No, why was this disciple standing next to the door? Could it be that he was waiting for me to come?

He could have waited inside the room, and I would have entered the tiger’s den anyway. Was he unwilling to even wait there?

I couldn’t answer and just looked at the 13th prince.

But as if he hadn’t given me a choice, the 13th prince put his hands behind his back, turned around, and walked away.

In the end, I had no choice but to follow him like I was tied with invisible ropes.

So the two of us started walking through the desolate courtyard of Wolmugung, standing one in front and one behind without saying a word.

If only there were people passing by, it would be less scary. The palace people of Wolmugung were already few in number and lazy, and with one of them lying down after being beaten by the 7th prince, today not even a shadow of a person could be seen in the usually deserted quarters.

However, perhaps because he had gone through multiple regressions, the 13th prince didn’t seem to care much about this and just walked with a hardened expression.

When we neared the place where we had drunk together before, the 13th prince finally stopped, turned towards me, and said.

“You’re quite fast.”

“I was just following behind you?”

“I’m talking about your handling of affairs.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s only been a few days since you said you would try to love your disciple, and you’ve already put in a marriage proposal?”

“Ah.”

The 13th prince strode up to me and looked down at me intently.

His face is so handsome it couldn’t be drawn even in a picture, but it’s scary when he looks at me like this.

But as soon as I lowered my head to avoid his gaze, the 13th prince immediately grabbed my chin to make me look at him and asked without blinking.

“What are you plotting?”

When I’m not looking at him, I can think clearly about ‘pretending to love the 13th prince’. But when I’m face to face with him, these thoughts completely disappear.

I hastily lowered my eyelids to avoid his gaze and said in an aggrieved voice.

“I only heard about this suddenly yesterday afternoon, Your Highness. I don’t know how to answer when you ask me what’s going on.”

“…”

“Think about it, Your Highness. How could I possibly influence His Majesty and Her Majesty to propose marriage to you?”

The 13th prince seemed to find my words plausible and fortunately let go of my chin.

But he was still blocking my way like a mountain, so I could only stand there blankly. In this state, the 13th prince demanded of me.

“If it’s not your intention, then that’s good. Reject the marriage proposal.”

If I could, I would have. But in a situation where the emperor has a hold over me, how can I reject the marriage proposal? What excuse should I give?

“Do you dislike it?”

When I stood there without answering, the 13th prince asked in a voice tinged with laughter. That hint of laughter was even more frightening.

Unavoidably, I answered, trying not to sound too flat.

“How could I refuse His Majesty’s order? You, his son, should reject it, Your Highness.”

Of course, you wouldn’t be able to refuse either. The parents are the main actors in a marriage, and you’re just a powerless prince in the back.

After saying it, I realized it sounded quite impertinent no matter how I tried to manage my tone.

Belatedly scared, I quietly raised my eyes to look up at the 13th prince.

But the 13th prince was looking at me with an expression that seemed to want to hit me, so I lowered my gaze again.

Standing there firmly until my legs were about to cramp, I felt a small breeze over my head. It seemed the 13th prince had sighed.

Then the 13th prince turned around and said.

“I understand. I’ll resolve this matter. I’ll proceed considering this wasn’t your will.”

And then the 13th prince tried to go somewhere. At that moment, I inadvertently grabbed his waist.

The 13th prince turned around while walking and looked alternately at my hand and his waist with bewildered eyes.

I quickly removed my hand from his clothes and bent one knee.

“I apologize.”

“Stand up.”

As soon as the 13th prince forgave me for grabbing him, I quickly stood up and said.

“I’m fine with getting married.”

The 13th prince stopped abruptly just as I was getting up. Then he slowly turned to look at me as if he had heard something unbelievable.

His gaze at me was like looking at a monkey performing a trick by standing on its hands with an apple on its feet.

“What did you say?”

After a long while, the 13th prince asked coldly. I politely put my hands together and spoke as respectfully as possible.

“I’m fine with getting married, Your Highness.”

The 13th prince stared at me for a while and then let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha.”

That sigh of “Ha” was filled with numerous emotions.

“Just a moment ago, you said this wasn’t a marriage proposal you wanted?”

Then the 13th prince asked me in a chilling voice. It was a tone subtly reproaching me for speaking with two mouths.

I know how the 13th prince feels. I felt the same way yesterday.

But it can’t be helped. It’s not because I found advantages to marrying him after agonizing over it yesterday.

If I could avoid marrying him, I wouldn’t want to either. The advantages I found yesterday were only because I couldn’t refuse the marriage.

The reason I held onto the 13th prince was for a more realistic reason.

I can’t refuse the marriage proposal. The 13th prince can’t refuse either. Yet the 13th prince says he’ll resolve the matter. What does this mean?

Would the 13th prince really ask the emperor to withdraw the marriage proposal out of concern for my situation? Hell no.

No. The 13th prince might be able to ask for the marriage proposal to be withdrawn due to his good speaking skills, but in the process, he’ll undoubtedly sell me out.

Then the emperor and empress would be angry with me. They might even find it vexing that I said I would accept their marriage proposal but then urged the 13th prince to refuse it behind their backs.

How smart is the 13th prince? That person is more than capable of doing such things.

So I won’t die alone.

I managed my expression and looked at him as seriously as possible while speaking.

“It wasn’t a marriage proposal I requested. But if I can marry Your Highness, I think that would be fine too.”

“I see. This disciple is not fine with it.”

“Is it because I’m a man?”

The moment I brought up the man issue, the corners of the 13th prince’s mouth curled up meaningfully.

