***
"Oh... we had to bring her to the hospital inside the palace. Lisa had received a bullet wound…"
"Bring me to her." She interrupted him.
"Miss Park... Your wound…" he was about to tell her that she needed a doctor to check her first before going to Lisa. However, the dark look on her face instantly made him swallow his remaining words.
"I will accompany you." He immediately added before giving some more instructions to his men. He then led Chaeyoung out of the bunker and into the hallway, which led to the hospital inside the palace.
"Miss Park, if… if it's not too much for you, can you tell me about what has happened inside the bunker?"
Chaeyoung's steps did not even falter as she answered him, "I don't know. I lost my consciousness after Henry Lee revealed himself."
Secretary Jia turned silent at Chaeyoung's blatant lies. Since she refused to tell him the truth, he was not planning to question her any further.
"Miss Park… um, the recording that your drone has got... Can we um have a look at it?" He asked, silently hoping that she would agree.
"No." Chaeyoung rejected. Though she wanted to tell him how she did not want to become a Queen, Chaeyoung chose not to. It was just because she wanted everything to calm down first before she made her move.
She was sure that Gideon's death would have a big effect on the country. Moreover, it would also mean that her father would have nowhere to come back to. He could no longer be the King of the country.
Aside from that, Chaeyoung did not want to attract any more attention. The current troubles, she and her mother were in, were enough for her to make that decision. Claire's case was, after all, very unique. Someone should still be after her because of what she knew.
"Did you see the first two people who went out of the bunker?" She asked. She needed to guarantee the safety of her mother.
"Yes… CEO Manoban asked her men to take them to her mansion before she insisted on staying, even though she was very pale from the blood loss," he explained. "She also specifically told me that in case if she fainted, she wanted to stay in the hospital inside the palace"
"Lisa has fainted?" She probed, as her heartbeat started racing once again. So, the Lee Family had really dared to hurt Lisa. She had originally thought that they just wanted to scare Lisa and let Chaeyoung think that they could easily kill her if they wanted to.
"Yes. The… the doctor said she has lost a lot of blood and the wound on her shoulder was also deep." He answered while trying to carefully choose his words. Chaeyoung's murderous aura was undeniable. He would be lying if he said that her thirst for blood was not making him tremble. It was something that Secretary Jia was very familiar with.
Sometimes, the King was displaying the kind of bloodlust that was quite similar to Chaeyoung's at the moment. The more he looked at Chaeyoung, the more he noticed her attitude similarities with the King. Too bad that the father and daughter did not spend a lot of time with each other. What happened to Gideon was something unexpected, this should have a very deep effect on Chaeyoung.
In Secretary Jia's eyes, Chaeyoung was very pitiful, after all, she had already lost her mother at a very young age, now, she even lost her father whom she just met. Moreover, her fiancée was also wounded.
Poor child.
Of course, Secretary Jia did not have any idea that the person he was comparing Chaeyoung with was not Gideon but the real Mason.
He could only watch as Chaeyoung's face seemed to deadpan after he told her about Lisa's condition. 'She must be really hurt inside,' he thought.
"Here we are. There are a total of five VIP rooms in the palace's hospital. Please proceed to the first room towards the left. That is CEO Manoban's room." He said.
Chaeyoung only nodded at his words, her face still blank and expressionless. Secretary Jia couldn't help but wonder how would Chaeyoung handle the situation at hand. Was she aware of the identity of the person who had attacked Lisa? If she was… then what would she do?
"Miss Park… I will leave you for now. I have many things to attend to. I just received a report that the terrorists, you have mentioned before, have also attacked the Zhou Mansion not too long ago." He said as his face turned gloomy. He was sure that the attack came from the sky. In fact, a lot of citizens had also seen it.
If his guess was right, it should be an attack from space. However, he was not aware of any space weapons that Luxembourg owned up there. So, who would dare to attack the Zhou Family just like that?
He looked at Chaeyoung, waiting for her to say something. He had his suspicions but he would rather keep them and save himself from the wrath of the people involved in that massacre.
"Thank you." He heard Chaeyoung say before she opened the door of the VIP room and went inside, without sparing him another glance on him.
'Lisa Manoban's attack and her father's death must be the reason she is so gloomy,' he thought before walking out of the infirmary.
He still had a lot of things to do and lots of things to take care of.
Without the King and the Prime Minister, their country would be akin to a headless chicken. If they didn't handle everything appropriately, a civil war could occur at any moment. He needed to ask for Chaeyoung's advice about those matters tomorrow. But for now… he needed to deal with the aftermath of the terrorist attack.
Secretary Jia let out another long sigh before making his way out of the palace.
It seemed that big changes were coming to Luxembourg soon.
