8 An Intruder (2)

"Who are you?"

He found his hands hastily patting the surface of the table near him as he asked the question, to see if he could use something to defend himself. With only the chamber stick on the table, Sungho grabbed it in his hands tightly then stood from his bed.

The silence was its answer, but it was not long when Sungho heard a knock. "Hyeon Ju, open the window," said the masculine voice on the other side of the locked window.

"Who is it?" Sungho asked the same question while he slowly crept his way where he was hearing the pleading voice.

"Hyeon Ju, it's your older brother. Hurry and let me in." The voice, which turned out to be Hyeon Ju's sibling, hurriedly answered, knocking rather softly on the window.

With no hesitation, Sungho swiftly unlocked the thing that was holding back the person from entering his chambers, keeping the chamberstick in his hand. And immediately as Sungho shoved the sliding window on one side, the man climbed up on the given entrance and barged inside the room.

Soon after Hyeon Ju's brother made his way in his chambers he ordered, "Shut it close."

Doing what Sungho was told, he immediately locked the window, only to hear some noises and footsteps outside while doing so. It was the sound of the metal hitting together. However, it was not long when the low clanks soon became distinct as it passed through and gradually disappeared in the distance.

"Brother, were you chased by the palace guards?" Sungho whispered behind his breath and went back to take a seat on the mattress.

"No, he's a sole person. Just some annoying shadow of the king." Hyeon Ju's brother was trying to catch his breath, wiping his sweat on his forehead with the wide sleeves of his clothing. "Anyway, what were you doing? Were you about to go to sleep before I went in?"

"Uh, yes, older brother. I was about to sleep."

The darkness of the room disappointed Sungho as he tried to see what the man looked like. Along with his completely blurred vision, there was no light, which only made it even worse.

"So, how were the situations in the Cheon Han residence?"

Sungho was taken aback from his question. What kind of situations was he supposed to say to him? Particularly deciding on what instances occurred in the concubines' residence that he should speak to him, he had no idea what to respond to.

Sungho simply watched the man scooting over his bed, and soon, he then came up with an answer. "Everything is the same as ever, brother."

Still, the person he was with did not reply immediately that caused him to worry about the answer he gave him. A bit while later, Sungho noticed that the person was actually checking him, looking at his head, and produced a sharp sigh after.

"You're going to sleep with that half-assed dried hair? Give me the cotton cloth."

Hyeon Ju's brother snatched the cloth that he was about to deliver to him, ordering Sungho around to take a turn away. Shortly as Sungho faced his back to the person behind him, his brother started dabbing his hair as gently as he could.

"The maidservants did not help you with your hair?" he queried, "Little sister, endure a little longer. The plan is going to be successful. Just like what we agreed, I will call for your attendance the day after tomorrow. What you need to do is stand still, bob your head to everything I'm going to say, and let me handle the matter."

"Then I shall do whatever you tasked me to, older brother," Sungho concurred, however, he did not have an idea of what contained the plan he agreed with.

What did she plan with her brother?

Sungho speculated that perhaps, this could be a great opportunity to convince himself that he was obliged to read the writings on Hyeon Ju's desk and visit the library tomorrow.

It did not take long when his brother finished drying his hair. He did a good job compared to what Sungho did, aggressively rubbing his hair to dry it off. "I'll expect you to wear nicely since you'll be meeting my personnel."

"Okay, brother," Sungho replied with a smile.