It was early morning when the news of the Crown Prince's disappearance reached the King.

His majesty's subjects quivered in fear below him as he questioned the servants from the Eastern Palace on the Crown Prince’s disappearance. Everyone looked down in fear when the furious King abruptly stood up from his throne.

The King was only notified about the Crown Prince's disappearance when Prince Jung came to him and told him that the Crown Prince didn't come back to the Eastern Palace when he went to visit him last evening.

“Am I not your King anymore?”

“No, your majesty,” his subjects replied in unison.

“Why is it that when my son didn’t come back, no one came to inform me? Do you all wish for something bad to happen to the Crown Prince?” the King asked.

“No, your majesty.”

"Send out all of your men to look for the Crown Prince," the King ordered all of his advisors as he sat back down on his throne. "I will reward anyone who successfully brings back the Crown Prince.”

At the mention of a reward for the Crown Prince's return, murmurs were exchanged among the advisors, discussing about the troops and men they have to carry out the mission.

"Your majesty, we wouldn't want to let our people know that the Crown Prince is missing. A huge search would cause a lot of worries among the people," Vice Premier Hak spoke up.

The King glanced towards Eunuch Hong, his most-trusted advisor to see if he had any other suggestions.

"Your majesty, perhaps we should send out only a few of our skilled men to look for the Crown Prince," suggested Eunuch Hong. "That way we can search without alerting the people in the village."

The King nodded and said, "Eunuch Hong, you may pick a few men you trust to look for the Crown Prince."

"I will get to it immediately, your majesty," Eunuch Hong bowed down to his majesty before turning away to leave the room. Prince Jung who was standing at the side of the room all this time excused himself from the room as well shortly afterwards.

"Eunuch Hong!" Prince Jung caught up with him once he left the room. Eunuch Hong stopped when he heard his name and turned back to bow towards his excellency. "Perhaps, I can send out two of my men to help the search."

"Your excellency, I appreciate the offer, but I have already selected a few of our best guards in the palace."

He flashed him a friendly smile and said, "Well, my men are well-trained and they are familiar with the map of the village."

"Your excellency, the men I will be sending out are also well-trained and they have a lot of field experience."

Prince Jung's smile was replaced by a frown as he glared down at Eunuch Hong. "Are you mocking my ability in picking my men? They are well-trained, best of the best. And we also have to consider sending out the dogs."

"Your excellency, forgive me. Why should we send out the dogs?"

Prince Jung glanced behind him to make sure they were both alone and gestured Eunuch Hong to come closer so that he could whisper it to him. "We should also consider the possibility that the Crown Prince might be dead, it's unusual for him to stay out the night."

Eunuch Hong's face instantly turned pale. "Dead?"

"Yeah. Soo left the palace last night to search for the Crown Prince and he still hasn't returned."

"Still, I will send out the best guards we have in the palace. Excuse me, your excellency," Eunuch Hong said shortly before excusing himself from the conversation.

Prince Jung scoffed as Eunuch Hong walked away from him. The lack of respect towards him infuriates him. Although he is the son of a concubine, he is still a Prince that has the King's blood flowing through him. But people treated him differently compared to his older brother, the Crown Prince. And he hopes that that will change one day, hopefully soon.

He glanced around and gestured towards two men who were standing nearby to come forward.

"Your excellency."

"What did you find last night?"

"No sign of the body," one of the men replied in an undertone. "There's a river directly below the cliff, so after the Crown Prince fell off the cliff, he was probably swept away by the river."

"So you are sure that he is dead?"

"His highness was stabbed in the lower abdomen, he wouldn't be able to survive the fall. Even if he did, he won't be able to get help because nobody in the village would go there."

"We need a body to prove that he is dead," Prince Jung lowered his voice and said. "There won't be a coronation for me if the current Crown Prince is still alive."

"Don't worry, your excellency. We will leave the palace and search through the river again."

"Oh right, if he is alive and managed to be found by someone, he might be treated in the local infirmaries too. Search through those clinics as well."

"Yes, your excellency."

***

"There. All done," Taeyeon pulled back and turned away to place all the equipment back on the shelf. "Why are you so shy anyway? I told you, I have seen a lot of men before because I helped my uncle in performing surgeries."

"But you aren't a certified physician," he said, quickly covering himself up with his robe.

She sighed and said, "Call me if you need anything, I will be preparing your meal in the other room."

After she left, he slowly pushed himself to sit up to check on the wound. The bloody bandage was now replaced by a new one and the smell of herbal medicine was especially strong for this one.

When Taeyeon helped him down the forest earlier, he caught a whiff of her scent and she smelled like herbal medicine as well. He found the scent strangely comforting.

Carefully getting off the bed, he pulled away the cloth covering the window and peeked outside.

