"My prince, you were under chancellor Quy's supervision," she answered.
"Then how did Long Dao not know who I am?" I was curious.
"Because chancellor Quy wants to keep your presence unknown, he secretly transferred you to a house behind his garden. So even though you both were living in the same place, Quy Long Dao and you have never known each other's existence," Van Kiep replied.
"This sounds just like a romantic novel right here," I thought. "Anyway, is there more?"
"Oh yes. Now my prince, please let me keep talking. I saw other soldiers looking at you weirdly talking to the air," she smiled.
I turned slowly and did saw eyes were on me for a while now, so I just kept quiet after that and let Van Kiep continue.
"Five years ago, for some reason your brother became king. People in the palace still don't know how he managed to do that because there were many princes with powerful support from their mothers. They were doubting his ability as a ruler, but after two years, he proved his position as the king to all the doubters.
When the expiration date of the agreement came three years after that. Following the agreement, Lai, Hoa, and Lan all return the royal family members that were kept as hostages back to their home nation.
My prince, you were also on your way back to Hoa as well. I remember that was the first time you smiled when hearing you will return to Hoa.
But if things went smoothly, then you and I wouldn't be here. We were so close to cross the border. Suddenly, a group of bandits attacked us. All the guards sacrificed themselves for us and escaped.
We ran and ran, but as though the bandits didn't want to have any witnesses, they kept chasing to kill us. Unfortunately, we were in the forest back then so we couldn't go anywhere to ask for help.
After three days of hiding and running, the bandits finally cornered us at the edge of a cliff when the sun was setting.
"Give up and just let us kill you. Resisting will only cause you a painful death," the head of the bandit spoke. They were all wearing masks to hide their face.
"Why do you have to go this far? We didn't see your face at all, and you got all of our belongings already," I cried to them.
"Wait wait. Couldn't you just fight them?" I asked quietly.
"No my prince, I was able to sense all of them were out of my league. Fighting will only provoke them more," Van Kiep answered.
"Alright, continue."
"Don't need to try convincing us. Unlucky for you to encounter us," the leader said and they slowly went forward.
Suddenly, an eagle flew up from the cliff with a big fish caught in its mouth. The eagle body and wide wings covered the sun behind us. We and the bandits were surprised by that. Then my prince, you suddenly whispered in my ears, "When I count to three, we both jump down."
"Huh?" I was surprised to hear that. "That is crazy my prince. Jumping down will kill both of us!" The bandits are still moving in slowly and cautiously.
"That fish inside the eagle's mouth was a catfish. That means underneath this cliff there is a deep pond," you explained calmly. "Van Kiep!"
"I'm ready!"
"One. Two..."
"Stop them! They are about to jump!" the bandit leader finally realized. But he was too late.
"Three!" You then took my hand and we both jumped down.
"Look, my prince! You were right! There is really a pond down here! We are going to live!" I shouted happily.
"Van Kiep," you called me.
"Yes, my prince?" I turned to you.
"I don't know how to s…"
SPLASH!
The sudden contact of the water created a shock that knocked me out. I was so relieved with the fact there was water and didn't pay attention to how fast we were falling. When I opened my eyes, it was already dark and my head was hurting badly.
"My prince?" I called but there was no response.
"My prince?" I called again but louder this time. But still, no response. I completely forgot about my headache then and started running around to find you.
"My prince!? Prince Hoa Sa Ma!"