The Bastard First Prince Doesn't Want to Die

Chapter: 135

“Huh?”

The feeling of Jincheon’s presence outside the tent was fading. Since I had ordered him to guard the area, he wouldn’t leave his post unless there was a good reason.

The fact that I sensed another presence besides Jincheon\'s meant that someone must have come and taken him away.

But that kid wouldn\'t be easily swayed, no matter what. The fact that he had left somewhere meant...

Suddenly, a bad feeling washed over me. It wasn\'t fear, but more like the feeling of losing a child by a river.

But Jincheon wasn\'t the type to get hurt anywhere. I didn\'t need to worry about his safety.

Yeah, that\'s fine. As long as he doesn\'t get hurt. Even if he causes some trouble, I can usually take care of it... I\'ll just leave him be.

“What’s wrong?” Noticing my concern for the outside, my grandfather asked.

“I thought I heard footsteps outside.”

When I replied, my grandfather’s expression hardened.

“I’ll go check it out.”

He seemed on edge, perhaps because of the incident with the assassin.

He stood up abruptly and drew his sword. Then he flung open the tent door.

But there was nothing. Just Jincheon’s absence.

“It seems my guard has left his post.”

My grandfather said, “Yes, I thought so too.”

I nodded and stood up to follow him.

“However, it’s suspicious. Even though he’s usually quiet, he wouldn’t leave his post without saying anything…”

Wait a minute.

Thinking about it, there had never been a situation where he left without a word.

I was always the one who left first.

Ah.

“Is that so? Then maybe something happened…”

“No, I don’t think so. He’s usually very quiet.”

My grandfather seemed to agree that he was usually quiet.

“Shall I go look for him?”

“There’s no need to go looking for a runaway dog.”

I looked around. If something had happened, the entire camp would have been in an uproar. It was probably nothing.

“He probably just went to the latrine or something.”

I stepped out of the tent.

“It would be better to go check on her myself.”

‘Lady Do’ was it?

If she was someone my grandfather addressed so formally, I should have been informed. Yet, I had no idea who she was.

Though I didn’t think I’d forgotten, it was still better to go and meet her face to face.

As I walked with my grandfather, I asked, “Grandfather, do you really want me to make Jincheon the heir of the So family?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He smiled briefly.

“My wish is for Your Highness to get what you want.”

...I doubt he meant that literally.

I doubt that my desire would really be the deciding factor in choosing the heir.

My grandfather glanced at me and continued, “If there’s no heir, we have no choice but to become a vassal of the royal family or adopt a distant relative from a branch family. If Your Highness desires it, I have no reason to object.”

“...I’ll have to think about it.”

Give Jincheon the So family? I never thought he would be used like that.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for me. As long as Jincheon didn’t betray me.

“But why are you thinking about the succession so early? It’s too soon.”

“There’s no harm in being prepared.”

General So wasn’t going to die anytime soon. Why is he talking about succession so early? It’s unsettling.

Suddenly, I remembered wondering how my grandfather had gotten permission to go on this expedition from the current king.

Ah, it’s all useless thinking.

Soon we arrived at the gathering of the commanders and soldiers.

“There she is.”

My grandfather glanced around the group, then pointed in one direction and walked straight towards her.

As soon as my grandfather appeared, everyone bowed their heads and made way for him.

They seemed to respect him even more than me.

“Tch.”

My grandfather stopped in front of a lower-ranking soldier.

“...Lady Do.”

He said that and let out a long sigh. He seemed both disappointed and angry. Or perhaps both.

And the other person was glaring at my grandfather. Glaring at a general—what audacity. I couldn’t even do that.

She seemed like a crazy person who didn’t care about anything. Maybe she was similar to Jincheon.

Definitely, she gave off a dangerous aura.

It wasn’t a bad feeling, but a literally unpleasant smell. However, the others didn’t seem to notice it.

It must be a smell that I could only smell because of my ability.

But apart from that, Lady Do didn’t seem like a dangerous opponent.

First of all, she was much smaller than me and my grandfather, so she couldn’t defeat me physically.

I wondered why someone like her would come to the demon realm.

“No, I should call her Soldier Do.”

“Yes, that would be correct,” I interjected.

Soldier Do, who had only been glaring at my grandfather, turned her eyes towards me.

She was the one who often glanced at the back of my head.

