Chapter 23: 22 Dun! Dun! The appearance of the protagonist-3
Xie felt suffocated.
His chest felt heavy and stuffy.
Every time he lifted his eyes and met the other's gazes, he couldn't help but think about the worse things ever.
Their jeering looks didn't make him feel better, and each of the audience gave him a scornful expression that made his courage wilt.
Their murmurs slid into his eardrums and barraged his hearing.
"He seemed familiar. A celebrity?" One of them questioned his identity. "People with handsome appearance usually have a heart full of malice."
"I also heard something like that." Another chided in, didn't bother to hide his sly chuckle.
"How could a celebrity act shamelessly like this? Pathetic."
"Hmm, isn't he, His Highness Xie Winchester, the rumor well-natured second prince?"
"The second prince? The one who shamelessly married himself to his childhood friend despite the fierce opposition of the whole royal family?"
"Shameless? More like as stubborn as a mule in getting what he wanted. Isn't that prince act willful because he got pampered by the king?"
"Which part of he seemed well-natured? He acted like a hooligan and even refused to apologize to this wronged young lady."
"He was always obstinate and did everything he wanted regardless of the consequence. I heard this from someone who worked in the palace. Among the other royal sibling, he was the worst."
"He bullied a kitchen helper when she served him his lunch and said the food she made was unpalatable."
Xie: "...." When did he do that?
"I also heard he threw a bucket of paint onto a scholarship student after he won Mathematic Olmphiad during his middle school year. They said he was jealous of that person's achievement."
Xie: "....." That was actually the first time he heard such a thing.
"That was only a rumor, right?" Someone finally stopped those ramblings but later dropped a finishing bomb that wiped out his clean image. "I heard he molested his childhood friend and manipulated the fact and eventually made the man agree to marry him."
"Seriously?!" Someone gasped in shock. "He was the one who molested that person? Not the other way around? He was truly the embodiment of a green tea bitch, this jerk is!"
Xie: "........." That one, he had nothing to retort back. Xie Winchester, indeed, had manipulated the fact, but he was not daring enough to execute the plan.
That night, they did nothing shameful except lay on the same bed. Neither Xie nor Arthur molested each other despite being drugged. Sleep with him? That was impossible. He only made Arthur believe his lie and coerced him to marry him.
But, how could these people know? The king had issued an order to cover up the sensational issue with something else. Commoners shouldn't know about this. It was limited to only a handful of people who caught them red-handed that night.
Xie wryly glanced at the protagonist. It must be her doing.
He should distance himself from this bane of his life.
Xie, who was always alone, rarely experienced people's malice directly like this. He did encounter a handful of them in the past, but not on this scale. Besides, how could his dark history pop out one by one (most of the rumors were untrue), springing up like mushrooms after the rain?
Xie should keep his composure and act unbothered by their unfounded complaint. It was a groundless rumor without any proof to support each claim.
From what he knew, Xie Winchester was someone who valued his image and reputation. There was no way he would act unbridled, as they said. (Minus the last one uttered by that onlooker)
Xie balled his fists to hide his shaking. Why would he get affected by their words when he knew everything they spouted out was utter nonsense? He was not that weak-willed by nature.
His eyes felt warm and got teary.
Xie blinked his eyes, and a drop of tear dripped down on his cheek. He furiously wiped his eyes until they stung. Even so, the tears couldn't stop.
It's been too long since he felt this helpless emotion when dealing with the absurdity of humans.
What he experienced and what the original experienced seemed to mix and worsen his mental state. And the creepy sensation that crawled on his skin from the beginning to end made him afraid to open his mouth.
There was this nagging feeling in the back of his mind. If he says something right now, he will get strangled by those invisible hands. His fear for the unknown got incited due to this.
Xie helplessly shrunk his neck, slowly drowned in the sea of humans.
"Step aside." A deep, magnetic voice, filled with authority and domineering aura, appeared like a bucket of cold water that doused onto a raging fire. The noisy atmosphere turned to silence.
The crowd parted in the middle like the parting of the dead sea and emerged from behind them, a tall man with silky black hair.
His body exuded a powerful vibe and demanded respect from those watching him.
All these people scrambled out of his way. They fretfully cleared the path for this overbearing and imposing male to pass through. Their heads hang lower, afraid to make eye contact.
Attracted by the voice, Leyla, who kept smirking, turned her head, only to be greeted by a sight of a handsome male god. Her jaws became slack, and red hues donned her cheeks.
Oh my god! The man's appearance was exactly the same as this story depicted! The description was on point. But, seeing him with his own two eyes gave her a sense of satisfaction.
A cold-blooded man that seemed detached from his surrounding but loved to smile, and the handsome yet ruthless mafia boss, the second capture target, Isaac Killian! Leyla internally squealed.
Isaac steadily walked up to Xie and stopped in front of him.
"Can you lift your head? Let me see your face, please?" His voice was so soft when he asked this.
Xie flinched and hesitated for a moment. Reluctantly, he lifted his head, and their eyes hooked.
Isaac felt a pang of sadness when he saw those beautiful emerald eyes glistened with unshed tears. His finger found its way underneath Xie's eyes and gently wiped away the tears that pooled inside.
"I just left for a moment, and you already got yourself into a troublesome situation?" He sighed. If he could, he wanted to kiss the tears away from staining his pale skin. He cannot do that, and he shouldn't because this person did not belong to him. At least, not yet. "What happened to you, Xie? For you to appear as miserable as this before my eyes?"
Xie blinked his eyes, fluttered like a pair of butterfly wings, and tears which brimming inside fell, droplet by droplet, streamlining along his pale, white cheeks.
"Nothing. There's nothing at all. Only...a slight misunderstanding." He answered, but his sobbing made his voice sound rasped.
Isaac's eyes darkened.
--------
Mini Theater.
As soon as Isaac Killian appeared, Leyla unblinkingly stared at the man. She shamelessly ogled him.
Leyla: (Said mentally) Oh my god! Look at that muscular chest and that broad shoulders.
Leyla: (Said mentally) His impressive waistline. And powerful hips. And that pair of slender and long legs. His sturdy thighs.
Leyla: (Said mentally) He must have an explosive abdominal muscle underneath that piece of clothes. (Drooling) If I could touch those muscles with my own two hands, I would die in happiness!
Isaac: (Shuddered. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin) What is this terrible feeling? I felt like someone with an ill intention had lusted over my body. (Looked everywhere before his eyes landed on the protagonist) What's wrong with that woman?! Her eyes seemed dangerous!
Leyla: (Unaware of Isaac's thought and still engrossed in her wishful thinking) He must have a higher spec than my ex-boyfriend from my old world. Why would the men I met over there look like a wimpy kid, unlike the one in this world? So envious. (Realized Isaac's gaze) Oh, he is looking at me! Control your expression, Leyla!
Isaac: (Dread) That woman is a lunatic! Why would she look at me like that? She kept slobbering and drooling as if she had starved herself for a very long time? Did she want to bite me?
Due to this misunderstanding, Isaac's favourability toward the protagonist had significantly dropped.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone