Futile Love

Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Ruhae felt Prince Binsung and Heyjin’s warm affection for each other. Even though he couldn’t touch it, Ruhae felt as if he were burnt by the intense warmth of their love.

Kyosul was startled while trying to turn her eyes from Prince Binsung and Heyjin. Ruhae’s expression was the same as Binsung’s, filled with an ardent, blazing yearning.

She hunched her shoulders and looked down. Ruhae’s eyes intense gaze made her blush.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Kyousul worried about Binsung growing suspicious of their relationship.

Binsung continued, “I loved Heyjin at first sight. I begged my parents to allow me to marry her, and I finally succeeded in making her my official wife.”

He reminisced about his first meeting with Heyjin with great emotion. While hearing his story, Kyosul felt somewhat pressured. Binsung and Ruhae both met foreign women and fell in love with them.

“I think I am too sentimental. I just find myself conjuring up my wife’s face whatever topic I bring up, Brother Ruhae,” said Binsung, laughing heartily.

“I like that. I like the way you express your genuine feelings,” said Ruhae.

Kyosul glanced at Ruhae and found that his expression had changed. She felt relieved to notice it but sad at the same time. Was she mistaken in interpreting Ruhae’s ardent gaze?

In no time, Ruhae’s gaze changed back.

Yeah, he can’t reveal his feelings to others. He’s pretty good at concealing his expression.

She thought it was fortunate that Ruhae showed such control, but she felt bitter deep inside.

“Both of you look good, Prince Binsung. I envy you,” she said.

But she immediately regretted her last statement. Fortunately, Binsung only felt embarrassed at her comment, not knowing her hidden meaning, but Ruhae cast a strange glance at her while looking her in the face. His eyes were loaded with his feelings toward her. His eyes reminded her of the blue flower and blank slip he placed on the windowsill of her room every morning.

Kyosul clenched her fists, crumpling her skirt.

“By the way, why did you come here to see me with Prince Ruhae?”

As his elder brother, Ruhae answered first, “Binsung is my favorite brother.”

As soon as he said that, Binsung exclaimed, “Brother Ruhae!” and looked at him with a moved expression on his face. Binsung’s reaction was violent and genuine. Ruhae naturally stroked the back of his head as if they were very friendly to one another.

“These days Prince Ruhae has been helping me a lot. Today, I met him on my way here and asked him to accompany me to visit you, Crown Princess,” Binsung said.

“Oh, I see.”

Kyosul recalled the day when she bumped into Ruhae in the North Palace.

“Can I ask how he has been helping you, Prince Binsung?”

“Well, I want to name my baby, so I asked for his help.”

“Wow, it’s great if you can name your baby,” she said.

“I would like to give him a blessed name, so I’m thinking about it in many ways.”

When he thought of the baby in Heyjin’s womb, Binsung’s face was full of happiness. These days, Prince Binsung was the happiest man in the imperial palace.

Unable to overcome his excitement, Binsung continued, “Did you know? Prince Ruhae is really a smart man. Perhaps, he is the best scholar in the Mok Kingdom. I hear he could read letters before he turned five. He is not only well versed in learning but also in writing. Besides, he is so capable. Even though I find it hard to handle the industrial affairs assigned to me, he handles justice as well as educational and cultural affairs. Emperor Ohyulje really wants to maximize his talent and capabilities. Though he might feel tired because of his overwhelming workload, he’s really delivering a great service to the Mok Kingdom, which is a blessing to the kingdom.”

“Oh, I see. I understand,” she responded, nodding quietly.

She knew all of that. Even before she knew his real identity, she heard lots of things about him while she was meeting with people in the outer palace.

It was hard for her to nod as if she heard it all for the first time.

“Even though he is so busy, Prince Ruhae was kind-hearted enough to accept my request. In fact, I’m grateful to him every day.”

“Oh, man. I’m flattered. That’s nothing special to speak of, Binsung.”

“I think you’re kind-hearted, too,” she said. “You came to inquire after when I was sick in bed the other day, and you came again today. I appreciate it very much.”

“You’re welcome, Crown Princess. The reason I’ve come here today is that I want to check your condition and ask you a favor.”

“Pardon? Ask me a favor?”

With an embarrassed look, Binsung nodded then spoke cautiously, “Yes, a favor. I enjoyed talking with you and Prince Ruhae so much that I almost forgot to ask you a favor. May I ask you a favor as you are much better now?”

“Well, I wasn’t as sick as you thought, but I’m fully recovered now…”

She found herself trying to look at Ruhae. She sensed he was staring at her, but she focused on Binsung and said, “I’m not sure if I can help you, but please feel free to ask me…”

“Could you keep my wife company?”

“Keep her company?”

“Yes. After you came to the North Palace to meet my wife, she talked to me about you often.”

“Oh, Princess Heyjin did so?”

Though she visited Heyjin recently, she didn’t talk much at that time. She just gave Heyjin a craft made in the Hwa Kingdom. She was curious about what Heyjin had to say about her.

As if he read Kyosul’s curiosity, Binsung added, “It looks like my wife felt a sense of kinship with you as you came from a foreign country like her. My wife is very sociable, so she wanted to mingle with the members of the royal family by attending tea parties as well as going to the back garden, but she often found herself confined to her residence in the North Palace. She found it hard to make friends with others in the palace.”

Binsung seemed sympathetic towards his wife because she couldn’t get comfortable in the palace.

“She asked me about Crown Princess Kyosul for the first time. She told me several times that you came to see her and praised your gift.”

“Oh my …”

Binsung moved one step back and lowered her head before her knees,

“Please keep her company as she has been confined to her room since she got pregnant.”

“Prince Binsung, please raise your head. You don’t have to bow.”

Embarrassed by his deep bowing, she held out her hand across the desk.

He only raised his head slightly to look at her, “If you say I don’t have to act like this, are you going to accept my request?”

She grinned before she knew, “In fact, I am also bored these days. So I also want your wife to be my new friend. Let me stop by the North Palace soon.”

Though she accepted his request, Binsung still had his head bowed as if he was not yet satisfied with her reply. Sensing his desperation, she repeated her promise, “Let me try to see her often.”

“Thank you!”

He lifted his head completely. Hearing his excited reply, she could feel his strong love of Heyjin

As he looked so cute and happy at that moment, Kyosul smiled at him. Her smile moved Ruhae and made him grin at him.

Kyosul and Ruhae caught each other’s gaze while grinning casually at him.

As if she were exposed to sparks, she hastily turned her eyes away. As she was also with Binsung, nobody could gossip about her encounter with Ruhae thoughtlessly, but she felt it was dangerous for her to catch his eye often.

After he was done asking her a favor, Binsung prepared to leave, and Ruhae also left with him. She could breathe comfortably only when she was left alone in her room.

“Never did I expect to see him like this!”

Though she was embarrassed to see Ruhae unexpectedly, she thought about him in a wistful mood. Besides, she was nervous when she was face to face with Binsung at the thought that she was hiding a secret from him.

“I thought this kind of thing would never happen. Even if it happens again, it probably won’t happen again for a long while.”

But her vague optimism was completely dashed on the first day when she visited the North Palace after Binsung saw her.

“Your Highness Crown Princess!”

Heyjin greeted Kyosul with a bright smile. She was leaning back on a cushioned mat when Kyosul came into her room.

“I heard from Prince Binsung that he asked you a favor. Thanks so much for coming to see me so quickly like this.”

“You’re welcome. Actually, I felt sorry as I came to see you so late.”

“How are you? I heard that you were sick in bed after you came to my place last time. I felt so sorry to hear that.”