Cinderella's Masquerade | Huang Renjun

epilogue

ONE YEAR LATER...

Captivating. Almost, encapsulating.

A dangerous force that his eyes could not stray away from.

She was beautiful. But this time, it was all in his head.

He stared at the packed ballroom floor, his eyes falling upon the heels that clinked against the ground with grace. The corner of his lips never lifted up, his face so empty that others would have thought he was dead if it weren't for the mask covering his pale complexity. It has been a while since a ball like this has been held, a masquerade where hundreds of thousands of people come to meet the love of their life.

Though, this masquerade was like the waltz he saw so many times in his dreams. He pictured her hands touching his shoulder, his around her waist as her smile brightened the tense atmosphere. She would do each step with elegance, but tumble a bit when it got to the difficult bits. Then she'd laugh it off, hold his arm and her laugh with be music fo his ears.

He sighed heavily, no tears to he formed simply because he had none left. They were all used on the day he became king and she disappeared. He chose to protect this kingdom but failed protect her. He hated himself for having to choose one or the other because loving a kingdom meant he could not love her to the fullest. Royalty couldn't be betrayed, so he betrayed her.

Slowly, he rose his eyes, in his vision a familiar silhouette was holding a wine glass next to the table furthest away from him. Renjun straightened his back, squinting at the figure. Realisation hit him. That suit...that posture...that stance. The one person who would know where Hannuri was.

Renjun bolted towards him, grabbing the figure by the shoulder and spinning him around. He ignored the gasps around him as people covered their mouths and pointed to Renjun as if the King has gone mad.

"Renjun" It was Jaemin, and his face was clean and just like it was before. There was a hint of exhaustion behind his irises but Renjun couldn't care about these things currently.

"How is she?" That question had been bottled up for months, only to spill out in a mess of a sentence in front of the man he used to hate.

Jaemin shrugged off Renjun's hand, placing his wine class down "Can we talk in private?"

"Please just answer me" Renjun spat desperately, in which he was quickly dragged away by Jaemin to avoid causing even more commotion.

When they arrived as a desolated room. Renjun grabbed his shoulders again, his eyes full of worry and concern.

"Is she OK?"

"Renjun calm down" Jaemin again, took the Kings hands off him "She's OK"

It was a relief to hear that but it didn't erase how much he missed her "Thank god...where is she now?"

"With me"

There was a thud in Renjun's heart.

Jaemin chuckled "Not in that way"

Renjun couldn't believe what his heart was doing. It wasn't meant to fall when Jaemin said he was with Hannuri, and it wasn't meant to feel relieved when he said that it wasn't what he thought.

"Oh" That was the only thing Renjun could force out.

"She's been healing for several months and she just got out of hospital. We've received the money you've sent every month to cover her fees but..."

"She hates me doesn't she"

Jaemin remained silent.

"Hate is a strong word" A voice, so so familiar echoed in the room, the voice of someone so captivating and so sweet. A voice of someone that used to be his.

Renjun's eyes widened, watching as a figure dressed in a familiar light blue gown and white mask walked towards him, the clicks of her heels like the tick of a bomb in his head. Renjun took of his mask in utter disbelief, his hands falling to his side as the brown eyes he had loved so dearly was now right in front of him.

"Hannuri" Renjun's mind was racing, his hand sub consciously reaching for hers. She pulled away, leaving a small rip in his heart.

"Renjun" She responded. The feeling of hearing his name from her tongue again was like birds singing at dawn. He was feeling so many emotions at once that he couldn't even speak.

Slowly, she took off her mask, revealing her skin, wrinkled and scarred, like a skin coloured rose almost. She still looked beautiful as ever despite the burns inking permanent marks upon her skin.

"Hannuri you..." The words died on his lips, in which she chuckled.

"I wanted to see you before I..." She looked down, unable to make eye contact. Before she could continue her sentence, he couldn't hold his desperation and grabbed her arm, pulling her into his tight embrace. His hand was on her head, stroking the velvet strands as he dug his face in her neck. At the feeling of her hand on his back, he broke down. Tears streamed from his face as his chest began trembling with despair but relief.

Her skin felt so warm against his, her body slotting in perfectly, just like before. He never knew how much he missed her touch till he lost it. Her slow and gentle pats on his back made him all that much regretful of what he chose to do in the end, yet with every pat he felt as though she was forgiving him. In that situation, there simply were no choices to be made.

"I'm so sorry" He cried "I'm sorry for what I did"

"Renjun" She spoke, her voice loud and clear in his ear. Upon hearing his name again, he almost broke out into a smile. Shaking his head, he told her without words that he just wanted to stay this way, to never part again.

"I'm leaving"

Two words that absolutely shattered him. He pulled away, still with one hand on the back of her head.

"What?"

"I'm going to somewhere far away" Hannuri said "I can't deal with the pressure of this town. Everytime I hear or see anything related to fire I just want to have a mental breakdown"

"Hannuri..."

"Ive seen a doctor. He said I should move somewhere to start new and forget the bad things that happened here. He said that becoming someone new starts with the environment"

Renjun understood every word yet none of it was going to his head

"I know it wasn't your fault that this turned out this way" Hannuri placed a hand on his cheek "But you know staying together will only hurt both of us"

It was true. Everytime they stayed together, there were put into a constant turmoil, fighting for their love. They fought and they endured. It was time to end the war.

"I love you Renjun" She confessed "But sometimes, love hurts. I don't want to hurt anymore."

Renjun's hand dropped. There was no way around this and he knew that. He nodded, pulling a smile as he responded "I'm sorry, that I hurt you"

"It's OK" Hannuri took a step away "We hurt each other, but we also loved each other. Thank you for cherishing me"

"And thank you, for loving me"

Captivating. Almost, encapsulating. Even the view of her back was beautiful.

In this fairytale of a story, she will always be his Cinderella.

OK I GET YELLED AT EVERYTIME I MAKE A DEPRESSING ENDING SO LET ME EXPLAIN

basically hannuri chose to leave because i mean that kingdom was traumatic to her like she almost got shot dead, burnt alive and bullied by the King here like it makes sense. renjun, because he is the King now, can't just ditch his role and leave with hannuri. they've both decided that it's best if they leave on a good note and accept a future without each other to avoid more pain.

:)