The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26

She took out another shirt to check, but this one also had the same initials embroidered on it.

‘…Then, was his passport fake too?’

Bada, who had been frozen for a moment, burst into a nervous laugh. Hot tears welled up in her eyes.

‘In the end, I don’t know anything about you. Not even your name.’

Bada sobbed as she randomly pulled shirts from the hangers.

This shirt too, that shirt too. All of them had the same initials embroidered on them.

“Ha…”

The hint had been right in front of her eyes, yet she had missed it.

‘No, maybe I didn’t want to see it.’

Suddenly feeling like the room was running out of oxygen, Bada gasped for breath as she headed to the terrace.

Then she gripped the railing and exhaled roughly.

“Haah…”

After finally calming her breathing, she raised her gaze.

The still beautiful scenery of Bali came into view.

The surface of the ocean spread below the steep cliff sparkled unusually brightly today.

Just like that day when she first saw him surfing on the waves.

Yet this place, now that he had left, felt as cold and desolate as winter.

Bada took out the ring she had put in her pocket.

The ring reflecting the blazing sunlight sparkled madly.

It was too beautiful to be fake. Just like all the moments she had shared with him.

What should she do with this ring?

For a moment she thought about throwing it away, but she shook her head.

‘…The ending was terrible, but the moments we shared together were happy.’

Just as she was thinking this and turning around, her body collided hard with the iron table on the terrace and her legs wobbled.

“Oh, oh!”

At the same time, the ring flew out of her hand and rolled across the terrace floor with a clatter.

“No!”

She lunged to catch the ring, but unfortunately it fell over the cliff connected below the terrace.

She quickly approached the edge of the railing and looked around, but there was no trace of the ring.

“Damn it.”

After pacing at the railing for a while, Bada finally gave up.

‘Maybe it’s for the best. Every time I saw that ring, I would remember the memories from this place.’

Having resigned herself, Bada took in the villa’s scenery one more time.

Then she turned around and left the terrace.

It was time to go home.

* * *

After packing her luggage and arriving at the airport, Bada immediately bought the earliest flight ticket to Korea.

After waiting and boarding the plane, she had no memory of anything else.

Except for the flight attendant looking at her with worried eyes every time, because she cried so much throughout the flight that her eyes were completely swollen.

Bada arrived home in a dazed state like someone half-drunk on medication and slept for two straight days.

For the first week, she writhed in pain.

She deliberately tried to block out thoughts of River, but questions kept chaining together in her head.

Why did he have to leave without a word? There must have been some circumstances.

But then she felt pathetic for making excuses for him.

On the second week, Bada finally came to her senses after seeing her wasted appearance in the mirror.

‘I can’t keep going like this forever.’

After that, she spent her time revising her resume and going to interviews for re-employment.

The pain didn’t subside easily, but fortunately its intensity gradually weakened.

Before she knew it, a month had passed.

Bada, dressed in a suit, entered a franchise cafe in the middle of Yeouido.

She had just come from a company interview. She waited for her coffee at the pickup counter while staring out the window.

Seeing the sky full of fine dust made her feel inexplicably depressed.

‘When I was in Bali, the sky was clear too.’

This must be what it feels like to fall from heaven to earth.

This was already her third interview.

Both of the previous two interviews had made it to the final round, but coincidentally, the results were rejections.

‘It’s strange. They clearly talked as if they would hire me.’

Bada recalled what the interviewer from her second interview had said.

‘I don’t know if I should be saying this already, but you’re exactly the talent our team has been looking for, so I’m quite interested, hehe. Only the reference check is left in the hiring process, so you’ll hear from us soon.’

But why did she end up drinking the bitter cup of final rejection?

Bada narrowed her eyes.

‘The fact that they did a reference check bothers me. They must have called Manager at my previous job, and there’s no way that bastard said anything good about me.’

When Manager heard Bada’s resignation notice, he had raged as if he’d been betrayed and said:

‘Do you think re-employment will be easy in today’s job market? You know the IB industry is small, Analyst Yu?’

‘Did Manager short-sell my reputation? Could it be that my career is on the verge of delisting right now?’

Just as Bada was sighing deeply with worry about the future, the voice of the cafe staff could be heard.

“Customer number 46! Your iced americano is ready.”

“Oh, yes, thank you.”

Just as she was receiving her coffee, Bada’s phone rang.

Looking at the screen, there was a message from an unknown sender.

This is Sarah Miller from the Royal Times. I’d like to request an interview regarding your recent connection to the royal family.

‘Damn, I thought it was an acceptance message. Come to think of it, I think I received a similar text before. Is this some new voice phishing scam? I should block it.’

After blocking the sender, Bada habitually entered the news app and scrolled down.

She might as well prepare in case questions related to current affairs came up in her next interview.

The international news tab she clicked on by chance was full of all sorts of depressing news including terrorism, climate crisis, and trade wars.

Then, suddenly, one headline caught Bada’s eye.

‘All killed in boat explosion in Indonesian sea.’

Bada’s breath stopped as she checked the article.

Coincidentally, the date the boat exploded was the same day River disappeared.

Bada, who had been writing down ominous scenarios in her head, let out a bitter laugh.

“Really, was I always this imaginative?”

Bada took a sip of coffee and stared at the sky.

Where on earth are you?

It felt strange to think that River was alive somewhere under the same sky.

It was a bit unfair that because he had been reluctant to take photos, not even a single photo of them together remained.

If someone said all of that was her delusion, she wouldn’t even have evidence to refute it.

‘Does he even think about me? He’s probably already forgotten everything?’

Bada wiped her heating eyes with her hand.

‘River is dead. Just… let’s think of him as dead.’

* * *

After taking the subway and arriving at Sindaebang Station, it was already late evening.

Bada walked along the streetlights toward her modest monthly rental room.

In her hand swayed a bag containing rose tteokbokki she had ordered for takeout to eat for dinner.

‘I should hurry home and eat some tteokbokki.’

As she was walking briskly, she saw a man standing under a streetlight in the distance.

With his large build and hat pulled down low, something felt ominous about him.

The moment the tense Bada tried to pass by him with slightly quicker steps, a low voice rang in her ears.

“Ms. Bada. Did you have a good trip?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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