All this time I had known that Wang Yo was constantly busy but I had never known exactly what he was always so busy with until now. He was always around when I did not need him and now that I did need him, he was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, I had Minyoung to snoop around for me and collect information that I was unable to personally obtain and according to her findings, the third prince was in charge of military supplies. I wouldn’t deny that that was a pretty impressive position and it explained why he did not often have free time. But I truly hoped that we would cross paths soon because I really needed to confirm with him whether or not he was the first love I had been waiting for all this time.

Days passed by and I did not so much as catch a glimpse of him but I wasn’t very worried since I knew he would show up sooner or later. I found myself taking strolls around the palace courtyard more often than usual in the hopes of meeting him because truth be told, I was too anxious and too curious. Could they really be the same person? Could it truly be?

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I did not look where I was going and an unknown person ended up bumping into me. I frowned but said nothing; all my energy had been spent on thinking about Wang Yo and I did not feel like kicking up a fuss over a trivial matter although ordinarily, the queen of slaps would have already performed her signature move. Instead I looked at the ground with a sigh and waited for an apology.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t— Oh? Lady Yura?”

Lifting my gaze, I was surprised when I realised that the person to have bumped into me was none other than Haesoo from the eighth prince’s residence. I did not know why she had been whispering but to add shock to surprise, she grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me aside.

“What is the meaning of this?” I hissed at her, angrily pulling my wrist out of her grasp. “What have you done this time that you appear to be hiding from someone? Tell me quickly, Lady Haesoo.”

Instead of answering me, Haesoo brought a finger to her lips and pointed at the wall behind us with her other finger.

She wants me to be quiet? How annoying! Were we really hiding from someone? Oh, gosh, I’m going to get in so much trouble because of this crazy girl and I don’t even know for what reason!

I decided to stay silent because perhaps if we were not caught, I would not end up in trouble. And it was during the silence that I understood why Haesoo had insisted we be quiet. The two of us were standing close to an arch in the wall in front of which a prince dressed in black stood and he was being scolded by Queen Yu! I could not tell who the prince was by looking at his back alone but judging by how cruelly the queen was speaking to him, it must have been the fourth prince. There was no other prince she could talk to like that, was there?

Haesoo was still beside me and she appeared shocked by the degrading words that the queen spoke to her son. I was afraid that she would suddenly run out there to defend the fourth prince. But I suppose if I did not fear for my life, I probably would have done the same.

“Lady Haesoo,” I whispered after I gently tapped her on the shoulder. “What are you doing in the palace? You didn’t sneak in here, did you?”

She shook her head with a small giggle. “No, of course not. I came bearing gifts for Queen Hwangbo and Queen Yu. I made soap for them.”

I nodded, relieved that she had not broken into the palace. Since Queen Hwangbo was the eighth prince’s mother, it was most likely that Haesoo was visiting the palace with the eighth prince and his wife who happened to be Haesoo’s cousin. Her alibi made sense and I was glad that she was not one to tell lies. It would have been terrible if she was both a madwoman and a liar. But no, Haesoo was not mentally insane; she just happened to have lost her memory. I found it funny that there was someone who was a bigger troublemaker than me and I began to wonder if she would continue to live so recklessly after recovering her memories.

“So have your memories returned?” I asked in a low whisper.

There was no response and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Haesoo had disappeared. This made me shake my head in disbelief.

What could I expect from a crazy girl?

I turned around again and a gasp left my lips when I found myself face to face with the fourth prince. Everyone fears him and I should too but…good heavens, he’s so hot!

The fourth prince was dressed in black robes and wearing his black mask as usual but the uncovered half of his face was seriously attractive. Why was he always dressed in black? A prince of darkness, he truly was, but such a handsome person should be wearing bright colours to match their beauty. I found it such a pity.

His enigmat