Chapter 14 - The Heir of Silla

Sehun stood in front of the door and knocked on it, the soldiers staying behind him. A moment later, a man with grey hair opened the door.

Won. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of the prince. Sehun tried his best to control his anger, but it seemed that he was just emitting it.

"You—"

"Where is she?" he cut Won off. His jaw tightened.

"Who—"

"Don't pretend to act like you don't know. I'm asking where she is. The girl whom you call Anya."

Won eyed him with hatred. "There is no one with that name living under this roof."

Sehun stormed into the house without even asking for permission, earning daggers from Won, who was about to stop him when two of his soldiers blocked Won's attempt.

There were two other people in the house. The first one was a woman with long wavy brown hair whom he had seen before when he first found Irene in this village. Hana. Fear skated all over her face as she saw him and his soldiers coming in.

The other person was a brown haired guy standing close beside her whom he had never met before. Kris. He had a death glare on his face that matched Sehun's glare.

"She was here," Sehun stated.

"You're mistaken," Kris said, getting his attention. "She's not."

Sehun clenched his fist in anger. "Listen, I’m grateful and I will never be able to thank you enough for saving her life, but she can't stay here. She really can't. She won't be fully protected outside. She's not just an ordinary village girl who you all think she is!"

They jumped at the loudness of his voice.

"She has to stay behind the castle wall."

"What the hell—" Won was about to lash out, thinking it was nonsense, but Hana interrupted.

"Do you know her?" The question left her lips even though she didn’t remember moving them. "What do you mean by saying she's not just some ordinary girl?" Her curiosity had just kicked her from inside that she didn't even realized popping out the question.

"Hana!" Won roared, not wanting the past of his beloved to shatter everything they had had since a year ago. "It doesn't even matter now," he hissed, and Sehun wanted to spit in disgust.

He glared at Won and eyed all of them with his piercing dark eyes. "I'm warning you not to spill this truth to any soul outside this house. I know she thinks of you all as her family, and you have the right to know her.” His sentence stopped, for he knew that they wouldn't take this information lightly. "Her real name is Irene. She is the princess of Silla Kingdom."

The words were like thunder striking each of them. Kris's jaw dropped, and Won gawked at Sehun just like he was a lunatic from another planet who just had spoken an alien language.

But the worst impact was on Hana. Her eyes widened in shock, her lips trembling and her whole body shaking. The next moment, her legs couldn't support her body anymore, and she collapsed to the floor.

Kris caught her. "Mother!"

"No… It can't be. She—she can't be—" Her eyes were glued on the floor, horrified expression on her face and her hands covering her ears.

Sehun stared at her in confusion, realizing something was not right.

"Get out of this house, you filthy liar." Won stormed in Sehun's direction, but one of Sehun's soldiers blocked him with the spear, pushing him on the chest. "She's safe with us."

"Safe?" Sehun wanted to laugh at this insanity. "Then you tell me she is safe, when all the Silla's Army will hunt her if they know she still exists. You tell me she is safe, when the person who wants her dead, the King who has killed her father, just came here. If I hadn't destroyed your goddam precious statue, he would have noticed it, and bam! She's gone forever," he snapped. "Is that what you want?"

Won stared at him in disbelief, eyes still filled with rage upon him.

Sehun knew this was too much. Too much for the person standing before him. And he hadn't heard all of it.

As Sehun's attention was fully on Won, who was seething with anger, he didn't realize that someone was dying there. Hana was dying. She could barely survive after hearing the words he had thrown inside the house. Those words almost killed her.

Panic rose within Kris. He had never seen his mother in that kind of state before. "Mother, are you okay?" he cried, shaking her shoulders to keep her conscious. "Mother!"

Hana stared at him weakly, tears welling up in her eyes. What the prince had just told them made her body paralyzed. "Kris…." Her hand clutched his shirt as she broke in tears. She just wanted to die.

Kris wrapped his arms around his mother and carried her to her room.

"What is happening?" Kris urged as Hana kept crying on the bed, his hand holding hers. She stared up at the ceiling as tears kept coming out from her eyes. "Mother…" he begged, wanting to take away all her pain.

"Kris… Save me," she whimpered.

