Chapter 40
He frowned as he looked at me. His face was full of unmistakable displeasure.
“Is the reason I’m angry because of your reputation?”
“That’s the only thing I can guess.”
“You really are…”
His expression twisted. He closed his mouth and roughly ran his hand through his hair. I didn’t want to think anymore about why he was angry.
He wasn’t my person. I was already overwhelmed just taking care of my own people. I didn’t want to waste any nerves on things that weren’t mine. I didn’t have even a speck of such meddlesome concern.
“What do you intend to do about Evan?”
Evan was my man left to me by my maternal grandfather. Even when I was tied to the crown prince’s shoulder and leaving that place, he was surrounded by knights with swords drawn, bleeding. Although Evan was the head of the Piseon guild, he was still a commoner. Just blocking the crown prince’s path was enough to punish him severely.
“Evan, huh…”
The crown prince’s lips curled up slightly.
“Judging by the fact you called his name, you must be closer than the image I just saw.”
“It’s natural to be close. Evan is my man.”
I had no intention to openly reveal that I was the actual owner of the Piseon guild, but I also had no intention to deny my relationship with them. Just as they said they would protect me, I intended to protect my people.
“Are you really saying another man is yours in front of your fiancé?”
The crown prince stepped closer to me.
“I warned you clearly not to provoke me, Bii.”
He growled low like a beast. His golden eyes burned with anger directed at me. His reaction confused me.
The crown prince had always treated me politely and kindly before, but he had never shown such intense emotions. Absurdly, now he was acting like a jealous man.
“Do you love me?”
At my blunt question, he stiffened. He furrowed his brows and opened his mouth.
“What do you mean?”
“Just as I said. Do you love me?”
I looked him straight in the eyes. The golden eyes that had been blazing moments ago were now full of confusion.
“If it’s neither because of your fiancée’s reputation nor because you love me, why are you angry?”
He didn’t answer my question. His lips were tightly pressed in a straight line, unmoving. I laughed bitterly.
Back then, as now, he might have hidden the truth from me but never lied. He answered my question with silence.
I never had any expectations from the start. I already knew long ago that he didn’t love me. It was nothing new. Still, my wildly beating heart ached painfully.
“As I told you before, my dream is to meet someone I love and live a sweet life together for a hundred years.”
I felt the carriage gradually slow down. The scenery visible through the carriage window looked very familiar. I slowly got up. The crown prince only looked at me but didn’t move.
“You told me to love myself, didn’t you?”
My reflection was clearly seen in his golden, still-confused eyes. During the time he carried me, my hair tie had come undone, and my hair was disheveled.
Back then, I never imagined showing such an unkempt appearance to the crown prince. I always met him perfectly prepared from head to toe. Thinking about that me made me smile. He never cared about my looks or personality from the start. I lived blinded by love and stubbornness despite that clear fact.
“I will not have painful love. I want to meet someone who loves only me, cherishes only me, have his children, and live happily for a lifetime.”
The carriage came to a complete stop. His eyes still reflected me. In his golden eyes, I was smiling brightly, with my hair wildly disheveled like a crazy woman.
“So, I’m saying no.”
He didn’t move until I opened the carriage door. Our relationship ended there. After saying all this, he wouldn’t approach me out of pride. If he didn’t come to me, I could endure the leftover pain in my heart like a speck of dust.
I got out of the carriage and stepped on the ground. The sun was almost completely gone, leaving only its edge. The red sunset was dazzlingly beautiful.
“Hmph!”
Just as I felt something touch my wrist, my body was instantly turned. I felt a hard touch on my back and then something soft cut across my lips and invaded my mouth. Brightly shining golden eyes filled my vision.
I struggled to push him away, but he didn’t move an inch. Instead, he gathered both of my wrists in one hand and wrapped the other around my waist, pulling me tightly toward him.
His soft tongue roughly explored my teeth. I tried to move my head to avoid him, but it was futile. He relentlessly ravaged my mouth.
It was hard to breathe because the crown prince gave me no chance to breathe. He seemed to want to take all my breath away.
Tears welled up. I was angry at his shameless behavior, but more than anything, I shuddered at my helplessness, unable to move against his strength. I bit his tongue hard. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
He didn’t seem to care about the pain, invading my mouth several more times before finally pulling away. As soon as his grip on my wrists weakened, I slapped his cheek. His head turned weakly. A red streak appeared on his pale cheek. It was the wound caused by the ring on my finger.
“Hah… hah…”
I glared at the crown prince, breathing heavily. The metallic smell of blood mixed with fresh air filled my lungs.
He spat on the ground without turning his head. Blood mixed with saliva fell to the floor. He touched his wounded cheek and turned to look at me. His pale white face mixed with silver hair and red blood made him look very sinister.
“Considering you kissed your fiancée, that’s quite a strong retaliation. If I want to do worse to you, do I have to risk my life?”
His bloodstained lips curled up crookedly. Unrestrained, he looked very dangerous. My instincts told me not to provoke him anymore, but the flames of emotion rising inside my chest screamed they would never lose to him.
“I have no intention of doing worse things with Your Highness.”
I glared at him, implying that if he tried to force anything, I’d kill him. Invisible sparks seemed to fly between us.
“Is it because of that man?”
He growled and stepped toward me. I barely restrained the instinct to step back. The crown prince was very threatening and made no effort to hide it.
“Did that man whisper sweet love into your ear?”
“Evan isn’t like that…”
“Evan, Evan, Evan!”
He shouted angrily.
“You call me ‘Your Highness’ properly for over four years as your fiancé, yet you call that man by name so easily.”
His voice low and full of killing intent. It sounded as if he wanted to tear Evan to pieces if he were here.
“You were always like this from the start. You never showed me the common kindness others did, not even curiosity. As if you never wanted any relationship with me.”
His voice was soft like a whisper but full of wild emotions.
“You showed laughter to that man aloud but never to me. And every time you touched me, you shuddered, yet you quietly leaned into that man’s arms.”
The crown prince’s golden eyes shined with anger.
“Are you only stingy to me? Or is he special?”
His behavior confused me. He didn’t love me. He never answered my question about whether he loved me. Yet his actions now looked like jealousy over Evan. He grabbed my chin. I raised my hand and pushed his arm away.
“You’re always like this. No matter how hard I try, you don’t give me even an inch of space. Do you know how maddening that makes a person?”
His tone was bitter. It sounded like he was hurt by my behavior. I didn’t understand. Why was he hurt by my rejection? To him, I was nothing then and now.
“I don’t understand why Your Highness is like this.”
“Do you really not know? Or do you want to pretend not to know?”
Only one word could define his actions. But that word could never be between him and me.
I knew how he looked when he was in love. The way he looked at her was soft and gentle. It was never hot and rough like the way he looked at me now.
“Is your pride hurt?”
“What?”
“I mean, did your pride get hurt because the one you thought was your possession didn’t stay in your hands and kept slipping away?”
There was no other explanation. He didn’t love me. The man who gave no love even when I begged for it so desperately back then. There was no way he suddenly loved me now.
Even though it was clear he didn’t love me, he was angry because I was in another man’s arms. Then the conclusion was one.
Possessiveness. He had never had it before, but since I tried to escape from him, he suddenly felt possessiveness.
“Possession? You? Mine? Ha!”
He punched the carriage wall behind me. A faint vibration traveled through the wall against my back. He trapped me in his arms, lowered his head, and met my gaze.
“I never once thought of you as my possession. If I had, I wouldn’t be this restless.”
His golden eyes reflected the red sunset. It looked like red flames bloomed inside his eyes. In those blazing flames, my figure was clearly reflected.
“Do you know how the people around you see you?”
