Yona and her father were currently watching Hak and Soo Won get ready to practice their archery on horseback, complaining about the time that Hak was spending with her crush, "no fair, Hak! Playing with Soo Won without me!" she chastised
The king smiled gently at his daughter, "Now, now...It's been a while since they spent time together, too…" He tried to calm her down, though she merely responded with a pout.
They proceeded to watch the two young men begin their run. Soo Won went first, he shot at the target as he gallopped by, hitting the inner ring. Not long after that, Hak came by and hit the bullseye.
"Impressive, Hak" Soo-Won complimented
Hak responded immediately, "you were brilliant yourself, lord Soo Won."
"Next time, I'll hit the bullseye too." As Soo Won said this, he plucked the bow of his string, pretending to shoot an invisible arrow.
Yona stared at the tall man with long, very light brown hair in awe, and her face flushed. Before a determined look came over her face, "I want to do archery with Soo Won too!"
King Il froze for a second, before he blurted out, "What?! No! Absolutely not! No weapons! I don't even want to allow those two to have weapons!"
Yona turned on her father, "Then you do it, father!"
King Il gave a childish response, turning away stubbornly as he grumbled out ,"nope. I don't wanna get hurt"
"My, such a coward!" Yona berated, "Father, you-"
"Yona!" Soo Won interrupted before she could finish her sentence, distracting them from their little spat, "Come down, I'll show you how to ride a horse!"
Yona grinned eaderly, "Yeah!" She then ran off to get down to where Soo Won and Hak were.
"Soo Won!" King Il exclaimed, but when he turned to try and stop Yona, she was already around the corner, before he sighed and looked at Soo Won reprimandingly.
When Yona got to where her cousin and childhood friend were, she struggled to get up on the horse that Soo Won was on.
"Relax, we'll help you" Soo Won encouraged his struggling cousin, as Hak came behind her and tried to lift her onto the horse.
"But…" Yona whined, shaking with the amount that she was trying.
"Please hurry, Hak is about to be crushed by the princess' weight" Hak droned out, a completely apathetic look on his face.
"I'm going to slap you!" Yona snapped, glaring at her childhood friend.
Soo Won smiled and held out a hand towards the red haired princess, "It'll be alright. You like horses, right?"
Yona looked at her cousin with a flushed face, "I do." She all but whispered, accepting his hand.
Soo Won easily got her all the way on the horse, leaning towards her, "Here, lean on me." As a result, she tensed up, very flustered from the proximity to her crush.
As they ambled along on the horse, Yona held onto the saddle with both hands, mumbling "This is cheating…"
"Eh?" Soo Won looked at her, confusion swirling in his eyes.
"Oh, um, well, you seem like you know how to handle a lady." Yona quickly tried to save herself, "I bet you're a real ladies' man at the mansion" She smiled nervously
"Ah…"
"Eh?! Are you really?!"
"What? No, of course not! True, I've had some marriage talks, but…" the more he talked, the more distressed and shocked Yona seemed to be, "b-but it's nothing final! Let's just drop this subject."
They were entering Hak's hearing range about now, causing him to glance at them for a second.
"There's no point in talking to you about it…"
Yona suddenly straightened her posture, unhappy about how Soo Won seemed to be treating her like a child, "I-I've had marriage talks too!"
"Really? With who?" Soo Won asked, just as they were beginning to pass Hak and his horse.
Yona looked thoughtful for a second, before answering, "With Hak!"
Hak and his horse both looked at Yona, Hak with a look that was a cross between disgruntled and suspicious on his face. Meanwhile, Yona was having an internal monologue that managed to both scold herself and yell at Hak at the same time. "Um...that…" Yona began to mumble.
"I think that's great" Soo Won said, "Congratulations."
Yona was now inside the castle, looking back on what happened with Soo Won earlier that day, "How cruel, Soo Won, how could you believe a lie like that!" She dropped her head onto her arms, which her on the table in front of her.
"You're the cruel one, and a nuisance" Hak snarked immediately after Yona was done, as he walked by behind her.
Min-soo, a light haired servant set down the tea next to the red haired princess.
King Il approached the table she was laying her head upon, "actually, getting married may come true for you."
This caused Yona to lift her head and look at her father, "Huh?"
"It's about time you start thinking about a fiance"
"N-No! I want Soo Won to be-"
"It can't be Soo Won!" King Il all but yelled. Shocked, but soft gasps went around the room.
Yona was getting up on her feet now, "Father, you have no say in who I fall in love with. I-"
King Il did not let her finish, "Yona. I've given you everything you've wanted. Beautiful hairpins and earrings, a detached palace, botanical garden, everything but weapons, I've provided. However, no matter how much you wish for it, I cannot give you Soo Won." King Il began, looking straight at his daughter, "You are the princess of Kouka. Your husband will be the king of this country."
