Prince Howon POV

"This is insane!" the ministers began shouting. "How dare they come here and threaten us!" "You mustn't agree to this, Your Majesty!"

"Father" I calmly said. "I will go."

"No! You can't!" he protested. "We can send your brother."

"She pointed at me, Father" I replied. "She will not accept someone else. I will go."

"Do you really understand what this means?"

"Yes, Father, I do."

"If you go," he sighed "you will be their prisoner. You won't be able to come back."

"I understand, Father" I smiled. "Honestly, I've been sick for so long that the pressure of being the Crown Prince was really burdensome. If she is willing to take me, despite my illness, and my marriage to her will benefit our people, I'm willing to go."

"Very well" my father sighed. "Then from this day forward, you are no longer the Crown Prince. Go and make the necessary preparations."

"Yes, Father" I bowed before leaving the banquet.

Prince Daeyeol POV

I couldn't believe that Howon would give up everything like this. Why?

"Daeyeol!" my father called me.

"Yes, Father?"

"Come here" he commanded.

I stood up and walked over to him.

"I hereby name you as my heir and Crown Prince."

"Father!" I dropped to my knees in shock. "I... I'm not worthy. Howon..."

"Do not mention his name!" my father shouted.

It was at this moment I realized that my father was truly hurt by what had happened. My brother had disappointed him.

I gathered all my courage and said "I am honored, Father. I will do my best for our people."

"Good" he sighed. "I'm no longer in the mood for festivities. You all may go" he commanded and the banquet came to an end.

Once we were dismissed, I ran after my brother. I have to figure out what is going on. I rushed to his chambers and found him packing. 

"So, you really are going to leave" I accused him and he smiled at me. How can he smile like that? Does he really know what he has done?

"Don't look so upset" he chuckled.

"Do you know how disappointed Father is right now?"

"He'll get over it" he said as he continued to pack.

I ran over to him and grabbed the books out of his hand and threw them to the floor. "Will you just stop!" I screamed at him.

He looked at me with tenderness and understanding, like he always did. He knew! He knew this was going to happen all along! How?

"Come" he called me back from my thoughts "have a seat."

He led me over to the table and poured me a cup of tea. I took a sip and tried to calm myself down. "How long have you been planning this?" I asked nervously.

He took a sip from his own cup and calmly replied "A little over four years."

I was shocked. I was finally putting all the pieces together. This all started with his first disappearance at the Busan Temple four years ago. Tears started to fall from my eyes "Why did you wait so long? If you were going to do this anyways, why didn't you just do it then?"

"I couldn't just leave you" he smiled. "Your my brother. I couldn't let those greedy ministers take advantage of you. I had to make sure that you would be safe."

"And that woman?" I choked. "Who is she?"

He smiled brightly. "Her name is Sohee."

"I guess you met her at the temple" I sighed dejectedly.

"Sohee is a gumiho who lives in the mountain by the temple. I met her four years ago when she saved my life."

I perked up a little. "She saved you? I thought gumihos killed people."

"It seems we never really understood them at all. The truth is, they are just like us. They live in a village like most people. They farm, hunt and gather food just like we do. They are just trying to live their lives peacefully, just like everyone else." He took another sip of tea before continuing. "I had run into the mountain path at the temple to escape from an assassin. The foxes helped me, but I got lost. I had just found Sohee's cottage when I collapsed and passed out. Sohee found me and nursed me back to health."

"She did?"

He chuckled "Yeah." He lowered his head a bit and sighed "I was in pretty rough shape back then. If she hadn't helped me, I would probably have died at that time."

Prince Howon POV

I could tell my brother was listening carefully to what I was saying. He truly wanted to know and understand what happened.

"For the past four years, every time I went to the temple, I would go visit her. She has been trying to help find a cure for my illness. Unfortunately, nothing we've tried has worked. The medicine does help make me feel better, but it won't last. We've had to adjust the medicine a couple of times so far, but eventually it will stop working altogether. Before that happens, I felt it would be best to leave. I don't want our Mother or Father to see me like I was before. I want them to remember me being healthy rather than sick."

I could tell he understood my intentions and sympathized with me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried. You didn't want to listen" I chuckled. I could tell he regretted not listening to me before. "I've done my best to prepare you for this." I stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder "You're going to have to handle the rest on your own." I gave him a couple of pats on the shoulder and then returned to packing.

"Can I come and visit you?" he asked anxiously.

I turned and smiled at him "Any time you want."