Jang mi was sitting in the royal palace's garden when Princess Soo ah ran over to her.
"3rd sister in law!!!" She exclaimed, hugging jang mi from behind leaving her surprised.
"Uh, I-i mean 2nd sister in law" She squeezed her eyes and before jang mi could stand up she walked over to sit beside her on the bench.
Jang mi gave her a smile.
"I'm sorry, last time when I met you , you were going to marry my 3rd brother so I just called you 3rd sister in law by mistake.
"It's okay"
Jang mi replied to her, smiling. She was glad to see her.
Jang mi had met her before a few times, she was good to her and had a soft, childish mind. She had so many restrictions on her and the reason was she would unknowingly do rebellious things. To her, she seemed someone who wanted to live freely but was restricted to do so.
"When I heard about everything, I felt so bad for you. I knew,you would not do something like that even before the rumour was cleared, I still trusted you." Soo ah said, her facial expression turned sad. "I really wanted you to marry my 3rd brother".
"Why? Aren't you happy for your 2nd brother?" Jang mi asked not wanting to have any conversation with Minhyuk included. At that Soo ah slightly chuckled, nervously.
"I...I don't know!" She said, hesitating. "He's not that important in the family so, what can he give you?" At that, jang mi furrowed her brows in confusion.
"What?" Jang mi frowned. "Who told you that he's not important?" She asked.
"Everyone, my 3rd brother and my mother, they always used to say this." Jang mi scoffed internally.
What a brother you are Minhyuk ! I'm getting to know so many things about you now. Jang mi thought.
She felt angry hearing how Minhyuk and his mother could tell the princess such things about Jae young.
"I'm so sad for you. Are you happy with him? Oh! What am I even asking? He is not even a good person and he got married to you forcefully." Soo ah said, frowning her brows in worry.
"What?!" Jang mi asked, hoping Soo ah could stop talking like that about Jae young. She knew, Minhyuk must have told her all that.
"I, myself have always been so scared of him, just by looking at him, I feel so scared." At that jang mi's brows came together. She was feeling angry at how could Soo ah think like that about her brother.
"What are you talking about?!" Jang mi asked, her voice sounded dimly harsh.
"Isn't it true? My 3rd brother and my mother told me he is so heartless that he can kill his whole family. That is why my father didn't choose him as the crown prince and he also made him leave the royal palace."
"This is not true!!" Jang mi retreated and raised her voice . It came out squeaky yet surprised at what kind of false stories they made up about Jae young and spread them across people and even his own family. How much his own family hated him. But then, she knew, royal families were just like that.
Most probably, the only person who cared about Jae young was his mother, who died long ago. She couldn't hold back anymore, Jang mi couldn't listen any more lies.
"This is all wrong! These are all slanders and lies! Baseless rumours!" Jang mi said.
"R-really?" Soo ah asked, guessing from jang mi's expressions that she wasn't lying.
"Yes! He didn't marry me forcefully. All of this is false. Why are you afraid of him! He is your brother, he won't hurt you". Jang mi said, although she knew, soo ah wouldn't wholly believe her.
"Ohh!" Soo ah sighed. "That means my brother and mother also have a misconception about him? Her voice full of curiousity.
" I don't know." Jang mi answered, holding back the actual things she wanted to say. She felt maybe she couldn't change anything by saying that.
"So, is he good to you? Are you happy with him?" She asked.
"Yes. With him... I'm much better." Jang mi said what she really felt after marrying him. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile,
"You have to look out for the 3rd prince now." Jihoon said to Jae young walking along with him in the palace.
That made Jae young scoff.
But he just hummed at it and didn't say anything.
"This was all so unexpected, it looks like as if the 3rd prince already knew about our plan?"
"He is clueless about that. He just had to do something to impress the emperor and get the crown." Jae young said.
"Where is Jang mi ?" He stopped and asked.
"Uh.. she's waiting for you in the garden." Jihoon answered, showing the way.
Soo Ah's gaze fell on Jae young walking towards her and Jang mi. She moved a bit closer to her.
"Uh... it's 2nd brother." She mumbled to her. She got up from the bench when Jae young looked at her, standing in the front.
" Greetings, 2nd brother." Her voice dim and soft as she bowed. Jae young nodded slightly at her then moved back his gaze to Jang mi.
"Let's go back home."
"Uh.. won't you congratulate the princess? She is getting married." At that Soo ah smiled nervously. Jae Young's gaze swang to Soo ah again but before he could say anything, she muttered
"What marriage? It's just a business deal between two countries."
Jae young noticed she looked unhappy about it and asked,
"Don't you want to marry the prince of Xue?" At that Soo ah lowered her gaze nervously.
"Is this really a marriage! My father didn't even ask me if I want to get married or nit! He just had to improve his relation with the other country so he used me as a gift in exchange of peace. I never,in my wildest dreams, dreamt of such a marriage.
So, she doesn't want to get married to him. Jae young thought. What could be more better?
"Did you talk to father?"
I did. But he said,
"I would decide with whom you'll get married. Where you'll go and everything."