....
The strong scent of disinfectants assaulted Chaeyoung's senses the moment she closed Lisa room's door. She roamed her eyes around the room and was immediately speechless.
To say that this was a hospital was really…
It looked more like a VIP suite of some hotel, instead of a hospital room. The design of the room just screamed about elegance and royalty, with its lavish sitting area that was decorated with a big chandelier and gold-plated chairs. Next to the sitting area was a king size bed where Lisa was lying.
Chaeyoung slowly walked towards Lisa's bed. Her hands clenched as she held her breath, preparing herself to see Lisa's bruised and pale face. But to her surprise, there was no such thing as many bruises.
She let out a sigh of relief as she stared at her wife. Lisa was lying on her back, her hands were on her stomach, her face was pale and there was a bandage on her left shoulder.
Chaeyoung slowly clutched Lisa's hand and put it on her side, letting the IV flow properly towards her body. 'She must have lost a lot of blood,' she thought before she examined Lisa for any more wounds.
There was nothing.
Chaeyoung immediately felt her heart become a little lighter when she discovered that Lisa got only one bullet wound. However, it did not make her anger dissipate at all. With that in mind, she immediately used the phone inside the hospital room to call Seokjin. She asked him to bring her laptop over.
She was not done with the Lee Family yet.
.....
Five minutes before, inside the Lee Family's estate...
"Elders! Elders! We have a problem!" A man in his fifties was running towards the main wing of the estate, his voice was hoarse from screaming and his face was a little pale. If Chaeyoung was here, then she would recognize this man. He was one of the ministers that were able to witness Gideon's declaration in the meeting room.
"Minister Hu… how come you are here?" The head maid asked the moment she opened the door for the old man.
"I want to see the Elders, now!" He demanded, ignoring the head maid's question.
"Minister Hu... you know the rules. No one can see them without…"
"The King is dead!" His words immediately silenced the head maid. Her face paled as she did not even spare another minute with the minister anymore. She made her way to the majestic staircase and shouted orders to the other maids.
Gideon was dead! Who would dare to…
"Madam! Please also inform them that the Zhou family is gone too." Minister Hu blurted out, hoping to make the head maid deliver that information to the Elders as well. That news was something that could instantly change the situation in the whole country.
The temperature in the room was low, as everyone had serious expressions on their faces.
"Who would dare to kill Nathaniel?" Someone asked in a grave tone. "Do you think it is…"
"It should be. If my guess is right, then that imbecile Nathaniel was not able to suppress his emotions and has revealed everything to Chaeyoung."
"That's impossible! Nathaniel was not that type of person. He might have been hopelessly in love with Mason, but his loyalty to the Lee Family is not something that we can question."
"I agree with the Third Elder. Chaeyoung is not capable of doing that. It should be that Henry Lee! Have we received any news about his current location? Were they able to detect Claire Wang? Has someone else survived aside from Chaeyoung and Simon?"
Silence followed the First Elder's words. They lacked information to know the specifics of the attack.
"How come our people have not called us the moment this happened?" The First Elder frowned.
"This matter is very important!"
"It must have been because the terrorists have hacked the towers, which damaged the mobile signal in Luxembourg." Someone ȧssumed.
"What about the Zhou Family? Any news from our spies? Who would dare to attack them in broad daylight like that?"
"Someone said it was an attack from the space."
Once again, silence followed the Elder's words.
"Call that person! Have him check our space weapon!" The First Elder immediately ordered, hoping that his suspicions were wrong.
However, before the person that he ordered could go outside of the room, other footsteps were heard, then the door was abruptly opened.
"Elders, we have a problem!" A young man in his twenties exclaimed, without even waiting for anyone to speak. He then gave to the elders the tablet that he was carrying.
"What the…"
"Good evening, Gentlemen." A voice echoed inside the room, instantly making all the Elders frown. They immediately looked at the tablet, only to find Chaeyoung's bruised face, smiling at them. Her right eye was swollen, her lips bloody, and there were a lot of purple bruises on her face and neck.
"I am Park Chaeyoung… nice to finally meet you." The voice once again echoed, waking them up from their stupor.
The First Elder immediately made a hand signal to the man who had brought the tablet over.
"Don't bother tracking me. I will tell you where I am." Chaeyoung said as if she was able to guess their intentions. "I am at the infirmary inside the palace."
"Miss Park… we don't have that kind of intentions." The Second Elder immediately tried to defend them. "We were just... wondering... What has happened to your face? Do you need our help? We can immediately give you the best doctors…"
"Save your explanations..." Chaeyoung's blatant disrespect immediately made the Second Elder's face turn into a scowl.
