CH 307

When I entered the room, I saw Kim Woo-jin, who was sitting on a chair, getting up and his shoulders stiffened.

Oh, no. Come to think of it, if I wanted to sleep in Ha Tae-heon’s room for a day, I had to leave Kim Woo-jin alone here.

No matter if I slept with Ha Tae-heon, I wouldn’t be able to take Kim Woo-jin with me since it was the first night officially.

Kim Woo-jin first asked me, who couldn’t come close.

“Did it go well?”

“Ah, ung.”

As soon as I answered involuntarily, I became even more confused. Did it go well? He meant marriage, right?

‘No, wait a minute… aren’t I thinking too far ahead?’

I wasn’t even sure that Kim Woo-jin saw me differently than Ha Tae-heon or Cheon Sa-yeon, so why was I making assumptions and making myself uncomfortable? What am I going to do?

That was very rude. Later, Kim Woo-jin found out that I had this kind of heart, I had nothing to say even if he cursed me.

I sighed inwardly, quickly wrapping up the complex emotions. For now, let’s do what we had been doing. If I had looked at Kim Woo-jin for nothing, it would have been obvious that we would only hurt each other’s feelings.

“Have you been resting well? What did you eat?”

I couldn’t eat properly because I went to a party after the wedding, but I was more worried about Kim Woo-jin, who had to wait in the room alone all day.

“Before, other servants took care of me, so I ate it simply.”

“Really?”

I had never seen him get along with other servants and it was amazing.

Looking back, Kim Woo-jin had a good relationship with the physics support team in real life too. It was really good because more and more people were starting to realize that Kim Woo-jin was a good and affectionate child when they got to know him.

“I thought you were alone all day without eating, but I’m glad.”

“Have you eaten, Prince?”

“I haven’t eaten anything. I’m not very hungry.”

“Still, you shouldn’t sleep with an empty stomach. Shall I go and get some soup?”

“No, that’s fine.”

Other times, I would have been grateful for the soup that Kim Woo-jin would bring, but now I couldn’t.

How do I explain this? When I was choosing the words so Kim Woo-jin wouldn’t take it strangely, a knock was heard on the door and the servants entered.

“Prince, we have come to help you prepare for the first night.”

“……”

Kim Woo-jin opened his eyes wide and was surprised at what the servant who was standing in front said, bowing deeply.

‘The timing is really…’

As I was caught between the shocked Kim Woo-jin and the servants who were sent to start preparing me soon, I shed tears inside.

What should I do with this. First, I asked the servant.

“Will it take a long time to prepare?”

“After cleaning the body, you can apply perfume and put on clothes. It takes about an hour.”

“We will help.”

“…just leave the clothes and I will take care of the rest.”

After hearing my order, the servants hesitated for a moment, then put the clothes on the table and left the room.

The two men, Kim Woo-jin and I, were alone in the room. A cold stillness that I had never felt before touched my skin. I awkwardly opened my mouth towards Kim Woo-jin, who only blinked his eyes and bowed his head slightly.

“Um, that’s… I think I’ll have to sleep in the next room today. Sorry.”

At those words, Kim Woo-jin’s gaze turned to me.

Perhaps because the room was dark, Kim Woo-jin’s eyes were darker than usual. It reminded me of the night I had a conversation with Kim Woo-jin at Cheon Sa-yeon’s house.

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

“……”

“I understand. I will wait here.”

Kim Woo-jin gently raised the corner of his lips and smiled. It was a smile I had seen before.

I couldn’t breathe when I noticed that. Just like back then, I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of answer I should give in this situation.

“…yeah.”

After hesitating for a while, it was that brief word that I finally spit out. I was so pathetic myself, but I couldn’t tell which answer was right and which was wrong.

I turned my back on Kim Woo-jin and ran out of the room with the clothes the servants brought me. Kung, I barely woke up when I came out into the cool hallway with the sound of the door closing.

‘Driving me crazy.’

The same problem as the last time was repeated, overshadowing the determination I had made not to make Kim Woo-jin smile like that again.

Taking a long, lamentable breath, I walked to Ha Tae-heon’s room. I had to change clothes there.

The location of Ha Tae-heon’s room, which was given by Woo Seo-hyuk in advance, was found after walking down the hallway for a long time. For convenience, it was expressed as the next room, but the castle was very spacious and each room was large, so it wasn’t a close distance.

After today, Ha Tae-heon moved to another castle. That would make things more complicated… Let’s talk about this part when I meet with Ha Tae-heon.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

I knocked and entered the room and found Ha Tae-heon facing the servants. What’s going on here?

Ha Tae-heon beckoned to me, who hadn’t been able to enter the room and was standing still.

“Come in.”

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry, Prince.”

A servant who was different from the servant who came to my room opened his mouth with a sign of regret.

“I tried to help with the preparation, but he kept refusing…”

“I said I was going to wash by myself, but you were coming in.”

Ha Tae-heon cut off the servant’s words and spoke confidently.

