The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 110

 

* * *

 

“You have returned, My Lord. I have something to te—”

 

“Enough. I do not wish to hear a single word right now.”

 

Having come down from the mountain empty-handed, the Prime Minister stepped out of his palanquin with a frigid expression. It was then.

 

“Are you saying you do not wish to hear ‘my’ words, either?”

 

A low, deep voice pierced the Prime Minister’s ears.

 

Startled, the Prime Minister turned around.

 

There, a familiar figure was submerged in the darkness.

 

The man walked forward with steady strides.

 

A pale and youthful face, an excessively thin frame, and dark shadows cast beneath his eyes.

 

He was none other than the present king, traveling incognito.

 

“I greet Your Majesty.”

 

The Prime Minister walked straight toward him and gave a ceremonious bow of his head.

 

Unlike his composed exterior, his insides were anything but.

 

This was because the King traveling all the way to this remote place was something he had never even imagined. 

 

‘Why did he come all the way here?’

 

Sensing a crisis instinctively, the Prime Minister felt his mouth go completely dry.

 

“I-I will do as you say. So, please, please do not hit me anymore…!”

 

A child who used to do nothing but tremble in fear during his youth.

 

As the Prime Minister’s grandson, he had been nothing more than a small shadow crushed beneath authority.

 

But now…

 

The King, who did not avert his gaze even when their eyes met, was looking down at him. 

 

‘As expected, I must return as soon as possible. I thought I had set up a puppet, but looking at his state, he is right on the verge of running wild as if he has become a tiger himself.’ 

 

What he had heard lately was true. Striving to maintain a composed face, the Prime Minister continued.

 

“What brings Your Majesty here, all the way to such a humble place?”

 

“The Prime Minister has abandoned his state duties and refuses to return… so what choice do I have but to come myself when I am the one in need?”

 

Twitch. The Prime Minister’s thick eyebrows shot upward.

 

Yet the present king wore a faint smile, even amidst a sickly complexion that looked as though he might cough at any moment.

 

“Have you been well? It seems you went to find my brother… only to come up empty-handed.”

 

“Empty-handed, you say. Today, we came very close to Kim Gangdu, and even obtained the crucial intelligence that he has joined forces with the pirates. Catching him now is only a matter of time.”

 

“Six years have passed already, Prime Minister.”

 

At the resolute words, the Prime Minister’s eyes narrowed.

 

He was simply dumbfounded by the sight of the present king looking him dead in the eye without backing down.

 

“The movements of the Kingdom of the Auspicious Qilin are troubling as well. The Prime Minister’s private army rivals the strength of the Royal Guard… so you must return to the capital at once and lend your strength to setting the royal court in order.”

 

“Your Majesty… if you grant me just a little more time, I can capture Kim Gangdu.” 

 

Caught up in the King’s firm momentum, the Prime Minister was about to raise his voice, but barely managed to regain his composure.

 

Glancing once at the Commander of the Royal Guard stationed beside the king, the Prime Minister continued calmly.

 

“I have a clever plan. Do you not know it? That my youngest son is a man well-versed in the art of war.”

 

“The art of war, you say.”

 

The present king let out a light laugh, then soon threw out a meaningful question.

 

“Are you perhaps saying you will use my brother’s daughter as bait?”

 

“….!”

 

Startled, the Prime Minister raised his eyebrows.

 

Although he had gone so far as to circulate portraits of her, the Prime Minister had issued strict orders for absolute silence regarding who the child actually was.

 

Her true identity was supposed to have been kept secret even within the royal family.

 

How on earth did the present king know of this?

 

‘It seems he has been watching all along.’

 

Guessing the reason behind his interest, the Prime Minister let out a very small snort and spoke.

 

“Do you remember… how that child came to be born?”

 

A chilling, almost scolding undertone lingered in the Prime Minister’s voice.

 

The King stared at him without a word. 

 

For a moment, a heavy silence flowed between the two men. Then, the Prime Minister continued, driving the point home.

 

“So you do remember. Because ‘someone’ secretly kept that woman alive… a child destined to become a future threat was born.”

 

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

 

The King swallowed a short breath, then spoke nonchalantly, acting as if it were nothing. 

 

“I merely heard that the child was alive. Did you not tell me in the past that you had taken care of it yourself? The one who truly has questions to ask is me.”

