Chapter 24

Xaoi-He

Leaving out the conference room, I find Lady Khelani waiting for me. I side-eye her but don't comment. She falls in step beside me as I head towards the medic ward. She remains silent, surprising me. This Lady really isn't like the other females. Typically females would have tried to touch me or make conversation. It seems she really has nothing to say.

"How do you know what I was waiting for." I stop and lean against the banister. She halts and stares at me as if contemplating how best to answer.

"Your mother told us after you went to the meeting that you wanted to know if Jaidan was out of surgery. She claims he should still be awake."

"Then, why didn't she just tell me?"

"She said you needed to go to the meeting. You should ask her yourself." Lady Khelani says, then turns away to continue walking. Interesting.

"I see." We cross the foyer to the east end, where the entrance to the medic ward is. "Then how did you get a chime? Do you really need to be in the infirmary?"

"Oh, that." She pauses and faces me, "I messaged your mom, asking her to send me a message in 30 seconds. Then I used that to leave the meeting. As for if I need to be here, I have been helping out after work. It's boring now that everyone seems to have a boyfriend." She pouts. I finally can see the girly side of her.

"Is that what you want? A boyfriend?"

"Initially, I didn't, but now…." Lady Khelani stares off to the side. Then her gaze returns to me, and her brows crease. "Speaking of boyfriends, I am surprised you and Park Zixin appear so close. Are you a Tsundere?"

"A what?"

"You know, pretend you don't like the attention of someone, but secretly you truly enjoy it." She explains.

"No. I don't have any such relations with anyone. Let alone that jackass. I hate that he's the son of a State Council member. I promise he would have been dead long ago if he wasn't."

"Ah, so what happened earlier is normal for him?"

"Really, he's been a thorn in my side since we were kids. I have known him for about a decade, although he is older than me, about Yantián's age. That episode is the first time he overstepped. He probably is acting out of jealousy. I find it amusing but at the same time…."

"What? Who would he be jealous of? You just said you don't have any such relations."

"He… found out I have a close relationship with Baoxian. Apparently, he saw me with him earlier today. Or someone did. I guess he is assuming more than he should."

"Baoxian? The King of the Auction house?" Khelani's surprised look is amusing.

"Yes, you could say I know him better than anyone else. In either event, Park Zixin wants to meet him."

"Hmm… I see. Well, we should head in." Turning, Khelani walks through the doors, and I follow.

"Speaking of Park Zixin's jealousy, Kinta should always be with you. You being a Lady may prevent him from reacting, but… I would hate for something to happen to you just because you talk to me. As you can tell, he does whatever he wants."

"Aren't you considerate? I will call Kinta here. But what does me being a Lady have to do with anything?"

"I don't have relations with Ladies, Lords, or Royalty as a rule. I stay away from the debutantes and government officials and their children."

"Ladies are off limits? That's funny. You don't want to be tied down?" She actually giggles.

"No, it's too much of a hassle. Since you are considering being with someone, I should warn you, my brothers aren't a good choice."

"Why is that?"

"Yantián has feelings for someone else. Though he would treat you well, he probably could never love you. Ruyun is pretty much already married to his childhood friend. Though he cannot officially marry her until Yantián marries. And Jaidan… he is emotionally unavailable and now in a betrothal by the State Council." I grit out the last part. I need to find out more about the Shin.

"So you support that?"

"Regardless of what I support, it will be difficult to get out of it unless we can prove that the Shin is not worthy."

"You think he will say yes?" Khelani stops at the door and turns to me.

"Jaidan may or he may not. Truthfully, only Aiden understands him."

"I see… well, I already have my eyes set on someone else. This is Prince Jaidan's room. I'll leave you two." She bows to me and moves on down the hall.

Her eyes are set on someone else. Interesting. I heard this female is very promiscuous, especially since her brother has been here and not watching over her in Korea. It is said that she never settles down. I suppose there was no reason to. I have never seen or heard of her with anyone since she came to China. To have her eyes set on someone? Who could be so great as to get her to change the Elusive Khelani to change her mind? If it wasn't for Park Zixin, I would consider staying here much longer.

Sighing, I turn and head into Jaidan's room. He's sitting up, looking at documents that were brought to him. His arms are bandaged but not in a cast, so it seems he can move them freely. Glancing up, his intense eyes fall on me.

"You're here." Is his only greeting as if I took too long to arrive.

"Yea." I walk up to him and tap him upside the head on an area not bandaged.

