us spoke; only our eyes lingering around the broken city as we passed through.

Soon, the humongous palace gates were towering over us. A few guards were guarding by seriously and upon the sight of General Park, they all bowed respectfully.

It has been a while since I last heard the sound of the gates opening. I felt terrible knowing that I'm back to this rotten place once again.

"Follow me." General Park instructed shortly; Prince Wang Eun and I followed as per told.

As we entered the astronomy tower, Ji Mong and Prince Wang So; as well as Princess Yeon Hwa were seated together on the table.

What's she doing here?

It wasn't particularly pleasant and welcoming as I dragged my feet into the room.

"It's been a while." The ignorant princess greeted and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Have a seat." Prince Wang So gestured briefly and I seated across Ji Mong on purpose, to avoid the contact with Princess Yeon Hwa.

"Thank you for wanting to help me in this mission, Princess Hwa Yeon." Prince Wang So looked at me.

I merely nodded as part of my heart felt regretful of accepting it.

"Now that everybody's present, let's not waste more time when our criminal is clearly getting further away." The Prince declared while he ordered Ji Mong to bring out a map.

He unrolled the map on to the table; revealing a map of numerous mountains across the borders, a red 'X' catching my attention straight away.

Prince Wang So pointed to it as he assumed, "We suspect that the King's hiding here with his alliances."

"The only person with a huge influence and people to assist the King back in to the palace." Ji Mong added.

"Yes. King JeongJong's father-in-law, Minister Park Young Gyu." Princess Yeon Hwa filled in.

I took a moment to keep up with the new information. "So how many people do they have? How are you planning to infiltrate the place?"

"We don't know...That's why I needed your help." Prince Wang So sighed before shifting across the map to another part of it.

The familiar area brought back memories to me as it was surely the place I've learned martial arts from. Calculating the distance between the temple and the hide out, it definitely was close.

"What suggestions will you give for us to advance in the plan?"

"Well..." I started slowly. I knew every single shortcuts of the mountains since I've trained there but I'm not confident in the area of the hide out. Perhaps...

"There's a river down the temple. Once a classmate of mine got drown in it but still managed to survive because of a tunnel at the end of the river." I recalled.

"He said that there's an opening which he manages to walk around it to return back to the temple. Perhaps we could explore that tunnel."

Prince Wang So sounded hopeful as he suggested, "So we shall swim in to the river until we reached the tunnel."

"But how would you know if it will lead you to the hide out? What if it's just another roundabout to nowhere?" Princess Yeon Hwa argued disapprovingly.