CHAPTER 23: Something Fishy About This

What was he doing here? I’d wonder about that later. I bounded to him.

“Daddy!” Every ounce of my being wanted him to avenge me. I was truly terrified—this wasn’t an affection. (T/n: reaaally? Or is Sang-Hee turning into a tsundere :>)

I clung to his leg. He looked down on me with his aloof gaze. Can’t you at least summon up some outrage? Your daughter almost fell victim to a violent crime in broad daylight—in a musuem! Alas, he remained completely placid.

The old blob frowned and said, “Who do you think you are?”

“I’m her Dad,” Scumabag said smoothly.

In a flash, several dozen knights, the elite corps of the Goryeo Kingdom,appeared, and I trembled with shock. The king’s private guards called the Special Knights, were specially trained for hand to hand combat rather than grand-scale warfate. They were most skilled in infiltration, camouflage, and assassination. That was the extent of my knowledge. I knew they were the 1st battalion of THE Goryeo Kingdom Special Knights.

“Oh…I should have mentioned this sooner, but I’m also the King.”  (A/n: lololol, its like being a king is an afterthought xD)

“Wha…”

“These knights are under my direct command. So don’t even think of moving a muscle. They’ll do anything I ask you know?” Scumbag scratched his head then. He looked scruffy because he had on actual clothes. I wanted to scold him to put on a tie. Then I thought, There’s something fishy about this. It was undoubtedly the King. Still, dozens of the Special Knights did not materialize unless the situation warranted it. Their presence itself was significant. The King looked bored, as if he was ignorant of the magnitude of their presence, he looked as if he just happened to have been interrupted during a stroll around the neighborhood.

“Bring the museum director.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Someone departed and arrived again with the musuem director.

He asked, “Who owns this museum?”

“A friend and I own it.”

“I’d like to buy it.”

“What?”

“Not the scrolls, the building. I’ll offer you double the market price.”

Making the director dumbfounded by the offer.

Twice the market price? Father, yu want to be a real estate investor now?

The King approached the man. Grabbing the man’s head, the King tapped his own head with the man’s hand.

He then said unenthusiastically as if reading a script, “All of you are witnesses. This man has made an assasination attempt against this King! Immediately suspend the circulation of cultural artifacts here. I now declare this a prison, and you are hereby sentenced.”

“There was an acknowledged need to expand the prisons anyway, and this musuem is in a great location.”

“It is large enough and has good security. But there’s  the problem of a budget.”

“I guess His Majesty will personally bear the expense.”

It was irrational that a King would personally pay with his own pocket to build a prison rather than using the public funds. There was no compelling reason that even a benevolent King would need to pay any money at all.

The King said, “Saiy its a tax”

Alex nodded, as if this all made perfect sense.

“From today, this building will be rebuilt as a prison. This man will be the first prisoner.”

This was all a ruse. Nobody would attempt to assassinate the King in the presence of the Special Knights.

“So will you sell it or not?”

“I’ll sell it.”

The museum director was attempting to suppress his elation. He had just struck it rich. The museum was in an inconvenient location, far from the city. Furthermore, the maintenance cost for the huge building was astronomical. The museum director had just struck gold while the King had blown a huge sum.

He’s no fool, so why would he do this? (T/n: oh he’s just a passing-by King, looking homey with his slippers, he definitely didn’t rush from the palace to see his beloved daughter only to see a pedo touching her, thus he just didn’t give any f*cks and now that guy is arrested for ‘attempt murder’ to the king)

*****

A few minutes, earlier, the third-born prince, Hwan-Seong, had gone speechless. Someone else, whose magical abilities overpowered his, had wrested control of the ragdoll with a competing spell. Gitae was speechless as well. The King had arrived.

“Father. Do you want to play a fetch too?”

It hit Hwan-Seong, “My Mutt is in danger!”

“Wait here.”

After the King left, Hwan-Seong wondered aloud, “What’s going on?”

Gitae’s world was being overturned. It was unheard of for a prince to worry that a princess was in danger. Each surprise was greater than the next as he accompanied the prince and the princess.

The King ordered, “You two stay here.”

“What is father doing?” Hwan-Seong asked.

Alex explained, “He’s planning to make a dramatic entrance.”

He’s playing the role of a here rescuing the damsel in distress. He decided not to say this aloud though.

The scholars nodded, “He’s using this as an excuse to turn this place into a prison.”

“Yes, now an assassination attempt has been made on the King, he has a justification for taking the property he’s had an eye on for a while now.”

The King had staged a threat on his expendable daughter deliberately to turn the museum into a prison.

“It’s very likely taht the King will personally fund the budget for it.”

“The King is truly benevolent.”

Alex laughed wryly, however benevolent he was, this was all a ruse. He was well aware that he did not have to be physically present to establish a prison. Without even bothering to change, he had rushed to the scene upon hearing that Princess Sang-Hee could read the ancient script. If a King made an excursion, it was typically planned several days in advance, with security detail.

But he had rushed to the scene accompanied only by the Special Knights. What could be the fuss? It was if they were launching an invasion. An outsider might have mistaken this as a guerilla warfare. Alex snickered.

