The Proof

“These are the king’s orders for you.”, Kim said.

With every word his smile grew bigger and bigger and so did my worries.

“What does it say?”, Kang asked. She was also very worried.

“Your sister has yet another punishment on her hands. She disobeyed the king and didn’t show respect for the art of poetry and as said by the king she is being punished. She will be working as the king’s mother’s caretaker and will be paid accordingly. She has been removed from her post in the royal department. And she has to stay at the palace till late.”, he said.

My whole world came crashing down. That jerk took my job from me. I worked hard day and night to earn that job and then I worked hard day and night to get promoted and he just crushed my career in a few minutes with his bare hands.

“And he has also ordered that if you fail to prove yourself innocent tomorrow you will have to leave his province with or without your family.”, saying this he handed me the royal order and left humming to himself.

It was too many problems to handle and I needed some peace. I went to the riverside and sat there. I kept looking at the waves and I didn’t realise when and how the time passed.

“What brings you here again?”, a voice said and made me jump back into reality. I looked back to see it was the mystery guy.

“I could have asked you the same thing.”, I replied.

“Then why didn’t you?”, he said with his cheeks going a bit up which meant he was smiling.

“Because I don’t have a habit of being too nosy and interfering in people’s lives.”, saying this a smirk etched onto my face.

He laughed. He was now standing right next to me, and we both were watching the waves silently. The moon was shining brightly and its reflection in the water was chaotic because of the ripples. I could relate it to my life. Even though I am being respected to take a stand my life is full of chaos because of the stupid king.

“You are worried about the hearing tomorrow. Aren’t you?”, he asked.

“How do you know about the hearing?”, I asked.

“Everyone does.”, he said and at that moment I dearly wished he was not a part of everyone. I looked away.

“I didn’t do anything.”, I don’t know why but I defended myself. I expected him to say something like ‘that we will come to know tomorrow’, but instead he said, “I know, you didn’t”.

I looked at him to find he was already looking at me. Even with his face covered he looked rather handsome.

“I also know who did.”, he continued. Now I was looking at him all confused.

“You do?”, I asked still a bit unsure. He nodded.

“Can you help me prove myself innocent tomorrow?”, I asked. He laughed and shook his head.

“I can’t be there to speak but I can surely lead you to your evidence.”, he said. His eyes were shining, and it was not tough to make out that he was proud of himself.

“What is the evidence and where is it?”, I asked more eager now.

“Your evidence is the sangeons and they are still in the courtroom in the palace.”, he said. I looked at him with a confused face. How can the sangeons be the evidence and how are we going to reach them.

“Don’t think too much and follow me. We have very less time.”, he said and started walking towards the palace.

I was so desperate to have even single evidence that I ran after him without even a second thought. He took me to the backside of the palace where one window was left ajar.

“Why are we here and not at the entrance?”, I asked.

“Because I can enter the gates at this time, but you can’t.”, he stated the obvious. I blushed because of embarrassment.

He stood by the tree that had one branch just outside the window. He asked me to climb up the tree and jump in through the window. I used to climb trees when I was young but now, I had no idea if I will be able to do it or not.

“I will climb first and check if there is anyone inside or not.”, he said and started climbing.

When he reached the first branch he stopped, looked down and motioned me to follow. I hesitated at first but then I tried. It was not as tough as it seemed but the only problem was my skirt. It was getting stuck in the branches again and again.

When I reached the first branch he was already by the window. Shouldn’t he be helping me? I thought. But before I could ask for help, he jumped inside. He looked around and then asked me to come faster.

Somehow, I managed to reach the branch that was closest to the window and I was searching for him to help me in. he was standing near the entrance of the room. Yes, this window led us to some room. I knew by then he wouldn’t be helping so I jumped inside and as expected I toppled down on the floor because of my skirt. And all he did was ask me to stay quiet.

I stood up and took in my surrounding. It was the most beautiful room I could ever lay my eyes on. It had a fountain indoors. I had never seen such an aesthetic room ever before, or maybe I had but I couldn’t remember where. He asked me to follow him but maintain enough distance.

We both were quietly tipped toeing to the courtroom and after dodging about a dozen guards, we were standing in front of our destination. He took out the key for the courtroom and opened it.

“Where did you get this from?”, I asked horrified. The keys of the courtroom stayed either with the royalties or the higher-order elites.

“I came prepared.”, he said. I was still a bit sceptical.

But I preferred focusing on the work at hand. We entered the courtroom and he locked the door behind us. The moment we entered my eyes fell on the table where the sangeons were kept. I ran towards them and he waited at the door to keep a check.

I picked up the red sangeon and opened it. It was supposed to be the prince’s oath but it had the king’s oath. I opened the yellow one and it had the prince’s oath. Someone had replaced the sangeons. But the seals are always pasted firmly onto the sangeons, how can someone remove it without tearing. I turned around the sangeons and there it was, my evidence to prove myself innocent. The tear marks were there on the paper. How did no one notice this? Not even the prince who is known to be pretty observant.

I kept the sangeons back and went to the mystery guy. He opened the door slightly and checked if anyone was there. When he was sure of no one being there he motioned me to come out. He locked the door and we went back through the same path we came from.

“Thank you so much”, I said when we were standing under the tree.

“Pleasure was all mine”, he said bowing down in a mocking manner. We laughed.

“I am Nam Ji Hyun.”, I said. He smiled.

“Nice name.”, he said and climbed up the tree.

“wouldn’t you tell me your name?”, now it was my turn to ask.

“You have to wait a little longer for that Hyun.”, he smiled and said.

My name sounded too good when he said it. I smiled at him. He jumped inside the window. Didn’t he say he could use the entrance then why did he jump through the window, I thought?

“Because it is the shorter route”, a voice came from the window. I saw up and he was leaning there. I laughed. I seriously need to start thinking silently.

“Goodnight sir.”, I said.

“Goodnight Hyun”, he said and smiled at me one last time and went inside.

The window was now closed but I stood there staring at it for a while. I knew behind that mask were tons of secrets and they were worth exploring.