I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

25 – Choices

Young-jeong saw the boy running, dragging her own hand.

However. Hope. Why is that boy working so hard to help himself?

Yeongjeong knows that there is no unconditional favor in the world. Such a kind world that tickled my heart only existed in my dreams.

Even parents who deserve to have more love than anyone else. Needless to say, if you are a man who is not related by blood.

Yeongjeong realized through experience that all goodwill requires justification. Sadly.

By the way. I bet it is.

‘Why did you go so far with me….’

Help me? The question, without going out, became an empty echo and echoed meaninglessly only in the mouth of Yeongjeong.

Usually, Heidan showed his kindness to Youngjeong without expecting anything in return. He said that he came all the way to Dongseong to meet him, and he took care of this and that, such as giving food and telling funny stories.

However, Heidan’s kindness was never entirely pure either.

Until today, Heidan had put a wall between himself and Youngjeong without realizing it. He didn’t express it openly with actions or words, but we could vaguely know the outline of it through gestures and tones that popped out of the shadows.

Because of this, Youngjeong guessed that the reason Heidan was nice to her was sympathy, which is commonly referred to as sympathy. Or it’s an act based on one’s own interests.

However, today’s festival was different. Young-jeong looked down at her hand, which was still held in her hand, not caring at all about the group following them.

Have you ever held someone’s hand so strongly?

No, have you ever held hands with someone before that?

When I was very, very young. Even Young-jeong, who has an exceptional memory, had squeezed someone’s fingers in her blurry childhood, but this was the first time that they held each other strong enough to share body heat like now.

When Heidan held out his hand, Youngjeong intuitively realized that the wall Heidan had been building had collapsed.

He seemed to know that that hand was handed over the wall, though he didn’t know why.

And the body heat from his hands made him forget the cold of early spring that hadn’t completely gone away yet.

“…It’s warm.”

“Huh? Is it hard?”

Heidan reacted erratically to Yeongjeong’s muttering, probably because she was busy running.

Unlike Youngjeong, who was still breathing normally, Heidan was gasping for breath.

Growing up eating good food and being well-to-do, his stamina was inferior to that of the younger Youngjeong.

Only like this, you don’t know who is saving whom.

However, even such a sloppy appearance seemed to Youngjeong to be doing her best.

Youngjeong energized the hand that had been held still.

“This way!”

§

Jung grabbed my arm with force and dragged it.

I wondered at the sudden change in Jung’s attitude. In the meantime, the direction changed, guided by the power of Jeong’s arm, which was stronger than expected.

The leader is reversed. Jung is in front, I am behind.

The sight of a small girl leading a boy one head taller than me through the alleys unfolded. The feeling is strange in that the boy is none other than me with memories of a previous life.

Jeong Eun seemed to know all the alleys of Dongseong, and there was no hesitation in running. Nara, who was gradually lagging behind, dragged a load, but Jeong roamed the alley of Yorijori and quickly drove away the pursuers.

But do you know that just because the sound of footsteps behind you has disappeared, you are not free from all danger? Jung continued to move her leg.

Until I stopped dragging my arm.

“Wait a minute! It’s enough now. Heo-eok, heo-eok, I think I’ve got everyone out.”

I leaned over and gasped, holding only the arm held in Youngjeong’s hand. Jeong, who had been looking at the top of my head, said firmly.

“Someone might still be following me. Let’s go a little further. There’s a good place to hide.”

Jung seemed to be good at this. It must not be the first time this has happened.

My mood sank even more. More than I knew, I felt bitterness when I realized that Jung’s life must have been stained with pain.

Maybe it was because of my mood, but because I squeezed my stamina and ran, I felt a bitter taste in my sweet mouth.

I barely caught my breath before speaking.

“It’s not like that, I’m too far away from my men. For now, let’s join the two of them.”

“If you go down the road to the main street, you might get caught by those people.”

Jung calmly mentioned the danger, as if he was not afraid of the current situation.

If you go back and join Seok and Hue, you will be able to break through at least once, as there are two strong adult men.

