A/n: Hope you guys liked Sinye from previous chapters! If you liked the interactions between Haesoo and Hyeong I think you'll like this chapter too. ;D

(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)

~Hyeong's POV~

"Woljin, why is this happening to me?" I asked drawly. Discomfited, I rested my head on my chin as my handmaiden combed my hair.

"My Lady is still thinking about the 3rd Prince Yo?" Woljin teased.

I pouted. "I can't help it! I've only met him twice; he should not have such an effect on me. And yet I catch myself playing back my conversations with him...brief moments, but they seemed to last forever. You know, the way he spoke and every move that he made. His facial expressions and gestures and body language."

"My Lady does realize His Highness may not even know your name," Woljin pointed out.

"Oh, now that's depressing. I shouldn't even be allowed to think of him then," I declared. "Woljin, we must do something to take my mind off things."

Normally I would be spending the day with Prince Won and his family, but today his mother Lady Dongyangwon would be visiting Okrin Palace, so I better not get in the way of their family day. But still I needed something to do. Especially now that Nangyung was gone, and Lady Myunghee was less and less available. She was ill again with a really bad cough.

"Well, last time you really liked the crystal cakes that were served at Yeondeok Palace, my Lady," Woljin suggested.

"Oh! Yes indeed those were nice," I replied, and my stomach growled in agreement, making both me and Woljin giggle. "I do want to try to make crystal cakes. Join me, Woljin?"

"Of course, my Lady," Woljin smiled.

Later that day, Woljin informed me that in an hour's time the crystal cakes would be ready to be served. I was pleased with the attempt I had made, but it seemed boring to eat them alone. My parents were not at home, Geolsang was at Howon Palace with Prince Jung right now, and I hadn't forgiven Geolha yet — we hadn't exchanged a single word or glance since our last argument.

"Woljin," I said as I got an idea. "Will you make a trip to Gyeongchun Palace for me, please?"

"To the residence of the 3rd Prince?" She asked.

"Yes. I'd like to invite someone over to share these crystal cakes with us. But not His Highness. Last time when we were making lanterns with Princess Yeonhwa, I remember that Prince Yo's concubine, Lady Sinye, loved the crystal cakes," I explained. Her biggest hater, Lady Moongong, just had to take the last piece and give it to her younger sister Lady Moonsung, just to mock Lady Sinye.

"I shall let Lady Sinye know that Your Ladyship requests her presence here," Woljin bowed.

"Lady Sinye," I bowed cordially and received our esteemed visitor. "I don't think we've been formally introduced to each other before. I'm An Hyeong; my parents are Lord An and Lady Choi."

"Lovely to meet you, Lady Hyeong. I've heard of your lord father before," she replied. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"To these crystal cakes I've made for us today," I smiled, and at my cue Woljin approached us with a tray in hand. "It's your favorite food, is it not, Lady Sinye?"

"It is indeed, Lady Hyeong," she smiled so very joyfully. "I'm so honored that you remember. It's so nice of you to think of me."

"Well, I'm afraid Lady Moongong did make it pretty difficult for all of the ladies in the room to forget," I said apologetically. I felt bad that she had to put up with and share a husband with such a formidable woman.

She simply shrugged. "Her spite does not affect me. She thinks I'm here to steal her husband away from her, but that's not what I'm trying to do. Still, I suppose I can understand why she'd treat me so harshly. No woman would like to see her own husband turn away from her to another, especially not to another woman that he considers his ally, advisor, confidante and best friend."

It seemed she and Prince Yo was a lot closer than I could have thought. But as I spent the afternoon with her, I found it easy to get along with her, and she seemed wise and mature, so I liked to be around her. This was probably also why she was so important to Prince Yo. In fact chatting with her and listening to her — it was so illuminating and she was able to make me view some things differently. It felt sort of like how the 13th Prince Baekah was influencing me to be more open minded and not just scratch the surface.

It seldom happened that there were so many things we could talk about considering we were only really properly meeting each other for the first time. But we clicked instantly and that didn't happen with everyone. We had such a wonderful time and it was so nice to know her, but it was late now, sundown again, the time of the day that never once failed to remind me of her husband. And once I stopped thinking about him it was difficult for me to stop.

