Chapter 28
When he thought that they were far enough away from the garden, Prince JiangSu abruptly let go of Eun Jung’s hand and asked gruffly, “Why didn’t you ask me if I was okay with you inviting Prince Hyo over for dinner?” Although, Eun Jung’s first inclination was to remind Prince JiangSu that he had invited General Seok to dinner without first asking her; she decided against doing so upon registering the terse tenor of his voice. Since she didn’t want Prince JiangSu to remain angry with her, Eun Jung tried to appease him by replying, “I’m sorry for doing that. Next time, I’ll ask you before I invite Prince Hyo over for dinner.” Staring at her in disbelief, Prince JiangSu tilted his head to the side and asked incredulously, “Next time?!” Upon realizing that her response had further agitated Prince JiangSu, Eun Jung thought that it would be best for her to remain silent.
Prince JiangSu noticed that Eun Jung was at a complete loss for words, and took the opportunity to remark coldly, “Since you seem to love spending time with Prince Hyo, I think that you should go have dinner at his residence instead.” Just as soon as the words had escaped his mouth, Prince JiangSu instantly began to regret having said them. Thinking that Prince JiangSu’s assertion was completely unfounded, Eun Jung proceeded to ask him bluntly, “When did I ever say that I enjoyed spending time with Prince Hyo?!” Displeased with the confrontational tone of Eun Jung’s voice, Prince JiangSu replied curtly, “Obviously, your actions speak louder than your words.” In a fit of anger, Eun Jung declared loudly, “If that’s what you really think, then I guess I should go ask Prince Hyo if he’ll have me over sometime!” Prince JiangSu was utterly stunned by Eun Jung’s audacious declaration, and furrowed his brows before replying in an equally heated tone, “Go ahead and do that. See if I care!”
Eun Jung felt that she was becoming fatigued by Prince JiangSu’s unreasonable behavior, and turned away from him to head back to the Jaseondang on her own. As Prince JiangSu watched Eun Jung disappear into the distance, he desperately wanted to call out to her, but found that his pride would not allow him to do so in the presence of their maids and attendants. As he feigned indifference, Prince JiangSu contemplated silently, “Why do I always have to say sorry first? Even if I was a little bit out of line, I refuse to apologize to her. She’s definitely going to be disappointed if she expects me to come home groveling for her forgiveness.” Determined to stand his ground, Prince JiangSu resolutely exclaimed, “I’ll show her that I’m perfectly fine without her around.” Having made up his mind on the matter, Prince JiangSu continued to leisurely make his way home. When he arrived at the main courtyard of the Jaseondang, Prince JiangSu instructed the servants to begin preparations for the pre-planned dinner party.
After the maids and attendants took their leave of him, Prince JiangSu proceeded to quicken his pace through the courtyard. When he caught sight of the main entrance to their bedroom, Prince JiangSu inhaled deeply, and wondered how Eun Jung would try to punish him. Bracing himself for the worst, Prince JiangSu shoved the doors open and walked into the room nonchalantly. While he made his way towards the interior section of the room, Prince JiangSu glanced around to examine if anything was in disarray. Figuring that Eun Jung had probably buried herself beneath the covers; Prince JiangSu looked over towards their bed and was surprised to see that it had been left untouched. When he realized that Eun Jung was not in the room, Prince JiangSu rushed over towards the wooden dresser near their bed and swung its’ doors wide open. As he peered inside, Prince JiangSu immediately saw that all of Eun Jung’s belongings were now missing from the dresser. Prince JiangSu was astonished by the mess that he had caused, and asked worriedly, “Is she actually thinking about running away from home?”
While Prince JiangSu tried to figure out where she could have possibly gone, Eun Jung found herself seated on an unfamiliar bed inside a slightly dim spare bedroom. As she unpacked her belongings, Eun Jung paused momentarily when she saw the jade pendant engraved with Prince JiangSu’s name. After she pulled the jade pendant from her bag, Eun Jung proceeded to gently run her fingers over the deep indentations, and thought to herself, “I probably should have waited for him to come home before packing up my belongings. I bet he’s going to become even angrier with me when he figures out that I’ve moved into this spare bedroom.” As she replayed their argument in her mind, Eun Jung recalled that she had threatened to go to Prince Hyo and asked herself aloud, “What if JiangSu thinks that I really meant what I said, and actually goes to Prince Hyo’s residence to look for me? If that stubborn hot-head tries to pick a fight with Prince Hyo, he’ll probably end up getting hurt.”
