"Where did she go?! How can you lose her?! What will I say to the master?!" One of the Assassins said to the rest of the men. "Find her!". They all spread out in the forest to search jang mi.
Jang mi was hiding in the bushes, sweating. Her hand was on her mouth so that those men can't hear even her breathing.
A man slowly passed by her, so she took a step back carefully when she crunched a bunch of dried leaves by her foot. She gasped. The man noticed there was someone, he commanded the rest of the men to run towards her.
Jang mi was breathing shallowly and started running. They were behind her, following her.
She didn't look back. She was running as fast as she could, panting and sweating. She could now hardly breath when her feet stopped moving as her gaze fell on a man riding his horse towards her.
He slowly got down from the horse, gazing at her.Those assassins also stopped, looking at him. His face wasn't visible because the light was coming from behind him.
"Mi-minhyuk". She thought and ran towards him.She jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders embracing him in a tight hug.
Jae young felt a thud on his chest. He felt like his heart skipped a beat. Right there, for a moment, his brain froze.
Those assassins went some steps closer to him, from the side they recognised his face. He signalled them just by his eyes to run away.
"He's the 2nd prince, Let's go back." He told the rest of the men and they all left.
Jang mi had gripped Jae young in a tight hug while his arms were in the air, he was clueless. He never let any woman go closer to him because of many reasons but he felt surrendered for a moment.
Hugging him, she breathed a long sigh. He smelled like something so faint and sweet, it made her want to press her face more firmly on his chest to smell his scent better.
The grip on his back was tightening more and his heart was racing even more.
"What is this woman doing!? He thought. "Is she crazy?!"
He couldn't believe the thing that was making his heart beat so fast was a woman's arms, her body wrapped around his.
"Do you want to die!? Get off me!!" He said harshly but jang mi didn't say anything. "I'm talking to you! Are you listening?!" Again, he didn't get any response from her.
Then he gripped on her shoulders and pulled her back. Jang mi was about to fall because she became unconscious when he gripped on her back tightly so that she doesn't fall.
"She fainted?" He muttered."How fragile."
He was looking at her features, half of her face was covered with sweat and mud. Nothing about that was beautiful or attractive at all but he was still looking at it without even blinking, his gaze strolling all over her face for a few minutes. Then he breathed a deep sigh, gazing at her. He lifted the unconscious jang mi in his arms and began to walk forward.
He placed her near a bank of the river, outside the forest, with her back against a tree and left.
Few moments later,
Jihoon was waiting for Jae young to come back when Jae young entered in the palace mansion. He went towards him.
"What happened? Where is she?" Hearing that, Jae young glared at him
"I saved her from my assassins." He said. "Now where is she, how is she, this is not my concern and nor it should be yours" he added.
" I know, I just -"
"Jihoon." He cut him off. "Don't think I saved her because of that little speech you gave me. I saved her because I had no reason to kill her. I'm already in a bad mood right now so don't mention things that irritate me" Hearing that, Jihoon lowered his head.
" I know what you're trying to do but I don't care about anyone and you know that better. When I was at the worst phase of my life, I was alone. I had none by my side, do you know why?"
"Because people are selfish, even your own family will not support you at times. In this world of selfish people you have to become worse then the others, only then you would be able to survive and that's what I have learned, that's the only thing life had taught me." Jae young said.
Jihoon knew him since he was little and he knew he had reasons because of which he was so heartless but sometimes his evil side would scare him, thinking of what he would do with people when he would get the throne used to horrify him.
"All these people stood against me! They used to call me son of a sinner and they still do! They wanted to kill me!" Jae young's eyes turned red, recalling the horrifying past.
"Nobody, not even a single person looked at me with sympathetic eyes." He said as his voice lost it's edge and got it back in a sinister tone.
"But now, when I see those people looking at me with fearful eyes, I feel I've achieved something already, only the throne is yet to be mine."
That evil look in his eyes was enough to destroy the stones, those sharp eyes were waiting to tear out everyone who once brought tears in them.
Entering his room, he slammed the door behind him.
He was really frustrated of how things changed like that. He didn't expect that would happen, Minhyuk was going to get married the next day and he couldn't do anything about it.
Later,
Jang mi woke up that cloudy morning and found herself lying near a tree. She roamed her head around with half closed eyes and brushed the dust off her clothes while standing up.
Where is Minhyuk? She thought. She realised, he was nowhere around. Was that a dream? She slightly furrowed her brows. No, I remember everything vividly. The thoughts in her head were confusing her more, if he was Minhyuk then where did he go? Why didn't he take me with him?
