"You can call me Eun-a or Anna.That is the Englise version of my name.You haven't told me your name yet!I don't think it is appropriate of you to carry me on your back and not even tell me your name.!"
"Well I don't want to carry you!You simply jumped on my back and are now forcing me to be your coolie!Your arms are actually choking me!",he had replied irritably. The girl had simply climbed on his back like a monkey and just wouldn't let go!Instead of apologizing to him about hurting him and falling on top of him she had ordered him to carry her back.And now he had no idea how to get rid of her!And since he wanted to leave a good impression on General Xie,he could not do anything to get her off forcefully!He was in his village and if this country bumpkin complained then he would be really gone!
"Hey!"She hit him with her small fist on his back and continued,"I have no wish to be carried!It is just that I have hurt my ankle while climbing the tree or I would have come down my self."Her lips and voice trembled as she said the last word and Wolf felt guilt assail him.He hadn't thought that the girl would be hurt and that was why was forcing him to carry her. But now he was scared that she would start crying and he would not know how to comfort her so he needed to distract her and thus said scathingly,"Why did you climb the tree if you don't know how to climb down?And what would you have done if I had not come?Sit there the whole night?"
Eun-a had scoffed at this and said,"I climbed the tree to rescue a kitten of course!Do you think I have a hobby of climbing trees?And I wouldn't have had to stay the night!My father would have realized that I was missing!I never skip dinner!"
Wolf who was tired of walking and carrying the girl paused for a breath and said,"Where is the kitten you rescued?"
"It jumped down and ran away!",came the dejected reply in a small voice.
Trying to control his sudden impulse to laugh,Wolf tugged her braid that fell over his shoulder and panted as he asked,"So you are telling me that you climbed the tree to rescue a kitten that did not need to be rescued and then got stuck there and had to be rescued yourself?"
Knowing that she was being laughed at made Xie Eun angry and she would have hit him in the back again but her stomach had growled at that moment making her realize that she was really hungry..Feeling her stomach pange,Wolf,who had just plucked an apple a while back,stopped again and took it out.It was even snatched away before he could formally offer it to her.Biting into the crisp juicy apple,Xe Eun mumbled a 'thank you' and ate up. As he carried her,Wolf noticed that her ankle,which was around his waist was already swollen. He did not know how far her house was so he thought of something and making her sit on a rock said,"I will go get some water rom the cold spring.The cold water will help inkeeping the swelling down..."
Ofcourse he had not expected that when he came back the girl would already have been carried away by her father..He would have blamed her for not even thinking of him or thanking him but it was only later that General Xie had told him that he had found his daughter unconscious near the house..That is how he had known that the little girl he had saved was the daughter of the man he admired..
Back to the present, Wolf closed the laptop on the table with a snap.Wolf leaned back in his chair and swiveled it around to look out of the floor to ceiling window.Looking at the vast city streched before him while he sat at the top,Wolf made a decision.Since,he had wavered from his original decision to simply marry her and then let her grow until he was needed,he would have to create some new circumstances.. First,he was emotionally involved and this would not do.It was too soon.. Xie Eun was going to be in his clutches soon.He just needed to be patient. He would help her grow and the manin the picture would be out of the picture soon. General Xie had chosen him for her and he would woo her so that she would choose him too.He wanted her to choose him as her forever. The man in the picture was the one in her heart even though she wore his ring..Since he already had legal rights he needed to get the right to love her and rule her heart also!
Taking long strides out of the office,Wolf prepared to walk out and make the long journey back to the small village to work on earning the said rights when Cheng Mo blocked his way.Before he could snap at Cheng Mo for this,the man relayed the news,"Sir..General Xie has passed away."