MY KNIGHT

28. THE TRUTH

"That's absurd! I really don't understand. I've never seen this man. What possible reason could he have to send an assassin for me." Hoseok snapped, observing the sketch of the man who was accused to be responsible for the current series of events.

Some of the locals confirmed that he was seen giving money and some suspicious items wrapped in a cloth to the assassin the day before the attack happened.

"No offense Your Majesty, but the king doesn't need to know each and everyone existing on this planet. But yes, many people have an evil eye on the emperor of the most powerful nation." Namjoon said.

"I understand what you're saying Namjoon, but I just can't put two and two together. What motive can this person have behind sending an assassin for me?" Hoseok demanded.

The agitation in his voice depicted how desperate he was. He really wanted to know the truth of the attack. If someone was after his life, he can't afford to die without knowing the reason.

Namjoon held his hand, assuring him that he was there for him. For a split second Hoseok's nerves calmed, but again the weight of these drowning emotions was too heavy for him to keep his mind in right path.

He dismissed the meeting soon, commanding all the officials to catch the said person as soon as possible.

He needed to find out the truth and clear Yoongi's name. Somewhere in his heart he believed that Yoongi can never betray him. He was his best friend, his brother, his saviour. He was the last person he could think of as a traitor.

Without Yoongi, the kingdom cannot exist. He cannot exist.

"Your Majesty!?"

Hoseok was startled at the voice, as he looked back to see Namjoon still standing at the gate of the main hall. He gave him a questioning look.

"You'll soon meet the person who's behind all this, I promise." Namjoon said before turning back and leaving Hoseok alone in the dark hall.

◦•●◉✿◉●•◦

It was already past midnight where the world was engulfed in a menacing darkness. People around the kingdom were already in the arms of the slumber while there was one man who couldn't snatch forty winks in his current situation.

Hoseok paced back and forth in his balcony, his mind racing hard for the possible outcomes of his current situation.

He knew he wanted the truth to be revealed really bad but at the same time he was anxious. Anxious if the truth would be too bitter to swallow.

Can he really take it? After everything that could happen, is it really what he wants?

THE TRUTH!

He just wanted to shake off everything that followed the past few days. To forget everything and move on. Like the attack never happened. Like he never heard Yoongi being accused. Like the whole shooting match was normal.

He could feel the light breeze turning wild against his skin. The wind was accelerating every passing second. The rustling of the leaves became louder and the birds suddenly came into motion.

Something was off. He could feel it.

He swear he heard some uncanny sounds from the palace garden. His eyes searched for something unnatural but it was too dark for him to look beyond the foot of the tower he currently was in.

The howling of the wind grew louder with eerie presence of the dark clouds swallowing up anything and everything that came in their way. Soon the deafening thunder threatened to rip his ear apart. The heavy drops falling straight on his face making his vision even more restricted. He tried to shield his eyes with his arms, rapidly blinking his eyes. The lightening illuminated the surrounding for a split second letting him have a clear view of the garden.

There he saw him.

There was a man standing behind the patio situated at the extreme corner of the garden. Not just any man, but the very same person they were discussing about just couple of hours ago.

Before he could react, it again turned pitch black, the overwhelming darkness returning to its full form.

And then another strike of lightening, and the man was gone. Hoseok slammed his hands on the stony balustrade, restlessly casting about any sign of the man but he was nowhere to be seen.

Dark again.

"Guards!" He screamed, "there's an intruder in the palace."

Voice of several footsteps echoes across the garden pavement. All the guards searching for the person.

"Hurry up, he might escape. Catch him fas.....Aaaahh!!!"

An excruciating pain made Hoseok yelp. He held his left arm which started to soak his clothes red. He could see the deep cut running across his arm and the culprit arrow digging the crafted wood of the window sil behind him.

The strong wind misdirected the arrow. It was surely coming for his heart.

Soon several guards swarmed around him in order to protect their king.

Hoseok watched outside as he could decipher faint shadow of a man making his way out of the palace.

He was escaping.

"Your Majesty!" Namjoon came running towards Hoseok. He took a silk cloth out of his hanbok and wrapped it around the King's injured arm.

"Namjoon, I'm fine", he assured, "that man! He's escaping."

Namjoon first gave a questioning look but the next second he commanded the guards to prepare the horses.

Both Namjoon and Hoseok left the palace with twenty guards, following the trails of the culprit.

The rain was getting stronger and making their vision blurry and the dense woods were not doing much help. According to their direction, the man would be planning to escape through the town's main river and if he crossed it and ran into the forest, they'll lose him.

They finally reached the bank of the river, just to spectate the biggest failure of their life. Hoseok could feel his world falling apart in a second. The person he so badly wanted under his arrest was running away right infront of his eyes and he was standing there helplessly making a fool out of himself.

The man abandoned his horse and got hold of the finest boat of the deck. He almost made it to the opposite bank. The other five boats were unleashed and were carried away by the extreme flow of the river.

The tides were too high for the horses to run across the water. Clearly it was a dead end. There was no way they could cross the river and catch the man who had so much audacity of attempting to kill the emperor. He can't ask his guards to shoot arrows, because if he died, there's no way he could know who is behind these attacks.

Hoseok got off his horse, calculating any possible way of getting past the angry flow of water but he knew that the attempt is futile. He kicked the hard ground in frustration, realising his defeat after coming so close to his success. All he can do is watch that man leave.

The man reached the other side of the river, getting off from his boat. He looked back one last time towards the king giving a smirk at his direction. The look in his eyes showed that hurting the emperor was fun for him, like he was enjoying the defeated look on Hoseok's face.

He spat on the ground in pure hatred and distaste before turning back towards the forest.

He was entering the woods when Hoseok observed something. Something that was going to turn his life into a living hell. Something that he dreaded so much. He could pay his entire life just to reverse what he saw that very night in the woods.

The man went inside the forest to meet another person. The person who secretly came to meet the man who wanted to kill him. The person he could never expect to see there.

He couldn't see the face clearly due to the enraging storm but he could never be mistaken by looking at the familiar hanbok and the significant hairstyle.

Its the same gold laced hanbok he sent as a gift. And the half braids were tucked by the matching gold beaded pearls.

It can't be a mistake.

It was her.

"JiAh!"

He could feel something inside him snapped.