The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 25

“Shh! Let’s not get caught. Move quickly—hurry!” 

 

The Prime Minister? 

 

‘This is the first high-ranking person I’ve met since becoming a baby.’

 

And yet, to think he is such a ruthless and cruel person…

 

From behind Eonnyeon, I craned my neck and stared toward the man called The Prime Minister. 

 

‘Somehow… he looks like a grandfather with a tremendous aura, doesn’t he?’

 

Judging by his graying hair, he seemed to be fairly advanced in age.

 

However, just by looking at him, it was clear that his presence and demeanor rivaled that of active soldiers.

 

He looked down at the elderly man and woman being mercilessly trampled and beaten, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion.  

 

As if they were not humans, but mere insects.

 

‘I think I understand now why even the bandits despised the King and the dynasty so much.’

 

Suddenly, I remembered Pilsuk, whom I had met back in the mountains.

 

Though she was the one who almost killed me… I suddenly felt the weight of the hardships she had endured in the past. 

 

“My sons—what was the life of my two sons, who died at only three and five years old, meant to be? What on earth was it…!”

 

As I nervously swallowed my dry saliva, feeling strangely unsettled.

 

Gasp—!

 

Suddenly, the Prime Minister turned his head toward me.

 

Our eyes met sharply in midair. 

 

Even from a fair distance, I could feel the terrifying presence, and my heart pounded wildly. 

 

‘Why… is he looking this way?’

 

It seemed I wasn’t the only one flustered. 

 

Eonnyeon and Dolsoe also noticed the Prime Minister’s gaze and quickly turned their bodies, trying to make their way out of the area.  

 

“Wait!”

 

At that moment, a deep, eerie voice stopped them in their tracks.

 

It was a voice aimed directly at us. As if to prove there was no mistake, a warrior stepped forward and grabbed Eonnyeon by the shoulder. 

 

“Where do you think you’re going? Stop. The Lord calls for you.” 

 

 “W, what… what is the meaning of this…!” 

 

Step.

 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister closed the distance and approached.

 

He didn’t take his eyes off me, as if they were nailed to me.

 

“Show me the child’s face.” 

 

“Yes? W, what do you…!”  

 

Swoosh—!

 

While Eonnyeon stood there flustered, unsure of what to do, a warrior roughly spun her around.

 

Gulp.

 

Only then was I able to look closely at the Prime Minister’s face.

 

He looked at me, twitched his eyebrows, let out a breath, and even let out a hollow laugh.

 

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

 

After a brief silence, he muttered softly to himself.

 

“Her eyes… they resemble someone’s… no, that can’t be.”

 

He narrowed his eyes, seeming to struggle to remember something.

 

‘What? Who do my eyes supposedly resemble?’

 

I glared at him warily, then soon noticed something strange.

 

‘Huh? The right ear…?’

 

I hadn’t noticed from afar, but up close, it was clear. One of the Prime Minister’s ears was missing, as if torn off. 

 

But the wound looked clean, as if it had been a severe injury long ago.

 

‘Wait a minute… the Prime Minister is missing one ear?’

 

I’m sure I’ve seen a setup like this… somewhere before?

 

As I furrowed my brow just like the Prime Minister, desperately trying to piece things together.

 

“Father!”

 

A boy’s clear voice rang out from behind him, almost like salvation.

 

The Prime Minister withdrew his attention from me and turned to look behind him.

 

There stood a boy, around seven years old.

 

In other words… a boy with strikingly exquisite beauty that could captivate anyone.

 

‘Pretty…?’

 

For a moment, I stared blankly at the boy’s face.

 

‘No… why does this kid look so unreal, like he stepped right out of a painting?’

 

The boy, befitting a young master of a noble family, was wearing a sagyusam(a robe worn over a durumagi) with a bright scarlet base adorned with ornate gold patterns, and he had a bokgeon on his head. 

 

He had monolid, clear and bright eyes. His flawless, fair, and smooth skin shimmered in the sunlight, and his well-defined eyes, nose, and mouth gave off a fresh yet gentle impression.

