I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

14 – Handan Excursion

I was lucky. He was so quick with his small body that he almost missed it.

Especially at the crossroads, if I had made the wrong choice, I would have been trudging back to the mansion by now.

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It was fortunate that the judgment was correct that he would have gone down the narrow road since he was small.

Anyway, I pondered over the meaning of the letters written by the girl, Jung.

“Jeongira…That’s a pretty name.”

It’s not an empty word, it’s really one of my favorite characters.

I often used the letter, which means correct, to correct my mind before doing calligraphy.

Simple five-stroke letters. As neat as its meaning, it did not lose its unique neatness no matter how many times it was repeated on any paper.

My words sound embarrassing. When we first met Ji-jeong, she said in a shrunken voice that was colorless for what she had shouted.

“It’s just a name given to me when I was born in the first month.”

“New Year’s Day. That’s what it means.”

By the way, if it was the first month, it was this month.

“So this month was your birthday?”

“…I don’t know. I heard it was the first month.”

Indeed. Because it was such a difficult era, it was only possible for those with a really high status to celebrate their birthday properly.

Rather, it was an era in which the day of death was honored more than the day of birth. It was like an era in which the way a person died had a greater influence on the evaluation of a person than how they lived.

‘Isn’t that not really different from the future?’

However, for me, who still has a stronger identity from my previous life, my birthday was an auspicious day to celebrate and commemorate.

“If I had known we would meet today, I would have brought you a birthday present.”

“Huh?”

Did my words sound strange? Jung opened his big eyes. Looking at it up close, I can see it properly. Although covered in dirty dust and thick soot, Jung was indeed a cute child.

Even though she was a child, her features were already evident. In particular, her sharp nose and slightly raised eyes exude her strong presence even though she has not been touched by management at all, making us look forward to her future.

If she was born in the 21st century, you could bet everything on the line that there would be a line of companies trying to model her as a kid.

“But I guess it’s a bit like the one I’m wearing now because I used it to give it away, right?”

I giggled as I saw Jeong blinking as if he still couldn’t keep up with my words.

When we first met, he glared at me so ferociously and shouted angrily. You knew how to look innocent like this.

After all, a child was a child. No matter how harsh the world may be, the innocence of a child will still remain.

“Let’s do this. The first month ends in five days, so we’ll meet here again in four days just before that. I’ll bring you a present at that time.”

“You want to meet again? With me?”

Jung couldn’t believe what I was saying.

She was more like a feeling that she couldn’t understand exactly why she was paying such a favorable attention to herself.

To be honest, I also had no intention of being friendly with that kid, Jung. The reason I was looking for Jung in the first place was because of curiosity.

She was drawn to that child’s mysterious golden eyes, and she wondered why she called me a traitor. So she just went looking for it.

But when I met Jung, I couldn’t think of those things anymore.

A girl curled up and curled up. The small clothes that did not fit the body were torn in places and did not even function properly.

No matter how deeply he bent down, his unhidden body was full of dark red and blue bruises.

It wasn’t a wound caused by a fall or bump.

Those were signs of assault.

Who was it? Who is it that carves malice to give pain to a small and fragile body that seems to have nowhere to hit?

Guards punishing street children? Whelps roaming the streets? Or the beggars who don’t want the territory they beg for to be taken away?

No. Not all.

No matter how poor he looks, the clothes Jeong is wearing are silk clothes. Basically, he was born with a noble status. Even if she is downgraded and downgraded to poverty, she never knows when and where she will return boasting of her connections.

It’s not like you can’t win with force, but it was absurdly stupid to use such ruthless violence. It would have been enough to just kick it out by force.

Then who would it be? There is only one.

The reason why he chose to go outside in the cold even though he was of noble status.

‘It must be domestic violence.’

Parental abuse.

The scars and bruises on Jung’s body are probably caused by his parents.

A child who was abandoned by parents who should have been on his side more than anyone else must have longed for someone to look at him while harboring an unconditional resentment towards the world.

The eyes of the boundary that looked towards me. However, a longing for favors peeked out between them. All of them were evidence representing Jung’s mind.

