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4-4th, Prince ?" She called my name cautiously as if I were only a figment of her imagination. I glanced at her, she had a pitiful expression on her face. I quickly looked away, Turning to the guards, signaling them to leave, her eyes followed my every move, as she blinked dumbfounded. I clenched my jaw in anger.
Why was she acting like, like she was the one hurt?? Tch, what an impressive actor!
Seeing the guards walk into the Inn, she turned to her handmaid, requesting her to go inside as well. I couldn't hear her exact words, but I could hear the shakiness in her voice. I was already fuming. Her handmaid retreated into the Inn after bowing towards me respectfully. My eyes remained on her.
I had to admit, seeing her cowering figure shift in front of me was not a pleasant sight. I frowned. So you can only imagine my surprise when she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"Can... Can we talk?" She said softly.
***
My heart got stuck in my throat as I saw him. He was staring harshly at me. No- glaring at me. Within good reason. I gulped again, trying to remain calm. But my trembling hands exposed my true feelings. Giving up on controlling my emotions first, I looked up at him.
"Can...Can we talk?" I said, my voice cracking at the end. I winced in disgust at my voice.
'Gosh...why did I say it like that!' I cursed myself mentally. I carefully looked up at him, searching for a reaction. He took a step away from the carriage, moving closer to me. I didn't avoid him. My thoughts were flooded. Now, what do I say? Will he even let me explain myself? Will he even give me a second chance? I clenched my fingers as my thoughts ate at me inside out. I was starting to panic. The thick silence between us only fueled my fear.
"We will talk in the carriage." He finally said.
"W-what- oh, yes. Of course." I quickly bowed. He paused before boarding the carriage. I followed in behind him.
After closing the carriage door. I sat opposite him. I looked up at him to see him staring at me. I quickly looked down. Before I could get a word out, he began speaking.
"Why did you choose to leave?" He said. I looked up at him.
"I- I didn't choose to leave." I said timidly
"You could have stayed."
"No. I couldn't have." I paused. " I didn't have the power to-"
"The power? You are a reincarnation of the Black Jade." He spoke sharply, hostility laced between each word. I gulped. I should've known he would go easy on me.
"I can't defy the King's wish. And... I couldn't put you in a difficult position."
"Me? So now you chose to care about me." He scoffed. I winced at his words.
"It's true! I- I was only doing it out of…" I paused. He looked up at me.
"Out off..?" He said. My eyes trembled as I quickly averted his piercing gaze.
"You lied. You promised you would allow me to leave peacefully."
"Don't avoid the topic. Eva." He hissed, dropping all formalities. I looked down at my hands.
"That assassin… Was here for me, right?" I avoided. He scoffed hearing my question.
"For you? Why would an assassin be here for you-"
"They wouldn't be dumb enough to try and kill you." I interrupted. He remained quiet. "You were hurt-"
"Don't say anything else." He said. I looked up at him, he was glaring knifes at me.
"Are you just going to pretend like you forgot everything that happened last night? The things you revealed?"
"I was lying!"
"And how do I know you aren't lying now?" He spat out. My eyes grew misty as I quickly looked away from him. I could feel myself about to cry.
"Then..then why did you come here?" I looked up at him. "If you hate me so much, why did you even let me talk to you, you could've kept going, you didn't have to stop the carriage. So why did you?" I softly retorted. My voice wavering.
"You are avoiding the topic again."
"So are you."
"...."
"...."
We sat in the carriage in silence. Taking a moment, I wiped the tears from my eyes before they fell. However, by doing that I only released the dam that had been holding them back.
"Crap." I cursed under my breath as I continuously wiped my eyes. But the tears only kept coming. Flustered, I gave up. Setting my hands down on my lap. A handkerchief landed on my hands. I looked up to see the 4th Prince glancing away from me. My tears only started pouring more.
"Y-you!" He started. "Why are you crying so much-"
"I'm sorry," I said quickly. After that, my words only became incoherent messes. "I really am. Everything that I said wasn't, it wasn't how I truly felt. It still isn't. I just thought things would be different. I wasn't prepared to be met with such… emotions. I- and now, I don't know what to do because I, I…" I stopped talking and sniffled. He continued looking at me.
"What? You what?" He said, his voice softening. I looked up at him but quickly looked away, embarrassed. I remained silent. A bitter expression made its way to his face. "You don't want to leave the palace? Is that it? You still want a chance at, power and glory?" He questioned, his voice getting angrier with each word said. I shook my head vigorously, my tears pausing for a moment.
"No! That's not it!"
"Then what is it Eva-
"Because I don't want to lose you!" I shouted at him. As soon as the words left my lips, my tears resumed. I cringed inwardly, looking down at my shaking hands. My anxiety spiked with every second in silence.
'Damn it, Eva!! You idiot- why would you go and say something so-'
"Repeat that." He said. I looked up at him. A look of embarrassment, shame, fear, all appearing on my face at once. Suddenly, he pulled closer to me. Instead of sitting across from me, he was now next to me. I didn't realize how little space the carriage had, or how close his face was to mine. I gulped again.
"I- the reason.." I paused. "The reason I did all of those stupid things was that…" I stopped and bit my lip again. My heartbeat was too high. at this rate, I might pass out! He put his hand on my cheek, forcing me to look directly into his piercing grey eyes. My face flushed. I blinked a couple of times before taking a deep breath.
"I didn't want to lose you-"
He smashed our lips together. My mind went blank as I tried to process what was happening. The second he pulled away I covered my mouth with my hand in shock.
"Y-you just!!-" before I could finish my words, he pulled my hand away from my face and directly onto the carriage wall, roughly placing his lips back on mine. My body went into a numb state as It wouldn't move, or maybe because I wasn't trying to.
I wasn't resisting his kiss, and instead, I closed my eyes and allowed him to have his way. Eventually, his hold on my hand loosened. I found myself bringing it up to his face caressing it as he kissed me. He brought his hand to the back of my neck, holding it securely so I wouldn't budge. As I ran out of breath, I reluctantly pulled away from him. He was also panting vigorously. I looked up at him to see the same flushed expression that was most likely on my own face. I bit my lip. Just as he was about to kiss me again, I heard Bo yell from outside.
"Sir! It's almost nighttime! We should be returning to the palace." He said. I jumped slightly and tried to push the 4th Prince off of me. He wouldn't budge. I huffed slightly.
"Y-you! You heard him… you must go back soon-" his gaze on me hardened and I quickly shut up. His hand rested on my cheek and softly brushed away the remaining tears that were on my face.
"You...need to rest well, okay? I will soon find a way to bring you back to the palace." He said. I blushed and nodded. He has never talked this softly to me before. I didn't know what else to do or say. Such an awkward situation…
"4th Prince!" Bo yelled again. Finally, he pulled away from my face, his hands returning to his sides, his usual stone-like expression returning. However, as he scanned over me, a small smirk made its way to his face. I quickly brushed out my dress and cleared my throat. I turned back towards the 4th Prince and bowed my head curtly before rushing out of the carriage. This time, however, I was more than happy to get out.
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(Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed.)