Futile Love

Chapter 72: Chapter 72

Strange enough, she felt uncomfortable whenever she met Dukwol face to face, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what made her feel that way.

Fortunately, she soon forgot about Dukwol because Ruhae, along with his wife Yomin, came forward to offer greetings to Prince Binsung and Heyjin.

“Congratulations, Princess Heyjin!”

“Your baby is so cute!”

Ruhae and Yomin congratulated Heyjin and Koryun from the bottom of their hearts.

While watching them, Kyosul’s heart sank once more.

It was an official place where all the members of the royal family got together. In that place, Kyousul had to stay beside Bipaan while Ruhae had to be with Yomin.

While he in the maternity center, Ruhae didn’t cast a glance at Kyosul, let alone give her casual greetings or a smile. Kyosul understood the situation, and she hoped Ruhae wouldn’t perform any unusual acts to draw their attention to his relationship with her.

Nonetheless, Kyosul felt heartbroken.

While sitting quietly, Kyosul turned her eyes from them. She wished this ceremony was over as soon as possible.

Members of the royal family congratulated Koryun one by one. It was a kind of ritual to prevent her misfortune in advance. When all the procedures were done, everybody was about to leave. Heyjin called Kyosul, “Could you stay a little longer?”

Turning to her, Bipaan nodded.

“Let me wait for you outside.”

“No, you can go back alone,” Kyosul replied.

Was it because of her lingering anger towards him? She refused Bipaan’s willingness to wait for her outside. Stunned by her refusal, Kyosul hastily made excuses by saying, “In fact, I’ve got something to talk with Princess Heyjin, so I’m afraid I’ll be here a bit longer.”

“Got it.”

Without uttering anything, he turned. It looked as if there was a cold wind blowing behind him when he quickly left the door.

After Bipaan left the maternity center, there were only Heyjin, Binsung, Koryun and Kyosul left.

“I hear you once tried to visit me before.”

“Ah, at that time I tried…”

When the incident took place at the North Place, Kyosul abruptly visited the North Palace to prove Ruhae’s innocence when he was singled out as the main culprit, but there was a tight security around the palace after the incident, so Kyousl was denied entry to the palace, and couldn’t see Heyjin.

“Are you fully recovered?”

“Yes, I am. All thanks to you, Crown Princess. Me and my baby are alright.”

In fact, Kyosul didn’t visit the palace out of concern about her and her baby, but she didn’t reveal it to her.

Because of her cold, Kyosul talked to her at a distance, so Heyjin waved at her to come nearer.

“But….”

“I’m alright. Crown Princess, my baby is pretty healthy.”

Heyjin’s confidence voice reassured her, so she came near to Heyjin. Heyjin handed Koryun to her, saying “Please hold her. On this happy day I hope Crown Princess, my only friend in the palace, can hold my baby.”

With a mysterious smile Heyjin pressed her to hold Koryun.

“In the Mok Kingdom there is a traditional custom that all the royal family members congratulate the mother and give a name to the baby, but in my motherland, the Jinsung Kingdom, customarily one’s best friend congratulates the mother as the godfather as well as the godmother. As the godmother, I hope you can hold my baby, Crown Princess!”

“If you describe to me how to hold your baby?”

As if she were on the spot, she narrowed her eye. With a bright smile, however, Heyjin handed Koryun to her again. After some hesitation, Kyosul cautiously received her.

Her heart trembled when she received the baby for the first time. She looked at Koryun at a distance. Now that she wrapped Koryun in her arms, she felt differently.

“How cute she is…”

As if she were tired, Koryun closed her eyes and wiggled her little lips, snuggling into her breasts. Looking at Koryun doing so, she smiled naturally.

“I really envy you, Prince Heyjin!”

In fact, Kyosul murmured it to herself, but Heyjin already heard it.

“Why are you worried about? You’re going to get a baby soon when you’re pregnant.”