There was a small silence before Yona spoke again, quieter this time, "Soo Won is the son of Uncle Yuhon, your older brother…he's of royal blood…"
"Yes, but I, the king, will decide who becomes heir…"
"Why…? Soo Won is a great person…" Yona wasn't even looking at her father anymore, more at the ground in front of him, though her words kept coming out without her thinking much of it, "you won't even touch a weapon. You're just a cowardly king…"
King Il acknowledged this, "True, I am a cowardly king. Your mother was attacked by bandits and killed. Royal lives are always being threatened, which is why I never wanted to remarry. Yona, don't you wish for Soo Won's happiness?"
"I don't understand. I don't understand, father…"
Yona was leaning against a wall outside, watching the rain fall, thinking about her father's words and Soo Won, when she heard a splash. Her head whipped towards that direction, "Who's there? Hak? It's Hak, isn't it? Quit playing stupid games…" The man that came around the corner, however, wasn't her snarky servant, she couldn't see his face clearly, the shadows hid it.
As he reached towards her, she gasped in shock and immediately began scooting away from him, before getting up as quickly as she could, running away from the suspicious man in a flurry of panic. She almost tripped at some point, but she recovered before he was able to get to her. She turned the corner and bolted into the first room she saw, turning around and shoving the door closed with both hands, despite the darkness.
As she stood there, panting, a hand suddenly came out of nowhere and covered her mouth, she struggled and tore the person's hand off of her mouth, screaming her crush's name.
"Yona..?" She turned around with teary eyes, finding that the man who covered her mouth was, in fact, her dear Soo Won.
"Soo Won…"
"I'm sorry, did I startle you? You just barged in here, so…" Soo Won lit the candles in the room. When he saw that she didn't respond, he regarded her once more, "Yona…?"
"S-Some...stranger...tried to…" When she mentioned this, he walked to the door and peeked outside of the room, seeing no one.
"There's no one around." He assured, turning back to her.
"N-No way…" Yona grabbed her arms, a traumatised look came over her face, and she began shivering violently. Tears began welling up in her eyes as her thoughts went deeper down the path they started.
"Yona?!" Soo Won ran over to her, pulling the top layer of his clothes off to cover his cousin, "Don't worry. I'm here."
"Soo Won…" The tears began to flow. She pulled the large clothing over her head tighter, "No...I can't be with you, Soo Won!"
"Why not…?"
"Because…"
Soo Won stood up and turned around, bangs over his eyes, "If you'd rather be beside Hak, I'll walk you to his room"
"Huh?" Yona let go of the cloth over her, letting it fall as she stared up at Soo Won.
"You're his fiance, right?"
"No…"
"No need to keep it a secret. Hak will be angry if he finds out we're in a room by ourselves…" He then began walking towards the door slowly.
Yona reached out to Soo Won, the tears welling up again, "Soo Won...my feelings for you are…" This caused Soo Won to turn around to her.
"...It looks like the rain has eased off…" Yona looked up at him, taking her hands away from her eyes, "I'll take you to your room. We'll get a guard, too…"
"S-Soo Won, I…!" She reached out and tried to grab him, but he hit her hand away.
"I'm sorry, but please don't come close to me. I don't want to get the wrong idea…"
"Eh…?"
"I mean...well...what you just said...sounded like you had feelings for…"
"What if it's not the wrong idea…?" When Yona asked this, Soo Won softly gasped, "If it's not the wrong idea...would you mind that?"
"I don't know what to do...I'm suddenly seeing you as a woman…" Soo Won mumbled, avoiding Yona's gaze as he scratched the side of his head.
Yona stared at him for a bit, before realising something, "then what was I to you before?!"
"Eh? No, I mean, well...like a little sister?"
"I knew that!"
"R-Right…sorry...I'm a little slow in these things…"
Tears forgotten, Yona found herself observing Soo Won, "Was the marriage thing a lie?" She asked in an accusing tone.
"Well...I just meant it had come up, but I'm not ready to…" He was still avoiding her gaze, turning away from her.
"Soo Won, do I look like a woman?" Yona placed her hands on her hips and leaned towards him.
He glanced for a split second, "At least...I won't be able to hold your hand and sleep together anymore. I'd be up all night, tense."
Yona giggled a bit, "Well, all right. If you're thinking about me, even just a little...that's enough for now"
"Yona."
Soo Won has just given Yona her birthday present, and he was talking with Hak, when the dark haired general brought up a serious matter, "Say, do you feel anything? I can't put my finger on it, but something isn't right...like someone sneaked into the castle..."
