RKDPMC 07

Chapter 7

But when she heard that a kiss was involved, Un Suk-eum began wondering whether it would work with someone else.

She rubbed her body affectionately against the maid’s hand, making the maid laugh. She then acted as cute and lovable as she could and, seizing the opportunity, gave the maid a little kiss.

Her lips made contact, but nothing changed in her body.

‘Does it really have to be that bastard?’

Un Suk-eum pouted, and all desire to play around vanished.

Instead, she pushed against the maid’s body, urging her to hurry and put her into the water.

Perhaps because she was in a good mood after receiving the kiss, the maid picked up the little rabbit, placed her in the water, and began washing her carefully.

Before long, the rabbit’s fur had become completely white and clean, and she was carried back wrapped in a soft wool blanket.

The bloodstained smell had already disappeared from the cabin.

A brazier had been placed in the center, charcoal blazing inside it and filling the entire cabin with comforting warmth.

The maid crouched beside the brazier and was about to dry the rabbit, but Gun Guyeon stopped her and took the rabbit himself.

“Leave.”

After sending the maid away, Gun Guyeon pushed his wheelchair closer to the brazier.

Then he looked at the rabbit, whose wet fur had clumped together, leaving her little pink skin exposed beneath it, and spoke with undisguised disgust.

“You’re truly ugly.”

Un Suk-eum immediately glared at him, ready to curse him inwardly.

Just then, Gun Guyeon wrapped her in the wool blanket.

The wool was extremely fine and soft. When it pressed against Un Suk-eum’s body and dried her fur, it felt as though her entire body were being gently embraced.

Having become a rabbit, Un Suk-eum was buried beneath the wool.

Every time the dense wool brushed against the tip of her nose, it tickled so much that she felt as though she were about to sneeze.

Desperately, Un Suk-eum lifted her rabbit head and tried to escape through the thick wool, but the man caught her hind legs and pushed her back inside.

“Stay still.”

A low scolding voice came from above her head.

Un Suk-eum’s body curled into a ball as she became trapped inside again.

She wondered whether the man was trying to torment her once more, but instead of the pain she had expected, a gentle pressure moved over her body, slowly rubbing her dry.

Through the soft wool blanket, his fingertips moved over every corner of her body, drying away the moisture.

Once she was completely dry, Gun Guyeon picked up the rabbit and placed her on his lap.

Using his fingers, he gently straightened out her tangled fur, carefully smoothing the clumps as though his hand were a comb.

His head was slightly lowered.

A few strands of his long hair, apparently still damp from having just been washed, fell across his chest.

A reddish-gold mask covered half of his face, but the jawline visible beneath it was both slender and handsome.

With the madness gone from his expression, his pale face held a trace of tender gentleness.

His phoenix-like eyes were filled only with tranquility and calm.

At this moment, even the lantern light seemed strangely gentle.

‘Actually, this man is really handsome when he isn’t having an episode…’

Un Suk-eum raised her head and stared blankly at the man.

Then he lightly tapped her head, bringing her back to her senses.

“Why are you looking at this prince like that?”

Un Suk-eum muttered inwardly.

‘Beauty really does bewitch people.’

Gun Guyeon had no idea what the rabbit was thinking.

However, seeing her sitting obediently on his lap, her fur fluffy and completely dry, made him feel strangely satisfied. She looked almost like a little ball of white snow that depended entirely upon him.

“Why did you save this prince earlier?”

He suddenly spoke.

Until the assassin had moved just moments ago, even Gun Guyeon himself had not noticed the danger.

If this rabbit had not suddenly leaped forward and kicked the man, Gun Guyeon might have been injured, even if he had managed to avoid a fatal blow.

He had seen it clearly.

The rabbit had been obedient and docile the entire time, but the instant the assassin moved, she reacted.

The assassin had infiltrated the ship while deceiving Mang Gyun and the guards aboard. Someone capable of doing that should have revealed almost no openings.

Yet this rabbit had leaped forward at the crucial moment.

Therefore, it was obvious that she had recognized the man as an assassin and saved him.

“How did you know that man had come to assassinate this prince, hmm?”

Gun Guyeon lifted the rabbit and brought her close, staring directly into her eyes.

Suspicion lingered in his narrow eyes behind the reddish-gold mask.

“You… are you really a rabbit?”

Un Suk-eum had been so distracted by his beauty that her mind had briefly gone blank.

But when she met those dark eyes, which seemed intent on peeling off her skin and seeing what was underneath, her heart began pounding.

She quickly tilted her head and looked at Gun Guyeon.

Her large eyes were filled with a bewildered expression that seemed to say,

‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’

Seeing the rabbit play dumb, the corner of Gun Guyeon’s lips lifted slightly.

“Whether you’re a rabbit or not doesn’t matter. Since this prince picked you up, you only need to follow this prince.”

He reached out and toyed with Un Suk-eum’s ears.

When he saw the little ball of white fur tremble sensitively beneath his touch, he let out a low laugh.

“Only this prince would take in such an ugly creature. From now on, stay obediently by this prince’s side. This prince will take good care of you.”

Un Suk-eum’s entire body tingled when he touched her ears.

But inwardly, she still scoffed.

‘As if!’

She certainly wasn’t ugly!

The original owner had inherited her beauty from her mother, Madam Lin. She was exceptionally beautiful.

