A/N: Second part on my Goryeo Chronicles series! For more details about this series, check my bio ;)

Goryeo, 970

She raised her hands to the hood of her cloak and pulled it closer around her. "I will be back shortly. Keep the room warm." She instructed. Her most trusted maid bowed her head and slid the doors closed.

Yeon Hwa spun on her heel and made her way through the dark courtyard. Her palace was surrounded with her men, soldiers from the Hwangbo clan devoted to her service and protection. As she passed them by at the gates she was not looked at twice. Still, she kept to the shadows of the walls as she took the road towards the gardens.

Other palace guards along the way had become used to her nightly wanderings around this place and day, and seeing how all she did was go there and then return to her quarters, apparently no one had deemed it necessary to intercept her or pass any report on the matter. At least, if So was aware of it he had never said a word.

After much, they had agreed that Hae Soo was a banned topic between them, for both their sakes. That way his resentment did not resurface. That way her resentment did not resurface.

She did not know, neither did she want to know, how often he went to that old praying tower – the place where he had buried the urn of her ashes – and even took the small girls with him. But every year, on the anniversary of her death, he would spend most of the night before the stones. It seemed like he would spend his life there if he could. She had not doubt that he wished he could.

And she did not do it every year, but sometimes, as soon as she was certain he had headed back and she saw his lights go out, Yeon Hwa went there herself.

Like tonight.

She put her palms together and bowed shortly. Despite everything, she had reached the conclusion that it was better to be respectful of the dead.

But that did not keep her, even now, from staring unconsciously hard at the spot on the ground where So had marked Hae Soo's resting place, with flowers and incense sticks. The lingering smell of those he had burnt just a while ago tickled her nostrils. She still hated the girl's guts.

So had been Yeon Hwa's childhood infatuation for as long as she could remember. Then her mother had sort of talked her out of it. Not really knowing who her interest was on, she argued that, as a princess, her marriage was something she would have no control over, and that it was better to cause herself as little discontent as possible.

Even though she promised to keep it in mind and somewhat stifled her attraction towards him, the idea of marriage – her princess marriage – had subconsciously terrified her ever since.

He was never around though. He rarely visited the palace, and when he did, his stay lasted no more than a couple days. He spent most of that time visiting the King alongside his Kang caretaker, and the rest of it standing outside of Queen Yoo's apartments, only to be told, after a very long wait, that Her "busy" Highness was unable to receive him.

She would be lying if she denied having followed him around during those occasions, as often and discretely as she could. Young and childish, sometimes she would coincidentally be waiting to greet the king when he was coming out of the throne room, or happen to hear him say he was disoriented and offer to lead the way.

He appeared rude and even menacing to others who approached him, but he was ever polite and oddly considerate towards her – if small things such as putting up with her awkward attempts at princess-like mannerisms could be taken as consideration on his part.

And though he was her older brother, they did not see or know each other well enough to think of themselves as siblings, so they were more like cordial acquaintances.

Still, it was more than anyone else in the royal family could claim to be with the mysterious prince, so it was good enough for her.

Then they had to leave. Her mother was accused of having killed the king's child, Lady Oh's unborn baby, and they were all but kicked out of the palace. She did not get to see him one last time. Growing up at Hwangju, despite her mother's warnings, she dreamed of a wonderful masked prince in a war horse, his piercing dark eyes gazing into her own as he gave a dazzling smile.

As she grew older, it became more unlikely. Masked princes were scarce around the family's otherwise deserted home, and the brightest smiles that ever went her way came from her brother, the only man she had learned to love.

In their situation, he eventually married, a woman from the Hae clan. Her new sister-in-law's relatives helped get them back on the King's good graces. They still inhabited their home in the outskirts, but were again seen around court. As the eldest unmarried daughter, she became her father's adoration, and several of her half-brothers lived nearby and gathered frequently at the palace. Life went on smoothly.

Until then.

That fateful season. He was coming to Songak. It would be the first time she saw him since their exile, and deep inside she was oozing with excitement. Everywhere she went, especially among her brothers, there were rumors of his scary deeds, and before he even set foot in the city he already had an ill reputation.

It did not matter to her. No matter what they spoke of him, he was the fourth prince. The king's son. The most wonderful man in her eyes.

He remembered her. Their first encounter had been in the presence of her brothers, and she had merely given him her widest smile and bowed respectfully. But then she found him alone, and he allowed her – very obstinately – to treat his wounds. To her inner delight, he remarked on how he had wondered about her, and that thought alone had been enough to make her happy for the next few days.

And then everything began to go downhill.

