Cinderella's Masquerade | Huang Renjun

26

Renjun furrowed his eyebrows immediately, thinking she had gone insane. Both of them knew that they liked each other, that was a simple fact, but neither knew that they had it within them to be engaged to each other, let along marriage. After all, patriarchy was something they simply cannot escape from.

"Hannuri, what are you talking about" Renjun stood up, rising to his feet in confusion. He knew he should be screaming with happiness right now but he didn't know why he wanted so badly to guide her away from the darkness that was royalty.

"Think about it Renjun" Hannuri began using hand gestures to convey this massive picture in her head "We can't be together because we're too different in social status, right? But in reality, there are no rules in who you can marry. Sure, I wouldn't be able to give you any benefits by marrying into your family, but we can change that"

The real reason behind her sudden proposal was because she was worried. Dead worried. Worried that Renjun's father would do something to him if she didn't stop him. If she became a queen consort, she had more power than anything. The King wouldn't dare touch a hair on her body (as she could easily tell the world about his abusive nature) so she could protect Renjun physically.

"That's absurd" He liked her idea, a lot, in fact, but that would only happen in an utopia. He knew all too well that she was simply naive—the world of royalty did not work like that. Rules can't just be broken because you want it to. Renjun learnt that the hard way.

"What do you mean?" Hannuri slapped her own hand "Please, Renjun"

"I need to check something first" Renjun snatched his hand away from her grip "If you had to go back and choose whether you would pretend to be Hana again or not, what would you choose?"

Her nightmare finally happened. She had been terrified that Renjun would start not trusting her the moment she told him the truth, in which he did have the right to. She didn't know whether he was in love with Hana or her anymore. She didn't know why her heart hurt so much.

"I would" Hannuri looked down "Because I needed that money"

There was a deafening silence between the two again.

"I'll tell you the truth" Hannuri looked up at him "Hana was powerful. I could do anything in her body. Look, I could even sneak into such a prestigious ceremony just by looking rich and acting rich. How funny is that. I liked being in her body but you don't understand how many times I thought to myself: what if Renjun likes Hana? Not me? What if he's disappointed when he finds out?"

Before she could continue, he cut in "I wasn't. I never liked Hana, the white rose girl"

"Then why did you keep the rose on her mask for so long"

"Are you seriously getting jealous of yourself"

"I'm not jealous I'm curious"

"That sounds like jealousy to me"

Suddenly, a body seemed to appear behind Hannuri. Startled, she whipped around to greet Jaemin. His eyes were a strange kind of tired, as if he had just gone through hell and back. This wasn't the Jaemin Hannuri recognised.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Then it hit her. She saw the black gun sitting on the floor a couple centimetres from Jaemins door. She gasped quite audibly, gently holding Jaemins wrist.

"Did you?" She asked. He nodded.

"I'm OK" Jaemin shook his head and chuckled "I'll take you back".

Renjun watched as Jaemin, with his hand on her back, guide her away. His jaw clenched.

Renjun say in his, staring blankly at the wall. He had refused to do any speeches or paperwork for the King. He hadn't been in the mood since he last saw Hannuri a couple days ago. The King was healthier now, but he still sat in his wheelchair working away. Renjun had grown to be emotionless to the point he simply spent hours doing nothing but analysing the crack in his bedroom walls.

He heard a clink against his window. Slowly clambering up, he opened it to be pleasantly surprised by Hannuri throwing large pebbles at him. He had to dodge one to avoid losing and eye. This felt awfully like déjà-vu. He remember the time he did the exact same thing to Hannuri.

"Make the curtain ladder. I need to talk to you" Hannuri whisper-yelled, careful not to alert to the staff inside. Renjun, although hesitantly, walked towards his bathroom and yanked off his curtains. Soon, his curtain contraption was complete. Like Rapunzel, he chucked it down, waiting for Hannuri to make her wait up. Surprisingly, she got to the room pretty quick. Perhaps it was just pure experience.

The moment she got in, Renjun began fidgety. He placed his hand behind his back, staring at her "What is it?"

"Hire me again. As a maid. I know the marriage idea sounds bizarre but the only way I learn about all this royalty stuff is if I'm surrounded by it. I know. This sounds insane. But I know I can find a way to marry you" She placed a hand on his wrist. She seemed so determined, so determined in breaking the structure and tradition Renjun's family had held up for centuries.

"You know damn well you can't marry me when you're a maid" Renjun sounded harsh, but reality was harsh.

"If Im not qualified now, Ill become qualified. Ill learn what I need and I will prove the King that I can be more qualified than any ministers daughter or other kingdom's princesses" Hannuri's determined expression scared Renjun "I'll fight my way to the top"