A/n: Thank you all you wonderful people for reading and reviewing! Sending you lots of hugs and kisses. :D

(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)

~Hyeong's POV~

My eyes hurt so much the next morning. They were swollen and puffy and bloodshot. I just couldn't do anything today, or tomorrow, or the day after that. I didn't even want to get out of bed. It was all too much, and curling up in fetal position on my bed clutching my warm blanket seemed to take away a little bit of the pain and emotional wreck that I'd been through yesterday.

Woljin entered my chambers quietly, trying to not wake me, but I thought she knew that I was awake already. There was no way I could fall back asleep unless I had cried myself to sleep like I did last night. So I got out of bed and Woljin helped me get dressed and prepared for a day that would be very tough to get through.

With heavy, plodding steps, I sank down the stairs to the dining hall to have my breakfast. I sent Woljin to Okrin Palace to let Lady Kang and Lady Kim know that I likely wouldn't be visiting these few days, in case they were expecting me or worried.

Mostly, I felt numb. But that was only until I realized that out of all people, my unfeeling, irresponsible brother Geolha was the one who didn't feel or show a single tinge of grief or mournfulness. To be honest I felt ashamed to call him my brother. I couldn't believe he, or anyone actually, would have it in him to not care at all when his wife and child were dead.

"How could you be so heartless?" I croaked, glaring at him spitefully. And yet there he was, finishing his breakfast laxly and getting ready to leave for work as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning to you too, sister," he stuffed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and evidently was not eager to talk to me. But he was stuck with me. He was the only one at the dining table. My parents and Geolsang were not up yet.

"Your attitude is reprehensible." I wanted to yell at him, but I was losing my voice. I couldn't even bear to talk to him throughout the whole of yesterday. I shut everyone out and had I not been so occupied with crying and mourning Nangyung, I would have snapped and barked at Woljin too.

"It's none of your business, Hyeong," he said dismissively and nonchalantly, adopting the same tone that he had always used with Nangyung if he was ever bothered to speak to her. He made me realize and learn it the hard way that the opposite of love was not hate but, rather, apathy. He had all the love for Lady Dongsanwon and a lack of any concern for Nangyung. Furiously, I couldn't stand it anymore and slammed my hand on the wooden table, causing the tray and the plates to shift toward the other end of the table.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" I shouted. "I won't tolerate your contemptible behavior. Nangyung deserved so much better." I had to stand up to Geolha for this was something that I knew Nangyung dared not do. "She'd always give excuses for you, like you ought to be pitied for being in a marriage that you didn't ask for. She's scared of losing you even though the sad truth is that she never had you. But I'm not her and I'm not afraid of you. I'm not going to let up on you and I don't care that you claim to be in love with someone else. Lady Dongsanwon could never be yours anyway; why are you still so obsessed with her?!"

Geolha stood up abruptly and violently, almost causing the table to tip over. I barely had the energy to flinch. I was only able to elicit such reaction from him because I was mentioning his lady love. His stupid love and stupid hopes. I was pretty sure Lady Dongsanwon was the only person in the world that he cared about. There was no way anybody else could make him this furious. He glowered at me irefully but I didn't let him interrupt.

"Why couldn't you just be happy with what you have?!" I demanded. "What you had, actually. I correct myself. Nangyung never did anything wrong. Ever since she married you, every single thing that she did was in an attempt to please you, because she was a dutiful wife and she tried her best to make you happy. But what did you give her in return?! You threw her aside and neglected her and never went beyond the formalities, even when in public. You treated her so poorly and even when she was carrying your child you still didn't concern yourself with her health and welfare! It was so obvious to everyone that you didn't care about her, at all, and it's shameful! We all know that love is not what most marriages are based on. So why can't you just accept it and deal with it?! For goodness' sake, Geolha, you're 22, but all you do is hang around the Crown Prince and read stupid poems. You can't even do a decent job at taking care of your wife. You're good for nothing and I hate you. Do you even have any idea how frantically we were looking for you yesterday?"

"That's enough!" He seethed at me. I didn't flinch when he closed in on me and grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me. I narrowed my eyes at him and remained irate. "Just don't ever talk to me about Nangyung or Moongeum. Neither of them will ever be mine again. I don't want to entertain your complaints; I haven't got the time for that. So excuse me, Hyeong, because I'm going to go hang around the Crown Prince and read some stupid poems now. I'd rather do that than deal with a sister who can't and won't understand and support me," he growled and headed right for the door.

"You don't deserve me as a sister," I whirled and grabbed him by the arm relentlessly. "And you're not going anywhere. Today you're going to stay at home and think about all of your mistakes."

With a violent jerk of his arm he got rid of my clutch. Throwing a final, distasteful glance at me, he walked out the door, and didn't look back.

(Heunghwa Palace, Songak)

~Geolha's POV~

I could have my much needed peace when I was at work. Dealing with politics was tricky and tough, but it could never put me off as much when compared to how much my late wife and my bothersome sister riled me.

"I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly yesterday," I said to Prince Mu, sighing as we got seated at his office. "Truly, I had meant to stay, had it not been for the emergency."

"Geolha, it's fine. Your wife was going to give birth, of course you ought to be there," he smiled, because he knew not of the tragedy.

"Yes, of course," I replied perfunctorily.

"You...don't sound convinced," he observed.

I stifled a sigh and explained everything to him, including how I got rebuked by my very own sister this morning. But I also expressed my wish to never talk about this ever again. "I'd much rather talk about the exorcism rite that's coming up. Where were we up to? What did I miss? Were your other advisors able to offer any solutions throughout yesterday's discussion?"