He must have wanted to see Princess Sang-Hee pretty badly even though he isn’t even aware of this himself. Alex snickered again at the thought.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Oh, I’m smiling because I am so honored by His Majesty’s grace.”

The King, who had not bothered to dress his usual King’s unifrom, looked adorably scruffy making Alex suppressed the smile growing on his lips. And it occured to him that the King must have decided instantly to buy the musuem and turn it into a prison the moment he had the run-in with the blob of a man who had threatened Princess Sang-Hee. He must have wanted to lock up the man right away. 

Nobody knew it them, but the King was in quite a frantic state of mind, which was why he had bought the museum at double the market price and even went so far as to fund the budget to build a prison.

****

Jinsu had an odd feeling. It was the force of immensely powerful magic. He had not felt magic of this force since the last time he’d seen the King. But there’s no way the King would be here. Who could it be?

He sped up, puzzling over this foreboding feeling. He feared some treasonous plot was afoot. Then he saw the King wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants but despite his careless dress, it was really the King. Princess Sang-Hee was clinging to his leg, whimpering.

“I’m so happy you’re here, Daddy! I don’t know whether I’m dreaming or not! This isn’t a dream, is it, Daddy?”

The King shook Sang-Hee off gently. This did not deter Sang-Hee who clutched his left leg, rubbing her cheek.

“I missed you so much these past three days! I’m so delighted to see you—I feel like I could fly.” The she stopped. “Do you dislike that I call you Daddy? I’m sorry. I was so surprised to suddenly see you that I forgot.”

Then, Sang-Hee caught sight of Jinsu. What? First the King’s Special Knights and then the foremost genius of the Kingdom, Jinsu. Sang-Hee was jolted by something else. What kind of place was this museum? He looked exactly like the Jinsu of her former life. Tears threatened to spill as the memory of her former life with her lover floodded her thoughts. She had never even told him she loved him! Unable to supress it, two tears made their way down her cheecks.

The King noticed Sang-Hee’s tears but said nothing.

Sang-Hee immediately smoothed out her clothes and walked towards Jinsu. Her hand on her chest, she bowed to her bethrothed. “How do you do? It’s been a long time.”

Completely ignoring her, Jinsu strode over to the King and bowed to him in observation of the standard etiquette.

“I’m so pleased to see Your Majesty at long last.”

“If I can be of service to the Kingdom, I am happy to be of service.”

There was a peculiar tension between the two.

Jinsu and Scumbag. The question hanging in the balance, “What possible reason could the King have for a sudden visit to a musuem?”

The King liked to make grand destures. I had witnessed a criminal’s apprehension and the conversion of a musuem into a prison in a matter of minutes.

I picked up the ragdoll and then realized it wasn’t Hwan-Seong’s. It looked much fancier and more expensive. You might be wondering how expensive a ragdoll could be. I do not know either. It must have been quite a pricey item., though. Alex went on and on about it later, remarking on the craftsmanship of the doll. The two most important men in my life were before me: my father and my fiancè

IT LOOKS SUPER CUTE. DAMN I WANT ONE!!! XD

“Your Majesty, you should certainly take it.”

“No, aren’t you her bethrothed? You should.

This game of fetch has turned dark. What on earth had possessed Scumbag to throw that fancy ragdoll and order me to give it to one of them? I was now caught in the middle. Tension grew thick as each insisted for the other to take the doll. I felt like they were making me choose between two parents in a divorce. And I was only nine, caught in this delicate dance.

To whom should I give this doll? Maybe, I should do eenie-meenie-miney-mo. To them, this was a game, but for me this is a matter of life and death and I was on edge.

“Give the doll to His Majesty, the King,” said Jinsu formally, aware of the King’s presence.

“No, to your fiancé”

The time it took me to walk to them felt interminable. I was debating whom to give it to several times, my head was spinning while thinking the correct way. In a matter of seconds various simulations runs through my head.

As I approached, the two of them, who both loomed over me, seemed to be boring holes into fancy ragdoll with their eyes.

Whom do you prefer, Mom or Dad? Whom do you prefer, Dad or your Fiancé

Sang-Hee looks super cute~ pink and frilly 

***

Gihyeon was trudging along. He couldn’t believe he’d really been shoved out onto the frerway.

The sedan was run on magic. Its speed was slowed down with a greater number of passengers. Each passenger amounted to a difference of 1 or 2 seconds after several kilometers. And he’d thrown him out to save a coule seconds!

“That dirty bastard! I won’t forget this!”

He couldn’t understand him at all. Jinsu had only met the princess once for that matter—when she was four. He was acting strangely about someone he had not seen in five years. Is there something special about her I don’t know about?

He kept walking.

I need to go see that little girl. There must be something different about her, or he wouldn’t have fallen for a nine-year-old he’s only met once when she was four.

At the exact moment, this  nine-year-old was handing someone a ragdoll. She was screaming on the inside. Why are these two even here?

I need to think, What’s the best way to handle this?