Chapter 17 - Past

Seunghyun’s POV

I gave a peck to Elenda from the cheek and sat down opposite side of her at the table. They had prepared a table for just the three of us at the garden.

I looked at her beautiful face and suddenly the memories rushed to my head. We were too young at that time but I remembered our bitter sweet times.

Elenda was looking at me with curious eyes and then she finally asked.

“Where is his majesty, Tari?”

“He said that he was not feeling good,” I said while I was putting my napkin on my lap and then I signaled servants to serve the meal.

“You are saying that as if you don’t believe it,” she said smiling.

I sighed, “Elenda, I am really sorry in behalf of Vanya.”

She looked at me frowning, “Why? There is nothing to be sorry!”

I just ran my fingers through my hair nervously and closed my eyes for a while. This situation was really giving me a headache. I massaged my temples slowly.

“What is wrong, your majesty?” I heard her asking softly.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. Then I smirked.

“Your majesty? Where did it come from? You always used to call me Seunghyun when we are alone.”

“Now it is not proper… to be too close to you.”

I laughed, “What are you talking about? You even hugged me when you arrived!”

I saw her slightly blushing, “Yes but… it was not proper either, I just… missed you… a lot.”

I looked at her eyes smiling, “My beautiful Elenda… I missed you too.”

She finally smiled back.

“You are married now so…” she said blushing.

“We are like siblings, you know.”

“Yes, but we crossed the line once so…”

“But it was once and we realized our mistake, right? It was a long time ago.”

“Mistake….” She said to herself in a low voice but I heard her.

Great. You hurt her, King Seunghyun. Tonight I guess I broke two hearts.

I reached out to her hand on the table and gave her a soft squeeze.

“Forgive me if my words hurt you.”

She smiled at me nicely and then took her hand away from my grasp.

“That is okay.”

We started to eat without talking. Then after a while she broke the silent.

“I hope his majesty Tari is okay. Maybe you should check him, Seunghyun.”

“Maybe later. I know what is wrong with him.”

“You know?”

“Yes, he is jealous.” Suddenly I told her.

She looked at me with big eyes from surprise. Then I saw a sad expression covered her face.

“Because of me? Oh it is my fault!” she said.

“No no… please. It is not your fault. He is just too young, you know.”

“I shouldn’t have hugged you like this and… I should have informed you about my visit.”

I stopped eating and slightly caressed her hand again and looked into her eyes.

“Hey… I said it is not your fault. Don’t worry.”

She just sighed and closed her eyes. Then she looked at me curiously.

“Did he know… about me? And about us?”

“No. He just met you today.”

“You never… talked about me?” she asked in surprise.

“No I didn’t.”

“What?!” she shouted in surprised.

I looked at her blinking my eyes. I was surprised at her reaction.

She shook her head and laughed to herself.

“You didn’t even talk about anything with him about us and now getting angry at his majesty about his jealousy. Great. You are just so great, your majesty.”

“He just saw us hugged each other, Elenda. I didn’t get it!” I said stubbornly, still couldn’t understand what Elenda meant.

She sighed again and then leaned on the table to get closer to me and looked into my eyes.

“You know… If it were 10 years ago, I would say ‘are you a moron?’ but I couldn’t now.”

I started to get angry, “What are you trying to say, Elenda?”

“What I am trying to say is, if you were honest with him then he would not get jealous like this.”

“I don’t think so,” I just smirked and finished my wine with one go.

“You are wrong. His majesty didn’t know me, didn’t know our close relationship or the affair we had in the past. But he could feel there was something. That’s why he got upset.”

My smirk was erased from my face but I still couldn’t believe it. Jiyong was so young and inexperienced; there was no way he could feel this. Right?

She looked into my eyes deeply, “You still didn’t believe it, right? But it is the truth. We can feel these kinds of things when we are in love. His Majesty is like this too; he could easily felt this. Believe it or not.”

I looked at her for a while and then I closed my face with my hands.

“This is not good,” I just only said and sighed heavily.

I really couldn’t believe it but she was… right!

“You shouldn’t hide anything from him. If he knew about us before today he wouldn’t act like this.”

“It is not easy, Elenda. He is just too young.”

“That is why you should talk with him about your past. Even if it will be hard for him to hear your past love affairs; it is good for your relationship.”

She reached to my hand and held it softly, “Let him know you better and tried to know him better. Even if he was inexperienced then let him learn yours so he could do better.”

I looked at her with my mouth hang opened. She was so right. Suddenly I understood Jiyong’s feelings and reaction better and ashamed with myself. How could I hurt him like this? My little, lovely Vanya.

I palmed my face and mentally cursed myself. I was all wrong from the beginning. It was so natural Jiyong to behave like this. He even couldn’t understand what happened.

I was just fighting with my own thoughts so I didn’t realize how much time I spent with myself. When I raised my head and I saw Elenda was watching me.

“I am sorry,” I murmured.

She smiled at me kindly, “I am not the one you should apologize.”

“No, I should apologize from you too since I put both of you two in this situation.”

She waved her hand, “Please you majesty, you really don’t need to.”

“You are really a good sister, Elenda.”

