Shun's head rolled upside down. The first call of instinct that sailed across his mind was to inform the King right away. Sae Joo's condition must have been so serious that he chose to bypass all his immediate supervisors and dash to the wedding venue on his own. As soon as he made up his mind, he carried the Prince; then seconds later, the door almost crashed when his colleagues and the eunuch forcefully rushed in after hearing his scream.

"What happened?" a red dragon asked, his voice cracked out of panic.

Shun walked closer. Sae Joo's arms wrapped around his neck, his face tucked in the bodyguard's chest like they were a married couple. Faint moonlight from the right window glimmered his face and the intoxicated prince's damped robe. He revealed the Prince's face, and their worlds stopped all at once.

"Find the courtesans! They wouldn't have gotten that far yet. Some of you go to the palace and inform all our hwarangs and guards. I'll go to the wedding venue and tell them what happened... Move!"

For about ten seconds, the special force had arranged their new groups and jetted outside faster than the minute hand. Shun, with around three hwarangs and the eunuch, dashed to Jung Ho's house with a shocking revelation.

The Prime Minister's lawn vivified with bright lights from the yellow and red pumpkin-shaped lanterns. A small stage altar, sheltered with a brown tent from the faraway kingdom of Arabia, rested sacredly at the center. Two yellow mats, two red tables. Lady Seolji and her maidens formed a circle and summoned the deities of marriage for the final time. Female entertainers, in their balloon hoop skirts and big, pink, feathered fans danced in the courtyard, accompanied by the soft, windy, fairy-like melodies of the string, wind, and percussion ensemble. The visitors, mostly noblemen, sipped their red wines on their floor tables as the court ladies either refilled their cups or served them food.

Jae Joong and Jung Ho came out from the bride's room and strolled in the yard.

"It's almost time. Where is Sae Joo?" asked the King.

"He's probably on his way. The eunuch has fetched him already."

A guard announced from the gate, "Your Excellency, Nangdo Shun is here with the Prince."

Jung Ho's face brightened. He called Jin Ri's attendants and told them to inform her of the Prince's arrival, but reminded them never to let her out at all cost unless told so. The gates opened, and an unexpected sight barged in. Everyone stopped from their businesses, their eyes of various reactions upon seeing Shun carrying the unconscious groom whose face was covered with a pink bunny mask.

"What kind of disrespect is this?" Jae Joong hissed. "Is the Prince drunk?"

Without missing a beat, Shun brought down his baggage and brutally pushed him. A soft yelp and the alcohol kick seemed to have dried up.

"What do you think you're doing!" growled Jae Joong.

An unbelievable sight of what his son had become hours before his wedding. Regrets, regrets. He thought that he should not have permitted his son to enjoy the rest of the night. Too much freedom ruined not just his image, but of the whole palace.

"Untie his hands, or I'll cut your head off."

Before Shun could respond, the masked prince sprinted towards the gate like a patient who had escaped a mental asylum. Good thing, the guards and the hwarangs were agile enough to catch him. Shun grabbed his arm, dragged him back, and pinned him to the ground.

Jung Ho frowned. The strange scenario awakened his god-speed intuition. No proof yet, so his question was a bit restrained. "I understand that he might be wasted as of the moment, but let me remind you that what you're doing is a big act of treason." He chided, "Unless there is something that needs to be disclosed. Would you mind telling us?"

"I'd apologize for my negligence as the Prince's special security, but please do hear me out. Your Majesty, Your Excellency, look what the Prince has done."

The half-brothers glanced at each other, confused. Then they heard the Prince sobbed as he wriggled his body, desperately trying to escape. Jae Joong could not explain the sudden race of his heartbeat. The King did not expect Sae Joo to act like a wild animal because the Prince had agreed with the whole marriage setup. From choosing the bride, the date, the program, and all the details. Although it was an undeniable fact that Jin Ri would be on the last list of ladies whom he wanted to marry, still, the Prince's behavior was utterly outlandish. Either the spirits of fine liquor had taken his entire body, dooming his will to continue the marriage or worse—his head smacked down the pavement and realized that everything he did and would do for the sake of not upsetting the deities, in the purpose of proving himself again and again to please everyone, were pure labor of insanity.

Jung Ho perused the hysterical bunny, from the golden topknot down the black boots. He squinted, prowled closer, and abruptly pulled the mask. As fast as the frenetic winds of the night, the portals of the underworld opened wide as they witnessed the alarming scandal the Prince had organized. Jae Joong's face drained in color, his knuckles balled in. Then he confirmed. Yes, it was the second.