Kyosul suddenly freaked out at that. She felt awkward while holding Koryun in her arms now. Her eyes trembled. After all, she shook her head slowly.

“I don’t think I can give birth to a baby,” she said in a low and depressed voice.

Baby?

Actually, Kyosul thought about it before. When she realized that she was going to get married to Bipaan for political purposes, she vaguely imagined it.

But she was convinced by now that she would never have his baby.

“Crown Princess, my wife’s prediction is always correct. Right, honey?”

Standing quietly next to Heyjin, Binsung said in a low voice.

When he looked at Heyjin, she nodded with a blush.

“My wife has a good insight. She knows about pretty much everything. Like she said, I think you will soon get pregnant.”

“Are you sure?”

Kyosul had no choice but to nod at Binsung’s conclusive prediction. If she answered in the negative, that would really make her look weird and strange to him. Anyway, as she was Bipaan’s official wife, it was natural that someday she would get pregnant and deliver a baby. In fact, Binsung’s words were pleasantries at best. Despite that, Kyosul felt heartbroken. She couldn’t laugh it away.

“I’m convinced that you will deliver a baby that takes after you who is kind and good-hearted.”

Kyosul looked at Heyjin. Her blue eyes were sparkling mysteriously.

***

There was a big banquet held in the imperial palace not long after they celebrated Heyjin’s baby in the North Palace to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor’s second wife, Su.

On the occasion of her birthday, Kyosul was busy prettying herself up for the second time since she arrived in the Mok Kingdom. The most colorful day was her wedding day. When she thought as far as that, she cast a glance at the wall where Biapan’s wedding dress used to hang.

The wall was empty now. Only a vague mark where Bipaan’s wedding dress used to hangreminded Kyosul of her lingering image of that dress.

“Your Highness, you can get there on time if you leave now.”

When her nanny pressed, Kyosul turned her head with a smile. Her big wig was fitted with two ornamental butterfly hairpins in on either sides and one stamen-shaped hairpin in the middle. She also put on several small ornamental hairpins studded with jewelry as well as a leaf-shaped hairpin under the wig.

She wore her hair in a bun with a golden phoenix hairpin embellished with red gems. To match her long earrings with five nail-sized blue gems she put on a necklace studded with big yellow jewels.

A simple ring with a blue jewel gleamed on her hand. Dressed in gold and blue silk, she could look cold because she relied on blue color a lot for her decoration today, but her bright smile gave her bright and clean impression stand out instead of her cold one.

Accompanied by her nanny and court ladies, Kyosul left her residence in the Dongbi Palace.

The banquet was held in the banquet hall of the Central Palace. Arriving at the hall, she bumped into Bipaan. In fact, he was waiting for her there.

“Long Live the Crown Prince! I’m honored to see you.”

Kyosul and her court ladies offered greetings in unison. When the court ladies, who sat on their knees, raised themselves, he approached Kyosul and stood next to her.

Bipaan’s court ladies who stood in a row behind him came to stand side by side with her court ladies now.

Without looking at Kyosul, he spoke in a low voice, looking ahead.

“As you and I were married not long time ago, I guess we had better enter the banquet hall together in an amicable mood. Don’t you think so?”

Having said that, he could have smiled, but his face was just blank as ever.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kyosul gently lowered herself to bow to him.

Recently she met Bipaan often. She met him at the naming ceremony for Koryun, and today at the banquet hall. Without this kind of official ceremony, he would never come and see her. Their recent meetings convinced her of that. The only thing he expected her to do was to carry out her official duty as the Crown Princess.

Accordingly, she had no more intention or willingness to win over his heart. Anyway, she had Ruhae as her lover. In that case, she felt she could only do her bit as his official wife, no more and no less. She vowed again she would do so.

Looking at her who replied gently, he reached out his hand.

She put her hand in his and they entered the banquet hall. They looked amicable in the eyes of other guests there.

There was a stairway on both sides of the courtyard neatly laid out with rocks in the middle.

As they went up the road, there were five tiers of different heights.