HRB 08

Chapter : 08

The Switched Wedding (3)

It was an authoritative shout from a commanding general ordering her to step back, but Jo-yeong did not shrink away. Instead, she snapped back angrily.

“I didn’t even know that item belonged to Her Highness the Princess!”

Yeon-ho let out a sigh.
At least she was shouting like this—she looked somewhat like a resolute princess.

In his letter, the Crown Prince had expressed his concerns in detail.

I swear I did not know that Hye-ok was deeply involved with Jeong Jae-in. It seems the Consort Hwa intends to spirit the princess away, so we must stop it first. Moreover, there are signs that assassins sent by the Empress plan to kill the princess and pin the crime on you. I will do what I can to stop it, but I fear I may already be too late. Be careful.

Had he known marriage would be this troublesome, he would never have agreed to it.

If the princess he was supposed to protect from the Empress was even running away, how was he meant to guard her?

More than anything, facing the fact that his own fiancée had fallen in love with another man and was trying to flee—it was a severe blow to his pride as a man.

The soldiers here were all his trusted men, so that was not a problem, but if this were ever to become known, his reputation would be ruined.

He had come this far, saved her life, and promised to escort her respectfully—yet she was still trying to escape him. Seeing this made his self-esteem plummet, as if he were some utterly worthless man.

Worse still, the princess seemed afraid of him.

He had merely shed blood to save her, yet she stared at him as if he were a monster. When he grew a little angry out of frustration, she even flinched and recoiled.

After saving her, he felt as though he were being treated like the villain.

Right. She was the princess offered up at the demon’s altar—the ruler of Bisang Fortress.

At last, Yeon-ho’s patience ran out.

“Setting aside such unbelievable coincidences, if you are not the princess, then reveal your identity. You still haven’t told us your name, nor whose household you belong to, nor whom you were on your way to marry.”

He spoke without giving her time to collect her thoughts.

Jo-yeong clenched her fists tightly.

She felt as though she were being dragged to a slaughterhouse on her way to Bisang Fortress.

After finally finding a chance to escape, it would be foolish to reveal her true identity and walk of her own accord to Ji Man-il.

I almost died just now. Even at the moment of death, there was one thing that comforted me—that I wouldn’t have to marry Ji Man-il. I’d rather die than ever go to him.

Having steeled her resolve, Jo-yeong’s mind began racing in an instant.

It was certain that the princess had passed through here, yet she had not entered Bisang Fortress. Then why was the princess’s jade token found in the water?

It wasn’t suicide. The princess didn’t disappear alone—the entire entourage vanished together. If it were an assassination, another assassin would have appeared to attack us. That means she never intended to enter Bisang Fortress in the first place. The princess has already gone far away from Bisang Fortress.

In other words, at least for the time being, there was a hopeful possibility that she could impersonate the princess without being exposed.

If I use the status of a princess, it’ll be easier to escape.

Her heart pounded as if it would burst.

The excitement of finding a way to live clashed violently with guilt and fear inside her.

Impersonating a princess was a grave crime worthy of execution, but at this moment, it didn’t seem beyond her.

Besides, the lord was the one who misunderstood first.

First, she would enter Bisang Fortress as the princess. Then, using that status, she would naturally find a way to leave.

After everything was over, she could seek out the lord and beg forgiveness—it wouldn’t be too late then.

Even if I die in the end, I can at least go to Biryong Mountain and take revenge on the Hajin Mountain siblings first. Rather than living miserably as Ji Man-il’s plaything, I should struggle till the end.

Meanwhile, Yeon-ho mistook her conflicted expression for indignation at having her identity exposed.

“Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness. I lost my composure out of anger at nearly failing to protect you. Please, come with me. Not for the Crown Prince or for me, but for your own sake—please marry me. A life spent constantly on the run is not a wise choice.”

At the man’s sudden politeness, Jo-yeong’s heart grew heavy again.

You are not someone whose identity would warrant such pleading. I’m sorry for deceiving you.

Having decided to conceal her identity, Jo-yeong apologized to him silently. Outwardly, however, she replied with a cold expression.