The 'he' was replaced with 'she.' An unknown young woman, face as pale as a ghoul was the feral beast behind the tame, cultured rabbit. The Prince's outfit perfectly fitted her height and body, the same as his. Catching the attention of all visitors and palace officials inside, she transformed into a puppy, groveled before the King, and repeatedly licked his boots. "Spare me, Your Majesty! Spare me, please!"

Jae Joong bit his shuddering lip, eyes anchored with anger. At the glimpse of the impostor, he began stitching the runs of the story. But like any other treasure hunt, clues and directions needed to be as clear as glass to reach their most-awaited prize. He tried to be as calm as the white smoke from a cloud of volcanic ashes. A considerable brisk portion of benevolence before the deadly surge of the wrathful waves.

The King discharged a slow breath, hands tightly gripped on her face as he peered. "I shall downgrade your punishment if you would tell me everything that had happened." He shoved her face away, disgusted from the filth of deceit.

She rubbed her palms and looked up as tears flowed from her frantic-red eyes. "Don't kill me, Your Majesty. Please..."

"How did you end up like that?"

"I-I don't remember, clearly, Your Majesty."

Jung Ho butted in, "The influence of alcohol lingers inside her, Your Majesty. We should focus our attention on finding the Prince, which I should reiterate, is the responsibility of his security team." He threw a blistering glare at Shun. Then his arm flung upward and landed a strike on the bodyguard's face.

"Imbecile." The Prime Minister's gruff taunt seeped through the nangdo's bones, crushing his dignity..

Shun cowered, succumbing to the physical and psychological pain that he just earned.

It started when Sae Joo first tricked everyone with his act of vulnerability and toxic fragility. The misdirection of the hwarang force and the council members, even the heavenly King, regarding the cryptic letters and clues about this particular Sae Yoo, had birthed the term Myeongsong Valley Incident Reprise. They had despised that place even more since then to the point that Jae Joong had banned everyone from visiting there.

Shun had understood that the Prince was doubtful and wary of the elder's intention of helping him figure out the puzzle of his missing identity. He had to beguile them so he could confront the letter sender. Disappointed at first, but he realized that it could have been the right thing to do since that risky, yet noble decision had led to a series of chain reactions that had unlocked one big secret: Sae Yoo's identity and important role in Sae Joo's life were revealed. Check. Passed. Forgiven.

But this... This unexpected and illogical action of the Prince was two steps away from reasonable considerations. Shun thought everything was already settled—that Sae Joo pledged to move on, renew and reassess his goals, and continue making every aspect of his personality better. But that seemed as a dreadfully obese lie, and the worse thing was—nobody could explain why this happened until the fugitive himself decided to return willingly.

Jung Ho pulled Shun's sword from its scabbard and pointed its sharp blade right on his neck. "If your answer to my next question is nowhere near to what I would answer, I'll slip this weapon quick to your throat. Understand?"

Shun looked away as he nodded.

"I want you to look straight into my eyes," ordered Jung Ho. "You're the first one who saw everything that had happened. The one who realized that the Prince was gone. What did you do to address the problem and why have you decided to come here and inform us instead of doing what should be primarily done?"

Shun stared at the glistening, blood-thirsty iron on top of his shoulder and answered the life-threatening question with full confidence. "As of this moment, the palace is surely in full alert. No one would even dare to be complacent by the time the news comes rolling in. Every court official, palace lady, attendant, or even the lowest of all cleaners exercise their vigilance, I suppose. Tell everyone that the Prince is missing, passing the responsibility to search through the gates, rummage the woods, scour each chamber of the palace, and bring the Prince back. Some of my reputable comrades are currently on their hunt for the money-hungry courtesans whom I think were deeply involved. Either they plotted it with the Prince or they have abducted him and exploited his susceptibility for their own gain. Amid this chaos, an efficient and low-profile investigation should be of huge regard. Notify palace officials to keep their search as private as possible to protect not only the reputation of the Prince, but of the Royal Family, which leads me and my chosen mates to a very difficult position of informing you, our wise prime minister, and ask you for your highly-appreciated advice. An honor to mere nangdos like us."

Jung Ho scoffed; warm steam of teaseful breaths belched out of his nose. He retracted the sword and sheathed it back to where it belonged. Then he showed his signature devious grin. "Hmm, passable. But if I were to ask you again, what are the chances that you'll find the Prince this time? If the Prince organized this, then this would be his third escape." He looked behind and smirked at Jae Joong. "I don't think the council members could ever be more lenient on this matter. Isn't that right, Your Majesty?"

