MY UNEXPECTED MARRIAGE TO THE LOVELESS CEO

Chapter 30 🪻

Jihyo isn’t sure what she is looking for but the info she received from her spy has brought her to a small town 5 hours by train from Seoul.

There is nothing special about the town, except for its history. Ancient buildings stand still on its soil, strong against the brutal wind that blows at least twice a day from the turbulent sea and its waves.

Looking at the bigger picture, the town is certainly a place to be if someone is taking a break from anything in the world.

Walking down the street, she keeps note of everything she sees. The houses here are all built the same; in such a style that only goes upward; three or four storeys; halfway hanging in the sky.

The tallest one Jihyo notes, is a 6 storeys house which are only a few in row near the city’s wall. There is a school; elementary as Jihyo understands and it has been there since the inception of the town in the 1800s.

For high schoolers, they usually travel to the city next door, where although not 100% modernised, still hosts a few other new things, like a convenience store and a mini mall.

Just when Jihyo is about to conclude the info she received was 100 percent irrelevant, she comes across two little girls she once spotted in Seoul not too long ago.

And just like back then, both of them hold striking resemblance to Her Royal Highness, The Lady Roseanne Park of the Manoban Royal House.

One of them, Jihyo narrows her eyes,  is born blind as she leads her journey home with the help of a foldable walking stick.

A younger kid next to her seems to be born perfect. She has a sour face all along, probably tired of walking under the scorching heat.

Tilting her head left and right until the woman is convinced there is no one else there monitoring after the kids from afar, Jihyo half walks half jogs to greet the siblings.

“Hello, good day” she throws a smile. But what she receives back is just a frown.

“Excuse me…” the younger sibling interjects, taking a hold of her slightly older sister who is likely to run into the bark of a tree on the pavement if not stopped.

“Who are you?” the kid interrogates. The all familiar tone that Lisa always uses; pops in that particular moment. Jihyo presses her lips into a thin line; clearly taken aback.

Could her own prediction be right? Are the Royal Princesses still alive?

***

“I’m actually a tourist,”

Jihyo starts the conversation again. She extends her hand with the warmest smile she can convey, thinking these two toddlers in front of her can’t outsmart a fully - grown adult like her.

But her hand meets none of those chubby little palms. Instead, both toddlers are staring at her.

The blind sibling wears the same, identical frown to her younger one, which Jihyo must say; that she has seen that particular look so often popularised by Her Royal Highness The Lady Roseanne Park behind closed doors at the Manoban Palace.

“So?” the younger sibling narrows her eyes in great suspicion of the adult woman she has never seen before.

Jihyo would hate to admit it, but these two girls, albeit looking simple to fool, are a bit of hard work to con.

She draws a deep breath and pops another smile. Hopefully, this time it will cause the girls to warm up to her.

“So, I’m actually lost” the woman lies. “Do you mind showing me around the place? I think my hotel is around here,”

“What do you mean you are lost?” the blind sibling asks. “You’re an adult, you’re supposed to know things,” she adds and Jihyo would say she disagrees with the statement. But her own thoughts are silenced by Ji-Eun who adds,

“Maybe, she’s the dumb adult,” “I refuse to that, I am not dumb,” “Dumb dumb” “I’m not” “Yes, you’re. That’s why you’re lost” “I beg to differ…” Jihyo clenches her jaws, ready to tell both siblings off when an old policeman pauses from cycling his bike past them.

“Is everything alright?”

He asks and the siblings run to him. “She’s scaring us,” Ji-Eun says. “What?” The grumpy officer locks his eyes with Jihyo who starts panicking if her undercover will be blown out by these two.

“Excuse me, can I have your name please?” he tugs his bushy eyebrows together. “I’m sorry, sir … I think you’ve gotten the wrong idea about …” “Your name, Miss …” “I can’t…” “I’m sorry, you’re following me to the station,”

“So long, sucker”

The two girls giggle. Jihyo grits her teeth. It’s going to be such a damn long day for her.

***

Suzy rolls her eyes as she steps outside the station. Behind her, Jihyo follows closely. “I thought when I told you that you should work for me, you’d be doing all the work while I only wait for the result. But of course,” the woman sighs sharply.

“You won’t be doing that,”

“You won’t believe me,” Jihyo tries again to convince Suzy. “But I really saw them. They live here, in this city. I am not sure where but I’ll find out,”

“Who lives here?” Suzy asks, annoyance is very apparent in her tone. “The Royal Princesses,” Jihyo simply concludes.

She is sure that at this point, she might have sounded like a dumb bitch but she just doesn’t care.

The woman knows the truth; that the Royal Princesses are still alive. She isn’t sure why they are hidden away but there must be a story to that.

“Okay,” Suzy licks her lower lip impatiently, then turns her back against her silver car to face Jihyo who is still standing on the last step. “Are you drunk, Jihyo? Are you fucking drunk right now?”

“I’m not” Jihyo defends herself. “You have to believe me. They have been hiding the Royal Princesses from the public’s eye and I think I know why”

She makes an assumption. Suzy, who is already tired of hearing bullshit, asks her why. “Because the heir apparent is apparently born blind,”

There is a thick silence before Suzy cocks her eyebrows. “What?” she blurts out. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not” Jihyo shakes her head. “You have to trust me, Suzy. There is literally a game they are playing behind our back, and I am sure with one the girls being born blind, their parents make a decision to hide them away so that they won’t have to face the public’s humiliation,”

“My, my, my”

Suzy finds herself laughing with the new assumption. “What wonderful information you’ve here, Jihyo” “I will dig further into it myself only if you assure me that I will get what you’ve promised me with,” she reminds Suzy who is too quick to nod, making a promise.

“Of course,” she puts on her sunnies. “I will give what you want once everything is out for the world to see,” she unlocks her car, and rolls the window down. “So, why don’t we both go for a quick drive here? You know, see if we can catch the tea,”

Jihyo smiles, says nothing before proceeding to jump into the passenger seat. “Let’s go,”