Whenever I turned around, she would quickly look away. I had thought she was just a soldier who liked to eavesdrop, but there was a reason for it.

“Greetings. Seeing your attitude towards Your Highness, it’s clear how you’ve been behaving,” My grandfather said angrily.

Soldier Do\'s eyes returned to my grandfather. They were quite sharp.

And I was a little surprised.

While it was strange for Soldier Do to be so bold in speaking to a general, my grandfather\'s attitude was also different from when he spoke to other soldiers.

But they didn\'t seem close enough to be considered acquaintances.

Yunrim Do was a very far-off place. Wasn’t it a noble family?

So, there would have been no reason for her to have any connection with General So, who had spent a long time in the capital.

Soldier Do bowed her head. She said nothing.

“She is Do Ye-ran of the Yunrim Do clan,” My grandfather said.

It was a name I had never heard before. I was sure I had checked the list for notable individuals.

I had even asked Yoo Gung to check the details of high-ranking commanders, but I hadn’t looked into the lower ranks.

Was she perhaps a relative of the So family?

With a look of intense longing, I tried to get a clue from my grandfather, but he didn\'t seem to notice.

My grandfather sighed.

“I thought she had something to tell Your Highness, but I was mistaken. Let\'s move to a quieter place.”

My grandfather said to me, “It would be better to have a private conversation.”

Soldier Do clearly showed her displeasure with this situation, but my grandfather didn\'t seem to care.

I walked towards the tent first, followed by my grandfather, and then by Soldier Do.

The awkward silence that followed was very uncomfortable. Soldier Do\'s gaze kept stabbing at the back of my head.

It was as if she were looking at an enemy. I tried to ignore it.

When we returned to the tent, Jincheon was still nowhere to be seen. His errand couldn\'t have taken that long, so he must have gone somewhere else.

I felt a strange sense of unease.

I put Jincheon out of my mind and sat down.

“Your Highness, I have something to say.”

As soon as we entered the tent, my grandfather began to speak to me in a more formal tone than usual.

I knew what he meant. It wasn\'t really for me, but rather a warning to Soldier Do.

Did it have to be this way?

I had asked for this.

"Hiding your identity could be interpreted as having impure intentions. Did you stay by His Highness\'s side without knowing that?"

"No," Soldier Do finally spoke. It was the first time I had heard her voice. Unlike her pale face, her voice was low. That was probably why I hadn’t noticed her before.

"If not, why didn\'t you reveal your identity to His Highness?"

Soldier Do hesitated before answering.

"I just wanted to see for myself if the rumors about His Highness changing were true."

"Any other reasons?"

"I swear there were no other intentions."

I see. Soldier Do hadn\'t caused any problems. If she had, I would have known by now.

"So, did I seem different?" I asked. It was a meaningless question, but I got a serious answer.

"How could I know His Highness\'s true nature? I only followed His Highness from afar. But seeing that no one complained, I realized that Your Highness was exceptionally qualified as a leader."

In other words, she didn\'t believe I had changed.

How absurd.

"You seem to have a grudge against me."

My grandfather looked at me. This was... it seemed like he wasn\'t taking my side.

So, when I said that Soldier Do seemed to have a grudge against me, my grandfather looked at me as if I had no right to say such a thing.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Grandfather?"

Instead of answering, my grandfather cleared his throat. It was the first time I\'d seen him do that.

And Soldier Do burst out laughing incredulously.

"How could that be? As a servant of the royal family, how could I possibly harbor resentment towards His Highness? That\'s preposterous."

It seemed like she wasn\'t lying.

She must have had some bad experiences with the spoiled prince. And now I was getting dragged into it.

I was racking my brain for a way out of this situation when I decided to just be shameless.

"Then I\'ll take that as you\'ve decided to join my cause."

Soldier Do\'s eyes widened in surprise.

I smiled awkwardly.

"Since my grandfather knows about it, it means that Soldier Do isn\'t a threat to me, right? At least."

"I hope so."

Did that mean Soldier Do could still pose a threat to me?

I didn\'t really believe it, but seeing Soldier Do\'s sharp gaze, it seemed possible.

I wondered why my grandfather allowed someone who seemed to hate me so much to join my unit.

I was curious about my grandfather\'s intentions. Then, Soldier Do spoke.