Futile Love

Chapter 69: Chapter 69

At the time Ruhae had been in a dangerous situation, but the misfortune turned into a blessing because Kyosul confessed her love to him out of her extreme concern for him.

Though they confirmed their love, they couldn’t let others know it. Accordingly, Ruhae couldn’t tell Bipaan about the nature of their relationship frankly.

“Yes, because the Crown Princess is kind to me.”

“Oh, she is kind to you? Don’t misunderstand her kindness as she is kind to everybody.”

“You’re so mean,” Ruhae responded. He didn’t want to retreat meekly.

Straining his eyes, Ruhae looked at him and said, “You used to leave her cold until now. How come you’re trying to stop her friendship with me?”

“Well, I just want to make the distinction between right and wrong relationships.”

“Don’t you think it’s too late?”

He asked the pointed question to Bipaan.

Too late. It was too late for Bipaan to come close to Kyosul.

It was a secret warning to Bipaan that only Ruhae and Kyosul could sense.

But Bipaan didn’t budge a bit and stared at Ruhae. He wasn’t agitated at all.

Anyway, Bipaan had one decisive weapon that could end all this war of nerves with Ruhae.

“She is my official wife.”

This short statement of his ended all the agitation in the room. The heated atmosphere in the room quickly cooled down. As someone who put priority on the efficiency in everything, his sharp reminder came too late.

“What I mean is that she and I have this official relationship as husband and wife. It’s not a matter of ‘late’ or not as you just mentioned.”

She was the official wife of the Crown Prince.

This was something that Ruhae could not get rid of under any circumstances. The bondage of status that Ruhae completely forgot was revived sharply. It looked as if there was a long and tough distance as well as a high wall suddenly created between Ruhae and Kyosul.

As if he held a grudge, Ruhae bit his inner lips gently, but he couldn’t retreat meekly.

“If you regard the Crown Princess as your official wife, I hope you can maintain your basic manners towards her. Don’t you think you have to set the example as a member of the royal family, Your Majesty Crown Prince?”

Ruhae emphatically stressed Bipaan’s title on purpose.

While staring at each other sternly for a while, both turned their heads at the same time. They also walked at the same time, but in the opposite direction. Ruhae walked to the door, while Bipaan walked to her mattress.

Approaching her, Bipaan briefly looked into her eyes. She was pretty tense. Grasping the blanket and hunching her shoulders, she looked up at him with miserable eyes.

“Hehet….”

It looked like she was going to cough again. She strained her neck to stop it, but she couldn’t help it. She buried her face with both hands and tried to hold back coughing in vain.

“Kkuuup!”

She wished she had coughed a moment ago. While she tried to hold it, she made a strange noise from her throat. Her neck hurt and she couldn’t hear anything. With an embarrassed and blushed face she looked up at him slightly with embarrassment.

Oops! Bipaan already noticed it.

He looked like he wouldn’t bat an eye at all even if she made a mistake or had an accident in front of him. Just as expected, he was staring at her with a cold expression without any nervousness or agitation.

“Ah… I have a cold, so I cough so often, but I can’t control it.”

She made a plausible excuse, but she wasn’t sure if he ever paid any attention to it. As expected, Bipaan didn’t show any reaction to her statement. He just ignored it as if nothing had happened. Then he extended his hands and abruptly removed the blankets covering her.

Dressed in thin nightgown, she quickly curled up her body because of the cold. Her white feet stuck out of her skirt and wiggled.

“Stand up!”

He ordered stiffly. So embarrassed, she was at a loss what to do. It was Ruhae who reacted quickly to Bipaan’s behavior.

He was about to leave when he saw Bipaan’s actions and turned back. Coming up to her quickly, he grabbed Bipaan’s wrist as he tried to pull her arm.

Ruhae asked him aggressively, “What the heck are you doing now?”

Examining Ruhae’s hand that held his wrist as well as Ruhae’s face staring at him angrily, Bipaan answered slowly, as if Ruhae’s act was ridiculous, “Did you ask what the heck I am doing? I don’t think you can intervene in whatever I do with her as her husband. And she is my wife.”

Her husband, my wife.

The words that came out of his dry lips were so heartless. Bipaan knew very well how to wound Ruhae’s pride and hurt his feelings. Clearly aware of that pain, Ruhae tightened his grip and said, “The Crown Princess is sick!”

Waving his hand violently, Bipaan shook off his arm. Despite Ruhae’s objection, he grabbed her forearm again and pulled it to his side roughly. She had no other choice but to move until her face grew close to Bipaan’s. She quickly closed her eyes in embarrassment. She felt something warm touching her forehead.

As it turned out, Bipaan touched his forehead to hers. She suddenly developed fever. She was not sure if her fever was caused by cold or her shyness.

Though Ruhae was embarrassed by his sudden act, Bipaan was calm and composed. With his forehead touching hers, he uttered heartless words in a calm and low voice.

“Your fever is not high enough. I don’t think you need to lie in bed as your fever is not that serious.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t think you are so weak with cold that you can’t move at all.”

She found it hard to understand what he just said, but Bipaan pulled her off the mattress right away. As he pulled her so violently, she staggered and clung to his strong arm to maintain balance.

As he couldn’t stand Bipaan’s rough behavior, Ruhae shouted at him, “Your Majesty!”

Ruhae approached her and tried to help her, but Bipaan extended his left hand to stop him. As he was blocked, Ruhae stared at him. Meeting his gaze, Bipaan didn’t show any anger at all. As he used to, he glanced at Ruhae with cold and sharp eyes.

Ruhae and Bipaan confronted each other for the second time.

At that moment Kyosul, who could hardly move because of Bipaan’s grip, bit her lip and shook off his hands with all her strength. As Bipaan was paying attention to Ruhae at the moment, he couldn’t tighten his grip on her at the moment. In fact, he didn’t expect from the beginning that she would shake off his hands like that.

Stunned by her sudden act, Ruhae and Bipaan stopped staring at each other and turned their gazes to her. She had a determined expression on her face.

She said boldy, “Why has Your Highness came to my place unexpectedly? If you want to act like this, please visit Prince Kyoyoung, not me. Unlike me, she is earnestly waiting for you.”

In other words, what Kyosul just said implied that she was not waiting for Bipaan or welcomed him. She had to call forth great courage to make that statement to Bipaan. Bipaan was a dreadful and big presence to her. After barely uttering those words, she couldn’t even look at Bipaan.

Silence fell over the room.

Fixing his eyes at her for a moment, Bipaan pushed her against the wall hard. She couldn’t even moan in pain before he grabbed her by the collar. Pulling her face closer to his, he touched her eyes.

His blue and bottomless eyes were right in front of her now. She couldn’t move at all, let alone turn her head or even her gaze.

She felt as if she were tortured by his terrifying gaze, but she had no other choice but to face it.

He moved his long fingers down her jawline slowly. As usual, his fingertips were warm. Touching her chin with his warm fingertips, he whispered into her ear in a cold voice, “It looks like you are holding your head high not knowing which is right for you because I have let you have your way for a while.”

As he was so close to her eyes, she couldn’t see his expressionless face. What she could see was his deep eyes.

“You are not in a position to interfere when and where I go, and it is you, not my second wife, who has to stay beside me. You seemed to be confused about it. You should remember that the reason I am here is not because I have missed you.”

After having said that in a low voice that only she could hear, he moved back a couple of steps.

When he stepped back, Ruhae wished he could quickly approach her and comfort her, but he didn’t, given Bipaan’s presence in the room. So, he just stood next to her, only giving her eye signals with a worried expression.