Just as Sinye was supposed to leave and go home, Woljin had informed me that she and the other kitchen maids had made another batch of crystal cakes, now neatly packed into a box, as a treat for our guest. I didn't give Sinye a chance to refuse, not even when I offered to walk her home. Although this was goaded by a selfish curiosity on my part, for I was interested in knowing what the residence of the 3rd Prince looked like so I needed an excuse to visit. But I swore this tentative friendship I was striking up with Lady Sinye was not an excuse for anything. Genuinely she was good company and it was nice to have her around. I let her know that she could feel free to drop by Hyunhui Mansion anytime and I'd welcome her.

On our way out, with our handmaidens following, we ran into my brother. I wished it were Geolsang instead, but no, it was Geolha coming home from work. I didn't pay him any attention though, and didn't bother to introduce him to Sinye, and she didn't ask. I didn't think I could ever really forgive Geolha over Nangyung. It was necessary to move on, but for him to have absolution? No.

Separating my thoughts from him, I kept chatting with Lady Sinye on the way.

"Actually, Hyeong, I think I remember you from somewhere. Was it you whom Prince Yo was speaking to when we were about to leave Yeondeok Palace last time?" She asked.

"Why, yes, that's indeed me."

"Oh, you never told me how you and His Highness were acquainted. How did you two first meet?"

"To be honest, we're not really acquainted…" I confessed. "We've never been properly introduced to each other and His Highness doesn't even know my name."

"That can be easily remedied," she replied breezily. "I think His Highness is home already."

And indeed he was, walking up to the gates to personally welcome his wife home. He already looked pleased to see Sinye back, and deep inside I was hoping he'd be pleased to see me too. But he didn't even know who I was.

"I trust you've had a great day today," said the Prince, smiling at Sinye. It seemed his wife Lady Moongong was nowhere to be seen. Which perhaps was not bad, as it was clear she did not like seeing others hold her husband's attentions.

"Indeed. Your Highness can tell me about your day over dinner," Sinye smiled too. "I'm going to put this in the kitchen first," she said, pointing to the box of crystal cakes her maid was carrying. I sent Woljin to go with them to help, which conveniently left me alone with the Prince. Ah, I should not be enjoying this so much.

"It's that time of the day again, my Lady," said His Highness mischievously as the sky turned more colorful, more pinkish. I tried to prevent my cheeks from doing the same and didn't fail miserably. "If we keep meeting like this, and you still won't tell me your name, I'm going to feel quite frustrated."

It was my turn to smirk. Was it bothering him too that he didn't know my name? Clearly our previous meetings, albeit fleeting, had some sort of an impact on him. Perhaps they didn't affect him as much as they affected me, but it was better than nothing, because reciprocation, no matter the extent, still meant something to me.

"That's because Your Highness never asked," I replied. This time, I sounded more confident.

He stepped closer to me, exhibiting evident interest and he was not about to let me get away from him. "So all I need do is ask? And I shall receive?"

Ah, he was eager. This made me think that I maybe had him in my grasps, so the least I could do was try to tease him a bit, playfully getting back at him for mocking me last time. "Oh, I'm afraid it's not that simple, my Prince."

"Why's that?" He asked, willing to play. He took another step forward but I took a small step back, to lure him in. I didn't even have any idea how or why this was going so smoothly, but I was liking it very much. Those feelings were back. Those feelings that I felt only when I was around His Highness.

"Because, my Prince," I answered singsong. "A lady does not just give her name away to anybody. You'll have to earn it," I smiled impishly. "I don't want to give it out to people who aren't deserving of it, so I must know Your Highness better before making a decision."

"Is that so?" He chuckled in amusement. "Very well then. I'll play by the lady's rules. I won't ask Sinye for your name. I'm confident that I can earn it myself."

"And I've always taken a liking to a man with confidence," I commented smoothly.

"How about this then?" He suggested. "The day after tomorrow, I don't have to rehearse for the dance at the exorcism ritual. So I have the day off and I'd like to take you someplace special. How would my Lady like that?"

"I would love to spend time with Your Highness," I blurted. I didn't mean to reveal it so straightforwardly, but it was just difficult to be fully in control and maintain that control the whole time when I was with him. I could never forget the authoritative aura he had when I saw him for the very first time. There was just a regal air about him that made me want to submit to him.