“I will go with you. But do not regret what you have done today.”

It was a meaningful warning, but Yeon-ho did not take it to heart.

“Escort Her Highness.”

At the command, the soldiers moved in perfect unison.

Ha Jo-yeong resented herself for not fainting at the sight of blood. If she had lost consciousness, it would have been less embarrassing.

The treatment she received as a princess was so lavish it made her uncomfortable. The soldiers cleaned the blood-stained carriage spotless and removed anything deemed impure that might hinder her path—

Corpses and pools of blood alike.

I’ve lived like a slave all my life. If I’m going to pretend to be a princess, it’ll already be awkward enough. If I don’t even carry myself confidently while being waited on, I’ll be exposed in no time. I need to think carefully. I’ve never seen a princess, but I can at least act like a young lady. Since they’re highborn, I should behave as if being served—like Jinhong-unni—were only natural.

Leaning back against the carriage, Jo-yeong let out a sigh and calmly steeled herself.

She didn’t know much about the imperial family or the court. How could she know all the fine details of etiquette, imperial elders, and ministers that a princess would naturally be familiar with?

All she had were fragments of stories overheard when the inner maids gathered to gossip, or rumors she’d picked up at the market during secret outings.

She would have to scrape together every last one of those memories to hold on, even if only for a short while, as a “princess.”

Once Hajin Mountain learned she had disappeared, they would surely chase after her along the road back to her family home.

So I only need to pretend to be a princess for a little while, until I can escape. First, enter Bisang Fortress. Then I’ll assess the situation and think step by step.

Thinking this way eased her tension and calmed her heart.

Her body slackened, and her eyelids grew heavy.

This isn’t the time to sleep peacefully…

She had been on her way to a marriage she hated more than death, nearly died senselessly by a blade, and now was being dragged along again because she was mistaken for a princess. Anyone would be exhausted after such fearsome, absurd events came crashing down all at once.

And only now did she finally feel the relief of having escaped the Ha family estate.

Jo-yeong decided to close her eyes for now. Perhaps when she woke up, a good idea would come to her with a clear mind.

The carriage raced on without rest.

In the jolting carriage, Jo-yeong fell into a deep sleep, hardly stirring. She didn’t want to wake up, because it felt as though everything might turn out to have been just a dream.

At least, this meant the situation was not a nightmare.

Mother.

Tears gathered at the corners of Jo-yeong’s eyes as she slept.

The hardships of her past unfolded within her dreams.

Princess Shin Hye-ok scattered tears along the road.

For a princess’s procession, it was a pitiful one. The carriage, the people, even the princess herself—rather than an imperial entourage, it looked more like a merchant caravan.

But that was not why the princess was crying.

She leaned her head against Jeong Jae-in, who was holding both her arms, and smiled as she wept.

Thanks to her mother’s arrangements, she had been able to meet Jeong Jae-in again and leave together with him. She was so grateful and so overwhelmingly happy that her heart felt ready to burst.

Yet at the same time, she felt deeply sorry toward the Crown Prince and the lord of Bisang Fortress, who would be put in a difficult position because of her.

Before meeting Jae-in again, contrary to the promise she had made her mother, she had resolved firmly that even if she ran into him, she would coldly push him away and head for Bisang Fortress.

But once she truly saw him again, Hye-ok’s resolve melted away like snow.

His gaunt, pitiful face, his faint smile when he saw her, the way he opened his arms to welcome her—she couldn’t possibly pass him by.

She ran into Jae-in’s embrace, and he held her as though he would never let her go again.

The princess stopped crying at the fork in the road where the paths to Bisang Fortress and Namgang Prefecture diverged.

Staring at the stream in a valley with a small waterfall, she threw away her identity token.

“Won’t you regret this?” Jae-in asked anxiously.

Hye-ok shook her head with a radiant smile.

“I feel as if my shackles have been removed. I feel free.”

The princess never imagined that those shackles would be placed upon someone else just days later. She leaned in first and kissed Jae-in.

It was a blissful, unrestrained kiss—not as a princess, but as the woman Shin Hye-ok.