The Bastard First Prince Doesn't Want to Die

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 191

Jawoon’s back spoke of his betrayal and exhaustion, weighed down by slumped shoulders and slow, heavy steps. His hunched figure seemed to embody the burdens and pain he had endured. He looked so different from before.

I stood still for a moment, watching him, unable to say anything. The words wouldn’t come.

Sannyeong, whom I had just freed, trailed behind the group, visibly uncomfortable. The Hwang siblings and Jawoon cast questioning glances at the bloodstains on her clothes, but none of them asked about it. Perhaps her dark expression made them hesitant to speak.

Upon returning to the village, the first thing that caught my attention was the murmuring of voices from beneath thatched huts and low roofs. The villagers approached as if they had been waiting for us. They must have spotted us beyond the thick mist.

Each of them carried farming tools or implements in their hands, some draped in heavy coats. In the overcast, early-morning-like gloom, the sight of them murmuring as they walked toward us created an odd tension.

Even after confirming that the village chief was not among us, they did not seem particularly concerned. Was her absence truly not an issue for them? She had led this village for so long—shouldn’t they at least be worried about her disappearance?

Their expressions were a mix of curiosity and wariness. Hunched shoulders, craning necks—most of their gazes were fixed on Sannyeong. The red stains on her clothes had clearly drawn even greater interest. Yet, no one directly asked about them. Instead, their eyes searched, as if trying to piece together an answer for themselves.

These were people who had lived their lives following the chief’s words without question, but within their silence, a faint unease lingered.

Did they truly believe, without a shadow of doubt, that the chief was safe? Blindly, even?

It almost felt that way. Their indifference toward her absence was unsettling.

Since Sannyeong had been the one who caused this situation, it was only right for her to handle the aftermath. I chose to step away, leaving her to it.

As expected, Aro followed me without question.

I thought about finding a secluded spot to rest, but there was something I needed to do first.

I turned back.

Jawoon stood there, staring at me with a desolate expression.

I spoke.

"Elder."

Jawoon nodded, but he did not answer.

"Can we talk for a moment?"

Again, he nodded.

I walked toward a quiet, isolated corner of the village.

The place I stopped at was a large tree stump. It had once been a great old tree, but one stormy night, lightning had struck it down. It was a shame, given its age, but the villagers had no choice but to cut it away after it was killed by the strike.

Aro and I had been at the shrine at the time—we hadn't even realized it had rained. Jawoon had told me about it, sharing snippets of what had happened in the village while I was away.

"I wasn’t going to ask, but..."

Jawoon changed the subject. It wasn’t hard to guess what would come next.

"You stayed there all this time?"

I nodded.

"It just turned out that way."

"And you—were you there with her too?"

Jawoon turned to Aro and asked, “And you?”

Aro nodded in response.

With a complicated expression, Jawoon spoke again.

“…Sir. Baek.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“How were you able to enter that place?”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer. I had expected this question, but now that it was actually being asked, the words wouldn’t come easily.

Jawoon’s gaze was not one of suspicion but of serious curiosity mixed with a hint of wariness. He had likely already formed his own conclusion.

“If you’re asking how I entered…” I trailed off before deciding to answer honestly. “To be honest, I don’t fully understand it myself. But considering that I was able to pass through the shrine’s barriers, it must mean my origins are tied to this place.”

There was no point in lying. Someone like Jawoon—who had spent years in this land—would see right through an unconvincing story. Even if I could deceive him, I had no desire to. After all, he had once been my benefactor.

But my honesty seemed to have the opposite effect.

“…Your origins?”

Jawoon let out a short, mirthless laugh. His reaction was as if he had just heard something absurd. It caught me off guard as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Origins… you say…”

He repeated the word under his breath, then turned away from me.

“Why are you reacting like this, Elder?”

I asked, puzzled. He remained silent for a moment before turning back to look at me.

Then, out of nowhere, he muttered a single word.

"Eunyun."

“…What?”

Did I mishear that?

“You carry Eunyun’s sword, yet you claim you’re from this place?” Jawoon’s voice turned cold. “Do you truly think I’d believe that?”

There was a sharp edge to his words.

“If you’re going to lie, at least put some effort into it. It’s hard to even pretend to believe you.”

I suddenly recalled that Jawoon had confiscated my sword for a time after finding me unconscious. He must have seen the engraving on the blade.

“So you have some connection to So Eunyun, yet you expect me to believe you’re from this village?” His tone was even colder now. “You’ve been deceiving me this whole time.”

I shook my head.

