Chapter 301 - Past

The scene before her changed all of a sudden once again. There was a flash of momentary darkness before it faded away to reveal the interior of a room.

Looking around, Jinhee deduced it to be some kind of storeroom. Hay laid at one corner of the room, and sitting on top of that was a girl with very small frame.

Her collarbones and cheekbones stuck out, and it was not a pretty sight to look at. In front of her was a plate full of food, and those food looked barely edible to Jinhee.

An inexplicable rush of sadness swept through Jinhee in that moment, and she found her chest being squeezed by something in that moment. Pursing her lips tightly, her eyes continued to stare at 'Jinhee' before her.

'Jinhee' slowly extended her hand and picked up the glass of water before her, and as a couple of coughs left her mouth, 'Jinhee' picked up that glass of water.

Lee Jinhee assumed 'Jinkyung' to be the one behind it for she recalled 'Jinkyung's' order to lock her inside the storeroom. This was too cruel.

At that moment, Jinhee could feel all the emotions that went through the girl before her, and sensing all the negative emotions of how 'Jinhee' hated herself, Jinhee had the urge to correct her on how this was not her fault. All of this was 'Jinkyung's' fault.

However, her voice could not be heard by 'Jinhee', and a sigh escaped Jinhee's mouth at that. Although she did not entirely understand the reason behind it, she found a connection being there with 'Jinhee' before her.

At that moment, a loud sound was heard, and turning her head back, Jinhee saw that the door to the storeroom was pushed open. The door fell down to the ground.

Jinhee was shocked by it, and it seemed that 'Jinhee' was caught by surprise as well. 'Jinhee's' body trembled while she raised her head to see who it could be.

A surprised gasp left Jinhee's mouth when she saw the man walking through the door. Anger could easily be seen on his face while he walked in through that door.

"Kim Jaehyun," 'Jinhee' enunciated while her eyes scanned the man before her.

Turning back, Jinhee read the expression on 'Jinhee's' face before looking towards 'Jaehyun'. It seemed that 'Jinhee' was scared of seeing him here; the same rush of emotions went through her.

Since Jinhee had no clue why this was happening, she decided to silently observe all of this before coming to a concrete decision.

Whilst rage showed in his eyes, there was a hint of sadness and worry in his eyes as he rushed towards 'Jinhee'. To the incident before him, 'Jaehyun' seemed to be shaken up as well.

Bending down to 'Jinhee's' height, he moved his hand towards her and placed his palms on top of her shoulders. He carefully touched her as if she would break at the force of pressure.

"Jinhee-ah, what happened to you? Who did this to you? Are you alright?" 'Jaehyun' questioned— the concern in his tone seeming genuine.

"J-Jaehyun, you should get going from here. Before Jinkyung comes back, you have to leave. This would not seem good if she sees you here. Please, leave, Jaehyun," 'Jinhee' vocalised.

"Jinkyung," 'Jaehyun' pronounced— his voice holding venom in it.

"She is the one behind it! I will teach her an appropriate lesson for doing this to you. No one messes with what I hold dear to me," 'Jaehyun' continued, "I will avenge you, Jinhee-ah. So, don't worry."

Those words of 'Jaehyun' made 'Jinhee's' eyes open wider, and she shook her head frantically. Her hand trembled when she tugged on to 'Jaehyun's' sleeve.

"No, no, please don't do that," 'Jinhee' said, "Jinkyung likes you, and things would get horrible for me if she found out about the entire thing. Only four more days are left, and I can make it past them. Please just leave, Jaehyun. I will be fine."

After that, 'Jinhee' let out a couple of coughs.

Her state caused 'Jaehyun' to extend his hands towards her, and wrapping those hands around her, he pulled her into a hug.

"No, Jinhee, you are wrong; Jinkyung will not be able to hurt you again. I would not be allowing her to do so," 'Jaehyun' voiced out, "I can promise you that, so don't be frightened. Whatever you want, I can give that punishment to Jinkyung. I promise."

"No, Jaehyun, please don't do that. Father supports you, and if you go against 'Jinkyung', you will be losing that support. The other princes are against you, and at this critical moment, don't make any foolish decision."

"Don't worry about such things," he voiced out, "That Lee Minjoon got too c.o.c.ky these days, and it's about time I show him his actual place."

His jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth.

Hearing the name 'Minjoon' confirmed one thing for her. 'Jinhee' was her. All those emotions— she felt them so clearly was because that 'Jinhee' was her.

Lee Jinhee had an inkling that these were some memories within her, but she could not figure out when they were from. As far as she recalled, she did not ever live in the ancient times, and it seemed quite foolish of her to have memories from that time.

At that instant, a sharp pain traveled through her head, and a groan left her mouth. Once again, she found herself slipping into the darkness.

°°°

Opening her eyes, Jinhee noticed that she was back in front of that water. Before her that Old Man was seated, and a smile sat on his face.

She had returned to sitting on that bench, and confusion could be easily identified from her face. She could not understand his intent behind showing those scenes to her.

"What did you do just now?" she questioned.

"I merely showed you a fragment of your past memories. Do you want to know all of them?" He voiced out.

"Past memories?" She questioned.

He nodded and vocalised, "Yes, past memories. Do you want to know the rest of them."

Although Jinhee did not understand what he was actually trying to convey, she nodded due to her curiosity.