She might not have been a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms, but she was still considered one of the most beautiful women around.

More importantly, she absolutely did not want to stay beside a pervert like this.

No matter how handsome he was, a pervert was still a pervert!

Un Suk-eum continued cursing Gun Guyeon inwardly.

Then she saw him lower his head to pick something up, and her eyes immediately lit up.

The moment Gun Guyeon bent over, Un Suk-eum, who had been waiting for a chance to kiss him, quickly grabbed onto his robe and climbed upward.

Taking advantage of the moment when he had lowered his body, she tried to kiss him on the lips.

Unfortunately, before she could even get close, he grabbed her by the ear and pulled her back down.

“You don’t know your place. Don’t covet this prince’s beauty.”

Un Suk-eum struggled regretfully as his lips moved out of reach, but she was firmly pressed down onto his lap.

Gun Guyeon watched the little ball of white fur struggle beneath his fingers like an overturned turtle and let out a low laugh.

Then he lightly pinched the tip of her ear.

“You really are stupid.”

Mang Gyun had noticed that his master’s mood had visibly improved over the past few days.

Although Gun Guyeon still appeared cold and his tone remained indifferent, he had become several times less demanding about food.

He even occasionally read books or played with the rabbit.

Having served him for many years, Mang Gyun could tell that his master was not in a bad mood.

Thanks to this, the people aboard the ship, who had been tense after the assassin incident, were able to relax somewhat as well.

The assassin they had captured earlier had died after being unable to withstand the torture.

However, his corpse was still hanging there after all the blood had been drained from it, leaving behind nothing but skin and bones.

The sight of that corpse alone was enough to intimidate everyone, and the remainder of the journey toward the capital proceeded without further trouble.

They also eventually discovered the identities of the attackers.

“These two were assassins from Nanlou. They accepted a private commission to assassinate Your Highness. Apparently, when our people were securing the ship last time, word leaked out. They disguised themselves as officials responsible for managing the government vessels and infiltrated the ship.”

“Nanlou has acknowledged what happened and sent one hundred thousand taels of silver as an apology. They also captured and handed over the person who had been in contact with the assassins.”

Un Suk-eum, curled up in Gun Guyeon’s arms, snorted when she heard Mang Gyun’s report.

If what he said was true, then Nanlou seemed to be something like a contract-killing organization in the modern world.

Organizations like that generally operated under extremely strict rules.

Not only did they maintain tight control over their assassins, but whenever an assignment was accepted, the organization itself would coordinate the operation and assign the mission according to the assassin’s rank.

Un Suk-eum had encountered many people of this sort in her previous life.

Such assassins often even carried monitoring devices on their bodies during operations.

Of course, ancient times did not have surveillance equipment like the modern world.

But there had to be other methods of controlling people, such as poison or gu poison.

Otherwise, how could they possibly control such ruthless assassins?

According to Un Suk-eum’s memories, unless someone was one of the highest-ranking assassins capable of leaving the organization and operating independently, everyone had to follow the rules.

Secretly accepting private commissions outside the organization was absolutely impossible.

If it had been possible, an assassin organization would have collapsed long ago.

Un Suk-eum had also seen the two assassins aboard the merchant ship earlier.

Their skills were mediocre, and their assassination plan had not been particularly sophisticated.

They were certainly not experts whom an organization would fear.

How could people like that possibly evade the organization’s surveillance and accept an outside commission?

And there was even less reason for them to accept a mission to assassinate the Regent Prince of the current era—a task that could easily bring disaster upon themselves.

Un Suk-eum was certain of one thing.

Those two were probably nothing more than scapegoats.

Nanlou had clearly used them to cut off the loose end after the mission failed, allowing the organization itself to walk away cleanly.

Gun Guyeon seemed to have seen through the entire matter as well.

He stroked the rabbit in his arms and then spoke coldly.

“Two hundred thousand taels. And tell them to send the mastermind’s head to the Regent Prince’s residence within three days.”

His voice turned colder.

“Otherwise, I’ll flatten Nanlou.”

Un Suk-eum, curled up in Gun Guyeon’s arms, practically wanted to clap her front paws together.

Mang Gyun lowered his voice and asked,

“Then what should we do with the contact who was connected to us…?”

“Kill him.”

Gun Guyeon spoke without hesitation.

“It’s obvious who wants this prince dead. And among them, there are even fewer people wealthy enough to move Nanlou.”

“They always hide in the shadows, never daring to show their heads. The people who get caught are either fakes or pawns who have already outlived their usefulness. There is no point keeping them alive.”

In other words, they were nothing more than disposable scapegoats.

As Gun Guyeon spoke, his fingertips idly played with the rabbit’s fur.

The handful of soft fur beneath his fingers seemed even thicker than before.

The rabbit appeared to have grown plumper in just a few days, and the sensation beneath his hand was becoming increasingly pleasant.

He rubbed the rabbit’s back and spoke casually.

“Throw his corpse and the corpses of the previous assassins into Zhengyang Palace.”

“Tell His Majesty that they are this prince’s New Year’s gift.”

Mang Gyun was startled.

“My lord, are you saying that His Majesty was behind this incident?”

Gun Guyeon glanced at him.

“Whether he was or not, what difference does it make?”

If His Majesty really had been behind it, then this would simply be a return gift.