Instead of Running away

Lee Eunshi reached the academy before night could fall. After freshening up, he came to the dormitory. "Eunshi, you arrived!" Sunwo delightedly said. "We were waiting for you for two hours," he further stated.

Lee Eunshi removed the hat and placed it on the table. He rested on his bed and looked at all of them. "What did your friend say? Did the Princess refuse to marry me?" Yeong asked.

"Marry her. She loves you a lot," Lee Eunshi stated.

"What?" Do Yeong exclaimed.

"Marry her because there is no way out to go out of this political marriage alliance. The Princess dearly loves you," Lee Eunshi pronounced.

"How could she love me?" Do Yeong was dejected after knowing that the Princess was not ready to withdraw with the political marriage with him. "I did not even talk with her and she loves me dearly!" Do Yeong chuckled.

"You two did not even meet?!" Lee Eunshi asked.

"I only saw her one or two times but I did not have any conversation with her. I am going to meet her officially for the first time after two weeks. Had she not been the Princess, I would have…" Do Yeong paused and stood to from the bed.

"Complete your sentence," Lee Eunshi sternly said.

"I would have rejected her feelings right away. Because she is the Princess, I cannot even say her anything," Do Yeong stated annoyingly.

Lee Eunshi got angry. "You are a coward. You are keeping her in darkness. Talk with her and clear your misunderstandings with her. If she loves you then there might be a reason. She is not mad to love a person who did not even converse with her," Lee Eunshi with exasperation said.

Sunwo noticed that Lee Eunshi was reacting as if he knew the Princess personally. Moreover, he had found something about Eunshi which was troubling him. "Lee Eunshi, what your father does?" Sunwo asked him.

Lee Eunshi was bewildered to hear that question.

"Don't look at me with those eyes. I want to know your real identity. Who are you? Because I am suspicious that you are from a Royal Family," Sunwo proclaimed and stood up from his bed. Sunwo walked towards him and sat beside him.

"You can tell us. We will not reveal anything. You are the Prince, right? That Prince whose identity is hidden?" Sunwo asked in front of everyone. Lee Eunshi widened his eyes slightly but then he did not let it show on his face.

"What are you saying? How could I be the Prince?" Lee Eunshi questioned and smiled.

"Tell us the truth. You are that hidden Prince whose identity is unknown to everyone," Sunwo stressed his words.

Yoon Shik, Sung Tae and Do Yeong skeptically looked at Lee Eunshi who kept denying that but Sunwo kept pressuring him. When Sunwo saw that Eunshi was not accepting that he was the Royal Prince, he took out a Royal Seal from the sash he was wearing on his waist.

"What about this? Will you still refuse and lie that you are not the Royal Prince?" Sunwo queried Lee Eunshi. The other three were shocked to see that. Lee Eunshi blinked his eyes and snatched the seal from him.

"Where did you find this?" Lee Eunshi worriedly asked as he looked at the seal.

"You left it in the washroom in the morning but luckily it fell in my hands. Sorry for using an informal language with you, your highness," stated Sunwo and smiled.

"So, you are really a Prince?" Sung Tae shockingly asked.

"Will you lower your voice?" Lee Eunshi asked him. Sung Tae apologized.

Lee Eunshi chuckled and said, "You are talking so sweetly to me which is making me worry. Don't use the title for me. My identity is hidden for a reason and I do not want you four to tell anyone about this. Failed to do so will have only one punishment- 'A Death Sentence.' I won't be kind just because we know each other," Lee Eunshi pronounced.

"This secret will be between us only," Sung Tae with assurance said.

"You should keep this Royal seal safely till the time you are in the academy," Sunwo advised to Lee Eunshi who agreed with him.

"So, you are the Brother of the Princess. Just tell your sister that I am not interested in her and will never be," Do Yeong menacingly said.

"Do you think I did not talk to her? Meet her after two weeks. I won't intervene in this until you meet her. Furthermore, she is my half-sister. Hyung-nim is closer to her and if he found out that I am doing such a thing then I might be punished," Lee Eunshi proclaimed.

"Do you mean the Crown Prince will get angry at you?" Sunwo asked in a low voice.

"Yes." Lee Eunshi looked at Do Yeong. "Don't hate her for no reason. Even if I am not that close to her but I still care for her as a brother. Just try to understand her too," Lee Eunshi requested to Do Yeong.

Yoon Shik understood what a brother felt towards his sister. So, he thought to support Lee Eunshi. "Do Yeong, you shall not break the heart of the Princess by being harsh on her. Spend some time with her. If she loves you then there might be some reason. As a brother I can understand the worries of Lee Eunshi. If my sister faces such a problem then it would hurt me too along with her," Yoon Shik asserted.

Do Yeong nodded. "It is not like I want to hurt her. Yoon Shik, you never undergone with such a dilemma so you cannot understand the worries from my end. Same for the others. I wish you could understand me as a friend," Do Yeong was disappointed that even Yoon Shik did not understand him.

"I know that I have not faced such issues. But it does not mean I do not understand. Marrying someone whom you do not know is not an easy thing. But you should try conversing with the Princess. There must be a reason that she is in love with you. You must find out about that instead of running away. The more you run away, the more it is going to get complex," Yoon Shik rested his words. Sunwo agreed with Yoon Shik and told Yeong to face it.

Yeong nodded and told them that he would meet her after two weeks and cleared the things between them. Lee Eunshi took a breath of relief upon hearing the statement of Do Yeong.