Red String (Series #1) \\ Ateez ✔

xviii. first step to her rage

JANGMI

"What?!"

My mouth opened and eyes wide in disbelief as I registered the words my maid told me.

"Take it easy, you shouldn't move yourself too much." Hongjoong promptly made me go lay in the mattress again when my body shot up in shock.

I began to ignore my brother and faced the girl before me. "What did you say again?" Clearing my throat, my eyes gazed at Doyeon with a look that screamed; please tell me you're lying, please tell me I heard that wrong.

"The royals approved the objection to make you stay in a courtyard anymore, therefore My Lady. You are to sleep and be in the same chamber as the Second Prince starting from now on."

Same chamber?

With the Second Prince?

I sighed in defeat. Oh, my ears are indeed not hearing it wrong.

"Is it that necessary?" Was my calm retort. "I don't mind sleeping in the same room as Chaehwa, Hongjoong or in any spare room. I don't want to trouble His Majesty."

"My Lady..." Nurse Seo reassuringly trailed off. "Because of your burned courtyard, you will no longer be staying in the same enclosure, neither into anyone. This servant was informed that you are to stay in the Second Prince's bedroom for eight months, which is the calculated time before a new room is fully rebuilt within the palace walls and with strong protection. We apologize for the commotion, but we have to keep you protected."

The assassination occurred earlier, the destruction was being cleaned after and the case was being investigated. Fatigue seeped in me as I sat here in Yeosang's room with Hongjoong and Chaehwa alongside me. But with this new information, I don't even think I could even find peace.

"It that order can no longer be changed? Jangmi would be fine if she stayed with me." Chaehwa chimed in, she must've felt my uneasiness.

"The assassins found Lady Jangmi's courtyard. I'm afraid staying in her companions' courtyard can increase the likelihood of assassins finding her and causing affliction. Under the Second Prince's protection, Lady Jangmi will be safe and protected." She replied and my shoulders slumped in defeat. I was not even given a choice before this was settled on.

The thought of being in the same room with the Prince throughout my stay in the palace was already making me anxious. I can barely handle his temper meeting him once in a while, let alone being in the same bed as him every night too?

He's a man I barely knew and a man tenfold stronger than me. Who would know if he suddenly decided to bury me in the palace garden once he got sick of me?

"Has the investigation already figured out the culprit?" Yeosang calmly added as he shifted towards Hongjoong who was dabbing my arms with a damp cloth, the General merely sighed. "No, none yet"

"What do you mean none yet?" My brows scrunched in confusion. "The palace is full of skilled investigators and intelligent troops, that's impossible."

"I know," Hongjoong retorts with a defeated look. "But the masterming was sly enough not to make us unravel and discover who he is, and no one under him to question because all of them did not survive. But don't get too tense, we'll figure out the cause in no time."

Who would commit and plan such a heinous scheme on me? Let alone almost killed and made the palace troops peril their lives just to protect me. Anger prickled within me, this is something I cannot slip away, but what can I do when I don't even know who is the mastermind?

The entire afternoon went by, we mostly spent it with conversations and as soon as dusk fell I trudged through the large corridors and gazed at the scenery outside the window.