Ha Tae-heon didn’t seem to feel the sharp gazes of the servants who were secretly glaring at him. I refused the same way, so it wasn’t that I didn’t know Ha Tae-heon’s feelings.

“It’s okay, just leave the clothes and go.”

“I understand.”

With the same order, I sent the servants out and handed the clothes he had left to Ha Tae-heon.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t let Ha Tae-heon-ssi know I would come, too.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Ha Tae-heon, who received the clothes from me, pondered for a moment and then asked me.

“I’m more amazed that you came here.”

“Yes?”

“I thought you would say no, of course.”

Ah. It was then that I understood what Ha Tae-heon meant.

To finish the fairy tale, he must have thought that there was no need to spend the first night as it was a marriage. I tried to do that too at first.

“I didn’t even want to come… I thought that something complicated would happen if the rumours went wrong. Given the possibility that the fairy tale will continue, it’s better to not have unnecessary problems.”

“Hm.”

Ha Tae-heon, who looked at clothes that were too thin for ordinary pyjamas, with a sad expression, answered.

“Then, is this our first night?”

“Of co… pardon?”

“I look forward to it. Go get change your clothes.”

“What?”

What does this mean now?

When I asked back foolishly and didn’t go to change my clothes, Ha Tae-heon reached out and grabbed my clothes.

“If you’re going to change here, let me help you.”

“Yes? Wait, wait a minute!”

Understanding what he was trying to do, I was terrified and grabbed my clothes so they wouldn’t be taken away.

“I’m just going to sleep.”

“Who said something? I’m just telling you to change your clothes. You’ve done it once before anyway.”

“Never mind. I will change clothes.”

When I shook and refused to hand over the clothes, Ha Tae-heon clicked his tongue and let me go.

“At times like this, you’re unnecessarily quick. Is it a survival instinct?”

“I’m even more flustered… Ha Tae-heon-ssi, were you this kind of person?”

“I think this is very gentlemanly.”

Ha Tae-heon, who raised his head with his arms crossed, spoke as if it was quite natural.

“It’s even funnier to see you fluster after you’ve had so much skinship with me. From my point of view, if it’s the first night, shouldn’t I have to look forward to it?”

“It’s not like we’re really married. In the past, at El’s house, we slept well without any problems.”

“The situation is different back then.”

“That’s true, but… but why do you keep getting closer?”

During the conversation, I noticed Ha Tae-heon slowly approaching and I quickly took a step back. Then Ha Tae-heon immediately frowned.

“Why are you stepping back?”

“I think so… we should just…”

“Come here.”

“Say it from there. I can hear you.”

When Ha Tae-heon took two steps, I took two steps back. Ha Tae-heon, who was staring at the vaguely open street with his eyes narrowed, took a deep breath.

“I get it. If you don’t like it that much, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t mean to burden you. I guess I’m just too excited for myself. I’ll change clothes in the bathroom, so you can change here.”

Ha Tae-heon, who stepped back, turned away from me with a sad smile on his face. Seeing Ha Tae-heon, who looked like he was hurt, a piercing pain spread through my chest.

“No, why are you so sad? It’s not that I hate Ha Tae-heon-ssi at all…”

As soon as I approached him and tried hard to explain the misunderstanding, Ha Tae-heon, who was looking at me quietly, kissed me on the lips.

I was startled and Ha Tae-heon smiled deeply at me. What?

“Are you joking with me?”

“Of course, it’s a joke. Do I look so unscrupulous?”

“……”

“Your face is a little loose now. It wasn’t good until just now.”

It was so terrifying that my head ached. These days, Ha Tae-heon looked like Cheon Sa-yeon and kept doing strange things.

“Shut up. I will go back to that room.”

“Are you going to leave the bride on the first night?”

“Whether it be rumoured or not, I will…”

It was at that time when Ha Tae-heon, who stood in the way, was pushed back and I was about to go back to the room where Kim Woo-jin was waiting.

Deeng, deng. The very loud bell began to ring throughout the castle.

“This…”

The familiar bell sounded the same as the bell I heard while dancing at the ballroom with Ha Tae-heon a while ago. Ha Tae-heon, keenly aware of the sudden change of air and unfamiliar energy, looked around.

“There seems to be something wrong.”

“Never have the bells rang throughout the castle. Why now…”

“Han Yi-gyeol!”

Ha Tae-heon held me in his arms. I later realized that my body was blurring with a crackling noise. Not only me but Ha Tae-heon’s body and the building walls in front of me were the same.

Everything began to distort randomly as if the picture quality was broken. An orange veil appeared through the fragmented wall.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, I think the fairy tale…!”

Before I could explain everything to Ha Tae-heon, pitch black darkness completely covered my vision.

Alone in an unidentified space where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I heard a strong plosive sound and a hysterical female voice as if my ears were going to tear.

/“You were the cause!”/

‘Abel?’

As I reflexively raised my head, I could see the giant doll’s eyes looking down at me through the darkness. A shiver ran down my back, and at the same time, my body fell down at a tremendous speed.