Hoya POV

I was shocked to find Daeun holding onto the ledge of the pond. Thankfully I found her in time.

As I was picking her up, I saw a jade norigae fall from her hand. My Euneuch Woohyun, who had finally caught up with me, picked it up and was shocked "Jeonha!"

He showed it to me and I was shocked as well. "We don't have time to worry about that right now. Call for the royal doctor immediately" I said and carried her to my chambers.

The doctor came and examined her thoroughly, then said "She will be fine. She just needs to rest."

As he left, Dongwoo came running in. "Hoya! Where is she?"

He looked down and was relieved to find Daeun sleeping peacefully. "The doctor said she will be fine, she just needs rest" I smiled.

"Thank Goodness!" he sighed heavily in relief. "I don't know what I would have done if I had lost her too."

Dongwoo lost his wife a few years after she gave birth to Daeun. This only made him dote on her more. I was a bit envious of their relationship. I had always wanted to have a close family like he did, but being the King has many responsibilities that make it difficult to spend time with my family.

"Jeonha" Woohyun called from just beyond the door.

I had sent him to look into the norigae we found in her possession. "What did you find out?"

"They have not been moved, Jeonha. In fact, the staff at the museum said that the young lady did not even visit them today."

"Thank you, that will be all." I waved him off, but my thoughts were still on the norigae in my hand.

"What's wrong?" Dongwoo suddenly asked.

"Nothing" I tried to force a smile.

"Hoya, you know you can't lie to me" Dongwoo smiled. "Tell me what is troubling you."

I handed him the norigae and said "When I found your daughter, this was in her possession."

"This doesn't belong to her" he said as he examined it. "Do you know who this belongs to?"

"Yes, that is why I was worried."

"Why would you be worried? We just have to return it to them, right?" he replied as he handed it back to me.

"If only it were that easy."

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me what is going on!"

Suddenly, Daeun began to stir and moan as she woke up.

Daeun POV

I was very tired from what had happened to me today, but I could hear my father screaming. Is he worried about me?

As much as I would have liked to sleep more, I didn't want my father to be too worried. I decided that I would force myself to wake up, if only to ease his mind.

After stretching and yawning a bit, I smiled up at my father and was immediately shocked when I saw the King next to him. I tried to get up to greet him properly, but he held out his hand and said "Do not worry, child. Rest."

"Are you okay?" my father worriedly hovered over me.

"I'm fine Dad" I smiled. "Just a little tired."

My father breathed a sigh of relief "Thank goodness."

"If you don't mind me asking" the King looked at me.

"Yes Jeonha?"

"May I ask where you got this?" he asked as he held up the norigae that Sungyeol had given me.

I quickly sat upright and said "That was a gift!"

The King's eyes widened. "From who?" he continued to question.

I blushed a little remembering the encounter I had. "From a young boy named Sungyeol. Lee Sungyeol" I made sure to state his name properly. "He said that I should have it because I would be his bride" I blushed and smiled some more.

"I see" the King replied pensively. Then he smiled and said "Since it was a gift, you should take good care of it."

"I will, Jeonha" I smiled as he handed it back to me.

"You should rest a bit more before going home" the King said and then turned to my father. "The servants will take good care of her. Why don't we go have a little chat while she rests?"

My father nodded and they both stood up. "Get some rest for now, Daeun" my father spoke calmly. "I'll be back later to take you home. Don't try and overexert yourself like you usually do" he gave me a knowing smile.

"I won't" I pouted.

Then he gave me a kiss on my forehead and smiled before leaving with the King.

I laid back down and held the norigae close to me while I fell back to sleep.

Hoya POV

We left my chambers and took a walk like we usually did. Only today was different, because I had told the servants to stay with the child. I was concerned about her and the norigae she had, but I didn't know how to tell Dongwoo this.

"So, what's troubling you?" Dongwoo suddenly asked.

I sighed and said "The norigae your daughter has........."

"You mentioned that before. What is so important about it?"

I sighed "It belongs to one of my ancestors."

Dongwoo's eyes shot open as he screamed "What? Please forgive her! I'm sure she didn't mean to take it on purpose!"

I smiled "Don't worry Dongwoo, I've already had my servants check on it and it looks like the artifacts are still in their case at the museum. It doesn't look like she stole anything. But still......."

"What? What's bothering you?"

"The one she has is identical to the one on display."

"Maybe it is just a replica that someone had made to look like it?"

"I was thinking that too" I hesitated "but usually replicas don't look so perfect." I pondered a bit more before saying what was really troubling me "The most troublesome fact was her story."

"Her story? Why does that trouble you?"

"All the history books have but one picture of the jade norigaes that belonged to King Lee and Queen Jang. Not once has anyone been given permission to look at the back of them. This was one of the conditions the temple had made when we decided to put them up on display in the museum. It was a countermeasure so that people couldn't make replicas."

"What are you talking about?"

"Her norigae is an exact replica of the artifact."

"It sounds like the norigae she has is a real problem, so then why is her story so troublesome?"

I looked at Dongwoo and said "When we wanted to put them on display in our museum, the temple where they were originally kept refused to disclose any of the history behind them."

"Why?"

"To be more accurate, the temple refused to allow us to remove any of the records pertaining to them. They went so far as to show us the 'Royal Command' they had received from King Lee and Queen Jang" I sighed. "We demanded that if we could not remove the records, that we at least be able to examine them."

"And?"

"They said that I would be the only one allowed to look at them. And I would only be able to look at a brief section of the records that talked about how King Lee received the norigae from his father and when he gave it to Queen Jang. That's all I was allowed."

"Seriously?"

"After reading the brief section of the records, I understood why they didn't want too many people looking through them though. The contents were a bit shocking and rather unbelievable. It was as though someone had written a work of fiction rather than documenting the history of the Royal Court."

"Still...... Those are historical documents. They really should be kept in a better place in order to preserve them. Perhaps you could argue that to the temple in order to obtain them?"

I shook my head. "They actually have state of the art equipment at the temple. Apparently, the Royal Command they received came with a large donation to the temple too. The donation was only to be used to preserve the documents and artifacts that King Lee and Queen Jang entrusted to them. It's as though they knew that things like this were going to happen."

"Damn! Is there any way to outwit the Monks?"

"That isn't the issue Dongwoo" I sighed heavily. "I told you that I was the only one allowed to look at those documents, right?"

"Yeah" he nodded.

"Well, I've never told anyone what I had read."

"So?"

"I don't know how, but it seems as though your daughter knows what was written in the records. Or more precise to say, her story matches what is written in the records."