"Let's stop all these pretentious words and hypocrisy!" Chaeyoung said, without waiting for anyone to answer her. "You have hurt the people I love the most, and I am not happy about that."
"You better prepare yourself! I am coming after you!"
"How disrespectful!" The second Elder said, dissatisfaction lacing his face. "We are your Elders! Is this what that silly mother of yours has taught you?" He was about to say more when another elder tugged his arm, making him swallow his next words. He immediately glared at the First Elder.
"Chaeyoung… why don't you come here to the mansion, so we can talk?" The First Elder calmly suggested. "I understand that you are mad because we have tried to attack your woman, but it was only a warning. We didn't intend to kill her."
Chaeyoung's sarcastic laugh immediately echoed inside the room after First Elder's words. Did those people still think that she was that dumb after what had happened to Gideon?
"Listen up, old fools!"
"I am done playing your game!" She said as her expression turned serious. "This time, you will be playing my game."
"How arrogant! You…"
The Second Elder's words suddenly were interrupted by what was shown on the screen of the tablet.
"You…"
"Yes… me." Chaeyoung's voice was full of provocation as she continued. "If I am right, it's you and everyone inside the Lee Family's estate."
"Now… one wrong move and the space weapon, you are so proud of, will blast everyone inside that room!"
Her words made everyone in the room speechless. Even the First Elder was so shocked by her words that he was not able to stop his eyes from widening. His usually stoic expression immediately disappeared. Did that mean that Chaeyoung was the one who had annihilated the whole Zhou Family from the surface of this planet?
"Yes. You are right." Chaeyoung answered as if she was able to read everyone's thoughts. "The King is dead, the Zhou Family is gone. If you dare to do something that will irritate me, you will watch me destroy your family next."
"Chaeyoung… Child… why are you doing this? If you want the throne, we will gladly give it to you. It is rightfully yours anyway… do you want money? Influence? We can give you everything you want. You just need to tell us!" One of the elders decided to change their approach while sending subtle hints towards the other elders as well. Chaeyoung seemed to be very irritated at that moment. They couldn't afford to irritate her any further.
"The Fifth Elder is right… Chaeyoung why don't we talk about this? Tell us what is it that you want? We will do anything to give it to you." The Third Elder added.
The elders were not dumb at all, with the space weapon in Chaeyoung's hands, they instantly realized that she was practically untouchable at that moment. That weapon was something that they had secretly designed. It was specially made to deal with the Vercello Family. They never even imagined that there would be a time that the weapon, which they had personally made, would be used against them.
"Let me tell you what I actually want…" Chaeyoung made a deliberate pause. "I want you to sit tight on your spots. No need to do or say anything. Just watch me change everything! Don't worry... I am not planning to kill anyone... Yet..."
"Just don't provoke me. Never touch my family or anyone I love again. Or you can say goodbye to your family and watch them burn with you."
"Remember! I am watching you! Always!" She narrowed her eyes and gave them an eerie smile.
Then, the video ended.
The silence that surrounded all the elders after Chaeyoung ended her video was deafening. It was deadly, as every one of the elders felt a suffocating aura lace the entire room.
*Bam!*
"How dare she threaten us?" One of the elders couldn't control himself anymore.
"Ahhhhh! I can't take this! I need to kill her! I need to kill her!" The Second Elder got up from his seat and paced around the room.
"One more thing!" Once again, Chaeyoung's voice echoed inside the room, making the elders want to cry… How could she hack their security system in a matter of seconds?
"You are not allowed to leave your seats until I say so," she said. "Make one move. Just one, and I will burn one of your properties in this country."
"The satellite has sensors. If it detects you out of this room. Your family will suffer the consequences. Everything is being recorded…"
"Are you trying to illegally detain us?" The Second Elder bellowed. "Do you think that you can do that with us? We have been around for tens of years! You can't defeat us!"
"So rude!" Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. "Let me finish, you fool!" Everyone heard as Chaeyoung typed something on her computer. "As a punishment, I will blow the island that the Lee Family owns just fifty miles away from this country."
She did not let them say another word as she showed them a live video of the moment the satellite fired missiles at the island.
"Now… are you ready to listen to me?" She smirked at their ghastly pale appearances.
"Once again… I am showing how easy it is for me to destroy you and your entire family. I can do it just in a few seconds. The moment you took one step out of that room, I will blow one place after another and let you watch as your country burn in front of you."
Everyone swallowed their nonexistent saliva as they continued listening to Chaeyoung's instructions. She was right, she could obliterate them in a matter of seconds. For now, they could only listen to her words and act obediently. Then, they could plan on the counter-attacking after she was gone.
....
Chaeyoung laid beside Lisa the moment she cut her video call with the Lee Elders. A devious smile made way onto her face, as she stared at the woman beside her. Because of what the Lee Family had done to Lisa, she would let them watch her change their beloved country.