That’s how they break through the obstacles and attract the guards. No matter how much the guards are watching the situation with orders from above, if we directly seek help, they will start to calm the riot even if it is a formal act.

‘No, this is also optimism. If the guards don’t move, we’ll fall into a trap with our own feet.’

Let’s follow Jung’s words for now.

Jung, who is more familiar with the geography of this place than I am, and who seems to have had similar experiences, albeit to be expected, would be a more suitable solution than I thought to myself.

It was funny to see him relying on a 7-year-old child even though he had memories of his previous life, but what can he do? If that seems more likely, I’ll go that way.

“Okay. I’ll do as you say.”

From here on, instead of speeding up, we slowed down and slowed down our footsteps.

The place Jung said was good for hiding was behind the pavilion, where it was dark even during the day due to the shade and the space was small, so adult men could not easily enter.

This is a place where you want to be able to endure enough. As time passes, they too will think that things have failed and disperse.

“I’ll go in first. Follow Dan carefully… Dan!”

Jung, who was paying attention as he turned to me, suddenly pushed me away.

I was pushed aside by Jung’s surprise attack, and his clumsy hand protruded violently to where I was.

I opened my eyes in amazement as if my heart would drop. We didn’t even feel the presence, but there was someone close behind us.

“A little boy…feeding a child…!”

It wasn’t just one person. There are eyes staring at us from behind the man’s back. The ferocious appearance they exude has been conveyed to this point.

“Oops…! Let go of this!”

“Jeongah!”

I ran to Jeong, who was pulling my seized arm. Jung, whose arm was grabbed by the man, resisted with all his might, but he couldn’t overcome the power gap and was being dragged along.

However, even if I added myself, who had never exercised properly, nothing would change.

When the man pushed me away, I couldn’t stand it for long and fell down. I was already running out of stamina.

While I was getting up, I heard the words exchanged between them. They chatted among themselves and told how they got here.

“It’s real. That wicked kid.”

“It’s from the filthy Qin Dynasty.”

“I told you. I saw you here the other day.”

We were underestimating.

The depth of their malice. The meticulousness of the trap they prepared.

And above all, the hatred of the people of Zhao for Qin.

‘Those people are different. They are not instigators.’

The identities of those who shined at us with eyes stained with contempt and hatred were the people.

Except for the man who is currently in love, the rest were all ordinary people of the country of Jo.

They didn’t come out with the idea of getting ahead with this event like the people who planned this event.

Simply because he hated the people of Qin.

She took herself as a guide and brought that man here with only malice for the affection of the royal family of the Qin Dynasty.

To bully a child who is only 7 years old.

The moment I realized that, I couldn’t stand it anymore and screamed.

“Aren’t you guys ashamed?”

The glares that were aimed at Jung are aimed at me.

“What is that guy?”

“Is he also a Qin guy?”

“I think I’ve seen it somewhere…”

People who did not know anything about me were murmuring over me who had suddenly intervened. But the man holding the cord was different.

“Sounds funny. You, from Yan, came here, so you don’t know. Our Cao members’ resentment towards Qin! Look!”

“Wow!”

The man raised Jung’s arm. A moan leaked out of Jeong’s mouth as his arm was caught and hung in the air.

“This b*tch! She is a princess of the Qin Dynasty! The filthy and ugly great-granddaughter of the King of Jin is this b*tch!”

Great-granddaughter of King Jin.

A child born to the grandson of King Jin, who was originally sent as a hostage to the country of Zhao, after meeting a woman from the country of Zhao.

The moment her identity was revealed, Jung closed her eyes tightly.

It wasn’t because of the pain coming up in his arm. It was because of the reluctance caused by the fear of revealing his identity, which he had been hiding from me.

I was afraid that if I knew my true identity, I would leave too.

I was afraid that I would feel betrayed and turn my back on myself.

Since she didn’t have the courage to watch it with her eyes open, Jung chose to close her eyes like a child and escape from her reality.

The man grinned as he saw her face contort.

“Can you say something like that to us knowing that?”