 

He changed the subject as if cutting off any further conversation.

 

“In any case, the hour is late. I shall be on my way. Tomorrow morning, you are to prepare for your return to the capital. Understood?”

 

Leaving only those words behind, the King turned his back and walked away without even waiting for the Prime Minister’s reply.

 

The Prime Minister didn’t move.

 

He merely watched the King’s back in silence.

 

A moment later, upon stepping out of the main gate, the King came to a sudden halt. 

 

And he looked back toward the Prime Minister once.

 

‘It has already been over six years.’

 

The fragments of memory that had pooled in the silence began to surface one by one.

 

Squeezing his eyes shut, the King pressed down on them. 

 

* * *

 

“Sister-in-law, are you awake? Are you all right?” 

 

Roughly seven years ago from today.

 

The King, Kim Ganghyeon, had succeeded in smuggling out the Crown Princess, Choi Eunseol, who was his sister-in-law and Kim Gangdu’s wife. 

 

Having fallen into a deep slumber for a long while, she opened her eyes and slowly looked around as if dizzy.

 

“What… what happened? I am certain… I drank the poison…”

 

“That was merely a sleeping draught. I pulled some strings to save you, Sister-in-law. Without the Prime Minister knowing.”

 

“…..?”

 

Choi Eunseol’s eyes trembled faintly. With the drug’s effects still lingering, her vision seemed blurry and her mind dazed.

 

Unable to hide her astonishment, she slowly raised her upper body.

 

As she did, her jade-white skin, pure flowing hair, and delicate figure were revealed.

 

She was, quite literally, a woman fitting of the descriptions a celestial beauty and a face capable of toppling a kingdom.

 

Jolt.

 

Coming to her senses, her shoulders trembled as her eyes went wide.

 

“His Highness the Crown Prince—where is His Highness…!”

 

“My brother has already passed away. It seems he… fell into a trap set by the Prime Minister.”

 

“W-what did you say…?”

 

At the unbelievable words, the rims of her eyes turned red in an instant.

 

Kim Ganghyeon gently patted her back, subtly laying his hands upon her.

 

Of course, he knew.

 

That his half-brother, Kim Gangdu, praised as the greatest warrior of the age, had not died.

 

There was no one in the lands of Great Ho capable of catching him. Yet the reason he lied to her was for one single reason.

 

‘Only when she believes he is dead will she open her heart to me.’ 

 

An unwholesome desire harbored for a long time.

 

He had harbored a secret affection for his sister-in-law all along, and his saving and hiding her was ultimately born of those very feelings.

 

“All those connected to Kim Gangdu must be killed. Bestow the poison upon the Crown Princess first.”

 

Because he had lived suppressed under the Prime Minister since childhood, the present king, Kim Ganghyeon, could never utter a single word whenever he stood before him.

 

But this time was different.

 

For the first time, he made a decision. That he had to protect her, at the very least.

 

The moment he heard the Prime Minister’s words, he decided what had to be done.

 

“Use a medicinal ingredient that causes one to sleep as if dead, and leave the pulse reading to a bribed physician. Find a similar corpse, and bring her here away from the eyes of the people.”

 

That thoroughly prepared plan succeeded.

 

It was, in effect, the first act of defiance he had ever committed against the Prime Minister’s will.

 

And so, the woman who had officially drank the poison and died… was quietly breathing right next to him at this moment.

 

With a trembling hand, Choi Eunseol carefully pushed Kim Ganghyeon’s hands away.

 

At her firm rejection, Kim Ganghyeon’s eyes momentarily turned cold, but he soon reverted to an indifferent expression.

 

Striving to suppress her sorrow and agitation, she quietly asked,

 

“I heard that the wretch, the Prime Minister, intends to place Prince Yeonjeong (*Kim Ganghyun’s princely title) upon the throne. Is that true?” 

 

“It is true.”

 

“How… how dare he, with Your Highness still here…!” 

 

With a face filling with deep resentment, she glared at Kim Ganghyeon.

 

Yet he whispered his excuse in a soft, placating voice, as if looking upon her with pity.

 

“It is not my will. It is merely the will of the Prime Minister—my grandfather. Do you not know it as well, Sister-in-law… the kind of life I have lived…”