Woljin had returned from the kitchens to rejoin me at my side. It was time to go. When Prince Yo saw her, he said to me, "well then, I will see you the day after tomorrow."

I bowed and took my leave, but not before shooting him a puckish smile.

On our way back home, Woljin and I passed by some random guest chambers at court that normally we wouldn't look twice at. But this time we couldn't not pay attention to it because several princes gathered while Princess Yeonhwa had a whip in her hand and seemed to be penalizing two maids. Except only one of them seemed to be a maid, judging from her uniform, and the other wasn't. In fact she looked to be a noblewoman but why would a noble lady be subject to corporal punishment like that?!

Woljin gasped when she saw who the maid was. "Chaeryung! That's Chaeryung!" She was extremely worried. That was her friend after all. I felt bad for them but I stopped Woljin from stepping forward, only allowing her to watch from a distance with me. What could she do anyway? She was just a maid too. And it was the Princess' responsibility to manage the servants at the palace — it would not be appropriate for us onlookers to stop her from doing her job.

Although we were merely observing from afar, we still took a precautionary step back when we saw who it was that came along out of nowhere to boldly put a stop to the punishment that Princess Yeonhwa was warranting. It was the wolf dog! The 4th Prince Wang So! They said there was no humanity in him, only brutality. He had the ugliest scar on his face, behind that mask he never took off. We ought to fear him and stay away for our own good.

Whatever the wolf dog had done, Princess Yeonhwa really seemed to stop. Chaeryung and the other girl — oh my goodness! Was that...was that Lady Hae Soo?

Woljin and I only dared approach the 'victims' when the incident seemed to have been put to rest. Prince Wook led Prince So to somewhere we couldn't see, Princess Yeonhwa seemed to storm off with her handmaids trailing after her and cowering in fear of her wrath, whilst the other Princes went another way. Woljin rushed to Chaeryung immediately.

"We better get a physician to check your injuries," I said to Hae Soo worriedly.

"i didn't get hurt," she murmured. "Underneath so many layers of clothes, I hardly felt anything," she explained wryly. "Besides, I don't want Myunghee to worry. She's already very sick."

That made me sad. "What have you done to anger Her Highness?" I whispered.

"Neither Chaeryung nor I had done anything wrong. It was a misunderstanding, really. But I have no doubt Her Highness had been looking for an excuse to give us a hard time," she sighed, and adjusted her clothes. "Is it really so wrong that I just wanted Chaeryung to return a hairpin to Prince So?"

I gulped at the mention of the wolf dog. Scary. "Hae Soo, why would you have something that belongs to His Highness in your possession?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a long story and you don't want to know. In fact, I wish I never knew," she groaned and shook her head.

Was it really that bad? "It...it's not a token of his...affections, is it?" I inquired daringly.

"What?" Soo blinked at me.

"His Highness didn't give this hairpin to you because he's...pursuing you, right?" I said cautiously.

"Pursuing me? Oh, no, no," she laughed wryly. "He wants me dead. There's no way he would ever want to court me."

He wanted Lady Soo dead! Oh, dear. I really didn't want to know.

"He scares the living daylights out of me," she admitted, and her voice was shaky. I looked her in the eyes and saw that she was about to cry. "Just every single time he sees me he threatens to kill me. What have I ever done wrong? I never meant to offend him!" She protested and really began to cry.

"Oh, Soo," I hugged her. I felt so bad for her. She always got picked on.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be like this," she said dully, her voice muffled.

"No, it's alright to cry," I said soothingly as she gripped my sleeves in her fists.

"I just don't want to cry in front of Prince Wook. I want to be strong for him. I really do. I desperately do. But all I seem to have ever done is give him trouble. Sometimes I hate myself for that, you know? Achieving the opposite of what I wanted." The frustration in her voice was real.

"You're not weak," I said in reassurance and sympathy. "You've just been strong for too long." I handed her my handkerchief. "Do you want to come over to my residence? It's not far away. We can sit and talk about it if you want," I offered.

"No, I should go home and see Myunghee," she said sadly. "Thank you though. You've been kind to me, Lady Hyeong. I won't forget it."

A/n: Thanks for reading! Please review! :D

P.S. There'll be more Wang Jung in the next chapter, and also Geolha does something dangerous and risky. :P