“Elder.”

Jawoon let out a low sigh.

“This is a misunderstanding.”

“What exactly is a misunderstanding? That you possess So Eunyun’s treasured sword? That blade was crafted by the greatest blacksmith in Mokryeo, a sword so rare that even the royal family owns only a handful of similar caliber. And you call this a misunderstanding?”

His gaze was sharp. It was clear he already knew what the sword was and who Eunyun was.

It was my turn to be caught off guard.

So, to summarize—Jawoon was fully aware of the sword’s significance and of the person it originally belonged to.

Which meant… he had been keeping things from me as well.

“Elder, you were hiding things from me, too.”

“I have severed all ties with the past. It no longer concerns me. I have no intention of returning.”

“But you still remember.”

“Memories I cannot erase—they are my lifelong curse.”

There was a heavy silence between us before I finally asked, “How do you know the Deposed Queen? Her name was never widely known.”

Jawoon’s usually stoic face twisted in shock.

“…What did you just say?”

“Hm?”

His reaction was far more extreme than I expected. His eyes darted down to the sword at my waist.

“…Deposed Queen?”

“What’s the matter?”

“You mean to say…”

Jawoon raised a hand to his temple, pressing his fingers against it as though a headache had just struck him.

“So Eunyun… was the Deposed Queen? Is that what you just said?”

I wasn’t sure what was so shocking, but I nodded anyway.

"That's correct. Is there a problem?"

"...A problem. Yes, there is a problem. A lot of them." Jawoon's voice was laced with disbelief. "What are you saying? What happened all this time?"

I didn't understand the situation and could only stare at him with a blank expression.

Losing his patience, Jawoon asked again, "Are you telling me that the king took So Eunyun as his Queen?"

What?

Of all things, he was asking me about my parents' marital status while I was standing right in front of him.

And the way he spoke—it was as if he knew them personally.

"Uh..."

"Yes or no. Just answer that."

I darted my eyes around, looking for an escape. Noticing this, Jawoon grabbed my shoulder firmly, making sure I couldn’t run.

I shot Aro a pleading look, but she must have decided that Jawoon wasn’t a threat. That traitor simply turned her head away, completely ignoring me.

How cruel.

"Yes," I finally admitted. "So Eunyun was the name of the previous queen. And now, she is the deposed Queen."

Jawoon let out a long sigh. His expression was one of pure disbelief.

"But deposed? That makes no sense. Are you telling me the king cast aside the only daughter of the So family, who was practically handed to him on a silver platter?"

I nodded. Wasn't I the living proof of it, abandoned in this remote palace?

"Yes, he did."

"...Unbelievable. That bastard would never have let go of So Eunyun, not with the way he is..."

As I listened, I realized something.

Jawoon was speaking as if he knew both the king and the deposed queen personally.

That was... suspicious.

"Elder, where exactly were you stationed that you seem to know so much?"

"Is that something you need to know?"

"It would be nice to."

Jawoon furrowed his brow deeply, contemplating his answer before finally speaking.

"I am a distant relative of Prince Yegyeong of Mokryeo. Fifth cousin, to be exact."

"...What?"

For a moment, it felt like I had been struck over the head.

Of course, I had suspected that Jawoon wasn't just some ordinary person—especially with the way he casually referred to the deposed queen by name—but this?

"This is absurd!"

Had I just run into another member of the royal family? I looked him up and down. His shabby, worn-out appearance did not match the image of royalty in the slightest.

My reaction must have been too obvious because Jawoon stared at me like I was the strange one.

"You find the truth absurd? Be careful how you speak. That could be considered an insult."

"No, that's not what I meant..."

I glanced at Aro beside me. She was watching our conversation with great interest, resting her chin on her hands with wide, eager eyes.

I scratched the back of my head.

"I'm from the Ye family, too."

Jawoon froze. He blinked a few times before finally reacting.

"If this is a joke, now is not the time."

"It's not a joke..."

I lowered my gaze and looked at the sword at my waist. I could feel Jawoon's stare following the same path.

"I'm her son."

A sharp intake of breath.

Aro clapped both hands over her mouth. Jawoon, on the other hand, simply stared at me in silence before looking up at the sky. Then, he lowered his gaze again, covering his mouth with his hand as if processing something.

After a long moment, he locked eyes with me.

"I'll ask just once. Is this a joke?"

Even in this tense situation, I let out an awkward chuckle.

"It's not. It's the truth."

The moment I answered, a sudden gust of wind swept past us, ruffling my hair.

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]