Having lived all his life in the palace, he rarely leaves the palace unless he is obliged to attend events outside the palace.

His brother used to invite him to sneak out with him to look at the world outside the palace, but he always gave him the same excuse of not wanting to miss out on training.

Now that his brother is gone, he started to leave the palace almost every single day to investigate his brother's death. And the world outside the palace is definitely a lot different from the inside.

He could see a market not far away from the clinic, everyone was busy working, even kids as young as five were helping their parents. They all look weak and malnourished, barely having enough energy to do the heavy lifting.

Witnessing how his people make a living everyday himself made him realise how many problems outside the palace are being neglected. He had always kept things fair in the palace. He made sure that his servants are getting what they deserve for their hard work, punished the corrupted and rewarded the hard workers. It is what he stands for.

He almost jumped when someone suddenly knocked on the door, calling for physician Kim. He could hear the sense of urgency from his voice, it almost sounded like he was begging. Taeyeon came out of the room within a few seconds to answer the door.

A man was at the door, on his back, there was an unconscious young boy. Taeyeon quickly led the man to the bed on the opposite side of the room.

"Please save my son, where is physician Kim?" the father cried, worried for his child's safety.

"Physician Kim isn't in. What happened?"

"My son hasn't been feeling well this morning, and he suddenly fainted and now he's not waking up!"

"Calm down sir, it will be okay," Taeyeon started to examine the boy and gently applied pressure on the boy's belly to check for any problems.

The father was pacing around the room and running his hands through his unkempt hair nervously, praying for his child's life. Baekhyun slowly sat back down on his bed and silently watched Taeyeon from behind as she tried to save the boy.

Baekhyun understands what the father is currently feeling. The feeling of not being able to do anything while your loved one is suffering alone. He understands it all too well.

It brought him back to the time when he lost his mother.

That night, they were in his room. His mother was telling him a bedtime story to help him sleep. He would always fall asleep whenever his mother reached the part where the main character finally reunited with his dog.

Gently caressing his head, she smiled down at him warmly with her eyes filled with nothing but love.

He was about to fall asleep when a loud commotion came from outside the room. Swords were clinking against each other, the sounds of people being stabbed and slaughtered rang throughout the room. Baekhyun asked his mother what's wrong, but his mother quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.

She peeked through the door and realised that they were surrounded. Quickly, she ran back into the room and hid young Baekhyun into the closet and told him to keep quiet no matter what happens outside the closet. Baekhyun nodded at his mother as she closed the door on him.

He could only watch helplessly from the closet as the assassins barged in. Without wasting any more time, the assassins slaughtered his mother right in front of his eyes. As if they knew the young Prince was also in the room, they started to search the place and it didn't take long for them to find him hiding in the closet.

He stared at his mother's lifeless body on the ground as the assassin started to drag him out of the closet.

Little Baekhyun cried for his mother although he knew that she was already gone. But he didn't stop crying as the assassin dragged him to the middle of the room and called his fellow men over to announce to them that they had accomplished their mission.

The assassin let out an evil cackle as he drew his sword towards the air, ready to swing it down and slice off the young Prince’s head. Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut, ready for him to end his life.

"My son! Thank you, thank you so much for saving him, physician Kim!"

Baekhyun was pulled back into the present when the father went down on his knees and cried as he thanked Taeyeon for saving his son. Taeyeon quickly pulled the father back up and told him that there is no need for that.

The boy lying on the bed started coughing and called out his father. The father and son hugged as the father cried tears of joy. Taeyeon smiled, glad that she could save the young boy.

After the father and son left, Taeyeon went back to the cooking area to continue preparing the meal. But before entering the other room, she glanced at Baekhyun, wondering if he's okay because he looked slightly shaken by what happened just now.

Baekhyun lied back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

It's been a while since he is reminded of that tragic night that took away his mother from him.

He might have witnessed numerous deaths in the palace, but none of them touched his heart as much as the father and son’s tight bond.

"I hope you will find this meal delicious. I added a few side dishes for you to eat with your porridge," said Taeyeon as she came out of the room with a tray in her hands. Baekhyun glanced at her as she set down the tray on the table near the bed.

He sat up from the bed and stared at the side dishes before saying, "I'm not hungry."

Taeyeon looked up at him briefly and sighed. "I heard your stomach grumbling when we were going down that mountain, now eat."

Grabbing a piece of cucumber kimchi using her chopsticks, she brought the food towards his mouth.

When he didn't open his mouth, Taeyeon frowned and muttered, "Are you still afraid that I am going to poison you?"

Baekhyun accidentally smelled the cucumber in front of him and leaned away from the food. Taeyeon didn't give up and continued to bring the food closer to his mouth the more he resisted.

