Ren didn’t say a word to , and I didn’t dare to start a conversation with him. That ant that the whole ride back to the palace past by in silence. I couldn’t understand why Ren was so angry all of a sudden and I wasn’t sure if I had the courage to find out.
What I knew for sure was that I would find out when we got back to the palace...
It was completely dark by the ti we arrived back at the palace. Without saying a word to , Ren took to his palace. To my surprise, a worried-looking Shin was waiting for us when we arrived back. It seed as if he had been waiting for us there for a while.
“You’re back later than I thought. I heard there was so trouble at the festival...” Shin said, clearly worried.
The news regarding the incident with the horse must have reached the palace. It wasn’t surprising, considering that the festival was a big one and so many people attended. I figured that Ren must have told Shin that we would be going.
Ren was silent and didn’t answer Shin’s question. Although, I wanted to give Shin a reply, I decided to stay silent as well. It seed like Ren wasn’t in a good mood and Shin was starting to catch up on that as well.
“Did sothing happen?” Shin asked softly.
His eyes darted from Ren to and then back to Ren again. I looked down, not willing to et Shin’s questioning eyes. The silence was making the whole situation more awkward than it has to be. Shin waited patiently for Ren to explain.
“Nothing happened. I’m tired,” Ren said as his hand tightened around my wrist.
“...I’ll co to see you tomorrow then,” Shin said in resignation.
Without another word, Ren pulled behind him along the hallway in the direction of his bedroom. I glanced back at Shin, and I could see the worried expression on his face. It was clear to that Shin knew that sothing had taken place.
...
“Where were you?” Ren demanded to know the mont we entered his bedroom, and he had closed the door behind us.
Now that I could see his face clearly in the light, I was certain that Ren was furious. I understood that he was worried, but things turned out fine. We managed to find each other, and we returned back safely so I couldn’t quite understand what was making him so mad.
“I got swept away by the crowd and then I got lost...” I replied honestly. It wasn’t like I knew where I was since I wasn’t used to the layout of the town.
“You got lost? Then, what happened?” Ren asked again for more details, his brows furrowed.
“Why are you so angry? I made it back, didn’t I?” I asked in confusion.
“It took you hours to co back. During that ti where were you and what were you doing?” Ren asked again, his voice domineering.
“I...I don’t know. I just got lost...” I replied in a small voice.
I lowered my eyes when I realized that I couldn’t tell Ren the whole truth. No matter what, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that for a while when I was lost in that alley, I had thought of running away and leaving him and the capital city. That it crossed my mind that I could sell my jewelry to fund my trip back ho to my hotown. Although it was only for a mont and although it was only thoughts without any action, I had betrayed Ren.
“I looked everywhere for you. I couldn’t find you anywhere along the main road. Where were you? What were you doing, Rin?” Ren asked again.
When I looked up at his face, it broke my heart to see how worried and hurt he looked. I was scared when I was lost, and it didn’t occur to that Ren was probably as scared as I was for losing . He probably looked everywhere for just like he had just said. During that ti, I was just hiding and thinking of how to escape. What on earth was I thinking?
“I told you. I got lost...and I couldn’t find my way back...to the main road...” I replied, although it was true, it didn’t sound convincing at all.
“Look at , Rin. It’s not polite to look down when I’m talking directly to you,” Ren said, his voice now cold.
“I...” I mumbled.
“Look in the eyes, Rin. What were you doing while you were gone?” Ren asked as he held my chin in between his fingertips and forced my face up to look at him.
“I was...” I began saying softly but then trailed off. I can’t tell him, and I can’t lie to him either.
“Why didn’t you ask people to tell you the way back to the town square? Did you do that?” Ren asked, accusingly.
Thinking that I couldn’t speak without my voice shaking, I just shook my head slowly in response. I knew that Ren was very worried and maybe because of that he was angry at . However, how he was scolding with these interrogating questions seed like going too far.
“When you disappeared and I couldn’t find you, I thought that there were only two explanations. One was that you were injured, and you couldn’t make it back. The second, was that you didn’t want to co back...” Ren said, and I could hear so hurt in his voice.
“What are you saying? I was just...lost...” I replied in a whisper.
“Is that truly all there is to it?” Ren asked, clearly unconvinced.
“I wasn’t trying to escape. I told you, I was lost, and I was trying to find you...but there were just so many people...” I said as I tried to explain.
I couldn’t understand why he didn’t trust . Why he didn’t believe ? Did he honestly think that I was going to run?
Certainly, I thought of running and I had the perfect opportunity to do it but, in the end, I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t leave Ren. I bit my lower lip as I felt tear stinging the back of my eyes.
--To be continued...
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