A/n: Happy new year! Hope 2017 will be great for y'all! Thank you so much for the reviews everybody! :D

(The Peak, Songak)

~Hyeong's POV~

It was a long walk, but the 3rd Prince Yo and I chatted a lot on the way and the trip wasn't tiring at all. And His Highness was right. The view of Songak from so high up was truly stunning. We ate up all of the fruits and snacks that his servants had prepared for our wonderful picnic.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Your Highness. I'm having such a nice time," I said demurely. "I do like the view very much. It's refreshing."

"Me too," he said warmly. "Especially when I have someone to share the view with. I've always wanted to share this with someone. Not a lot of nice things in life can be shared."

That had surprised me. I had rather thought — or assumed — that he had shared this view with plenty others before I came along and into his life. It was just so hard for me to believe that I was the first.

"Why haven't you then?" I felt compelled to ask. "I really thought that you'd have brought Lady Moongong or Lady Sinye here before."

He shrugged. "I've never felt the need to be romantic with them."

It didn't even occur to me that it might be interesting to query after why that was the case. I was more invested in something else, so I asked, "but you feel the need to be romantic with me?"

"Of course. How else am I supposed to charm you as much as you've charmed me then?" He replied smoothly and naturally. I really didn't have the intention of attracting his affections but I was too flattered to tell him that, especially when he was giving me such an inviting smile. "So tell me something that you like, Hyeong."

"Sure. I like chess, actually," I said smartly, having recalled what information about Prince Yo that I had collected from Prince Jung. It wasn't a lie; I did like chess but I just thought it would do me more good to mention it than just keep it to myself. And I could've mentioned other things that I like, like jewels and accessories and flowers, but that wouldn't resonate much with His Highness.

"Chess? Intriguing. I like it very much too. We must play a round someday," he suggested. "Who taught you to play chess? Your father?"

"My mother, actually," I answered. "And what about you, Your Highness? Was Queen Yu the one who taught you? Or was it the King himself?"

"No, it was my uncle, Wang Shikryeom," he revealed. "Technically he's my father's cousin, but we call him Uncle Shikryeom anyway. I'm particularly close to him because he's taught me a lot of things, including chess and politics, which...aren't really that different."

"Well, I'm a lady, so naturally I know nothing about politics, but I do know a bit about chess and I'd be happy to play a round with you, Your Highness," I said happily as it meant that he might visit or invite me to his residence for a game of chess. It would give us a reason to meet again and what wouldn't I give to make that happen!

"Only if you're prepared to lose," he said jokingly, but I decided to feign offense for fun.

"I said I like confident men, not arrogant men. There is a fine line between the two and I'm afraid Your Highness has crossed it," I folded my arms and looked away, turning my back to him.

"Have I now?" He guffawed breezily. I could only see him from my peripheral vision but rather it was his approaching presence, when he leaned in, that made me turn back around and drop my facade. He was so near me now, and made it difficult for me to breathe or speak.

"You smell nice, Hyeong," he commented gently. I suppose he wouldn't have noticed my perfume had it not been for our proximity. The tangential jump in topic took me off guard. I relaxed a little when he reclined, but then I also liked it better when he was closer to me. "But do tell me, why do you like a confident man?"

"Well, I've never really thought about the reasons, but I guess it's because you strive and succeed on your own, and that attitude inspires support from the people around you. It shows leadership and positive thinking, it's charismatic, so it draws me to you," I mused.

"That's funny. I was just wondering why you like confidence in a man, in any man, but you made descriptions of me instead," he remarked. "Are you sure you really like confidence or is it just me that you like?"

I chuckled slightly. "Your Highness will never quit teasing me."

"No, not when you're enjoying it so much. You might not like to admit it, but I know deep down inside it's what enthralls you," he said, and swiftly had exposed my feelings. "On the contrary I think you would be quite vexed if I stopped."

"Next time I see you, I ought to run from you," I blushed, again. But who was I kidding? I would probably want to run toward him rather than away from him, given how attracted to him I was.

"Only because you want me to run after you and chase you," he replied playfully. "Eventually I'll catch you."

"How can you be so sure of that?" I decided to question him, just to see if that would do anything to shake his confidence.

"For starters, you're already thinking about the next time we see each other," he pointed out. And he was right.

"Hmm, but I shan't let you catch me," I laughed defiantly.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" He smirked.

We were hoping to wait till the hour of sunset as I bet the view would be spectacular. But we didn't get the chance to do that as the sky turned grey quite quickly and thick clouds were forming. Fearing that it would rain soon, we had to be on our way.

"Do you think we'll be able to get back in time?" I asked him worriedly.

"We should be able to make it," he replied. "But only if we take the shortcut."

"There's a shortcut?" I asked incredulously. "Why didn't we take it when we went all the way up here?"

"Well, I wanted to have more of your time to myself," he said shamelessly.

"At the cost of my sore legs?" I huffed.

"You can ask your handmaiden to give you a massage once we get you home," he suggested.

"At the cost of Woljin's sore arms?" I raised my eyebrows. "That's even less acceptable."

"Come on," he laughed. "The shortcut is just ahead."

