NEFARIOUS

10 / 십

  "Do you think the Princess will be there?"

  Hye almost jolted at the whisper from her left, but she quickly hid the movement. She turned toward the voice, it was one of the scholars who had bothered her all along their way to the palace. He had a round face, teeth flashing, and eyes gleamed under the yellow rays through the screens. Knowing of how informal the boy had been talking to her, it must have been the friend of a scholar she had dumped.

  "Perhaps?" said Hye. She tried to play along with him. "She might have other business to attend, though. I wouldn't have too much hope if I were you."

  The boy's grin widened, it made his nose wrinkle in excitement. "I heard quiet a lot she is such a beauty. I wonder if the songs and poems about her are true."

  "Her Highness is indeed enchanting," claimed an older man who sat near the carriage door. His shoulders were lean and rough, and his jaw was hard. He could be a fighter somewhere else, but his scholar identity matched as the guard's list guests. The sun streaming on his back, his face remained a silhouette, dark and strange. "I have met her once. Not only a beauty, but also a very clever one."

  Hye couldn't help but wonder, "And on what occasion did you meet her?"

  The man's features remained a hazing dream in the confusing morning. "His Royal Highness has called me for some events. She was there, along the Crown Prince, to greet upon my arrival. The royal siblings share the erudite aura surrounding by them. They are untouchable, as like the King."

  "I also heard words from the street Her Highness is to be married to Kwang Gyeong," claimed the other scholar beside the lean man. "But I do not know for sure."

  "Kwang Gyeong?" The boy on Hye's side leaned forward in interest. "The Ministry of War's son?"

  "It is a mere gossip," said the lean man, his voice harsh.

  As Hye and the scholars drowned in their conversation. The carriage halted a stop. According to Jung-Hee's plan and her map of the palace, it must be another gate.

  She heard distinct voices from outside. A shout came, and vanished. A few minutes passed. Then a knock sounded on the carriage door. The lean man answered by opening the door from inside.

  Hye squinted at the glaring light. A figure appeared, it was another guard wearing vibrant blue garments. But this time, Jung-Hee stood by his side.

  Panic erupted through her veins. Hye immediately calmed her mind and thinking for another plan. Yet her heart couldn't stop pumping rapidly. In case I get caught, Jung-Hee had said. Stay in your disguise. You and Eun Jae will still manage get inside.

  But what was Eun Jae doing? No. Jung-Hee wouldn't get caught if Eun Jae was still here. Her twin brother was probably sitting on the driver seat, since his presence had yet seen. Perhaps Jung-Hee planned for something she did not know. She hoped it was that way.

  The guard bowed before the scholars. Jung-Hee looked at his heels. He did not bow. "I apologize for this incovenience, gentlemen. But the carriages will have to remain at this spot."

  So this was why Jung-Hee stood by the guard after all. If the carriages would no longer be needed inside the gate, then the drivers were dismissed immediately.

  Eun Jae, even with his mind controlling power, wouldn't be able to hold a person's mind far from his reach. He might control the guard into doing as he commanded, but what of the other guards, who posted at the gates?

  Hye tried with all her strenght to not look at Jung-Hee for a code. It would be too risky, and the scholars would notice it. Jung-Hee and Eun Jae trusted her with their lives on this job. She should focus on her own. But. . . what if she failed? If one of us fails, the plan goes to hell. She had said to her twin brother the night before. And her words became a splash of cold water to her face.