I Refused The Male Lead And Got Claimed By His Triplet Sisters [GL]

Chapter 21: Shadows

The rest of Han Shuying’s words were muffled as Ru Yi stayed on the floor, eyes never leaving Princess Lin Yuexin.

The princess’s face was twisted in agony, like she was trapped in a moment when she had to face everything she was ever afraid of.

Ru Yi’s hand stretched out to brush the tendrils of hair that had fallen over her pale face.

In the past she’d imagined how they’d feel when she ran her fingers through them more times than was thought appropriate.

But she never thought—

Ru Yi’s fingers remained on Princess Lin Yuexin’s forehead. "She’s cold." She blinked back tears as she turned to look at Han Shuying. "Get a blanket, she’s cold."

Then her voice broke just as strong hands grabbed her from behind—

"I don’t want her to be cold." She struggled to get back to the princess as she was hoisted up to her feet. "Please make her warm...I like when she’s warm."

"Inform the court that the lowly maid, Ru Yi, has killed Princess Lin Yuexin." Han Shuying’s graved voice filled the corridor. "She’ll be held within the palace grounds."

Ru Yi didn’t hear the rest of Han Shuying’s words. She wanted to close her eyes and open them to see Princess Lin Yuexin sitting across the table and discussing random things with her.

But instead, her lifeless form haunted her sight. frёewebηovel.cѳm

Ru Yi hated how lonely she looked lying down on the bare floor in the pool of her own blood.

She wanted to touch her shoulder and tell her she was sorry for coming too late—

If only she hadn’t mistaken Han Shuying for the princess.

-

-

The inner palace had a detention cell made of a narrow stone corridor and heavy iron doors. It was far from the noise of celebration at the masked ball.

Ru Yi’s limbs were frozen as she was dragged into one of the cells, her hands barely managing to brace her fall.

She looked at the guard that had thrown her in, his face twisted in disgust as he pushed the lock into place.

"You have a lot of guts killing royal blood!" He spat on the floor beside him. "You’re going to rot in there!"

Ru Yi didn’t register a single word he said.

All she could think about was how late she’d been.

If only she’d gone to the princess’s residence first, or—

Her head was spinning.

Ru Yi didn’t know how long she sat in that position for. The only time she lifted her head was when she heard loud footsteps stop in front of her. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

It was none other than Crown prince Zhao Chen.

"Ru Yi," he exclaimed when he saw her, grabbing the dirty bars of the cell. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

There was no response from Ru Yi. She remained in the same position, not even a little acknowledgement that she’d heard him.

"Han Shuying is meeting with the Emperor as we speak. I keep telling her it’s not possible that you killed the princess...you can’t even hurt a fly."

His tone turned desperate. "I have to find a way to get you out of here before the public trial. It’ll hold in the morning."

Zhao Chen pushed away from the bars. "Or we can leave tonight!"

He snapped his fingers, his eyes going wide. "Come with me, Ru Yi. We can leave this night just as planned. I was coming to get you after the ball anyway, this incident is just a bump in the road."

Zhao Chen looked at Ru Yi then, at the silent tears running down her face. "It’s going to be okay darling, I’ll get you out of here. At least she’s not standing in the way of our love anymore. We can get married after settling down..."

"A person just died," Ru Yi’s voice croaked from suppressed sobs trapped in her throat. "The woman you were supposed to marry just died and you’re here talking about leaving and—"

It was the first time since seeing Lin Yuexin lying still that Ru Yi let out her pain.

An unholy cry left her lips. She didn’t try to hold it in this time— couldn’t hold it in even if she tried.

The planes of Zhao Chen’s face hardened. "There’s no need to sit there and act like you care about the princess. She was merely an obstacle to what we have. Maybe it’s fate finally playing into our cards, we can finally live happily."

Ru Yi raised her eyes to him, pure disgust filling her features. "I’d rather rot in here than leave with you."

"Wait...what?"

Ru Yi wiped furiously at her tears. "It’s time you snap out of the delusion that I love you or will elope with you. Cause that’s never going to happen. To hell with you! And everybody in this goddamn palace!"

The pain was slowly morphing into anger.

"All she wanted was to maintain peace in the kingdom." Ru Yi sniffed. "She didn’t deserve that."

Zhao Chen felt like he was looking at a totally different person, and not the Ru Yi he knew and loved. "I’ll give you the space to calm down while I figure out how to break you out of here."

The sound of footsteps had him pausing for a moment. He brought his voice down to a whisper. "I know you said all that in anger so I’ll forgive you this once. I’ll see you soon."

He left as two guards rounded the corner.

They stood in front of the cell, but there was no need.

Ru Yi had no plans to run away with the prince, or to defend herself. She might not have directly killed the princess but—

She was just as guilty.

It hurt to think she’d been busy dancing with someone else while Princess Lin Yuexin was somewhere struggling with her life.

That Han Shuying...was it her plan all along?

Ru Yi had turned back for one last kiss meanwhile Lin Yuexin was taking her last breath...all alone...and left on the floor to die like some worthless being.

Her hands folded into fists.

Could it be that the Empress found out Princess Lin Yuexin was going to expose her corruption? It was the only possible explanation.

Ru Yi must’ve fallen asleep at some point because the sound of footsteps woke her up. The lights were out but she could make out three shadows in front of the cramped cell.

These were not royal guards. She could tell that much.

She immediately became alarmed, moving back as they worked on the lock of the cell.

"Don’t come any closer," she yelled when they pulled the door open and advanced towards her.

They said nothing, the black clothes wrapped over their faces made it hard to know their identity.

Whoever killed the princess must’ve sent them. After all, she was the one spying for Princess Lin Yuexin.

It would make sense that they’d want to silence her before the trial tomorrow.

"Who sent—" Ru Yi’s words were cut off when a sharp jab to the side of her neck knocked her out cold.