She would torture them with stress and anxiety, letting them feel that she would kill them once they made a wrong move. Then, she would change the country that they had painstakingly built.
Aftel all, was there more something painful that watching how something you loved so much getting destroyed in front of you?
Lisa woke up feeling light-headed. She closed her eyes as she tried to stop the buzzing in her head. Lisa shook off the remnants of her nightmares before she opened her eyes.
The unfamiliar room immediately made her get alerted. Lisa roamed her eyes around her surroundings, her brows furrowed, as she remembered what had happened before.
Then, she instantly jolted up.
'I must have fainted,' Lisa thought.
Chaeyoung!
"Hmmm…" Lisa immediately turned her head and frowned when she saw Chaeyoung lying next to her. Chaeyoung's face was bruised and she looked as if she was in pain.
Seeing how Chaeyoung furrowed her brows, instantly made Lisa stroke her cheeks. "Shhhh..." she consoled her.
"Lili!" Chaeyoung stood up panicked, her gaze still dizzy. She then blinked for a couple of time before staring blankly at Lisa.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lisa slowly touched Chaeyoung's hand and pulled her back to the bed. Seeing her like this was making Lisa realize how incompetent she was in protecting her.
"Hey…" Chaeyoung gently said before cuddling into Lisa's embrace. "We're alive."
"We are… oh… easy" Lisa flinched.
"Sorry." Chaeyoung said before lying back onto the king size bed next to Lisa. Seeing Chaeyoung lay next to her, instantly made Lisa smile as she did the same.
"Hello…" Lisa said, hed voice gentle just like her gaze.
"Hello, to you too." Chaeyoung turned her head towards her. "I'm sorry that this happened to you." She blurted out, she should have detected something about Gideon. How could she blindly fall into the Lee Family's trap like that?
"What are you talking about?" Lisa asked guilt was apparent in her eyes. Lisa was the one who was not able to protect her, yet, she was the one apologizing. What was that situation? "I am the one who was incompetent. I should be the one apologizing. Not you."
"I'm sorry that you feel that way." Chaeyoung said, ignoring her previous words.
"Why are you here without even having the doctors check your wounds and bruises?" Lisa asked while frowning.
"I'm fine."
"No, you are not…" Lisa's words were interrupted by Chaeyoung's hot lips. The kiss was not gentle, it was torrid with the promise of realness. It instantly reminded both of them that they had survived that they were still alive.
Meanwhile, Chaeyoung's emotions were something that she couldn't contain anymore. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. as they continued kissing each other. The thought of Lisa being killed, kept on running in her mind. Just the thought itself was enough to hurt her.
The kiss lasted for a couple of minutes before it stopped. Chaeyoung immediately wiped away her tears before she noticed that Lisa was doing the same. Lisa stared at her and once again touched her cheeks. Last night the thought of dying after those twenty men attacked them crossed her mind not just once. It was something that Lisa had already experienced once so logically, she should not fear it.
However, no matter how much Lisa tried to lie to herself, she couldn't. Death was something that she feared the most. Lisa could not imagine seeing Chaeyoung being broken-hearted because of her death. It was just something that… she never wanted to do to her.
"I love you," Lisa said, her black orbs staring straight into her gray ones.
"I love you more," she replied as a single tear fell from her eye. "I will not live without you." She declared. It was a promise. It was her promise to Lisa. A promise that she would honor in this lifetime.
The duo ended up talking until Jin entered the room with the doctors and some food for them.
"How is it?" Lisa asked the doctor who was cleaning Chaeyoung's wounds on her shoulders. Those wounds were caused by Simon's knife.
"These wounds are small, yet, there are a total of seven on her left arm and eleven on her right. I was surprised to know that she did not feel an intense pain last night because of them." The doctor said.
"Must be the adrenaline." Chaeyoung answered as she lowered her head, she could not withstand to look at Lisa's dark face. It was a fact, the wounds that she sustained from Simon's knife were not that painful to her. It must have been because her mind was elsewhere the whole night. Or she was just too tired.
Of course, at that point, Chaeyoung did not even think of the possibility that having high pain tolerance ran in her genes.
"Will it leave any scars?" Lisa asked.
"No. They are not deep. I will prescribe something that will make the bruises vanish in less than two months." The doctor said. "Here is the medicine to reduce the pain and for the bruises on your face. Please, call me if you feel any intense pain somewhere," he said before leaving.
Lisa's face was unfathomable as she watched her wife. "What are your plans considering the Lee Family?" Lisa asked curiously.
"I am going to destroy them!" Chaeyoung answered without batting an eyelid.
....