Han Eunhee is from a high class family...But it's not very noble. All her minister father cares about is ensuring that the national funds find their way into his pockets.
If he was loving and caring, it would be something she could overlook, but he...
I trudged slowly through the stone corridors, willing my mind to ignore the pain in my legs. Finally, I got to the underground palace and walked in.
"My lord! I'm here!" I called out after I didn't see him in the throne room. Almost immediately his low voice rang out to reply.
"In here", he called out. I followed his voice which led me straight into the library. He was in front of a walll of shelves, a book in his hand. Hearing me come in, he turned to glance at me shortly before going back to what he was doing.
"You're early. Did something happen today?" he asked. I cleared my throat.
"Nothing really. Just decided to leave home a bit earlier than usual", I answered. That technically was not a lie, was it? "Does my lord not like it?"
At that, he turned to me again, his eyes piercing. Taken aback a bit, I tried not to fidget under his gaze lest he got suspicious. It seemed I succeeded because he simply exhaled and turned to reach for a different book. He frowned shortly after though, glancing between the two books in his hands.
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"Is there a problem, my lord?" I asked. He made a noncommittal noise in response.
"I could've sworn there was one more book in this collection. But I can't find it."
I shuffled over to look at the books in his hand, moving slowly enough to feel as little pain as possible without looking suspicious. Looking at the books, I recognized them as the series I had been reading myself and realized that the last instalment was back home. I sheepishly looked up at him.
"I'm sorry, my lord. I have the last book at home." He had been staring at me the whole time I made my way over to him. After my confession, his expression didn't change much but he seemed more fondly exasperated than anything. I looked elsewhere, avoiding eye contact. Sighing, he put the books back and turned to me fully.
"Hm? What's with the face? It's fine. You'll finish it soon anyway. Stop pouting and get me another book", he chided, passing by me to sit down. I perked up at the sudden order.
"What book would you like, my lord?"
He stared at me for a while, then pointed at the shelf to his left without even looking.
"Third row from the top. Any book from there", he said. I was a bit puzzled at the vague choice, but went over for it anyway. The shelf was just out of my reach, so I had to stretch on my toes a bit to get a book. I winced as my wounded skin stretched, biting my lip to help me focus on anything other than the pain.
"Stop."
Immediately, I froze, dropping down fully on my feet.
"Come here", he ordered. I hesitantly and slowly walked over to him. He gestured at the empty chair beside him and I sat down. Wordlessly, he got off his chair and got on his knee in front of me.
"My lord!-", I tried to move back but one look from him froze me in my tracks. I swallowed nervously and stayed still. Still meeting my eyes, he reached for my leg but paused just before he touched me. When I made no effort to move away, he looked down and carefully lifted up my skirts just enough to expose my calf.
While studying the red welts lining my skin, his thumb accidentally touched a particularly painful one, making me suck in a breath in pain. Immediately, he withdrew his hand and exhaled. After some silence, I decided to say something.
"How did you know?" I asked, my voice quiet. He gently placed my leg down and replaced my skirts then got to his feet.
"You walked slow, like your feet hurt but you were pretending they didn't. And you winced when you had to reach up on your toes. I expected it to be blistered feet, not marks from a cane", he said. I looked away, feeling berated. My fingers fiddled in my lap. He then leaned into my space, placing his hand on either side of me on the arms of the chair, caging me in.
"Eunhee."
I swallowed. He leaned lower to meet my eyes.
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"Who did this to you?"
And I couldn't lie to him. I can never lie to him.
"Mother did", I began to explain. "She- My brothers came to play with me but she didn't like that." I looked down at my fingers as I continued.
"I didn't expect her to be so displeased with me. I took really good care of them too. But now I'm not even allowed to talk to them again, much less play with them", I mumbled, feeling down. I never realized how much I enjoyed having brothers until I interacted with them and it was taken away from me once more.
Gwi suddenly scoffed, and I looked at him in confusion. The corners of his lips turned up in a small smile and he caressed my cheek softly.
"Don't worry about that, alright? We'll handle it later."
I assumed he was probably going to speak with Father again, so I smiled and nodded.
"Yes, my lord."
------------------------------------------------ Sorry for the short chapter this time😅 I wrote a lot at a go so the next chapters will be much longer. I always try my best to reach or pass the 1k word count mark. Promise🤗
Also Gwi-oppa is very observant when it comes to his darling isn't he? We love to see it🤭🤭