As a part of the marriage arrangement, her sister-in-law's youngest cousin had come to live with the family. Yeon Hwa had never paid the meek girl any heed. She did not speak much, wasn't particularly pretty or accomplished, and all she did was run simple errands around the manor and care for Lady Hae.

But ever since the accident which caused her to lose her memory, to say she had been behaving irreverently was an understatement, and more than once, Yeon Hwa had wished to teach her a good lesson. One day she took up the chance, and was beating her and her maid when, much to her amazement, So stopped her hand.

Not only him, but other princes intervened and spoke up for the girl. Even her beloved brother, who rarely questioned her decisions, was telling her that she had gone too far. It angered her beyond limit. Who dared stand in her way?

It did not stop there. Her behavior continued to be unacceptable. After Lady Hae's death, Yeon Hwa tried to have the girl married off, so she could be gone, but her treacherous clan had conveniently forgotten to mention just where they were planning to send her.

And when the king made her a court lady after she had done foolish things to avoid marrying him, her snatching of the princes became even more scandalous. Eun, Baek Ah, Jung, Mu, So…even Wook was trailing after her like a lost puppy. Lady Hae had only ever been a fortunate in-law to Yeon Hwa, but even she thought he was disregarding her way too easily. Not for the woman herself, but her brother was not like that. It was all because of that girl.

Yeon Hwa believed he even planned to find a way to marry Soo and leave the palace. She could not allow that. Her brother would become King to retaliate for their grievances. To give their mother the place she deserved and take them all to the top of the world. They had promised. She needed to disappear.

But no matter how much she tried to crush her, the girl always rose back up. Worst of all, So was always beside her – after it became obvious that Wook no longer had a chance with her.

Yeon Hwa liked So against her better judgment. He had turned away from her, that day when she could not help her horror at the hideousness of his scar, he had rejected her, he had no desire to be king either – the king her brother was not going to be now – and she doubted he was completely in the dark about her involvement in most issues. He was stubborn, he was soft, he was fixated on that stupid girl.

But she wanted him.

In the end, power and politics proved the better allies and she had her way. Her dream of sitting on the throne became true, even if just for a short ceremony. And her other dream, the other ambition of her heart, the man who had overcome all adversities and risen from even lower and more unlikely to that very top her brother could not reach, was sitting right next to her.

And yet was not.

Hae Soo was never going to stop angering her, and she was never going to leave.

Not even when she had already left.

The first time she had dared to set foot on this place was the night of Ju's first birthday. She'd had dinner at the nursery and stayed with him until late.

She invited the king over to see his son. Needless to say, he had not shown up or sent any word. She felt her blood boil. And then, by whispers not quite meant for her ears, she found out the king had sent several gifts to the fourteenth prince's manor a few weeks prior, the motive apparently being the young lady's long-since-passed sixth birthday.

She lost it. After seeing her son put to bed and sending her maids ahead to her own rooms, with barely restrained anger in her voice, it was all she could do not to storm towards that place. Careful not to alert any of So's informants, she went to the stupid pile of stones that called itself a praying tower.

"Not even now you can leave us alone." Cold and exhausted, and still physically weak from her daughter's birth, she picked up a larger stone and threw it, angry tears blurring her vision, aiming at the pile. She missed by a long shot. "Even dead you are still in the way!" she wailed as she painfully fell to her knees.

She was no fool. The girl – the youngest lady of Chungju – was Hae Soo's child. Not only that. It had not been the fourteenth prince who had fathered her.

If she had thought talkative, proud Jung raising a pretty daughter so discretely that not even his closest Yoo cousins seemed to know much was odd, it seemed more likely the minute she caught a glimpse of So's eyes when regarding her.

It was the same look he had given Hae Soo so many a time. When they were alone, when they were not, when he spoke of her. The look Yeon Hwa had freely seen only in her dreams. The look part of her still wished he could give her.

She was blind with rage, jealousy, and other things she did not know about. She had thrown a fit in her rooms the day she was certain of her suspicions and, after much thought, had the servants sworn to silence. She needed to pull herself together and be cautious. This was something she had not anticipated but that, being realistic, should not really surprise her all that much, and she could not let So know. It was better to bide her time.

Even as she waited on edge, he did nothing. Nothing of what she thought he would – bring the girl into the palace for instance. He could easily argue that the fourteenth prince's children would not be to blame for his 'treachery' – of course, unlike her brother's children – and take the girl in as a royal ward, or worse, come clear and claim her as his own. There was no way in hell she would be able to bear that.

But after a while, it did not seem like he would. He had even ended Jung's exile and welcomed him in Songak.