Shun interrupted. Underneath the darkest chunks of suspicion in his, a feeble light of trust for Sae Joo gleamed. "I'm afraid I can't answer that. Perhaps, a thorough investigation could give us rough estimates. If I were to suggest, we should ask that woman first because she might have known what had happened."

The King's brows crunched, riding the discreet taunt of his brother. "I agree with the nangdo. Why don't we ask her first because jumping into our theories? The least thing we can do is to find all angles, while our hwarangs do their jobs." He scowled at the trembling woman and asked, "Tell us the truth. What happened in that filthy den with the Prince? Now let me warn you. If we ever found out that you lied to us, your head would be the price. Do you understand?"

Her stiff fingers began twiddling. Eyelashes flickered. "Ye-ye-yes, Your Majesty. I wouldn't dare tell lies." She pummeled her head, trying to recapture all the events that she could remember while all eyes were on her. One simple twist of words and the bomb would explode right in her face. Definitely, the most scalding seat for any commoner.

"It was a fun, regular night. Like we always do when our clients hire us. We drank, we laughed, played games, and had fun. I must have been too drunk, Your Majesty. Last thing I remembered I was trying to scoop another drink for the Prince. Then, when I woke up, I was here."

Jung Ho paced around the harlot and scrutinized her, hoping he could find some clues on her body, clothes, even on her hair. Nothing. She was clean, and so the lethal concern was raised. "None of your statements could ever pinpoint how the Prince disappeared. Are you sure you're not leaving any detail behind? I know your type. You don't wish to get caught lying so you filter the information you tell us. But I do tell you, you're getting yourself in a hurry to face your death.

Her head juddered like a malfunctioning robot, left and right. "No, no. Your Excellency. That's all I know. Please believe me. I-I-I don't know anything!"

"Alright. Hush now, kid. Take it easy." He stroked her head. Confounded by the Prime Minister's escalation to the conclusion, the King demanded an explanation. "W-wa-wait. Could you even explain to us why you believe in her statements right away? How could you be so certain? What if she was lying? What if the Prince was abducted, contrary to your inference that he plotted all of these?"

"That's not what I meant, Sire. I simply believed that she had nothing to do with the Prince's disappearance. I didn't say nor intend to imply that the Prince was behind all of these. It could have been their mistress, for all we know. But don't think this is a bit sketchy, Your Majesty?"

"What do you mean?"

"This whole masquerade pre-wedding party. This was the first time that it happened in the history of Silla. Usually, the party happens after the wedding—and it was always intimate. The only reason why we allowed this was because the wedding date, chosen by the Prince, coincides with the art week. And of course, our desire to adapt to modernity, thinking that as long as we don't break any law about the wedding ceremony per se, at least we could be open. I mean, we thought that this party would cause no harm and that we're doing this to please and give in to the Prince's request since we're deeply concerned with his stand about this marriage."

The straightforward assertion befuddled Jae Joong, his boots nailed into the stone yard. He could not defy some of Jung Ho's good points. It clobbered his thoughts in any way whatsoever, but he would not decisively cave into that theory unless there was hard proof. So he came up with one sound decision. "Let's refrain from deducing different hypotheses. We can only solve this problem if we found the Prince."

"I certainly agree to that, Sire. I hope that we could find him and make him accountable for the damage that he has done. I'm just truly afraid that if this comes out to the public, they might spurn our dear prince. You know what these people are like, they evade what they can't understand."

"I need to get back to the palace. I want progress reports. Prime Minister, stay here. Inform everyone that we could not push through with the wedding. It's past midnight anyway. We've lost the blessing of the deities."

"I'll handle the guests, Your Majesty." Jung Ho bowed his head, and everyone cleared the way as the King strode to the gates. When the ruler was out of sight, the Prime Minister ordered Shun another special risky mission. "I trust you, Nangdo Shun. Your skills and your judgment towards this urgent matter. I commend you for doing such emergency measures. Now suppose my theory is correct, you need to start looking for clues of his tracks. The courtesans are our only hope. If we found who they are, where they are, we could solve the mystery faster."

"You're certainly right, Your Excellency."

"I was always right about you. We share the same ideologies, and for that I am quite impressed. It's a shame that you were born in the wrong class, isn't it?"

"You honor me, My Lord. But I refuse to believe so. I am proud of my roots. I am proud of my father."

Jung Ho's eyes sparked with interest. "Ah, say, I guess of all the hwarangs, it's your family whom I have no knowledge with. I am aware that your father is not noble, but I haven't met him."

"I don't think that's necessary, Your Excellency."

"It actually is, and eventually, it will be." Jung Ho smirked. "Now, leave, kid. Do your duty, and I shall complete mine." 

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