"Eat it, it's good for you. Say ah."

Baekhyun shook his head stubbornly as he slowly leaned back, trying to get the smell away from his nose. He almost fell back onto the bed when he grabbed her wrist to stop her from bringing the food closer to him.

"Why are you acting like a baby?" she asked.

He pushed her away and slowly sat back up.

"I... don't eat cucumbers," he finally mumbled.

Taeyeon blinked and looked at the small piece of cucumber caught between her chopsticks. She grinned and asked, "Oh, why didn't you say so?"

Baekhyun crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively, he thought his body language was enough to tell her that he hates cucumbers. Sometimes he doesn’t understand why this girl isn’t afraid of him. How is she not scared of him after he threatened her life last night?

Cucumbers were banned from the palace because he hated it so much that he didn't even want to see it.

Maybe he should start banning it from the village too.

"How old are you? How are you still a picky eater?" she chuckled, putting the cucumber into and chewing it happily.

He scowled at her and took the spoon to eat the porridge himself. She smiled and ate from her own bowl of rice, pairing it with the cucumber kimchi.

They ate in silence until Taeyeon decided to start some small talk to fill up the silence.

"What is your name?"

When he didn't pay her any attention and continued eating, she sighed and said, "We might not see each other again after you leave anyway. So might as well exchange names."

"Hyun," he replied shortly.

A huge smile spread across her lips when he answered her.

Hyun. That's a nice name.

"My real name is Kim Taeyeon."

It felt good to finally say her real name out loud. Living under a different name for a whole year, she sometimes forgets what her real name sounds like. And she felt comfortable sharing it with this stranger because she knew that he would leave as soon as his wound heals.

Baekhyun finally looked up at her. He was surprised that the name she told him yesterday was actually fake.

"Wait, I can explain," she said quickly when he was about to ask her a question. "Everyone around here knows me by Kim Mi Yeon. So you are the only person here other than my uncle who knows my real name. I am leaving this village soon, so I am telling you this before I go."

She figured that since the men tried to take her back home earlier in the forest, it wouldn't take long for them to find the clinic as well.

"Who are you running away from?" he asked. He stared at her when she didn't reply, waiting for her to answer his question. "I can tell that you know who is after you just now in the forest."

She sighed. "Actually, I ran away from home. So I am running away from my family," she replied sheepishly, tossing the leftover food in her bowl with her spoon distractingly. "But I didn't do anything bad, I promise! I just wanted to run away from my family to learn medicine from my uncle."

He simply nodded and continued to finish up his porridge. He believes her. After spending a whole day with her, he could tell how passionate she is in helping people with her knowledge in medicine.

"Erm, are you, are you... a bad person?"

She asked that question knowing that she will not get an answer since it was probably a sensitive question, but her curiosity got the better of her. Since they are sharing secrets, she figured it wouldn't hurt to ask one sensitive question.

"I have killed people," he quietly admitted, looking down at his hands, the amount of blood that had stained his hands are immeasurable. And though he carried a lot of guilt on his shoulders, he always told himself the people he killed deserved to die and that there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

He wasn't sure why he told her that, he could have easily ignored her question and pretended that he didn't hear her. Maybe some part inside him wanted to know how others see him if they find out about the things he had done.

It was quiet. Taeyeon didn't know how to answer that. She knew she was getting into something complicated the moment she tried to pry into this stranger's life knowing that it must be something chilling, but why did she feel sorry for him?

She could see it in his eyes that he does feel guilty about what he has done.

"Bad people?" she asked after a silent moment.

He nodded and laid back onto the bed, pulling the cover over his head.

The King taught him that to be a great ruler, he has to be cruel when it comes to punishing his subjects and that mercy should never be mismanaged. No prince should mind being called cruel for keeping his people loyal.

It is better to punish a few than allow troubles to develop that will hurt many others.

He has severely punished his subjects that had committed treason or betrayed his trust. And he does feel guilty whenever he kills them. His conscience eats him up from the inside and at times, it is so hard to bear that he would cry himself to sleep when he is alone.

Although killing people became such a norm for him, he never got used to it unlike his younger brother. His older brother would always be there for him whenever he needed a pep talk and he was the only person in his life who could bring him back to the light whenever he was slowly absorbed to the dark side.

"Whether you had a choice or not. If you feel guilty, then maybe you aren't necessarily a bad person," he heard her say before grabbing the tray and walking away to leave the room.

She hoped what she had just said can comfort him somehow.

And it did, he pulled down the blanket slightly and gazed at her back as she walked away.

When he told her the truth earlier, he was expecting her to scream and kick him out of the infirmary or at least try to run away for her life. Never once had anyone in his life tried to understand him.

And what she just said, made a world of difference.