A/N: towersita, Hae Soo's first encounter with the secret tunnel when she enters Damiwon to peek at the Prince's bath. Wang So knows that she didn't go to bath in this timeline. Wang So is sure Hae Soo wouldn't have known about it.
Also, they both don't know the other person is aware of the previous timeline existence.
silkyjacob, Farhina Fareen, Samiha Thank you all for your reviews
Chapter 6: The Ritual
Hae Soo
The next day, the entire household was busy preparing for the ritual. Hae Soo rejected Chae Rhung's invitations to visit the village during the lantern festival. She knew if she went, she would meet her Prince in a much deadlier situation than yesterday. Myung Hee saw Hae Soo's gloomy appearance and invited her to the palace to see the ritual. She gladly accepted it. She has never seen a cleansing ritual before. She decided to wear the hairpin he gave her last night to show him that she doesn't hate him. She knew there will be an assassination attempt on Crown Prince but not sure what exactly happens. She started worrying about him thinking how he chased the assassins who wanted to hurt his brother.
Wang So
Things are going as planned. He didn't kill the assassins before the ritual thinking it would him to meet his Hae Soo for the first time. Now, that they already meet twice. It was already too late for him to change anything. His younger brothers are still wary of him while his elder brother Yo makes use of every chance to hurt him with vile words. In the previous timeline, he took the offer, hoping to stay with his family. Even though they don't love him anymore. This time, he took this offer to survive and live with Hae Soo away from bloody politics.
Hae Soo
She saw Queen Yoo's dressing choice; it took so much effort not to show any distaste in her face while others were conversing with each other (more like throwing insults). She doesn't understand why Princess Yeon Hwa holds a grudge against Queen Yoo. She realized her hatred towards Queen Yoo made her a bitter person.
King was seated between both Queen's. All his other wives and princess were present. Since Princess Yeon Hwa was the daughter of Queen Hwang Bo. They got front rows seat to witness the cleansing ritual.
The ritual began all princes started performing; she was trying to find 4th prince among other princes dressed in red. She couldn't find out. She was confused and wondering where in the world 4thprince could be at this time. She had weird thoughts. Could he be one of the assassins?
Suddenly, a new set of evil performers entered. This time they started attacking like real. They all were under the assumption that this was a part of the ritual until one of the performers attacked and hurt the Crown prince's arm. All the guards appeared in front of them to protect them. That's when Hae Soo realized that her Prince was under disguise as Crown Prince, and he is hurt. Hae Soo wanted to run towards him.
At the same time, assassins ran away when they realize they were outnumbered when other princes started fighting. King ran towards 4thPrince, calling out his elder's son's name.
Wang So
When he saw Hae Soo sitting along with the royal family. He was happy that he doesn't need to utter meaningless threats to Hae Soo and make her hate him more like last time. He wouldn't do that this time. He knows he would protect his Hae Soo with his life. He tried so hard not to be distracted by her appearance. She was so beautiful, happy, and young. He was looking at her from the corner of his eyes and performing the ritual. She looks like she was searching for someone. He was worried as he remembered Hae Soo liked Wook. Was he too late this time to capture her heart? His thoughts were disturbed by the assassin's appearance. He fought each and every one of them. His attacks weren't meant for killing but still ended up getting hurt like the previous timeline. This time he wasn't hurt like last time. He knew his father loved all his sons much. He was just concerned about Crown Prince Mu. If he knew it was 4thprince, not Mu earlier. Wang So knew he would be worried.
When King unmasked him, King was shocked to find him and demanded him to know Crown Prince's whereabouts. Mu revealed himself while So promised to catch the assassins. As he was running after the killers into the forest. He was thinking about how useless it was to find them. He attacked the isolated assassin without any bargaining like last time. He knocked him unconscious and tied him to the tree. He proceeds to the other side of the forest, where his Soo saw Yo killing other assassins last time. He saw his brother Yo killing them. He made himself noticed, and his brother was shocked to see him.
"I killed all the traitors who tried to assassinate our brother" Prince Yo gave an excuse for his actions.
"Did you find out who was responsible?" he asked. Though he knew who was responsible and very much interested in his brother's answer
"They didn't tell me, I personally think this was done by Khitan," lied Prince Yo.
"I guess so. I will take leave, my brother. I will have to report Crown Prince".
"Oh Okay, I will clean this up and report it to King himself"
"It isn't over, we still have to find out who helped them into the palace and where they stayed. We need to investigate so that we know whether our assumptions are right or wrong," he warned his brother and also hoped that his brother will clear all evidence pointing towards their mother.
They were meet by Prince Wook and his guards, who had found the unconscious assassin. They reached the palace, Prince Wook took the killer to investigate with Ji Mong while Prince Yo reported details to their father and Prince So briefed Crown Prince.
Hope you all like it
Kindly review it...Critics are welcome too
Thank you
-AG
