Chapter 16. The Most Lowly and Noble One (6)
Crown Prince Namhyeon.
He was the only blood relative of King Nampyeong and the first in line to inherit the throne.
Ten years ago, while accompanying an envoy sent to a neighboring country, he had been attacked and disappeared.
After that, no one knew what had happened to him.
"Now that someone has finally recognized me, it finally feels like I've returned home."
Perhaps the passing of ten years felt meaningless to him.
Hyeon closed his eyes, filled with old regrets.
Seongha remained kneeling as he looked up at him.
He remembered Hyeon dressed in blue ceremonial robes, confidently walking before the civil and military officials.
Beneath his crown, his sharp face still carried traces of boyhood.
Not only had he possessed handsome features and an aura befitting royalty, but he had also mastered academics and was highly skilled in martial arts.
Everyone had once believed he would become an extraordinary ruler.
And yet, that same man now stood before Seongha with his hair loose and black clothes wrapped around his body, looking more like a wandering assassin.
Who had placed the crown prince—the most exalted man in the nation—in such danger?
And what had he endured during all those years?
How had he returned to Hui Kingdom as a lowly mercenary working for a merchant caravan?
To fall from the highest place all the way to the lowest...
Seongha couldn't even begin to imagine the hardships Hyeon had suffered.
Seongha bowed his head deeply.
"Your skill is as terrifying as ever. I couldn't even begin to measure the depth of your swordsmanship."
The moment their blades had crossed earlier, Seongha had felt it.
That arrogant, cold gaze.
That overwhelming swordplay.
And most of all...
The pride that had never disappeared, even after rolling through the mud of the mortal world.
After leaving Hui Kingdom and experiencing the wider world, Hyeon had become even stronger.
Hyeon helped Seongha to his feet.
"You're the same as ever too. You hate meaningless killing, and you hate getting dirty blood on your white clothes."
It seemed he still remembered the conversation they had once shared.
The sea breeze of Buwan Port swept across the roof of the inn where the two men stood.
With the cool sound of the waves filling the air, for a brief moment, it felt as though they had returned to their younger days.
On the day of a royal hunting competition, royal descendants and the children of noble families gathered on a mountain not far from the capital, Hongyang.
The hunting competition was one of Hui Kingdom's traditional events.
It provided entertainment for the nobility, while the hunted meat was distributed among the common people for a great feast.
Flags belonging to Hui Kingdom's major noble families were planted throughout various parts of the forest.
Beneath those flags, dead animals were piled up like small mountains.
The family or individual who hunted the most animals would receive a grand reward from the king.
Because of that, everyone competed fiercely.
Some hired large numbers of beaters, while others secretly laid traps.
Meanwhile, one boy had separated from the group and was standing alone deep inside the forest, aiming his bow.
Thwip.
His arrows struck meaningless targets with perfect accuracy.
A fruit pecked at by birds.
A small stone.
Anything he happened to choose.
A beautiful young nobleman stared expressionlessly toward the places where his arrows landed.
It was Seongha in his childhood.
His half-brother Seopjun was undoubtedly already obsessing over raising the prestige of the Jin family.
Seongha saw no reason to increase the number of pointless deaths with his own hands.
So he had already announced that he was withdrawing from the competition.
He had taken off the dark robe symbolizing the Jin family and was leisurely wandering through the forest.
[Are you Jin Seongha, eldest son of the Jin family...? You possess fairly useful skill. Why aren't you participating in the hunt?]
A low voice that had only recently passed through puberty reached him.
How long had the other person been watching?
Startled by the sudden presence, Seongha turned around warily.
Standing there was a boy taller and broader than most others his age.
He had pitch-black hair and eyes that gleamed like obsidian.
He wore clothing embroidered with gold patterns and carried a golden plaque bearing the royal seal.
There was no doubt about it.
He was Crown Prince Namhyeon.
Seongha had only ever seen the crown prince from a distance during royal processions or heard rumors about him circulating through the palace.
He had never imagined he would meet him alone, without attendants, in a place like this.
Seongha politely greeted him.
[I will soon be taking the examination to become a priest, so I am refraining from killing.]
[...]
[Besides, I dislike having my clothes stained with blood and pus. I also dislike meaningless and barbaric acts.]
Not only had he insulted an important royal event directly in front of the crown prince, he had done so without bending his upright posture in the slightest.
It was very much like Seongha.
It was a straightforward personality that Hyeon had never seen among the scheming palace officials and slippery ministers.
Amusement slowly curved the corners of Hyeon's lips.
[Then why is Your Highness refusing to hunt?]
Hyeon tilted his head and showed a leisurely, utterly confident expression.
[Refusing? Of course not. I'm on my way to hunt the most dangerous beast on this mountain.]
He made a quiet shh sound and pointed into the forest.
Through the grass, a wild boar could be seen limping along.
Its hind leg bore claw marks from something sharp, but fortunately, it had escaped death.
[It seems the old mountain lord has become possessed by madness. He's playing with weaker animals even though he has no intention of eating them.]
Disgust filled Hyeon's half-lowered eyes.
[He's the one disturbing the entire ecosystem of this mountain.]
At that moment, Seongha realized Hyeon's words were a metaphor.
He was criticizing his own father, King Nampyeong, who had abandoned the proper path of a ruler.
[What do you think? Won't you come with me?]
Hunting the mountain lord—a tiger—was no ordinary hunt.
Such a beast was practically a spiritual creature.
For boys who were only fifteen and thirteen, it was nothing short of reckless.