Now that we were approaching the 12th lunar month, the exorcism rite was quite a big deal. It aimed to ward off evil spirits, but I doubted it would do much to ward off caitiffs who were seeking to use this as an opportunity to assassinate the Crown Prince. We knew this because yesterday, before all of the bad stuff happened, Choi Jimong, who was the King's astronomer and also one of Mu's counsellors, had reported this, and that it had been a new rumor around the royal court.

During the rite, as per tradition, one of the Princes would be chosen to be the ritual exorcist, to lead the ceremony. This time, it was Mu. His task was to play the role of the Fang Xiang Shi, which meant he'd have to dress up, wear a mask with four golden eyes, and carry a lance and shield, to expel malevolent spirits and orient unwanted spirits in the directions to which they belonged. He was entrusted with the task of orchestrating the seasonal ritual, to chase on disease-causing demons from houses and buildings in not just the palaces but also in the villages and towns. He also had to lead a funeral procession, to exorcise corpse-eating spirits away from a burial chamber, and to keep the deceased safe. But the ceremony that really drew attention was that he, along with his assisting deities played by other princes or noblemen at court, would perform a dance together, all of them clad in a black upper garment and a red lower garment. As all of the performers would don masks, there'd be more confusion about who was staging the attempt on the Crown Prince's life, yet it also implied that the mastermind, or at least one of their agents, was someone within the walls of Songak.

"Well, it seems Jimong has someone in mind. Someone who might be willing to substitute for me as the Fang Xiang Shi," Mu replied solemnly.

I raised my eyebrows doubtfully. "But you don't want to put anybody's life at risk."

"No. I mean, I certainly don't want to die, but I'd hate it if an innocent person has to die for me at the hand of someone who intends to assassinate me." He was feeling really conflicted about this, furrowing his eyebrows.

"And who might that be?" I inquired.

"My younger half-brother, the 4th Prince So," he answered. "Apparently he is resolved to stay at Songak at all costs, even though I've yet to figure out whether or not my royal father intends to allow it."

"Didn't you just meet with His Majesty yesterday evening, in private? You've told me that the King seemed to have something serious to discuss."

"Oh, that. Yes, I did meet with him, but it was not the exorcism rite that he wanted to speak to me about. It's about planning a marriage."

"You'll be taking another wife?" I enquired.

"No, not me."

"The King is going to marry again. I'm very surprised," I said sardonically. But it actually wasn't that bad a thing after all, since another marriage would mean that His Majesty would have less time and attention to devote to Moongeum, which made it easier for me and her to have our affair.

"It's not the King, either. It's the Princess," Mu revealed.

That took me by surprise. "Princess Yeonhwa? Oh, I hadn't realized that Her Highness is of marriageable age already."

He smiled. "Yes, she's 16 now. Time flies. It's really about time to pick a suitable husband for her."

"And the King wanted your input on who he ought to marry off his favorite daughter to?"

He nodded, looking pleased. "Khitan has always been a most salient threat to Goryeo, but with my sister Chuja there, happily married to their Emperor, there seems no particular need for Yeonhwa to be married to a foreign emperor, king or prince now."

"So it's the Goryeo noblemen that the King is considering," I concluded.

"That's correct. Particularly those whose families will be in Songak most of the time, as we will be taking into account Yeonhwa's personal preference to not have to leave the royal court even when she is married," he added. "His Majesty would like to know if there is anybody that I reckon would be good enough for his younger daughter. Oh, and the King also specified that the Princess' future husband must be her intellectual equal."

"Interesting," I commented. This Princess was something special. "Did Her Highness request that personally?"

Mu smiled. "Yeonhwa would know better than to open her mouth and ask for it so blatantly. But His Majesty knows that it is what Yeonhwa desires. I trust her mother, Queen Hwangbo, has also hinted at it."

"I see," I hummed. An intelligent and astute Princess, nothing like what most noblewomen were: shallow and silly. I happened to have an example of that at home. "Then, who did you suggest as the Princess' suitors?"

"Well, I haven't given His Majesty any suggestions yet. I should first take the time to familiarize myself with the unmarried noblemen at Court, to find out what they're like, so that's what I'm going to do these days," he announced. "I was going to suggest you, Geolha, but then you're married to Lady Nangyung and I think the King would prefer to have Yeonhwa be her husband's first wife…" he felt bad as soon as he'd finished his sentence. "I didn't mean to bring up your loss. I'm sorry about that."

"Your Highness has nothing to apologize for," I said flatly. "And to be accurate, I'm technically no longer married now." But I did not dare add that I'd be available if neither the King nor the Princess minded a widower, because I did not desire to go into another marriage, even if it was to a Princess, when I still loved Moongeum and I didn't think I could ever stop loving her.

"I'm not going to push you into a marriage if you do not desire it, Geolha," he said firmly.

I laughed wryly. "In that respect, Your Highness treats me better than my parents are treating me."

He chuckled. "You're my friend, Geolha. I won't force you into anything. Nor would I do that to my little sister. I want nothing but the best for her as well as for you."

I sat and ruminated over his words. He treated his younger sister so well. It made me reflect on how my relationship with my own sister was, even though I was still pissed off because of her. I didn't think I was really ever close to Hyeong and Geolsang because I was so much older than them so we had separate groups of playmates. It also seemed as if Hyeong and I had nothing in common. She hated my hobbies and interests; I hated that she had none and did nothing all day. It wasn't even really so much about Nangyung that we quarreled. It was a buildup of a lot of differences between us. But perhaps it didn't have to be that way.

A/n: Geolha is quite a jerk, huh?

P.S. Reviews are very much appreciated and would make my day!