The Royal Contract

A continuous knock on her door roused her up from her restless sleep. For someone dozing all night, she felt like she had hardly slept at all. 

Her eyes were aching from the pain of simply opening them. Her brain was barely functioning, slightly confused about her whereabouts and current situation.

"Go away!" She shouted, not wanting to move from her position. Now, she could feel her head aching just because of that loud banging at her door.

She grabbed the pillow at the side of her head and covered her entire head with it, hoping she could drown the noise out. At the same time, preventing the bright light from hurting her eyes, which caused her headache.

Unfortunately, the persistent knocking did not go away. Instead, it had become a loud raucous accompanied by someone shouting outside the door.

"Wait." She shouted, finally giving up, realizing that whoever was at the door had no plan of leaving her alone. Finally, the knocking stopped, probably upon hearing her voice.

She slammed the pillow on the bed, thinking that it was the one disturbing her peace. Then, with unwilling feet, she dragged herself towards the door.

Compared to her bedroom back home, this place was huge. Since her eyes were barely opened, she did not notice the rag directly on her path. 

"Aaahhh..." She moaned in pain when she landed with a hard impact on her knees, bracing her hands to prevent her face from kissing the marble floor.

If her head was aching before, now her entire body was in excruciating pain. She rolled on her side, holding tight to her knees. However, she also felt a slight pain in her wrist when she tried to support her legs.

"Jacky, what is going on in there?" A man shouted outside her door. When she did not respond but continued to cry as if in agony. He shouted again. "Open the door, Jacky." 

He felt he had no choice. He immediately tried the doorknob. It swiftly turned, and the door opened without hardship. He found Jacky on the floor, twisting in pain. 

He quickly knelt down beside her, checking for any visible wound. Luckily, the only injury he could find was the bruising forming on her knees, which she was cradling in her arms.

"Ouch, don't touch me." She shouted when she felt his hands on the side of her knees. Then, she discovered that she was not alone anymore.

She became aware of his presence beside her. She slowly tried to move her legs, feeling the pain scaling down to a tolerable level. "What are you doing here, Marcus?" She asked as she attempted to sit down.

However, when she tried to lean on her right wrist, she found out it was worse than she initially thought as the pain intensified. "Oh, damn." She immediately used her elbow and left hand for support.

"Come on. Let me help you get back to bed. I can check if it is broken." He offered, offering his hands to her.

He was convinced he was the last person she wanted to see. In truth, when he went to fetch her, he was expecting that he would see Lance with her.

However, he was not surprised that he did not see him. He was probably with his family, dealing with the situation. But, it was the least of his concern right now. He was here for another reason.

"Fine." She finally said after contemplating her situation. She remembered that they had already called a truce. 

Gently, he pulled her up, then wrapped his arms around her waist as he assisted her back to bed. He thought she would try to resist, but she must be in real pain as she limped in his arms.

Once on the bed, he grabbed the blanket and handed it to her. "Maybe you want to cover yourself up." He turned around, not wanting her to think he was taking advantage of her situation.

He could imagine her face losing its color upon realizing that she was only in her fancy underwear. Under normal conditions, he would not have trouble looking at her in just her sexy lingerie.

However, he did not need a reminder of what it was used to be. He could not keep adding salt to his injury. He had his chance, and she now belonged to someone else.

"Oh my!" She gushed at the sight of her, seeing her clothing, at least her lack of one. "I am sorry." She seized the blanket quickly, covering herself with it.

She did not know what she was thinking about answering the door in her underwear. Well, in her defense, she was not in her right mind when she woke up.

Clearly, she was still under the influence of alcohol, smelling the stench on her breathe. Then, the headache she was experiencing earlier added to her disorientation.

"No need to be sorry. But, you should not be drinking too much if you could not handle it." He suggested, sniffing the aftereffect of alcohol on her.

His unsolicited advice was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He suddenly internally reprimanded himself for snooping on someone else's business. 

It was not his place anymore if she decided to get intoxicated. She was a grown woman who was capable of thinking for herself.

"It is none of your business what I do with my life." Jacky suddenly felt the need to defend herself from his judgemental tone.

He lost his right to tell her what to do when he dumped her. Besides, even when they were together, he never felt the need to command her what she could and could not do. 

Her entire life, she had made decisions on her own, according to what would be best for her. She never allowed anybody to dictate her actions.

"I am sorry if I cross the line. I am just concerned. But I guess I also had no right to feel that." Marcus finally turned to look at her, wanting to see her reaction.

He could see that she was slightly taken aback by his words as her face mildly changed. However, it was quickly masked in a blank expression, covering what she might have felt.

However, he did not want to misinterpret that look by reading too much about it.. He might be setting himself up for another heartache by hoping that he could still have another chance for love.