Realizing that, I couldn’t possibly ignore that child’s scars.

The humble sympathy I had hoped for from Pyeongwon-gun was controlling my mind this time.

Sympathy, pity, pity… Those feelings drive me.

When I saw the tragedies of child abuse and domestic violence on the news, I whispered in my heart that I was sorry and sad, saying, “If I had been by your side.”

Don’t turn away from that child.

‘And one more…….’

Before I could think, the hand that held me next to me and shook me changed my mindset.

“You’re asking! Answer me quickly! Is it real?”

At the same time as Jung begged for an answer, I heard a voice looking for me.

Now was the time to really go back.

I looked straight at Jeong and nodded my head.

“It’s true. I promise you. I’ll see you in four days, at this time, in this place, just like today.”

“…Yeah!”

Jeong shook her head following me, her transparent eyes filled with tears prettily.

“They’re looking for me. I’ll go.”

Kwok.

The hand holding the hem of my clothes that raised my body.

As if to tell me not to go, Jeong was holding the hem of my clothes so hard that her hands turned white.

I didn’t take that hand off. He just waited patiently, making eye contact with Jung.

Then, Jung slowly released the power from her hand and put my clothes on. She then pulled out her coat of my fur, which was draped over her own shoulder, and held it out to me.

“This. Take it.”

“…Okay.”

A grown-up child.

A child who grew up too early.

His uncharacteristically mature behavior made my heart ache more.

If I had acted like a child, I would have felt a little more comfortable.

I walked out of the alley wearing the returned fur coat.

Having parted with Jung like that, I move toward the sound anxiously searching for me.

As soon as Seok found me, he hurriedly ran over and knelt down in front of me to examine my body. After confirming that there were no injuries, Seok let out the breath he had been holding in and slammed his head into the ground.

“Please punish me for not fulfilling my duty to assist Young master!”

What kind of bullsh*t is that if I run out on my own and punish you for not helping me? Naturally, I had no intention of punishing them, so I quickly grabbed the stone and raised it up.

However, it was not an easy task to set up Seok, a strong man, with the strength of a 10-year-old child. While he was grunting and pulling the seat that didn’t budge, even Hugh, who joined later, was fighting side by side.

Eventually, I gave up on making them myself. Instead, he chose the path of scolding him with words, telling him to get up quickly.

When I asked them if they were ignoring my order, the two of them stood up and followed my words.

“Today’s work is a secret, okay?”

“Haona…”

“Sweep! Nothing happened, so we just have to be quiet. This is an order, so don’t ever tell Hankyung.”

“…Yes, Gongja.”

We returned to Seoseong only after we had Seok and Hue tightly shut their mouths.

On the way home, Seok asked cautiously.

“Hey, Gongja.”

“Huh?”

“Did something happen while you were apart from us? Your expression is very dark, right?”

“Oh, no. Nothing. I’m fine, so don’t worry too much. And Hankyung knows?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Let’s do well.”

As Seok said. Even when I think about it, the expression I am making right now is heavy.

I was reconnecting the flow of thoughts that had been interrupted by the shaking of emotion.

The moment Jung wrote letters on the floor to introduce his name.

I have come to know.

About why Jung called me a traitor.

‘Jeong(正). Since it is a simple letter, the shape does not differ greatly from country to country. But….’

The letters written on the ground were by no means Jo Nara’s handwriting. The shape was very familiar to me.

‘Why did Jeong write the characters of a country other than Cho? It’s simple. It’s because Jung is not from Jo Nara. Jung is also a pawn like me. And maybe the country of origin….’

It must be Qin Dynasty.

Because the style of letters I know is from the Qin Dynasty.

What did Jung Eun, a hostage from the Qin Dynasty, think when she heard about me as a hostage from the Yan Dynasty?

Someone like me.

Maybe he thought he was the only one in the world.

Therefore, Jung risked going outside to meet me.

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Once I got the whole inside story, I couldn’t take any other route.

‘But if I help Jung…….’

I closed my eyes tightly.

It was complicated in my head.