And Seongha was not someone who would easily get swept along by a young prince's whims.
[Forgive me for saying this, Your Highness, but I have no desire to involve myself with royalty in any way. If you intend to punish me for refusing, I will gladly accept—]
Before Seongha could finish, Hyeon cut in.
[Just as you, Jin Seongha, despise the Jin family, I despise the Nam family.]
Seongha recalled the rumors surrounding the crown prince.
There were stories that he had been publicly humiliated by officials during royal lectures.
There were also rumors that he had been thrown into the palace courtyard and forced to starve for an entire week as punishment.
Both Hyeon and Seongha were born to high status and possessed exceptional talent.
But perhaps because of that, they were constantly restrained and kept in check.
And both of them had been thoroughly neglected by their biological fathers.
In that sense...
The two boys were strangely similar.
In the end, the two of them began heading deeper into the forest in search of the mountain lord.
[If we want to kill it, we'll have to risk our lives.]
Even as Hyeon said those words, there was a joy in his expression that he couldn't hide.
He had been born with the desire to destroy things stronger than himself...
And then stand above them.
At dawn the next morning, the two boys returned.
Their fine silk clothes were drenched in blood.
Behind them, they dragged a massive stretcher carrying the corpse of a huge tiger.
And with that, the long-awaited hunting competition came to an end.
After that day, Seongha never met with the crown prince privately again.
Years later, when news arrived that the crown prince had disappeared, Seongha found it difficult to believe.
Someone like Crown Prince Namhyeon couldn't possibly have fallen so easily to those who wished to harm him.
When that belief shattered, Seongha had felt a strange sense of helplessness.
After all...
He could never forget Hyeon's brutal eyes as he drove a blade into the mountain lord's throat.
"I would like you to keep what you've discovered to yourself in front of others. It isn't time for me to reveal my identity yet."
The memories of the past disappeared as quickly as they had surfaced.
Once again, the two men stood facing each other as Hoyeon, captain of the Lang Merchant Caravan's mercenaries, and Jin Seongha, the highest-ranking priest of the Divine Law Hall.
"I will."
Countless questions surged through Seongha's mind.
Why had Crown Prince Namhyeon returned to Hui Kingdom?
To reclaim the throne?
To take revenge on those who had reduced him to such a miserable state?
After the crown prince disappeared and King Nampyeong failed to produce another heir, everyone had begun waiting for an opportunity to seize power.
And now, in the middle of all that...
The crown prince everyone believed to be dead had returned alive and well.
Seongha feared that Hui Kingdom was about to be swallowed by a violent storm.
"I wonder if blood is about to rain across the whole world."
"Probably. I'm planning to hunt the most dangerous beast in this kingdom, after all."
Hyeon deliberately reminded Seongha of what he had said during that long-ago hunting competition.
"But Priest Jin will probably reject my request again this time. If you had any intention of involving yourself in worldly affairs, you wouldn't have become a priest in the first place."
"Your Highness understands me well. Whether blood flows through the royal palace or whoever holds the royal seal is none of my concern. I simply intend to walk the path I've chosen."
"The path you've chosen..."
"..."
Hyeon's expression remained smiling, but his eyes stared at Seongha with absolute seriousness and determination.
"No matter what path you choose, you won't be able to avoid fighting. The darkness surrounding Hui Kingdom is drawing closer with every passing moment."
Perhaps this would require even greater determination than the day they decided to hunt the tiger.
Enemies surrounded them from every direction.
And unlike before...
Seongha now had someone he wanted to protect.
He did not avoid Hyeon's gaze.
Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
Perhaps having one card in his hand that the rest of Hui Kingdom knew nothing about wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Should I follow this young ruler's rhythm one more time?
Compose a song and dance along...
While pointing the sharp edge of my blade toward the enemy.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere on the upper floor of the inn had grown heavy.
The tense hostility that had once surrounded both sides had disappeared.
Now, only boring and uncomfortable waiting remained.
Cheongyeon stared endlessly out the window through which Seongha had disappeared.
Meanwhile, Bam tapped the edge of the table with her fingertips, trying to hide her anxiety.
"Young Lady, I'm back."
The moment she heard that familiar voice, Bam's eyes widened and she rushed forward.
For someone with her violent temper, she had already endured far more waiting than usual.
"Why did you take so long?"
Hyeon and Seongha returned to the inn side by side.
Considering they had disappeared after engaging in a fierce sword fight, the way they walked back together made it seem as though they had somehow reached an agreement.
"It took some time to arrange things so we could solve each other's troublesome problems."
The sight of the crown prince, dressed like a mercenary, soothing the merchant caravan's mistress as she scolded him...
Seongha, who knew his true identity, could only stare with an indescribable expression.
A short while later, Seongha spoke loudly enough for everyone present to hear.
"The Divine Law Hall has decided to grant the Lang Merchant Caravan exclusive trading rights and purchase all necessary goods from them. Please handle the matter carefully so the other merchant associations at Buwan Port do not become dissatisfied."
"..."
"In addition, on the day of the Fifteenth Festival, a place will be prepared for the Lang Merchant Caravan on the third-tier platform, granting you an opportunity to meet His Majesty the King."
It was certainly an unexpected decision.
But Cheongyeon and Manu let out relieved sighs, believing Seongha must have some plan in mind.
Who could have imagined that King Nampyeong and Crown Prince Namhyeon would reunite in such a manner?
Seongha murmured quietly to himself.
"A battle between an old tiger and a young black dragon..."