A thoughtful look came upon Soo Won's face at that, "Yona was saying something like that, too."
This alarmed Hak, "What?!"
"You might want to keep an eye on people coming in and out today." Soo Won continued.
"Will do. I'll strengthen security in the garden area. Your highness, please stay with the princess!"
It was still somewhat light outside when Yona looked at herself in the mirror and left the room, determined to see her father and try to convince him to let her marry Soo Won. On the way to his room, she bumped into a very familiar chest, "S-Soo Won!"
Soo Won stared down at her with wide eyes, "Yona? I thought you were resting in your room?"
"Ah...I came out for a walk…" Yona mumbled out an excuse, playing with her hair, a smile on her face as she remembered Soo Won's compliment from earlier that day. When she looked back up at his face though, his eyebrows were furrowed and he looked deep in thought, "Soo Won?"
"Yona...it's dangerous out here, especially at night. Hak also expressed concerns about someone sneaking in…" Soo Won started, "I'd hate to see you get hurt." He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, "So please go back to your room and stay there for the night? I'll make sure that you have a guard stationed at your door"
Yona nodded absentmindedly, looking anywhere but at Soo Won, "I-I will…!" She whirled around, listening to Soo Won all too willingly.
Once she got back to her room, she sat down on her bed, sighing. Before she sat straight up, a determined spark in her eyes, "I'll just try to convince him tomorrow!" With that in mind, she looked around her room, not quite to the point of being tired yet. She ended up staring at her hand, as she tried to think of ways to convince her father the next morning.
Soo Won withdrew the blade from King Il's chest, a dark look in his eyes as he watched the older man fall to the ground lifelessly. He only looked up when he heard the door open, seeing a pale man with long, dark brown hair enter the room. "Kei Shuk…"
"Am I correct in assuming that no one saw you do the deed?" Kei Shuk looked at Soo Won with his visible eye, the other being covered by his long bangs.
"Not a single soul." Soo Won responded immediately, looking at the pale man out of the corner of his eye, "let me wipe my blade before we move on." He grabbed a cloth out from his robes, and began to wipe the fresh blood off of the sword, not looking forward to the next phase of their plan, at all. It's dangerous, and potentially traumatising for the princess, but he knew that it needed to be done if he wanted to keep the two people most important to him by his side and become king at the same time. Yona, Hak...please forgive my selfishness...
Yona was sleeping peacefully in her bed, though she jolted awake when she heard a painful cry from right outside of her room. "Wh-Who…?" She bunched the thick blanket up and held them up to her chest, staring at the door
She heard heavy, slow footsteps approaching her door before she heard something hitting it, and wood cracking. By now she was shaking violently, and she found herself withdrawing further into herself.
The wood of her door shattered as a gaping hole was created, making a tall, slender man dressed as a soldier grin when he spotted the frightened princess. He stepped through the hole, approaching Yona slowly, "oh don't worry, princess, I'll make this quick." He lifted his sword high over his head once he got within striking distance, letting Yona see the blood dripping off of it.
"N-No…" Yona breathed out, quickly trying to untangle herself out of her covers as she tried to get away from the man. She managed to trip out of the blade's path as it swung down, just in time, getting up and running towards the corner of her room, tears welling up out of fear.
"Oh, so it's going to be a game of cat and mouse, huh?" The man smirked, purposely taking slow steps towards the cowering girl.
When Yona noticed that the only way out of the room was through the door that the man was blocking the path of, she fell to her knees. She squeezed her eyes shut, arms above her head as she screamed the first name she thought of, "S-SOO WON!" A part of her knew that it was useless, for why would Soo Won be close enough to hear her desperate pleas for help? Nevertheless, she still called for him, "SOO WON!"
What happened next went by too fast for Yona's liking. She first gave up on surviving this encounter, all but resigning herself to what she thought her fate was. Then came the sound of desperate running, and a gasp. Instead of the pain of being sliced in half that she thought she was going to experience, she felt something warm, wet, and sticky splatter across her face. This was when she decided to open her eyes, seeing the man, slack jawed and wide eyed, with the tip of a sword sticking out of his chest. She reached up and touched her face with a shaking hand, looking down at it to see red. She hesitantly looked up to see that the person holding the sword that pierced her assaulter was none other than her crush and cousin, Soo Won.
"Ah...thank goodness I made it time…" He sighed in relief. "Yona...are you okay…?"
"Soo...Won…" She mumbled in shock. She then got up and flung herself at him, clutching at his garments tightly, letting her tears flow.
Soo Won wrapped his arms around her, "Sh...It'll be alright, I'm here…"