I will kill him for you

"Why did you say that you are my servant? Answer me while looking into my eyes," He urged her.

"Let me go, General Lee. If anyone sees us like this, then it will not be good," Ae-Ra reasoned and tried to pull away.

Seo Jin tightly pressed his fingers on the fabric of Ae-Ra's dress as his anger increased more. "Why are you like this? What am I asking you and what are you answering me?" He snarled at her. He peered into her eyes with inquisitiveness. The moment she called herself his servant, he felt like all his efforts went in vain.

"You are still not answering. Ae-Ra, don't make me do something which I don't intend to do," Seo Jin said hoarsely. "Tell me why did you call yourself my servant?" He repeated his question.

Ae-Ra lowered her eyes as there was no answer.

"You think that I am like other men. You failed to understand me. I am disappointed in you," Seo Jin said finally after getting no answer from Ae-Ra.

She glanced at him. "I did not think that, General Lee. If I had, then I would not even have let you touch me," Ae-Ra answered. "I am indeed your servant, General Lee. I still have not accepted your feelings. Forgive me, if I disappointed you. I was never pampered in my life, so I am not good at expressing my emotions."

"You drive me crazy, Ae-Ra. Your every word bothers me. Don't ever address yourself as my servant. It's fine if you are not ready to accept me, but saying such things troubles me," Seo Jin truthfully told her.

"I understand, General Lee," Ae-Ra answered.

Seo Jin let go of her. "Leave," he said coldly. Ae-Ra could see he was still upset with her.

"Who attacked General Lee? Did he see his face?" Ae-Ra asked him.

"I don't know. I saw his face, but I could not recognize him," Seo Jin replied.

"Is it because General Lee took a stand for me in the court?" Ae-Ra's question bewildered him.

"When I was in the Kisaeng's house, I found how a few Ministers used to talk about court matters. Mostly, the officials did not like when something good happens in the favor of the people or if an official stands for a good cause. They generally used to plan against them," Ae-Ra asserted.

"It's not because of that," Seo Jin replied.

Ae-Ra was stunned to hear him.

"I am loyal to the Crown Prince. Many don't like it. I won't tell you in detail. But I can assure you that I was not attacked because of you," Seo Jin said confidently.

"Have your dinner and have a good sleep," Seo Jin said. Usually, he used to have dinner with her, but today his mood was spoiled, so he did not ask her to have dinner with him.

"General Lee, why don't we have our dinner together?" Ae-Ra proposed to him.

Seo Jin gazed at her. "We could have gone ahead today. I wanted to have dinner with you at a special place. Why did you adamantly bring me home?" He was still angry about it.

"General Lee, you were injured," she said and knitted her brows together. "I know that you had planned something to show me, but I would not be able to enjoy that. My entire focus would have been on your wound. Forgive me, if I hurt you in any way, though I did not want to," she stated.

"But this was nothing. It was a minor cut," Seo Jin said in a low voice and looked towards the door.

"It might not be for General Lee, but it was a big wound for me. I know that General Lee has led so many wars that such wounds are negligible for him, but for a person like me, it could not be neglected," Ae-Ra explained her view on it.

"Why don't you call me by my name? Everyone calls me General Lee. With you, I want to be Seo Jin– Not any General, but just Seo Jin," he suggested to her.

Ae-Ra pursed her lips together. Seo Jin understood her answer. "Dong-Sun," he called him in, who quickly opened the door and stepped in.

"Send the dinner for us," Seo Jin ordered him. Dong-Sun bowed and walked out.

"I will help them," Ae-Ra said when Seo Jin grasped her hand.

"Did I allow you to go?" He asked and drew her close. His other hand reached her left side face as he grazed his index finger over it. "Since my surprise for you is ruined, my mood has also ruined. I want to kill that assassin brutally. He ruined everything. I just hate it," Seo Jin said, carrying an infuriated expression on his face.

"A surprise? What did General Lee prepare for?" Ae-Ra asked him curiously.

"Do you want to know?"

Ae-Ra nodded her head.

"A proposal I have prepared for you. Also, firecrackers work! There is a huge lake which is illuminated with lanterns. I wanted to get on a boat with you and confess my feelings for you. A special dinner in which all your favorite dishes were prepared. There were many things," Seo Jin replied.

Ae-Ra was stunned to hear such a big surprise plan. He planned a proposal for her and it fluttered her heart. Why was this man willing to do everything for her? She had nothing, still, he always told her that he loved her since the day he saw her.

"General Lee, thank you," she said out of a sudden, bewildering him. The servant came inside and set the dinner table for them. However, Seo Jin and Ae-Ra were completely lost in each other.

Dong-Sun smiled and gestured to the servant to do fast. Once she was done, they both left the room, sliding the door to close them.

"You don't need to thank me when I did nothing," Seo Jin answered.

Ae-Ra smiled a little. "General Lee already has done many things for me. I could never imagine that a man can be this trustworthy. Thank you for everything you did for me and are still doing. I want to repay you, but I do not know how?" She stated.

"I need your love. Also, don't talk about repayment with me. Just accept my feelings, Ae-Ra," Seo Jin told her.

Ae-Ra lowered her gaze. Seo Jin understood that she would not accept him this early. "Let's have dinner before it gets cold," Seo Jin said. Letting go of her hand, he picked a pair of chopsticks. He handed it to Ae-Ra and told her to start.

Ae-Ra put the seaweed from her plate to Seo Jin's plate. "General Lee must eat it. I have seen that he hardly eats this," she said.

"I don't like it. I don't know why the chef cooks this despite my warnings to him," Seo Jin asserted.

"General Lee's mother is the head of household chores. I think she also wants her son to have seaweed. That's why the chef never listened to General Lee's command," Ae-Ra opined.

"Mother should not do this to her lovely son. She knows how much I dislike it," Seo Jin scrunched his nose and put it away from his plate on the empty one. "You won't believe how much I got scolded for this in my childhood. I used to run around the house and she used to chase me," Seo Jin said and smiled upon recalling that memory.

"I wish my mother would have done such things for me," Ae-Ra said. "She was always busy with a senior official. I used to hate it," Ae-Ra said as her eyes filled with tears. Seo Jin put his hand on her shoulder and patted it gently.

"The saddest thing is even my father never came to see me. Does General Lee know, why?" She asked him. Seo Jin shook his head.

"Because I was born from a woman, who was a Kisaeng. I want to kill him. I know that he must be enjoying his life with his family. I badly want to kill him," Ae-Ra asserted.

"Your hands are not made to kill someone," stated Seo Jin. "I will kill him for you. How about that?" He asked her.

"Will you?" Ae-Ra asked him.

"Are you doubting my capabilities?" Seo Jin asked her.

"No. I can never doubt General Lee's capabilities," Ae-Ra answered.

Seo Jin raised the pinky finger of his right hand and said, "I promise you as soon as I find out about your father, I will kill him." He gestured to her to lift her hand. Ae-Ra gazed at him in bewilderment.

After a few seconds, she lifted her right hand and locked her pinky finger with Seo Jin's. They curled their respective fingers and then touched their thumbs. "Don't stop me later because this promise is unbreakable. I don't show mercy on those, who made my loved ones cry," Seo Jin asserted while smiling.

~~~~

Any idea, who could be the father of Ae-Ra? Do comments on your opinions.

THANK YOU