"Ay. You come here to beat up an invalid."

"You idiot! I told you to be prepared. Why the hell did you only bring 60 men?"

"Ah, well. We usually bring 30. So I doubled it."

"You barely made it out. Now we are all in a tight spot."

"I heard."

"From whom?"

"Father, Mother, Chief Ji-Hoon, and Chief Kwan." He dismisses me and returns to his papers.

I look down and see a long list of items and syndicates. Jaidan has them grouped around him and appears to be sorting them out. "Hey, Xin told me he gave you the map. Do you have it?"

"Are you jesting?" His hair shrouds his face, and he seems far away. Why does he have all this stuff?

"If you don't, that's fine. You can bring it later." Jaidan waves me off with a file in his hand.

"So you know about the State Council?" He pauses. But then returns to what he was doing.

"Mn."

"Are you going to marry her?"

"I don't want to think about it. How is Aiden?" Jaidan still looks through papers and placing in piles seemingly at random.

"I don't know. I came straight here. I am sure Xie-Yu is with him."

"That's good then."

"Jay, what's wrong?"

"I almost died today. My best friend is unconscious. His boyfriend hates me. I am expected to marry an enemy of the syndicate for the sake of peace. I don't even want to get married. All of which is my fault. Meanwhile, I have a lot of things I was in the middle of doing, but I am also expected to train Princess Danielle. I cannot even go back to my prefecture if I wanted to because I cannot move freely for at least 3 months. Tell me, what isn't wrong."

"Hm… I can train Princess Danielle."

"You think Prince Sooyung will let YOU train his Fiancé?" He looks at me in disbelief.

"Hmm… I think if Danielle wants to, Sooyung will let her."

"Well… if you want to, then I guess that's fine. She probably will learn more from you anyway." He's finally finished with what he sorted and is now stacking them in some sort of order.

"Are you sure you're ok? You seem distant."

"I'm not ok. I wish I could get away with not getting married like you. However, I feel ungrateful for admitting that. It's my fault I almost lost my best friend. I know it was because I was cocky and was used to being untouchable. Now I cannot even do my own missions. I have to always send someone else. All my freedoms are gone."

"You can still do as you please. Even if you get married. You can still pursue your own desires."

"I'm not you, A-Xaoi. I don't have such desires. I just like not having to worry about pleasing someone else. Whenever I get married, no matter who it is, I must ensure they are happy. It would be shit luck to come to an end by the person who is supposed to love me."

"So you want love now?" I sit on the bed next to him. "But you just said you don't have desires."

"I don't. I also don't like marrying someone I don't really care for, let alone like. If I married, I wanted it to be someone I could love, or they could love me. Whereas this is more of a business transaction. It'll just be work." He puts the files on the table next to him and leans his head back on the headboard staring at the ceiling.

"So you're going to do it?"

"Those papers were brought here by Da-Xing. Some is information provided by An Ling out east where I presume Prince Kurtis left him. Others are information picked up by Da-Xing and Shen Zhan. They even got a bit from Yin Liu before he passed out." He gestures to the stack of papers left on the edge of the bed.

"The Shin have stolen goods from Yin Mu that were stolen from the Sooyungs. Yet, the weapons you obtained from that warehouse were not the same weapons she got from Yin Mu. Also, the people who infiltrated the Sooyungs are not associated with the Shin but with Yin Mu specifically." Jaidan picks up another document handing it to me.

"Yin Mu has some powerful backer. This benefactor is the same individual that had been working with Rong-Xi before we killed him. I want the map so I can confront my potential fiancé. I wonder if she even knows about all this. I also want the 80 or so men that were at that site. I want them Xaoi-He. I want to personally see their pain and end them. I cannot do it myself, but I want to see it."

"Then, where are the weapons she got from Yin Mu?"

"That's a good question. Look at those documents. Take them with you. I am tired and don't really want to think about this stuff anymore."

"Only you would work immediately after surgery. Regarding the retribution, I will be happy to do it for you."

"Mn."

"So then, you have decided to marry her?"

"I haven't decided to do anything but take a nap. Can you send the nurse in? I need some sleep aid. Oh, and let Lord Hyun-Ki know that YunChi is looking for him. He came with Da-Xing and is most likely with his brother Xin." He tells me as he looks out the window.

"Of course." I leave him and alert the nurse of Jaidan's request before heading to my room. Concerning Lord Bu, I'll have someone tell him. I doubt he wants to see YunChi.