Having successfully worked herself up into a frenzied state, Eun Jung quickly shoved all of her possessions back into her bag, and rushed out of the spare bedroom. When she arrived at her intended destination, Eun Jung saw that a faint light was being emitted from within their bedroom. Although, Eun Jung was relieved to discover that Prince JiangSu was still safe at home, she simultaneously felt disheartened by the fact that he did not seem to care that she had left. While she stood motionless outside the front entrance, Eun Jung deliberated about whether she should leave immediately or try to enter the bedroom. Eun Jung finally decided to test out the waters, and proceeded to knock on the door before asking nervously, “Prince JiangSu, can I come in?” When she did not receive a response to her question, Eun Jung uttered softly, “I guess that means that I can’t.”
With a deep sigh, Eun Jung turned around to leave but was unexpectedly startled when she saw Prince JiangSu standing directly in front of her. Before Eun Jung could speak to him, Prince JiangSu snatched away her bag and pulled her into their bedroom. Upon reaching the center of the room, Prince JiangSu let go of Eun Jung’s arm, and asked, “How could you just leave without saying anything? Do you know that I’ve been running around everywhere looking for you? Don’t you even care about me at all?!” Despite being unable to hold back the tears, which had formed in her eyes, Eun Jung still managed to declare, “If I didn’t care about you, then I wouldn’t have come back!” Without giving Prince JiangSu any time to respond to her declaration, Eun Jung reached out for her bag and tried to pull it away from him. Prince JiangSu was determined not to allow Eun Jung to leave, and forcefully yanked the bag away from her hand.
Since Eun Jung had not properly tied her bag, the force of Prince JiangSu’s yank sent nearly all of her belongings onto the ground. Fearing that her jade pendant was among one of the items on the ground, Eun Jung hastily searched around the room to find it. Confused by Eun Jung’s frantic search, Prince Jiang asked, “What are you looking for?” Since she was in no mood to talk, Eun Jung simply ignored Prince JiangSu’s question and continued to rummage around for her pendant. Seeing that the item was important to her, Prince JiangSu overlooked the fact that Eun Jung was giving him the silent treatment, and said, “If you don’t tell me what you’re looking for, then I can’t help you find it.” As she stuck her arm behind a large vase to feel around for her pendant, Eun Jung replied brusquely, “I don’t need your help.” Prince JiangSu watched Eun Jung struggle to reach further behind the vase, and walked over to move it aside for her. Once the large vase had been moved out of the way, Eun Jung saw several pieces of her jade pendant lying near the corner of the room and bent down to pick them up.
After he wiped away the dust that had gotten on his hands, Prince JiangSu turned to look at Eun Jung and saw that she was slightly hunched over. Thinking that Eun Jung had found what she was looking for, Prince JiangSu peered over her shoulder to see what she was so desperate to find. When he saw the shattered pieces of jade in her hands, Prince JiangSu asked, “Is that the jade pendant that I gave you?” Looking up at Prince JiangSu, Eun Jung replied tearfully, “It used to be the pendant that you gave me, but now it’s broken.” Upon seeing the heartbroken expression on Eun Jung’s face as she spoke, Prince JiangSu could not believe that he had just accused her of not caring about him. After he gently wiped away the tears from Eun Jung’s face, Prince JiangSu took the jade pieces from her hand and tossed them onto the ground.
Before Eun Jung could ask him what he was doing, Prince JiangSu pulled her into a tight embrace and said, “You don’t need that jade pendant because the real JiangSu will always be by your side.” Even though she was moved by Prince JiangSu’s promise, Eun Jung still tried to pull away from his tight embrace, and said, “Let go, I’m in a lot of pain right now.” Although, Prince JiangSu knew that his irrational jealously had caused Eun Jung a lot of pain, he was still unwilling to let her go. Desperate to make things right between them, Prince JiangSu apologized by saying, “I’m sorry for accusing you of liking Prince Hyo. I know that you don’t like him, but I just hate the way he looks at you. Come to think of it, I really don’t like it when anyone looks at you. I’m usually not like this, but when it comes to you, I just ...”
Feeling suffocated by the force of Prince JiangSu's embrace, Eun Jung interrupted him mid-sentence by saying, “I didn’t mean that kind of pain. I just meant that you’re crushing me.” Upon realizing that he had completely misunderstood Eun Jung’s earlier statement, Prince JiangSu quickly loosened his hold on her and asked, “Are you okay?” With a slight nod of her head Eun Jung replied, “I’m okay, and you should know that I think that we’ll be okay too.” Prince JiangSu comprehended that Eun Jung had just forgiven him and wanted to lean in to kiss her, but was thwarted by the sudden announcement of the arrival of their dinner guests. Staring at Eun Jung’s gorgeous lips, Prince JiangSu asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could skip dinner and jump right to dessert?” As she broke free from Prince JiangSu’s embrace, Eun Jung replied bluntly, “I said that we’ll be okay; I never said anything about dessert.”
