Seeking to exploit the Crown Prince’s weaknesses, Yi Hwi flees with Jung Ji-un to conceal her womanly appearance.
A member of the Royal Family attempts to uncover Prince Yi Hwi’s secret in the third episode of The King’s Affection. Along with this, Yi Hwi and Jung Ji-un’s fate become entwined once more due to consecutive unexpected circumstances in this chapter.
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Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Finale + Review |
The King’s Affection Episode 3 Key Moments
“If you fail, I can’t promise your shop or that girl will be safe.”
Shin So-eun, the Minister of Personnel’s daughter, confronted Physician Jung since his medicine did not work on her face, which was unfortunately ruined. Apparently, she threatened Ji-un that if the remedy was not delivered, his shop and sister would be in danger.
Meanwhile, as Ji-un manages to find the herbs in the location where the royal hunting takes place, he is astonished to see an enchanting woman beside the river.
Yi Hwi is fully aware that someone was staring at her. As a result, she draws her weapon and hurls it in the direction of the person. Whereas, Jung is taken aback by the startling attack. He honestly tells her that he saw nothing and was simply digging some herbs.
Ji-un, on the other hand, is unable to depart as the sound of The King’s royal hunt approaches. He advises Yi Hwi that staying would be risky, as she would mistakenly believe she is a beast and be fired at.
Refusing Ji-un’s assistance, Hwi urges him to go and leave her alone considering she is hiding the Crown Prince’s clothing from him.
On the contrary, Ji-un insists on helping her and has advised her to dress. Yi Hwi, fearful that he would learn her identity, slowly moves towards him, takes his knife and attempts to kill him.
Engaging in combat with him, she was obviously defeated, given Ji-un’s manly strength and height. At this time, they both came to a halt when they heard someone heading in their way.
“Did he also agree with those who wanted to terminate my life?”
While the royal guards chase them, the fated couple escape and find themselves on the edge of the cliff with nowhere to go. Hwi pushes Ji-un, but she is shortly grabbed by him and they both fall into the river.
Reaching the drowning Ji-un, he swiftly recognizes Hwi as Dam-i, the girl who had rescued him from the pond.
Afterwards, Crown Prince Yi Hwi returns to the Royal Hunt basecamp. She observes her father looking brightly at her stepbrother. This brings her back to the old days, when his younger brother was favored and formed happy moments with his father.
She inquires as to whether her father complied with the decree terminating her life. Court Lady Kim responds that His Majesty couldn’t have gone to his father, the preceding King.
“Disturbance keeps finding me in my sleep”
Yi Hwi is unable to sleep comfortably after having a horrible dream about her twin brother’s death. She simply goes outside to practice her archery in order to clear her mind. Then Chief Hong found her and suggested that she return to her chambers to rest.
Despite this, she catches a glimpse of Ji-un making his way out of the palace. While secretly following him as he attempts to escape, she quickly aims her arrows at Ji-un. Unfortunately, she discharged her arrow aimlessly upon witnessing him try to enter the spot that only she and young Ji-un knew.
Even though the arrow misses its intended target, it leaves a minor cut on Ji-un’s cheek. Later on, Ji-un’s trusted palace guard shortly arrives and takes him out of the palace.
“They are not pointless. They are skills that could save a person’s life.”
While paying a visit to his son’s acupuncture shop, Jung Seok-jo convinces Ji-un to serve the palace. His father explains that he sent him to Ming to seek knowledge, yet he returned with a bag filled with useless tricks.
Ji-un disagrees that they were insignificant. He stresses that those abilities may have been used to save the lives of those he harmed. Seok-jo questions how long he would allow that day to destroy his future, to which he replied that he would live with those memories until the day he died.
Moreover, Ji-un once admires his father and wants to be like him. Eventually, he discovers that his honor was built on injustice, which led him to believe that he would never be like him or his grandfather.
“If it really was Jung Seok-jo’s son who saw me, I must kill him since he’s my biggest threat.”
To ascertain Ji-un’s identity, Eunuch Hong and Yi Hwi undertake a mission secretly. They subsequently learned from Ji-un’s trustworthy associate that he was at the courtesan’s house.
Upon their arrival, Yi Hwi immediately searches for Ji-un. She stops for a moment when she overheard Lord Changun conversing with the royal preceptor about his suspicions concerning her. The other royal preceptor unwittingly criticized him for his excessive drinking, eliciting Changun’s fury.
After realizing that someone was eavesdropping on their conversation, Changun tossed one of the preceptors down the corridor.
Thankfully, Ji-un once again rescues Yi Hwi from her furious uncle’s wrath. Ji-un, unaware of Yi Hwi’s identity, wraps his arm over her little figure and asks her to stay quiet. Yi Hwi confronts her enraged uncle outside, breaking the tension between them.
Avoiding the crisis successfully and Ji-un knowing that she is the Crown Prince, verifies his identity and discovers that he is Jung Seok-jo’s son. She firmly warns Ji-un, with sorrowful and longing eyes, to never show his face to her again.
Ironically, inescapable fate brings them back together as Ji-un was compelled to serve as the Crown Prince’s tutor.
The King’s Affection Episode 3 Musings
The King’s Affection exhibits Park Eun Bin’s remarkable ability to switch from male Yi Hwi to feminine Yi Hwi.
Her charisma as Prince Yi Hwi effectively represented the sentimental yet arrogant prince while expressing the naive and frail Dam-i through her bodily movements and gazes.
Additionally, the third episode of the series discussed how perilous it is to be within or outside the palace, particularly for those who assume the throne.
Yi Hwi must heroically fight her way through the palace’s political struggles, notably when an assassin attempted to shoot an arrow at her during the royal hunt.
Likewise, the numerous encounters between Prince Yi Hwi and Jung Ji-un reveal that they are fated to be together, even though they are not supposed to be, as a result of Yi Hwi’s efforts to conceal her deepest secret.
Will Prince Yi Hwi ever melt her cold demeanor towards Jung Ji-un, her biggest threat, the one for whom she had feelings and is now her royal tutor? That will be revealed in the upcoming episode of The King’s Affection on Netflix!
Photos: KBS
