The young lad looked at the unconscious lass in his arms.
In theory, the young lad had kidnapped her right after she got abducted - in her eyes, he was nothing more than a kidnapper. A few words of who he was and what he was doing would have calmed her down and prevented her from freaking out.
While the average person would feel he had let things go too far, the young lad was convinced none of this was his concern. In his defence, his grandfather said, "You take her and bring her home. I'll distract the chumps," and he did exactly that. His grandfather hadn't asked to pacify her while rescuing her, so everything else that happened between the rescue was not part of his job. He had retrieved her, so now he would return her to his grandfather—nothing more, nothing less.
"Gramps, I brought you a gift."
"Xukai, Han Aeng!" Insik's eyes widened as he scanned his grandson carrying a motionless Han Aeng on his back.
Not only were they late, but drenched in water with Han Aeng unconscious. Heaven only knows how worried he was when he didn't find the two of them waiting for him when the plan was for his useless grandson and Han Aeng to return home immediately.
"Is she okay?" Insik rushed out, his hands instinctively brushing against Han Aeng's cold face. "My poor child, she's so cold. Bring her in."
Rong Xukai, Insik's grandson, rolled his eyes at his grandfather's lack of concern for his well being. She wasn't the only person who was cold! "I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Insik passed his dramatic grandson a side glance, "You're carrying her, of course you're just fine. Now hurry, bring her in."
Rong Xukai frowned but didn't entertain the idea of picking a fight with his gramps. He quietly brought Han Aeng inside and settled her down on the bed while Insik ran to get supplies to treat Han Aeng.
Now that he wasn't struggling against her, Rong Xukai was starting to appreciate her appearance. With her delicate features and piety figure, Han Aeng lacked the usual sex appeal Rong Xukai admires in women. However, she looked adorable when she was quiet; he'd give her that.
Not being able to resist the urge, Rong Xukai ran his slender finger across her tender cheek. Her features were gentle, nothing sharp or bold, but still very strangely distinctive. The more he stared at her, the more he discovered that her cuteness was different from a childish cute but wasn't necessarily a cute teenager charm either. She was just cute.
Rong Xukai felt a tad bit regretful. If he'd know she was this attractive, he may have acted a little differently, a little bit kinder, less aggressive, more humane even.
Taking her hand in his, Rong Xukai slowly channelled small amounts of true qi through her body, hoping it'll be enough to wake her up and provide him with the chance to clear the air a little, get to know her - preferably not as her kidnapper. However, he quickly started to discover her complexion turned paler as her temperature suddenly increased.
"Gramps, I think there's something wrong with her!" Just as Rong Xukai alerted Insik of Han Aeng's concerning health, her nose began to bleed excessively. "Oh! Her nose is bleeding!"
"Xukai, block her nose to stop the bleeding and keep her mouth open so she can breathe. I'm coming." Following his grandfather's instruction, Xukai resting Han Aeng against his chest as he squeezed the bridge of her nose together. His other hand gripped her chin and slipped a finger into her mouth, prying it open for her to breathe through.
Insik rushed into the room, both his hands full of medicine bottles, clean cloth and a bowl of water. He placed everything down in a hurry, checking the pulse on her hand then neck before rummaging through the medicine. "Her breathing is still rigid, but surely the nose bleeding has stopped. Good job, Xukai, wait outside for me."
Xukai complied with his grandfather's words, lying Han Aeng back onto the bed and walking out of the room, where he stayed from midday till sunset.
The grain of guilt he was feeling was slowly turning into irritation. If his gramps wasn't going to come out any time soon, why make him wait? The more he thought, the more he was convinced that this day was clearly against him, no, forget that, this whole month had been against him.
Rong Xukai started this month travelling to his grandfather after getting kicked out by his mother for fighting with his cousin. The way his mother favoured that idiot cousin of his always made Rong Xukai question his birth. It bothered him, his mother's excessive love for his cousin, a lot more than it should, but he would never let her or his stupid cousin know that.
After coming to Jeontu, everything Rong Xukai has done was very uncool of him, and he hated it here. Mind you; he was just mad his days of fooling around in his hometown were boiled down to doing frivolous things like fishing, collecting firewood, kneading dough, gardening and those of its sort because his gramps insisted this would help calm his mind. Plus, the bear he has been hunting seemed to be immortal; he could never kill it.
The frustration of things not going in his favour made him screw up playing the hero in rescuing a damsel in distress. On top of everything, with the way he manhandled her, he blew his opening at a potential fling. While he wasn't necessarily interested in her, she would be something that spiced up this otherwise monotonous and very pitiful life.
But between you and me, Rong Xukai's everyday life, besides picking fights with his cousin, actually had nothing interesting to offer; however, he enjoyed pretending it did.
While Rong Xukai was rolling in self-pity, Insik finally walked out, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead as a sign of his hard work. "You're still here?"
"You told me to wait," Rong Xukai blankly stated. He wanted to be mad at his gramps but hesitated a bit seeing Insik's distressed expression. His grandfather is not the type of person to get overwhelmed easily; neither was he someone who looked stressed over anything, so it made him somewhat worried. Was the little girl's situation that dire? "The little girl, how is she?"
"She hasn't woken up yet. She tried her best to keep herself alive, so she ended up straining her body." Sighing in defeat, Insik sat down on the doorstep, nonchalantly wiping his face with a towel. "We'll just have to look after her till she wakes up."
Rong Xukai nodded his head. The guilt was once again creeping in; maybe he had played a small part in her current condition. "You need to tell her family that we'll look after her or something?"
"Xukai?" Insik called out.
"Mm."
"Is your head carrying cow dung instead of a brain?" Insik whacked the back of his grandson's head. "How will you explain her current state? How will you explain who we are and what we're doing here? Aiya, and you want to take after your father's position."
"Tsk, won't her parents be worried?" Rong Xukai responded, rubbing his head. He was trying to be thoughtful of her, who knew that he would only make him lose face in front of his grandfather - not that he had much to lose.
"You think they won't be worried when you say we'll look after her?" Insik stood up, dusting off the dirt.
Han Aeng's disappearance would generate a tremendous amount of agitation. Her father would not sit for it for starters; while he was a patient man, his daughter meant the world to him, and he would go the distance for her as he had proved on many occasions. The Princess will most likely stress when she doesn't see Han Aeng at the palace, and for sure, that news will reach the King's ears. No one could predict the actions of the three most prominent figures of Jeontu when they find she's missing. It's most beneficial for Han Aeng to handle this situation herself, not only to reduce the impact of her disappearance but also to provide sufficient detail to avoid punishment and controversy.
"I'm going to sleep for a while, so look after her," Insik stopped speaking and faced Xukai with a stern look, "Look, not touch. Just watch her from a distance and call for me if anything happens."
"But I want to sleep too."
"It's your punishment for not looking after her well."