After that first time, when she knew they both had been to the palace for Hae Soo's death anniversary, she had only happened upon them once, and it was as she left that she got to see, briefly, So's treatment of her. It had been enough to increase the pressure in her veins.

Nothing much had happened since, and she believed she could let it go for a while – until that day. Until the day her son, his heir, had been so openly neglected and humiliated in favor of that bastard girl.

In her anger, all sorts of thoughts came into her mind. But in the common sense born from years of surviving her rank and, perhaps, age, she decided nothing would do. Things being what they were, it was too much of a risk.

She had no certainty if So was aware of her knowledge, but if something happened to the girl, she would likely be one of the first he suspected.

Not to mention, Jung was better kept out of the whole ordeal. With his temper and, surely, his new-found sense of protection, things would quickly get out of hand, and the last thing she needed were rumors surrounding her.

Through the careful means of various careful people, she kept a close eye on the situation, and realized he was in fact doing little, and with great discretion.

Smartly enough, the girl was to be known as a Yoo of Chunju, taking after Jung's second wife, and they only visited the palace every now and then. She came across them a few more times after that, but there seemed to be nothing that indicated the girl knew of her true parentage, and Yeon Hwa never addressed Jung on the matter.

She bowed once and shook her head. It all seemed so ridiculous now. For sure, Hae Soo would never stop being a bitter memory. But the girl lived. That was a fact. And as long as she stayed away, from Songak and from Yeon Hwa's little family, it could be tolerated. Even if So's heart had always been away too, and even if Yeon Hwa only had bits of it through her daughters, it could be tolerated.

"This year he also sent gifts," she told the cold stones. "Ahead of time, for a change." Why she still cared to speak alone at this place and bring such things up was beyond her. But it an odd way, it felt reassuring.

"And this year too, I am expecting him to do strictly what propriety and tradition demand on Ju's birthday, then call for grand blessings on Bo Hwa's two weeks later, the way he always does. I hate to see it, but at least it is my girl who steals his day," she went on. "I can only resent him so much for that, but I doubt Ju thinks the same."

Her beautiful, pitiful boy. She sighed. "He is too old now to care much about his birthday, though. He is the Crown Prince, and almost a man. He is already hurt by it, he does not bother."

Sometimes, only sometimes, she allowed herself to wonder, what would So and Hae Soo's son be like? From the times she had seen her, their daughter had grown into a proper young lady and, did Yeon Hwa hate to admit it, she was a pretty thing. But a son, an heir…would So have visited on his birthdays, taught him martial arts, or overseen his lessons the way he had not done for Ju?

She doubted Hae Soo would have spent cold nights alone in the nursery, or mourned alone the loss of her child…

She shook her head again.

It had already been. She had the throne she wanted, she could spend time with her husband like civilized people, and her children were in their rightful places, her son to inherit Goryeo. She had not come this far in her marriage, in her position, in her life, by clinging to her bitterness.

Well, maybe a little.

"I am here too often for my own good, or yours. Only because of that, I should not stop coming."

At the end of the day, Hae Soo had also been a woman fighting her way through.

Yeon Hwa's mother, for the most part, kept herself away from the scene, and she never got to know much about her half-sisters. She hated the way Soo had chosen to do it, but only Soo had seen them same things, no matter how differently. When she felt like talking about those past nuisances, Hae Soo was the truly the only one she could talk to, at least without having to expect an answer.

Besides, she had done it for so long already that it became habit.

On the way back to her quarters, her eldest daughter came to find her along the road.

"Mother?" she approached and linked her arm with Yeon Hwa's as they resumed their walking. "Were you not complaining of chills last night? How can you be out in the cold at this hour?"

She took her daughter's hand in both of hers and smiled briefly. "There was some business to see to."

The younger woman shook her head in a no-nonsense fashion. "Whatever are you doing around in the dead of night?" Yeon Hwa inquired in return.

"I looked for you in your rooms, there was something that kept bothering me." She pulled on the queen's arm and steered her across the courtyard. Yeon Hwa let her, wordlessly. "Come quickly. You will catch something."

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Something for you to consider.

Historically, Wang Ju was born in 955, some six years after Gwangjong became king in 949. His and Soo's daughter was born in early 950, according to the chronology I set for the series (check my bio). And so, when they meet, she has just turned six, since her birthday would be a couple days before the anniversary of Soo's death.

But before that, in episode 20, there was a scene of Yeon Hwa confronting So about not going to their son on his birthday. Since I made him send late gifts for his daughter's sixth birthday, I'm playing a bit with events and making as though that scene didn't happen, and Ju's birthday is about a month after So met the girl. Hence Yeon Hwa's conflict, and her having already found out about it.

Thanks for reading :3