She smiled at me with shining eyes, “Thank you, brother.”

“Good evening.”

I turned my head to my back with the soft voice of my Tari. There he was; standing in the garden in front of me with a bright smile on his face. How come he could make my heart pound with excitement whenever I saw him?

I was beyond happy right now. My Tari was acting really mature. I was proud of him.

I stood up from my seat and walked near to him and then I extended my hand to him.

“Good evening, Vanya.”

He took my hand and got closer to table. Then he bowed back to Elenda who was bowing to him with respect.

“I am sorry to join you late,” he said to Elenda smiling softly.

“I am so glad that you joined us, your majesty.”

We all took our seats and started to eat. I was looking at Jiyong often to read his expression but he didn’t make any eye contact with me.

“Your visit makes us happy, Elenda. I didn’t have any chance to meet you before,” said Jiyong suddenly.

Elenda smiled at him, “I am sorry for my sudden visit but I wanted to make surprise and… in these days I really didn’t want to use eagles for communication. We have to be careful.”

“Yes, you are right. And having a commander like you by my side in these days is very important. Thank you for coming, Elenda,” I said then I looked at Jiyong for his reaction.

Because also knowing that Elenda came for help would help Jiyong to accept her. I saw him looked at Elenda and I saw his sincerity in his face.

“Thank you, Elenda. Seunghyun told me that you are great commander.”

“It is an honor to fight with you, your majesty. I will do my best.”

Slowly Jiyong raised his arm and slide his sleeve slightly and a very beautiful and bright bracelet came to our sight.

“I also would like to thank you for this gift,” said Jiyong smiling at Elenda.

I saw Elenda’s eyes were shining brightly with happiness.

“You got my gift your majesty! I am sorry it is a late wedding gift…”

“I love it, thank you,” said Jiyong kindly.

I couldn’t help myself but gently I took Jiyong’s thin wrist into my palm and looked at the bracelet that was fitting perfectly on his beautiful wrist. Then I put a light kiss on his wrist. But Jiyong shyly took his hand away from me. I saw him blush and bent his head down. On the other hand Elenda was smiling at us.

After that suddenly everyone got relaxed. Then Elenda started to talk about our childhood and she didn’t show mercy and told all of my embarrassed childhood memories to Jiyong.

On the other hand Jiyong was laughing like a little child while Elenda was talking. It was so amazing to see him relaxed like this and his laughing voice was just like a great song to my ears.

After we said our good night wishes to Elenda, we decided to walk around in the garden. I took Jiyong’s hand into mine and we started to walk slowly without talking. I could feel he was really tense so I decided not to talk for a while and give time to him.

We walked near the lake and then we sat down at the shore. My hands went to his soft hair and I put some of his locks behind his ear. Then I gently pressed my lips on his forehead.

“I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, Vanya.”

He raised his head and looked at me with shinning eyes. He opened his mouth but nothing came. Suddenly he buried his head on my chest.

“I love you so much,” he murmured into my chest.

I put my hand on his head and whispered into his ear, “I can’t understand?”

He raised his head up and looked at me with his now messy hair, “I love you so much so… this was why I acted like that. I am sorry.”

I hugged him tightly, “I love you so much too, my darling. So much. I hate to see you get hurt. Please forgive me.”

I felt his hand on my nape; caressing my skin softly.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“Yes, I need to. I also owe you an explanation about Elenda.”

He slowly raised his head and looked at me curiously.

“I would like to know about you and Elenda. You really seemed… close. So close. I would like to know you like her.”

I looked at his pale face under the moonlight and I saw a sad expression. My heart went for him. I his soft cheek.

“You will know me better with time, Vanya. You are my Tari. We will always be together.”

He nodded and finally smiled and snuggled closer to my chest again. I laughed and kissed the top of his head; his flower flavored scent made my head spin.

Jiyong’s POV

I put my red night dress and walked into the room but I couldn’t see him inside the room. He might be somewhere in the room I knew it but just for a while I got afraid. In these days I was always on alert when I was apart from him.

Then I finally saw him at the balcony. I walked into the balcony without making any sound and wrapped my arms around his torso from behind and put a kiss on his back.

“You just had a bath, you will catch a cold,” I whispered.

He turned around and hugged me as well, “Don’t worry.”

We just stayed like this for while. Then he leaded me to cushions and we sat down together.

He started to play my fingers and I just watched him and tried to feel intensely every little touch of him.

Then I looked up and watched his face. His beautiful face. His long eyelashes were making shadows on his cheeks. I adored his beauty, always.

“We are at the same age; me and Elenda. We grew up together here in this castle,” he started to speak suddenly.

I suddenly got stiff with the fear of hearing what would I hear next. I bent down my hair again and looked at our hands.

It was a fact that I really wanted to know about their past but I felt really uncomfortable and… afraid.

I just nodded slowly without taking my eyes away from his fingers playing with mines.

“We were like brother and sister. It should be the stay in this way but…”

I gulped down hard. But I didn’t say anything. He sighed heavily.

“I thought that I felt something more than this. You know… After spending so much time together, I just wanted more I guess.”

Then I suddenly felt his hand under my chin. He slowly raised my head gently making me look into his eyes.