 

Above all, his face was so small and delicate that one could already tell how remarkable he would look when he grew up.

 

How should I put it… if Gaon is an exotic-looking, unpredictable, somewhat rugged handsome boy… this one is more like a neat and proper, model-student type of handsome boy.

 

While I was staring blankly at the boy, he glanced at the guards, and fortunately, they let us be without any trouble.

 

“P, please take care on your way! My Lord!” 

 

They bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, as if their lives depended on it, and shouted.

 

The two who had turned around hurriedly moved their feet, and as they were distancing themselves from that spot…

 

“Dohyul, what brings you here?”

 

The name of the boy that slipped out of the Prime Minister’s mouth sank sharply into my ears.

 

“!”

 

And at that moment…

 

I was hit with a shock as if cold water had been poured over the back of my head; my eyes widened, and I pressed my small hands tightly over my mouth.

 

…Why didn’t I know this before?

 

‘The king of bandits…!’

 

Yeah! It was definitely the title of a novel like that! 

 

* * *

 

Late at night, I simply couldn’t fall asleep.

 

I lay under the covers, blinking my eyes as I tried to sort through my thoughts.

 

‘So this was inside the novel….’

 

I lamented why I hadn’t realized it sooner, yet honestly, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable that I hadn’t noticed until now.

 

First, this was a point in time long before the novel had even begun.

 

Second, it was because I had read that novel a very long time ago.

 

That is, back when I had just been appointed as a rookie detective.

 

It was a historical fiction novel I had read for fun to stay awake during overtime.

 

‘The plot was definitely….’

 

I furrowed my brow and desperately searched my memory. 

 

The male protagonist’s name was Park Dohyul. 

 

As the youngest son of the Anseong Park family, the most powerful noble house in the Great Ho Kingdom. 

 

He was, quite literally, a genius known as the strategist of the century.

 

His exceptional talent made him a target from a young age, and he was exploited by his ruthless father (?) throughout his childhood.

 

After reaching adulthood, he came to a belated realization and rose to the throne, opposing his father, who was corrupting the country, as well as the royal family of the Great Ho Kingdom.

 

‘But then, why was it called The King of Bandits…?’

 

The reason was simple.

 

It was because most of the rebel army that Park Dohyul had organized to oppose his father consisted of bandits.

 

In his childhood, under his father’s orders, he once devised an elaborate scheme that led to the death of a bandit chief.

 

The reason was that the bandit chief he targeted was actually the deposed crown prince—a force that threatened the Prime Minister!

 

Later, Park Dohyul sincerely repented for the mistakes of his childhood and reached out to apologize to the bandits, who had been scattered after losing their chief.

 

[Let’s change the world together, even now.]

 

Those rugged bandits recognized Park Dohyul’s character and abilities, and it seemed quite impressive that they had lent their strength against their enemy because of him.

 

…But there was one thing that bothered me.

 

‘Surely the bandits led by the deposed crown prince here aren’t the same bandits I know, are they?’

 

Shaking my head at the thought that suddenly popped into my mind, I tried to dismiss it.

 

‘Ah, what are the chances of such an absurd coincidence? Haha. It’s not like there’s only one or two bandits.’

 

Of course, there are absurd things too—like waking up after death only to find yourself a baby abandoned in the mountains.

 

‘But… Come to think of it, the chief was ridiculously handsome, wasn’t he?’

 

The more I thought about the chief’s face, the more a sense of unease kept rising within me.

 

That beauty, that figure.

 

If this is the world of the novel, isn’t he the kind of character whose looks suggest he wouldn’t just end up as a minor role?

 

‘How should I put it… he really had the air of royalty?’

 

Huh? The air of royalty?

 

“She… resembles the chief.” 

 

“She probably does. We’re of the same bloodline, after all.”

 

Jump—!

 

Before I knew it, I had leapt to my feet. 

 

‘I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I definitely heard those words!’