Chapter 63. There’s no more room for you (1)

Was there a moment when she had walked so fast? So-hee moved her legs so quickly that she thought so. She was on high alert but this was the best she could do because she was afraid that the person following her would notice. It had been a long time since people’s hands went off the clean path. It wasn’t even possible to guess where she was, thanks to her reckless steps relying on the small light in her lamp. Nevertheless, someone was chasing her at regular intervals. So-hee, who became more urgent, finally resorted to running. The person following her from behind seemed to be talking to her but their words couldn’t reach So-hee’s ears, who was out of her mind. Soon after, So-hee’s two legs——-which were moving frantically——stopped once her toes touched the largely tangled tree roots stretched out in front of her and fell. Her knees hurt. Everything seemed to hurt so badly. She heard the crunch of branches being stepped on right behind her. It must have been the persistent stalker! So-hee had no intention of being captured so she crawled on the ground while lying on her stomach. Then a short, thick sigh came from behind.

“Ariad, there’s——-!”

Her vision spun. So-hee’s hand accidentally released her lamp due to the sudden feeling of her body rising in the air. As the small light was drawn into the darkness, her chaser started hugging her. In his sturdy body, So-hee suddenly fell into an unknown hole. A loud bang rang out in the woods but Sohee didn’t feel any pain thanks to the person who was holding her body tightly. When her mind became fully aware of her surroundings, So-hee noticed something she hadn’t realized until then. The body close to her had a familiar build and scent. Soon, the lamp that had fallen to the ground finally revealed his face.

“Joshua?”

Why was this man here? Joshua’s beautiful features were crumpled by the fall’s impact. When he made eye contact with So-hee, he immediately erased the pained look on his face and kept it blank.

“Why? W—Why are you here?” So-hee couldn’t speak properly and stammered. It surprised her that Joshua was actually the one whom she had desperately tried to run away from when she sensed someone following her. Nevertheless, their strange position made her heart flutter more. Her whole body was perfectly wrapped in Joshua’s arms. Unable to overcome the persistent silence in this state, So-hee began. “Hello, Your Majesty.”

The greeting she had blurted out was ridiculous, indeed. After that, the atmosphere was so cold that it would have been better if she just kept her mouth shut. Whatever the reason, it was the first word she had said as his ex-wife, who ran away with another man, as soon as she appeared in his sight. It was natural for his gaze to fall cooler than ever. After quite a long silence, Joshua rose from his seat with So-hee in his arms she got embarrassed by the sudden action for a moment. It turned out that the tall man only wanted to settle her down. No. The expression that he threw at her as it seemed to fit a little more. It was pretty radical reply on behalf of his emotions.

“Ohmygod.”

Without any warning, So-hee fell on her back on the stone floor her dress had rolled up when she grabbed on her stinging butt, and the wound on her knee, when she tripped over a thick tree root, was revealed. She felt a great deal of confusion back and forth. As tears welled up from the pain, So-hee rubbed her eyes and lowered the hem of the dress. She noticed Joshua looking down at her and So-hee raised her face to glance up at him.

“Thank you. I almost fell and died.”

She was very thankful that he had thrown himself to save her in the end. However, the words following So-hee’s ‘thank-you’ speech sounded very harsh, contrary to expectations.

“I know. I should have just let you die like that.”

Joshua, who said so, swept his bangs away. She could feel his intense blue-eyed stare over that messy hair. Chagrined by the thorny words, Sohee coughed automatically. His glower and tone reminded her of what she saw when Joshua hated Ariad in the beginning. It wasn’t like she didn’t expect this coolness, but it was a completely different feeling to face it with her own eyes from what she only imagined. So-hee tried to hide her embarrassment and swallowed her saliva to moisten her dry throat.

“By the way, Joshua, what brings you here———”

“Why did you come here?”

Indeed, it wasn’t surprising that the crown prince, the owner of the palace, was in the forest since this was his private property. More than that, the fact that Ariad, who couldn’t fool anyone any longer, was hiding here would seem stranger, of course. So-hee, who couldn’t honestly say that she came here to find Mary, her only source of information, chose to just shut her mouth. Only the sound of crickets came into the deep pit where they were. It was Joshua who opened the door a long time later.