NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: She is yours to kill or keep
I gape at my aunt and the fifth prince. They are kissing. Omg! A prince likes my aunt. Then, will he become my uncle? I can hear the wedding bells.
"On this beautiful night, please become mine." The fifth prince steals another kiss from my aunt. My aunt's face becomes red. However, I can't tell whether she is turning red because of embarrassment or anger. She fists her hand and tries to punch the fifth prince. He easily grabs her wrist.
"Did you feel nothing when I kissed you?" He asks her with a heart-melting voice. "Should I kiss you until you start feeling it?"
Aish! This is just like a historical romantic drama. The love between the two forbidden characters. Here, my aunt is a woman who is pretending to be a man. My future uncle is a man who likes my aunt who is pretending to be a man. Ah, wait! Does it make him gay? Then, it is not a piece of good news for my aunt.
Something glittering and sharp passes by my cheek. I scream and jump out of my hiding place behind the shrub. Someone grabs me by my collar before I can touch her. Because of my sudden movements, my wound is open again. I wince in pain. "Please go easy on me."
The fifth prince gives me a knowing smile. "How long have you been hiding there?"
"Since you started kissing... " I close my mouth. I can't call her aunt. "My first love."
"Kyuri..." My aunt stammers when she realizes that it is me. "Why are you back?"
"I was missing you." I laugh at my situation. Would I come back here on my choice? No way in hell.
My aunt shakes her head. "I don't understand."
I don't understand either, Aunt.
The fifth prince raises his brow. His hair is loose. I can't help but ask him with a grudge in my tone.
"Did you try to kill me with your hairpin?"
"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead." He lets go of my collar. "Oh, Li Jun is also here."
***
It's been three months since she went home. Ever since then, Li Jun has been hopefully waiting for her. She appeared twice in his life. There is always a third time.
Though it's a fool's belief, he still hopes to see her again in his life. His dreams are still full of her. Last night, he had a strange dream. In his dream, Kyuri was bleeding a lot. She called his name before she collapsed in his arms. He woke up screaming.
Feeling uneasy, he doesn't stay at the celebration for long. The moon is full tonight. He wonders how she is. Did she wake up? Was it just a dream? In his dream, the wound was strangely at the same place where the assassin stabbed the maid. He couldn't forget the inscription on the dagger.
He feels restless as the time pass. He feels a strange urge to go toward the garden. He might end up interrupting something that he shouldn't interrupt. He has seen the fifth prince following General Yu. Still, he cannot resist the pull toward that place.
He hears a scream. He runs toward the garden. He is relieved to see that the fifth prince is not hurt. General Yu looks pale.
There, she is.
Is this another dream?
"Li Jun, she is back like you said that she would." The fifth prince chuckles. "Take her away before others notice her."
"What?" Kyuri widens her eyes. "You knew that I would come back? Are you a prophet?"
He doesn't answer her questions. There is a red patch becoming bigger on her shoulder. He smells the blood. He glares at the fifth prince darkly.
"I didn't hurt her." The fifth prince grins. "She is yours to kill or keep."
She is wearing weird clothes again. He takes off his outer robe and covers her completely. She needs treatment. She screams again when he picks her up.
"Stay quiet." He grows at Kyuri. "Do you wish to die that much?"
Like a little vulnerable bird, her heart is thumping. He rolls his eyes. She knows how to be afraid of him.
"Wait!" General Yu stops him. "Where are you taking her?"
The fifth prince pulls the general back. "Yu Chen, let him take her away before anyone notices her."
General Yu closes her mouth and gives him a nod. If an unknown sneaky rat is found in the palace, the end is predictable. Li Jun rushes out in hurry with Kyuri wrapped in his outer robe. He throws her inside his carriage and takes her straight to his home. She doesn't make a single sound when he places her on his bed.
Worried, he pulls the robe. Her eyes are closed. He realizes that she is sleeping with an open mouth.
"..."
How can someone sleep with a bleeding shoulder? He shakes his head. Can this person be a spirit from hell? He takes off her shirt. The bleeding is not high. He bandaged her wound. This is the exact place where the maid was stabbed twenty years ago. Judging the freshness of the wound, it hasn't been long since she was hurt.
For him, twenty years have passed. For her, not even days have gone since that day.
What is she?
He changes her clothes quietly and destroys the old one. Nobody should know about her strangeness. He will keep her safe beside him.