"What a relief," I said sardonically, but deep inside I did actually find it a pity that our date was cut short.

"We're almost there. But, here's the catch," he said sneakily.

I eyed him dubiously. "Should I be worried?"

"Of course not. I'm here with you. Why would you ever have anything to worry about?" He replied smoothly. "Just that the shortcut is slightly dangerous. There's no concrete path and at a point you'll have to jump. It's tricky, but not insurmountable."

"What?!" I gaped at him, but didn't dare stop in my tracks because we were truly in a hurry. I was really beginning to feel occasional raindrops on my head and on my face.

"It's here. We'll have to jump here," he pointed.

I looked down and found that the fall was probably four meters. A rough guess. I gulped. "Well, I see why we didn't take this shortcut up now." Because there was no way up. One could only jump from here but not climb up.

"Yes. It doesn't look safe, I know, but it saves time. I'm going to go first so I can catch you if you fall, alright?" He offered.

"No. There's no way I'm doing it. Let's just go back and take the other route. Please, Prince Yo," I begged.

"Hyeong-ah, we don't have time for that," he stated, shaking his head. "Even that path will be dangerous anyway, once the rain begins to pour and we're both drenched."

He was right. I looked very reluctant and my palms were sweating so much in my curled fists, but I had to agree anyway. So he did the jump — a perfect execution — and landed flawlessly and effortlessly, as if his body was built for jumps like these. Speaking of his body, he was really fit. He was quite tall, and his arms were muscular and strong. He posed, and was ready to catch me in case anything went wrong, because obviously I wouldn't be able to land as beautifully as he did. Even if I'd fall clumsily, it wouldn't be on the cold hard ground; it'd be into his arms. That thought was incredibly reassuring.

"Hyeong, you can gaze at me adoringly later. Jump first," he urged.

I chewed on my lip nervously and wiped my sweaty palms on my sleeves. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped.

When I reopened my eyes, I was in his arms. They were really strong and didn't fail me. He had one arm behind my back and my legs were hooked over his other arm.

Thank goodness I didn't fall to my death. I exhaled loudly in immense relief yet my heart was still racing, and I reckoned it wasn't solely because I had just done something so unbelievably dangerous. It was more because I was gazing at his handsome face from such a close distance. He was so good-looking, I was wowed. Just staring at his angular face and his sharp, chiseled jawline was very calming and soothing, yet at the same time it made my heart thump and pound loudly and quickly in my chest. Although my heart was beating fast, time seemed to slow down. It didn't even occur to me that he didn't even think it was a big deal and he kept walking while I was still in his arms and clinging to him as if holding on for dear life.

"Just let me know when you want me to put you down," he wriggled his eyebrows at me.

"Ah, I don't mean to make you carry me for a long distance. You can put me down now," I squeaked.

"Are you sure you want that?" He asked, but no doubt he knew the answer already.

I smiled demurely and held on tighter to him, entwining my hands behind his neck. "I think this is where I like to be."

"If you wanted to be in my arms, Hyeong-ah, you could've just asked," he stated.

"But it's nicer when you offer," I cooed.

"I'll certainly take note of that," he smiled.

"Why? You like having a woman in your arms? You have two wives," I pointed out.

"You're the one I'm going on a date with and you're the one in my arms right now...and you want to talk about my wives?" He said skeptically. "I'd much rather talk about you. Us." And we would've talked about it had it not been for the rain that was really getting heavier. It couldn't soak us yet but still we had to make haste.

Once we got to the bottom of the mountain he did put me down and we returned to the palace. He insisted on walking me back to Hyunhui Mansion. "I can't leave a lady on her own, especially not in this weather. A Prince must be more courteous than that."

"If you want to stay for dinner, it's fine as well. My family would be honored to have you," I offered.

"As much as I would like to meet your family, it'll have to wait. Tonight, Moongong is preparing my favorite dish, and Sinye made soup."

"Right, your beautiful wives that you refuse to talk about," I replied.

"Because it's complicated," he told me. And his tone was serious.

"Alright," I said. Maybe he just didn't want to explain. "What is your favorite dish, anyway?"

"Sweet and sour striped bass," he smiled boyishly.

"That's nice! But it's mostly because of who's cooking it...right?" I asked, but he didn't answer. We'd reached my place now, and I figured I shouldn't keep him any longer because I feared he might not be back to get back to his place in time. The drizzle was about to become a lot more unforgiving and I just had a hunch that a storm was on its way.

Woljin came out to receive me and she had an umbrella in hand. I decided to give it to Prince Yo instead as surely he'd need it. He took it, and I was hoping it'd give me an excuse to stop by his residence again and therefore get to see him. There were so many things we wanted to talk about during today's date but we didn't get to. We certainly needed a next date. He seemed genuinely interested in me, and there was so much more about him that I was yet to discover, especially his complex relationships with his wives. Of course I couldn't forget the feeling of being in his arms, and every time I thought of that I knew I needed to see him again.

A/n: Anyone else looking forward to them seeing each other again? Hope you guys liked their date! Be sure to leave a review for me! :P

P.S. The evil Queen is making an appearance in the next chapter. Beware! :O