Soo ah mimicked the emperor in a funny way that jihoon burst into laughter. But, he immediately controlled himself. But, Soo ah noticed him and got a little pissed off.
"Now he put more restrictions on me. I can't even get out of my room." She said, sighing.
"I can help you with that."
At that both Jang mi, Soo ah and Jihoon gazed up at Jae young surprisingly.
"R-really!" Soo ah asked, raising her brows.
"But, you can't tell anyone about that." Soo ah shook her head at that.
********
All the way from the palace to Jae Young's mansion, jang mi was only thinking about what Soo ah had said earlier. she was feeling awful for Jae young although she knew, he wouldn't care about it but she did care. She couldn't stand anyone saying falsely absurd things about him.
She knew the truth. He didn't force her for marriage but gave her the proposal and she accepted it herself but he was the only one to be accused by everyone.
Jae young opened the door and went to the room while Jang mi followed him. Closing the door, she stood behind it while he was standing in the middle of the room probably thinking about everything that happened. Minhyuk getting the crown and the prince of Sue's upcoming marriage with the Soo ah.
He had to keep himself calm because he was confident enough that at the end, he would get the throne thinking about the odds of that not happening was making him very restless.
Jang mi didn't know anything about what he was thinking and nor she was paying attention to that since she was lost in her own thoughts only when she spoke up,
" I don't know why you're doing this but it's good that you're helping the princess."
That broke his thoughts.
"Maybe, now, at least she won't talk like that about you." jang mi said which made him turn around and look at her , frowning in confusion while she carried on talking.
"The other day, Minhyuk said a lot about you, some things..and now today, the princess. She said, you were very heartless. Heartless enough to kill your whole own family and everyone."
That made the frown disappear from his face.
She wanted to tell him how she felt about it and also that she trusts him. She wanted to share with him that it made her feel bad , that she didn't feel bad about anything before, not even hearing rumours about herself.
She wanted to confess to him that it doesn't matter what people say about him but it makes her feel bad that proves how much she cares about him. She just wanted to let him know that he had became someone important for her.
"It makes me feel bad-"
Truth makes you feel bad? Jae young asked, cutting her off. His voice stern and cold.Jang mi gazed up at him in confusion.
"What!" She furrowed her brows.
He took steps towards her, Standing close to her, he said
"What if I tell you whatever they say is true? What Minhyuk said, what Soo ah said, what all people say is true?"
"I-"
"You don't know why I'm helping her? I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything."He cut her off again, moving more closer to her as her back got pressed against the closed door.He couldn't take it anymore. The uneasiness was disturbing him.
"Just like marrying you became a part of my plan, Same way helping her will also benefit me. All of this is a part of my plan. A plan to get the throne." He said, his dark gaze staring deep into her eyes.
He decided to tell her everything within caring about the consequences, just to get rid of the feeling of anxiety.
It came a bit surprising to her that he had been planning to get the throne. She always had known, he can't get the crown or throne. How is he supposed to get closer to the throne?
She did suspect that he would want the throne because that's what all the princes want but then she thought he was removed from that position already a long time ago.
"Do you want to know why I want the throne?" He asked placing his left hand on the door, looking deep into her eyes. She wasn't nervous this time by him being so close to her but she was feeling nervous by the things he was telling her.
As his face moved closer to hers, the next thing he said left her shocked.
"I want to become a tyrannical ruler." His voice echoed, she could believe everything anyone would say about him but that thing coming out of his mouth, made her brain freeze for a moment.
"I want to torture each and every person living in this country. I want them to live in misery under my rule and their generations should live under my generation's rule." He said, his eyes turning deep red, he made a fist with his hand on the door.
"This is what I am. People are yet to know the real me. I really can kill everyone. I'm already putting this country on a big risk, I don't care if all the people die! I even tried to kill you too!" He said, raising his voice as he punched the door. Hearing that, jang mi's eyes widened.
"J-jae young" jang mi said, her voice mostly filled with breath and her eyes burned with tears.
"I am the leader of those assassins who kill people. They kill people with my orders. They attacked the king for me, they attacked you that day only because I ordered them to kill you."
As he told jang mi everything, it made her heart tremble, her eyes streaming with tears and her breathing ragged.
" You don't want to be a Queen of a Tyrant king, do you?" He asked, already sure of the answer. " I know, you don't" he knew jang mi would never support him with that but he still wanted to tell her everything.
"But, you've made feel the way I've never felt before and I hate that I like the way you make me feel , I hate that I care about what you think about me, I hate that I don't want to let you go. I hate it!" Jang mi was looking at him with blurry eyes.
"Just for the sake of these feelings you gave me, for the sake of the way you made me feel. I'll give you one chance...to run away from me."
Jang mi blinked and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She gulped the air as she felt her breath stuck in her throat.
"Take this only chance and run away. But if I find you again,.." he said, his face so close to here, his nose almost touching her cheek.
"I don't know what I'd do with you"
"Run before I change my mind"
"And keep you caged in this darkness with me"
"Forever "