The Love Of An Unwanted Princess《Editing》

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"No..." I heard myself say as Hoon looked away from my eyes.

I didn't want to hear what he said. I just wanted to remain unaware of the past. But we both knew that it was too late. I couldn't believe him, and I didn't want to. I turned around to face him. Half of me wanted to jump on him and rip out his throat right there. But the sane part of me held me back from doing it. The more I looked into his eyes the more pain and guilt I saw within them.

"I know..... I'm a monster." He said as I broke the eye contact.

"You had your own reasons." I heard myself say.

Why am I making him feel better? I thought. It was because his actions that Ogum had to suffer all his life. Loosing his memories, being unable to live his life happily, all those were partly Hoon's fault. But I didn't want him to suffer because of that, all his life.

"My reason was greed." He said, burying his head in his hands.

"I deserve no happiness. My greed only brought me sorrow. Being an emperor isn't as good as I thought." He muttered into his hands.

Before I could stop myself, I felt myself walk over to him. I placed my hands on his wrists and pulled them away from his face gently. I motioned him to sit on the ground beside me and he did.
"I know, what you did is wrong. But that doesn't mean that you should pay for it for the rest of your life." I said, fidgeting with my fingers.

He didn't answer me but kept staring, so I continued.

"Ogum never thinks of you badly. He always praises you and wishes you the best. So, don't be so hard on yourself." I said, picking up my words very carefully.

".... I guess." He said, after giving it a thought.

"It must have been hard..... keeping all that to yourself. But Hoon, why did you decide to tell me about it?" I asked out of the blue.

"I wanted someone to see me more than a perfect prince." He said shrugging.

"Well first of all, I never thought you were perfect, but I'm glad you told me." I said, gently elbowing him in the stomach, trying to lift the mood.

I chuckled as he snorted and we both smiled with each other.

"Well, I think.... Ogum deserves the truth as well, don't you think so?" I asked as he got up and gave me his hand.

"That will be the first thing I'll do, as soon as we find him and I get the chance." He promised as we walked over to the horse.

We mounted the horse and jogged through the forest, continuing the search. I held the back of his coat tightly, making sure that I will not fall.

"I have a huge hunch that Jae might have something to do with this." Hoon said, breaking the silence.

I nodded in agreement as we continued to go deeper into the forest.

"Umm... Hoon, I forgot to ask but what was Jae going to achieve by... killing Ogum?" I hesitated as I formed the question.

"He said Ogum had something that belonged to him." He said, shrugging.

"What do you think that is?" I asked him.

"Well, Jae isn't a man who had much money, so it can't be that. As far as he had no properties, no treasures, nothing...." He said.

"Then might it be someone?" I asked curiously.

Suddenly, he fell silent for a moment as he pulled the reins, making the horse stop in with a loud 'neigh!'. I held his coat tightly go stop myself from tumbling over.