“That’s not a big problem.”

Then the 13th prince walked up to me again, lifted my chin, looked at my face carefully, and said.

“You’re so beautiful.”

At those words, a chill ran down my spine this time. What? What does he mean? As if he knows something…?

Startled, I reflexively stepped back, but because the 13th prince didn’t let go of my chin, my posture became awkward, so I had to come forward again.

The 13th prince continued to hold my chin and stare down at my face, then asked.

“Tell me honestly, teacher.”

“About what…?”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything.”

“That can’t be true.”

I try my best to keep my eyes lowered, but the 13th prince stares so intensely that I finally can’t resist and slightly raise my gaze to meet his eyes.

The 13th prince’s expression… I don’t know how to describe it. Moreover, his eyes, which were just chilling earlier, are now filled with an alien heat.

Scared by that, I pulled my body back, and this time the 13th prince let go of my chin and asked gently.

“Are you thinking of manipulating this disciple again?”

Again?

“When have I ever swayed Your Highness?”

“…”

“I have never done such a thing, Your Highness. Even though I gladly accept this marriage proposal, I absolutely did not take the initiative to arrange it.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“A few days ago, Father called my elder brothers for a chat. Teacher, think again. Are you sure it wasn’t you?”

“Ah, of course. I am truly innocent.”

As I tried to straighten my shoulders and puff out my chest proudly, I suddenly remembered that Woon Gwi, the 6th prince’s close eunuch, was the 13th prince’s secret confidant, and I became dejected again.

Woon Gwi must have told him everything I said about the 13th prince?

Perhaps the 13th prince thinks this marriage proposal came about because I said such things to the 6th prince?

As the 13th prince suddenly fell silent afterwards, I couldn’t defend myself further and just stood there quietly.

We just stood there staring at each other.

Come to think of it, it is a shocking matter. In his past life, he killed me, and in the lives before that, I killed him, but now a marriage proposal is in progress.

I looked at the withered chrysanthemum I saw when he called me for flower viewing at night. The chrysanthemum was still withered and pitiful, swaying whenever the wind blew.

How long did we stand like that? An unexpected sneeze came out in the cold wind.

As I was frantically looking for a handkerchief, thinking I might even have a runny nose, the 13th prince finally turned around and said.

“You’re not feeling well today. The lesson−.”

Does that mean we don’t have to do it? I’d be glad!

“Let’s take it slow. Follow me.”

“!”

“Mother, have you thought about it?”

The 9th princess, who usually skipped morning greetings out of laziness, came to see the empress early in the morning as she had been doing for the past few days, and skipping the greeting, she asked a question first.

“My marriage to the foreign teacher.”

Go Sanggung couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of the 9th princess, who was as lively as a newborn foal. But without showing it, she just placed green tea in front of the 9th princess.

The 9th princess picked up the teacup with a smile.

“I’ve looked into it, Mother. Although the foreign teacher is lustful, he still maintains his boundaries. He doesn’t even go to brothels, and while he flaps his lips a lot, he’s never crossed the line with anyone. At that level, I can manage him well after marriage.”

The empress stared at the bright 9th princess for a while and then said coldly.

“You might be able to control him. But the person to control Yo Yohwa’s flirtatiousness is not you, so give up.”

“I don’t want to. The foreign teacher isn’t even engaged to anyone yet.”

“His Majesty intends to match Yo Yohwa with the 13th prince. So don’t speak of such things anymore from now on.”

The empress tried to continue reading her book, but she had to look up when she heard the sound of a teacup breaking.

The 9th princess had been startled while drinking tea and her hand slipped.

“Mi Ryeo!”

The empress called out sternly, angry, but the 9th princess remained dazed for a moment before protesting loudly.

“What are you saying? The thirteenth is a man!”

Go Sanggung quickly brought a thick cloth and began to collect the broken teacup.

The empress said coldly.

“But Yo Yohwa is in love with the 13th prince. The 13th prince won’t ascend to the throne anyway, so it would be good for him to marry into the Yo family. Even if it’s not an officially recognized marriage, he’s a prince, so he won’t be mistreated.”

However, the 9th princess shouted fiercely again.

“Don’t lie! If you get rid of all the princes, you can make my sister the heir, so you’re using Master Yo as an excuse to get rid of the thirteenth, aren’t you?”

“Shin Mi Ryeo!”

The empress couldn’t hold back anymore and slammed the table, shouting fiercely.

“Watch your mouth!”

As Go Sanggung tactfully sent out all the court ladies and eunuchs, the empress put her hand on the 9th princess’s forehead and warned her sternly.

“Don’t let your tongue wag carelessly. Your sister doing well means you doing well too. You and I, your sisters, we’re all of the same blood and fate. If your sister can’t become emperor, we’ll all be in trouble. So don’t say such things carelessly. Understood?”

The 9th princess’s lips quivered and her eyes filled with tears. Looking at the empress with a pitiful expression, the 9th princess’s shoulders heaved.

The 9th princess knew that her mother was always looking for ways to make either the 5th princess or the 8th princess the emperor.

And now that she wanted to marry Yo Yohwa, it was clear that her mother was trying to get rid of Yo Yohwa and the 13th prince by tying them together.

In the 9th princess’s view, her mother seemed to be doing this on purpose because if she married the legitimate heir of the Yo family, she would have a better husband than her sisters.

Thinking about it made her angry, and the 9th princess shed tears and then clutched her stomach and shouted.

“No! I’m going to marry the foreign teacher! It has to be him! I’m carrying Master Yo’s child!”

“!”