“I’ll try…” I replied. “If you don’t think of yourself, you should think of your future child. You’ve already slept with him, right? You could already be with child,” Shin said casually.I couldn’t blame him for his words because he probably didn’t know how much it impacted me. Once again, Shin was thinking for my own good. I bit my lower lip as my hand instinctively touched my abdomen. I didn’t just sleep with Ren; we’ve done it so many times…When we finally arrived at Ren’s palace, Shin led me to his study where we found Ren sitting with a frown on his face at his work desk. I remembered the last time I was here, I helped him clean up the room and organized documents. It was a very fun day with a light and cheerful atmosphere. Although it was the exact same room, the atmosphere was dark and overly serious today. “Why did you bring her here?” Ren spoke up without looking in our direction. “Lady White Lotus would like to speak to you. I’ll take my leave now,” Shin said and quickly
I remembered the prideful look on Jeely’s face when she told me that she is a princess representing her town. Her loyalty to the crown prince should know no end. How could someone like her commit such a crime? “Jeely is the only case where Kin never asked for her to be transferred to his inner court. Yet, he favors her enough to visit her regularly over the years. Of course, I decided to turn a blind eye to all of it. Those two took my mercy for something else which is quite unfortunate for them both. My inner court is like my backyard, how can I possibly not know what goes on there?” Ren explained ending with a little amused laugh. “But if you’ve always turned a blind eye, why are you punishing her for it now?” I asked. “I’m not punishing her for sleeping around with my brother. I’m punishing her for setting you up with my brother,” Ren said. Although his tone was flat, I could still sense some anger in his words. “…What?” I said cluelessly, unable to believe what I have just hea
“Lift your head right now, Rin…” Ren said as his feet came within my line of sight. I could feel his presence close to me and knew that he had come to stand in front of me. “I’ll only lift my head after you allow me to see Jeely,” I stated stubbornly.“Rin…” Ren said my name with an edge to his voice. “Please just let me see her!” I cried out in frustration. I could hear Ren’s footsteps as he paced about, and I could sense his frustration. My guilt bubbled up inside me; I didn’t want to do something like this, but I didn’t have any other options left. I apologized inwardly to Ren. I knew that I was pushing him and that I was being unreasonable but no matter what, I just couldn’t give up on this. “…take Shin with you…” Ren said softly. Did I heard that correctly or am I just dreaming? Ren…he finally granted my wish. I lifted my head up and looked up at him. Ren reached out for me and slowly helped me up to my feet. “Thank you, Ren…and I am so sorry…” I said softly. “You should h
Finally, I managed to say everything that I needed to say. I finally told him everything that really happened that day. What happens from now will be up to Ren. “Let go of me…” Ren said softly as he tugged on my arms. Slowly, I let go of him and he turned around to face me. Before I could say anything more, Ren pulled me into a tight hug. His arms hugged me tightly to him as his large hand cradled the back of my head, pushing my head against his chest. I started sobbing softly into his embrace as he continued to hold me. “Rin…I’m sorry,” Ren whispered softly as he stroked my back comfortingly. I blinked in surprise. Did Ren just apologize to me? This is probably the first time that he properly apologized to me. No, this is probably the first time I have ever heard Ren apologize. I stood there stunned at his sudden apology. The crown prince just apologized to me. To be honest, I was more shocked than happy at that moment. “Ren…” I whispered his name.I didn’t quite know what to sa
Tomorrow, Shin would take me to see Jeely on the condition that he would always be present during our talk. I readily agreed to that, knowing that there was no point in trying to negotiate. Shin was someone that I trust as well, so it wasn’t like I had things to keep away from him. I would probably feel more secured and reassured if he was there with me as well. I spent some time before bed praying that something good would come out of my meeting with Jeely tomorrow. The morning arrived and after getting ready, I met Shin in the living room in my palace. He was early while I was roughly on time. Just as expected, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep the night before. Naturally, I was worried and stressed over my meeting with Jeely. Although I had pushed so hard for it, when it came down to it, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to say to her. Rather, I wasn’t sure how I would handle her reactions or the things that she would have to say. “Are you ready to go?” Shin asked when he saw me
I flinched back in fear at her very hostile attitude. Her frail arms reached out between the bars towards me and I quicky took a few steps backward. Shin took a few steps forward towards us immediately and the look on his face was grave. “Shin, wait!” I cried out to stop him. Shin halted before turning to look at me to make sure that I was alright before turning to look at Jeely. I could tell that Shin was concerned for me; however, it wasn’t like Jeely could physically hurt me since she was behind bars. I nodded a little to Shin to signal that I was ok. Hesitantly, Shin backed away into the shadows again. “Jeely. It’s not like that. Since I’ve seen your arrest, I’ve been talking to the crown prince to help you. If you can just tell me what really happened or if this was some type of misunderstanding, then I’m sure...” I began saying; however, Jeely’s hysterical laugh cut me off.“Misunderstanding? There is no such thing…” Jeely said in between gritted teeth. “You can’t mean…” I w
I felt a shiver run down my spine. I think Ren did mention something to that effect about his uncle before. “Then…if Ren decides not to punish her…” I said as I reflected on Shin’s words.“Stop! I did not tell you this for you to beg Ren again to have mercy on Jeely,” Shin intervened with my suggestion immediately. “Then why are you telling me this?” I asked, not quite getting it. “I’m telling you this so that you will know that Ren has already shown her mercy in his own way. The law is still the law, no one, not even the crown prince, can simply ignore the law,” Shin explained. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow…” I admitted softly. “You’ll see soon for yourself. Just know that Ren is a very fair and merciful person. Don’t you dare act selfishly and burden the crown prince,” Shin said strictly. “Ok…” I replied. Basically, the best thing that I could do was sit still and watch what Ren would do in Jeely’s case. I closed my eyes and prayed that he would indeed have mercy on her. …A fe
“I do appreciate what you’ve done for me. However, I just wanted you to know that I’m happy enough already. When you apologized to me, I was so surprised but at the same time I felt so happy,” I told him honestly. “Apologies can’t be slept on like a new bed or sat on like a new chair. It can’t keep your body warm like new clothes and it cannot decorate the hair on your head like a golden hair pin,” Ren said as he tried to make his point. He’s right…but…“But if you meant it when you apologized, it goes to show how much you care for me and my feelings. That to me…means more than comfort in my sleep, warmth in my body or the beauty of my hair style…” I replied with an argument of my own. Ren paused as he stared at my face before he put his teacup down and started laughing. I watch Ren bend over and laugh loudly while I wondered what he found so funny. “As my woman, I don’t see why you have to choose between those things. You can have my apology and the gifts as well and let’s leave