PREDOTARY MARRIAGE

49

Lisa felt nauseous—she could barely stop the bile rising up her throat. She knew that soon, Dara would be calling for her.

However, it was to her a complete shock that Jaehyun had been for quite some time, waiting for her. The cup of tea swirled in his hand, had long gone cold. On the elegant mahogany table, appetizers and cakes were left in crumbles.

He looked coldly at Lisa. His eyes zeroed in, observing her from head to toe and taking note of the Kurkan clothing that she wore. Lisa could feel his eyes judging her and it made her shift uncomfortably in her place.

Of all the times, why did it have to be at this specific moment that she encountered Jaehyun? Lisa gripped her dress tightly. Her own clothes had been torn to pieces, so she had had no choice but to wear the gown that Jennie had brought her.

Jaehyun moved his gaze to Jennie who was behind her back. She only nodded at him briefly, and stood still, her expression blank. Jaehyun chuckled at the disrespectful greeting. He felt utterly humiliated and ridiculed by the escort guard, whom he considered to be in a position far below him.

I can now see that you hang out with them.”

Lisa raised her eyes and quietly murmured, “I only needed their help.”

Jaehyun slowly rose from the sofa and walked towards Lisa. “What help?”

“…”

Pa! Jaehyun’s grimy hand struck Lisa. A mark started to form on the cheek that he had hit.

“I see that’s how it is. Choosing to be insolent. I asked you what kind of help you sought from them.”

Lisa raised her eyes to meet Jaehyun’s. The place his hand had slapped her, surprisingly, didn’t radiate any pain. On the contrary, a piercing, throbbing pain elsewhere in her chest jolted, but she subtly ignored it.

She blinked at Jaehyun and pushed his hand away. This drew a frown in the crown prince’s face. Her apparent rejection, and blunt refusal to answer his question, angered him. He raised his hand once again.

He, whose pride had been scored by Lisa, would not tolerate it one bit. Anticipating yet another slap, Lisa closed her eyes and waited. However, her surroundings became quiet, and the twinge she expected from his grubby hand was nowhere to be felt.

Lisa slowly opened her eyes, greeting the silence. Where Jaehyun had raised his wrist and prepared to strike her, she found Jennie holding it tightly.

“You are the one who is being impolite!”

Jaehyun frowned as he tried to free his arm, but he could not escape from her firm grip. At that moment, dwarfed by the muscular giant Jennie, Jaehyun seemed to be nothing but a mere powerless bastard. His strength fled. He was vulnerable.

Despite being in the presence of Estia’s future king, Jennie didn’t show any sign of inferiority. To her, pleasing him was a completely futile effort. She had no reason to, and did not have the desire to. Instead, she stared down at Jaehyun wordlessly, and squeezed his wrist.

“Be careful.” She warned, finally relinquishing her strength. The grip on his wrist was released, and she looked down at him admonishingly.

“…”

Jaehyun massaged his wrist as he glared at Jennie. If eyes could sentence death, she would be six feet under. He burned with rage and hatred, towards all Kurkans—exemplified by their defiance and his inability to do anything.

To his disappointment, however, Jennie remained unfazed. Her calm attitude fuelled his spite even more, and Jaehyun needed an easy target to lash out his rage on.

He stormed over to the side where the servants were lined up quivering in fear and like a snake, slithered his way across until he found one.

The unfortunate victim, the janitor’s child whose small body was tucked away trembling in the corner. With brute force, Jaehyun yanked at the child’s collar, grabbing his legs and threw him across the room. Before anyone could react to stop him, the poor boy’s delicate body was flung into the air.

CRACK!

The child’s head collided forcefully against the edge of the table and his body slammed into the floor. A red liquid stained the table as blood immediately oozed from the point of contact.

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

A horrified scream broke out amongst the maids.

The shock brought Lisa’s senses back. The child was motionless, and not even a cry or scream came out from him. She immediately ran across to where he had landed and hugged the boy to her. Luckily, he was still breathing, but in that moment, Lisa only felt horror surge through

Baroness Cinael, who had stood behind Jaehyun hurriedly ran to where the two were and took the child from her.

Lisa  deeply inhaled as she stared at her half-brother, who was laughing. No matter how deranged he was, he should not have vented his wrath on the child. She could not believe that the very blood running in his veins, ran in her too.

“Sister.”

His voice suddenly softened. “My only sister, ruining the reputation of the kingdom. I cannot just standby and do nothing.”

Jaehyun whispered as he slowly blinked his eyes. Those dense eyelashes shielded the evil glint, a hint of his derangement as he took pleasure in his cruelty.

“Do you know the scandal that is spreading right now?”

Lisa clenched her fist tight. Her whole body trembled with anger. She could have endured if he had hit only her, but she could not stand by idly letting him abuse the people of Estia.

Without thinking, her lips moved, and she spoke words which, under normal circumstances, would never come out of her mouth. “You are the crown prince!”

But most of all, you are my brother, she wanted to add. “How could you possibly do this?”