“But it didn’t work. It didn’t take too much time to realize that it was not love.”

I looked into his eyes for a while and then I gathered all of my courage together and asked a question.

“How far… did you go to understand that?”

He smiled, “You want to know all of the details?”

“To be honest… I really don’t want to know but… I have to know.”

He smiled again and caressed my hair.

“I purposed to her and she accepted,” he said suddenly.

I felt like my throat all went dry. I couldn’t even open my mouth. I forced myself hard to speak.

“You… broke up because of me?” I asked but it was barely heard.

I saw a shocked expression covered his face but then he frowned. He held my face between his hands.

“You all gone pale, baby. Don’t be afraid, it was a long time ago.”

I really couldn’t see if my face was pale or not but it was a fact that I really didn’t feel well. It felt like everything around me was spinning. So I just closed my eyes for a while and let him caressed my hair for a while.

I felt him grabbed the back of my head gently with his large palm and made my put my head on his chest.

“We were only seventeen back then. Families really got happy to our decision but after we started preparations… I mean when everything got serious, we understood that was all wrong.”

I looked up at his face while I was still resting on his chest, “It is so sad,” I whispered.

“No. It was not sad actually. I am glad that we realized this before it was too late.”

Suddenly he held me from under my arms and lifted me up like a little child and looked at my face. Then he rubbed his nose to mine.

“I guess our fate was already written back then. We were meant to be together.”

I blushed hard but I smiled. Finally I got relaxed. Even it was hard to hear his past love stories, he was mine in the end.

“I feel like everything goes black when I lose your amazing smile. You are my only light.”

I grabbed his face with both of my hands and pecked him from the lips.

“I will always be your light, my Aran.”

“Then you have to always smile for me,” he said smirking.

I smiled widely, “Whatever you asked for, your majesty.”

He caressed my check, “My beautiful Vanya.”

Then he took me into his arms and started to kiss me slowly. We tasted each other from our lips and enjoyed our time.

“What about the others?” I suddenly asked after our kiss.

He frowned, “What others?”

“The other girls, after Elanda. Did you fall in love?”

He looked at me arching one of his thick eyebrows.

“No, I didn’t fall in love,” he said coldly.

But I didn’t want to give up, “But you had lovers, right?”

“Yes. But Jiyong, are you sure to make this conversation?” he asked seriously.

I nodded and asked another question, “How many?”

“I don’t know the number.”

I knew he didn’t like these questions but I just really liked teasing him right now. So I continued.

“Boys or girls?”

He leaned closer to my face and we came nose to nose, “Both.”

I didn’t step back, “Who do you like the most?”

He smirked, “Boys. Pretty boys like you.”

“Boys? You want more than one?” I asked smirking back.

He held my face between his palms, “No. you are the one and only for me, Vanya.”

I smiled widely and leaned to him for another kiss. Then we lay down together on cushions.

“So… my pretty little queen. How about you?” he suddenly asked.

“How could you ask this?” I said getting a little angry.

He knew that I was a . I was pure before him; he was the only one to touch me and take me.

He laughed loudly, “I knew you are untouched baby, I was just making jokes.”

I pouted, “If I wanted I would get a girl or a boy friend, you know.”

He laughed more.

“No, you wouldn’t! Baby you were a prince, a pure blood demon prince. You are not allowed to be together with random people.”

“Who would prevent me? Hmm?” I asked.

“It is not even in your nature. Remember how hard it was even for us.”

“You are talking like I was just waiting for you to get me!”

“Yes, it was just like that,” he said smirking.

I turned my back to him, “I hate it when you are arrogant like this.”

I felt him exposed my shoulder and then kissed it.

“But I love it when you got angry.”

I didn’t see his face but I could feel his dirty smile. So I just covered my shoulder.

“I like it when you are stubborn, too,” he continued.

I couldn’t help but giggled. He heard me. Then he gently brushed away the hair on my nape and then kissed it. I whimpered.

“Really. You never… ever had feelings for anyone, Jiyong?” he suddenly asked.

“No,” I said quickly, “I guess I was just waiting for you, my Aran,” I said and turned to face him.

He smiled gently and looked into my eyes with love, “I love you Vanya.”

I caressed his cheek, “I love you too.”

He sighed, “I feel sorry… I always feel sorry that you had to experience lots of things together.”

I smiled at him, “I had to admit that it was hard but… If they gave me a chance to turn back in time, I would choose to marry you again even if I knew that it would be hard.”

“I promise… Everything will be alright soon and… I will always protect you, Vanya.”

“I know, I will always protect you, too.”

I snuggled closer to his chest again and inhaled his amazing manly scent.

“You did your best from the beginning. You are a great Aran and a husband.”

He hugged me tightly and put a kiss on my head.

“You are too precious Jiyong, too precious that I sometimes afraid to touch you but… I broke you many times.”

I just put my finger on his lips and silenced him.

“You are too precious too, my Aran. Never blame yourself, please.”

I hugged him tightly and then I let the sleep take over me between his safe and strong arms.

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Thank you so much to taebait923 for the beta ^_^

Sorry for the late update :( I hope you like it!