At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

Chapter 42

If the Crown Prince had previously been the kind of person who knew how to give up a little bit of what he had for Jiwoo’s sake, then she would have gladly gone into the gutter with a smile on her face.

He might have thought that she was happy to exhaust her body, devote herself to him, and eat only a piece of his love. He probably didn’t even know that she was dying while barely alive. Even so, he wouldn’t even look this way.

“Uhk. Huff… Uh…”

Then she would go back to the temple, cut herself with a knife to treat the sick, feed others with her blood, and barely hold on to the desperate madmen trying to stab her. She would walk alone for days and days on a barren land where there was nothing and spilled blood along the way.

Was the position of Crown Princess worth it?

When did she ever say she wanted something like that?

Was he offering the position of Crown Princess because he wanted her to do that again?

Someone who loves her?

Love?

What is love?

“Uh, hicc…”

“Seo Jiwoo, the temple bastards are not here. There’s no one.”

Tevon’s large hand stroked her back.

“Breathe. You have to breathe… Okay, Seo Jiwoo? Slowly…”

Tears came out. Tears came out, but not because she was sad.

Five years was not a short time. Seo Jiwoo, who only knew how to live as an Akarna, had forgotten how to live as a human being. She couldn’t even breathe properly on her own. She didn’t know how to laugh as a human or how to cry as a human.

Am I human? Am I a person? Are they treating me like a person?

“Seo Jiwoo.”

Tevon shook her shoulder. Her mind was spinning. She only got even more dizzy.

“I’ll decide for you. You’re crying because you’re annoyed.”

“……”

“It’s as if he gave up his c*ck for you as he would with alms, yet acts as if he had given up on something so great.”

“What…”

“Isn’t it like that? He wants you to be his slave for at least five years, yet he should be grateful if he could even just get the position of a number 30-something concubine.”

Tevon managed to catch his breath as he tried to speak again.

“But even that’s not enough. Understand? I told you. You should negotiate because you have the upper hand. That’s what you’re disappointed with, right?”

Tevon wiped her tears and pressed their foreheads together. Not a single word Tevon said entered her head, but the constant, comforting stroking on her back and the rough but kind words calmed her little by little.

“Okay? You have to heed my words carefully.”

“Yes…”

“And we have no intention of giving you up either. Understand?”

“Yes…”

“This is becoming such a mess.”

After Jiwoo finally regained her breath and closed her eyes, Tevon decided that he had to return to the village ahead of schedule. Although he relaxed in front of him, the Crown Prince was no ordinary human.