"I will, mother. I will! I will do whatever you want me to," he cried. "Just, please, tell me. What is going on?" It wasn't just about Anya, he knew it. His mother was hiding something from him.

"Your father…" A soft sob escaped from her lips as she mentioned it.

Kris stared at her, clueless. What was she talking about? Hadn't she always told him that his father had died?

"Your father…" She choked, trying to speak.

And today, another truth, another tragedy, would be revealed.

Flashback

"Princess Hana!"

Her name had been called. The servants of Samhan Emperor were looking for her, but she couldn't escape, trapped inside the library in her palace, with…

"Easy. They won't find us here," a man with dark grey hair whispered in her ear before planting butterfly kisses on her neck, pinning her against the wall.

"Jun, I—" She struggled to break free. They shouldn't be doing this, hiding from everyone. "I have to go."

Jun stopped his movement and glared at her. She shivered at the coldness in his eyes. "Why? Don't you want to be with me?" he hissed, gripping her wrist that it hurt.

"Jun, it hurts." She winced in pain, but he didn't budge.

Instead, he kissed her hard, but she pulled away, only making him angrier. Furious, he slapped her.

Tears began to fill her eyes as she felt the pain on her cheek. How could she let him do that again to her? This was the reason why it would never work.

He held her chin up, making her face him again, his other hand pulling back the hair above her forehead. "Am I not your lover?" But it wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Her lips trembled as fear consumed her. She didn't know how to respond to his words.

"Don't you love me?" he threatened.

"Jun…"

"How long do I have to wait? It's been one year already. One year!"

"I—"

Her eyes glistened with tears, and his jaw tightened. He threw her to the floor, earning her scream and hurting her hand as it hit one of the table legs. Shaking, she turned her head towards him. "I can't. I can't do this anymore. Why are you doing this to me?" Her cries echoed. She couldn't stand his rude attitude anymore. How could he use his hands to hurt her if he couldn't get what he wanted from her? He had confessed he loved her, when it wasn't even love. It was lust.

He stepped closer to her, bent down, and held her chin up again with two fingers, peering into her eyes. "You just have to give me one thing. One thing, Hana. And it will be all over," he hissed.

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Your heart." With that said, he stood up. "I will come back again.” His voice was cold. He turned towards the door and left her alone, speechless.

Jun. He was one of the Silla brothers, the second heir. Their first encounter was when he visited her land with his soldiers and spotted her. It was just a few seconds. His eyes fell on her while she was riding on a horse with her guards, passing him by. Yet it was enough to make him barge into the castle and find her the next day. She didn't know how he had done that.

He was aggressive, passionate and bold, which made her flattered at first. They kept their affair as a secret, which neither his kingdom nor hers knew. Yet as time went by, his true self was soon revealed. He was arrogant, rude and self-centered. No one, no single soul, could oppose him.

He ought to have what he wanted. And that time, it included her.

A few weeks after their last meeting, the King of Silla came by for a visit, bringing his queen and his sons. Jun was there, and she was quite surprised to know that he was always under the shadow of his elder brother.

Yong Jae, the first heir. A prince so magnificent, charming, and the complete opposite of his younger brother. Yong Jae was different. He was a real man. And a promising king to be.

"Thank you for your warm welcome, Sungjo," the King of Silla said in delight to her parents, standing in front of the thrones, while his wife and sons bowed in respect. "I shall introduce you to my beloved family. Minseo, Yong Jae, and Jun."

Her parents watched the first son with interest.

"And I shall introduce you to mine, Jae Hee. My wife, Sunmi. And my daughter, Hana," her father introduced.

Sunmi and Hana bowed to them. "It is such a pleasure to meet your beautiful family, Jae Hee," Sunmi said, looking pleased. "You have wonderful young men. Look at that. I see a king in those eyes." She gazed at Yong Jae, who broke into a charming smile in return.

Indeed, he was captivating. He had a powerful aura that could draw people to him.

"And you have a very beautiful daughter." His mother gazed at Hana. "Isn't that true, Yong Jae?"

Hana felt butterflies in her stomach as his gaze landed upon her.

"It is such an honor for me to meet such a wonderful lady like you, Princess Hana."

She didn't know how to respond to his words. However, her par