Was he not Minhyuk?
She had no time to think about that. She thought her mother would be worried about her because she is easily afraid and first she should go to her mother.
In Choi Geung's Mansion,
As Jang mi entered in the house, her maid came running to her. She looked flustered.
"Miss, y-your mother, m-madam she ...she passed away" she said leaving jang mi stunned, her brain stopped functioning for a moment.
"W-what?! Wh-when?!" Jang mi stuttered.
"Last night. She-she was fine these days but last night when the 3rd prince declared he was going to marry Miss Min ah and the leakage of your rumour, she couldn't take the shock then.
The maid told her everything, how Min ah told the queen about Jang mi's past and Minhyuk broke his relation with her. He was getting married with Min ah on the day jang mi's mother died.
"W-where is my mother?!" Jang mi asked with trembling lips.
"I'm sorry miss. Your father, I think he told the guards to bury her somewhere. He said he didn't want bad luck in his daughter's marriage so he got rid of the body.
Jang mi fell on her knees, pressing her palms on the carpet. She couldn't breath, feeling needles in her chest. She was screaming silently, suffocating with every breath she was taking.
Anger, sorrow, frustration. She was feeling all those emotions simultaneously. It was too much for her heart to handle, the betrayal, the death, the loneliness made her feel agitated and dying inside. Pressing her lips together, she tried to suppress the sob but couldn't suppress the tears her eyes were streaming with.
Crying would make me weak. The thought crossed her mind. I cannot be weaker than I already am.
"Mi-minhyuk. He....he can't do this, because of him....I...I lost my mother." Tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped on the carpet. "Why-why did he do that? Did he not trust me! " her voice broke. " Did...did he not love me?"
It was scarcely believable for jang mi how he changed like that and her father turned out to be the worst. Worse than a monster who didn't even let her see her mother's face and was marrying off his daughter on the day his wife died.
In the royal palace,
Min ah and Minhyuk were taking blessings from the Emperor and Empress. Her father had that wide smile across his face. He was the happiest that his daughter got married to the prince. He was more happy that it is not jang mi at her place. Just then jang mi ran in the crowd and shouted.
"MINHYUK!"
At that, Minhyuk turned around his head and saw her Jang mi. Mina got worried. She was scared what jang mi would do as she looked at her father.
"Don't worry, what can she even do? She'll scream and shout, that's all she is capable of doing" he said.
Standing in front of Minhyuk, Jang mi looked into his eyes, he was ashamed but was not doing anything about it. Tears spilled down her cheeks, her bloodshot eyes, trembling hands. It made him feel bad but he stayed calm and cold.
"How can you believe anything someone said and break off the relation with me?! She said. "Why didn't you wait for me?!! Why didn't you save me?? What about all those promises!? Why didn't you ask me at least?!! Because of you people, I LOST MY MOTHER!!!" Jang mi yelled looking at them.
He flinched. He was aware of it already but he couldn't give up the throne.
Jang mi's father grabbed her by her elbow.
"Don't create a scene here" he mumbled, giving her a death glare. People started whispering to each other.
≥ "Who's she? What is she saying?"
≥ " She's that shameless woman who seduced the 3rd prince but now the 3rd prince knows her reality."
≥ " Look, she is now embarrassing her father, Mr.Choi Geung."
≥ "She is so annoying! She is ruining the marriage!"
She pulled back her hand angrily,
"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!!" She yelled looking at Minhyuk who had no expression on his face.
She never expected anything good from her father, She knew, he was a monster but she wasn't expecting this from Minhyuk, the only person who cared about her.
" What is all this!? " The Emperor roared.
"What are you looking at? Kick her out of here." Minhyuk ordered the guards.
Jang mi's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe he just said that but after what he did, it was expected from him and he had to do it even if not from his heart.
The guards grabbed her, dragging her away.
"HOW CAN YOU CHANGE LIKE THAT?!" She yelled glancing at Minhyuk while the guards were dragging her out.
They pushed her on the ground, out of the palace. She wanted to stand but the strength in her body left her too. Gripping on her dress from her thigh, she began to cry.
The screams, sobs, her breath stuttering, She bawled her heart out.
Suddenly, The rain began to pour from the black sky on her. Her tears mingled with the raindrops and dripped down her chin. She sat all day in the same place in the rain, crying. She went out of tears. She was just feeling numb and cold now.