A/n: May I have your attention please, dearest readers! It has been brought to my attention that since the An family is not royalty, it would be more befitting for their residence to be called a mansion rather than a palace. As such, 'Hyunhui Palace' will now be known as 'Hyunhui Mansion'. That is all. Thanks! \^o^/

(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)

~Hae Soo's POV~

Lady Hyeong's birthday party was the first that I had ever been to, since I got here. It reminded me of how I had celebrated my birthdays back then: taking a trip to an amusement park, going on a shopping spree, and karaoke night with balloons and glitter all over the place. Even back then it was my best friend who threw birthday parties for me, every single year. But now when I thought about her betrayal...it really did hurt. I never thought that she would do that to me.

"Thank you so much for the soap you and Myunghee made for me. They're so colorful," said Lady Hyeong to me. "By the way, Lady Soo, you are 16 too, correct? Has your family picked your betrothed for you yet?"

"Not yet. My parents passed away when I was little, so I've been growing up with Myunghee ever since. I don't think it would be a good idea for her to worry about marrying me off, given her diminishing health," I sighed.

"But have you thought about what you would look for in your future husband?" She inquired.

"Yes…" I nodded admitted, but did not reveal that I was once close to marriage, when I was still Hajin and not yet Hae Soo. I had to break off my engagement when I found out that my fiance had been cheating on me. But nobody here in Goryeo needed to know that about me. "I think I would like a husband who has a soft personality, is agreeable, and attentive. It's important that he puts his loved ones first and knows how to look after them. It would be a wonderful bonus if he could be versatile too."

"It sounds as if you're describing a specific person," Hyeong giggled.

"I'm not," I smiled shyly and shook my head. It's not that I didn't want to be honest with her. I was thinking of the 8th Prince Wook all along, but it's not that I was describing him. Rather, he was just fitting my description and meeting my standards. He really was the man of my dreams. All of this, time-traveling to Goryeo, and falling in love with someone as caring and gentlemanly as Prince Wook...it did feel like a dream. "I only know one person who's like that, and said person is already married."

"Married? But how's that a problem?" she asked, almost childishly. My eyes grew a little wider. I almost forgot that although I — or Hajin — would never be able to tolerate polygyny, this was another time period and it was the norm for men to have more than one wife. Right. I needed to keep that in mind.

"I...I shall hope to never have to share my husband," I said breezily. But deep inside I was firm and sure that I would never accept what I considered to be infidelity. I felt like a hypocrite for thinking like that, because of my feelings for Prince Wook, especially since he was married to none other than my very own cousin. Was I falling for the wrong person? Or was the timing just not right?

"I think a lot of us share that ideal. I always look at my parents and think to myself, this is what I want my future to be like. But then, even if my future husband has more than one wife, if I can get along with his other wives, I don't think I would mind it too much. Look at how well Lady Kang and Lady Kim are getting along," said Hyeong. I then understood that to many noblewomen in Goryeo, monogamy was a preference, but in my eyes it was a requirement.

"What about your ideal type, then?" I enquired. It wasn't just that I wanted to get to know Lady Hyeong better. The more that I could blend in by appearing to conform to the morals and values of this era, the better I could keep myself safe.

"My type? Well, I know for sure that I'm attracted to confident men. There's charisma in that, and they can always be honest and straightforward with me. And I think I need someone who's capable of protecting me, because at the end of the day, marriages are alliances and at its core, its purpose is for women to have security," she answered. "I can't deny that I need that."

I stifled another sigh but I really wanted to shut my eyes in disbelief at how utterly different and backward this society's attitudes and beliefs were. Sure, I was a thousand years ahead of them, but it still frustrated me so much. I wasn't sure if I could accept it, but I must, in order to survive.

The good thing was that even though there were differences between our ideals, Lady Hyeong was not shoving her ideas down my throat. It was already suffocating enough that I was in this restrictive society for no particular reason. It was depressing that there were so many strict rules I had to abide by. I was grateful that even in this bleak, dreary mess, I still had the 8th Prince to be my light, I still had Myunghee to take care of me, I still had Chaeryung to support me, I still had the 10th Prince Eun to play with me, the 13th Prince Baekah to teach me many things, and now I thought that it would be nice to be friends with Lady Hyeong.

As we continued chatting, she asked me quietly, "you haven't gotten into any trouble with Princess Yeonhwa lately, have you?"

"Thankfully, no, and neither has Chaeryung," I replied in relief. "I've had to be very, very careful though. It's easy for her to pick on me when I live in the same residence as she does. And she's so domineering," I said sadly. "Why? Have you been her victim recently?" I probably shouldn't speak this way of the sister of the man I love, but she was just so mean and ruthless.

"No, but I'm just concerned about you. I saw how upset it made you last time. I'm glad you stayed out of her way though. And what about the wolf dog? Has he been trying to harass or harm you?" She shuddered.

"He hasn't...so far. But it seems I'm always running into him at Court. I don't know why," I shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's just my bad luck." It could also be him stalking me, which would be creepy, but there's really not much he wouldn't do.

"By the way, Soo-ya, have you ever met and talked to His Majesty the King before?" She asked.

"Yes, in fact, I have. Just a couple of days ago, when Prince Wook brought me and Myunghee to the Damiwon to give the soap we made to Queen Yu and Queen Hwangbo. It was then that the King came into the room," I said.

"My father told me that tomorrow our family would be granted an audience with King Taejo, regarding plans for my marriage. I'm nervous about it. Father said as long as I was polite and ladylike, everything would be fine. Prince Jung told me to relax, and Prince Won wasn't any help at all. But what is His Majesty like? Could you tell me? What do you think?"

"His Majesty does have that demeanor and air to him that makes you fear him. I didn't dare look him in the eye. I was speechless and my voice was so squeaky when I tried to speak. My palms were sweating so much I was surprised I didn't make two puddles on the floor. And then thankfully I was kneeling — I don't think I would have the strength to stand," I recalled, and felt myself tensing up again because the experience was just too nerve-racking. "It really is better to just agree with everything that he says. Only speak when you're spoken to. Otherwise, the wisest thing to do is to stay silent. When you answer his questions, the truth or what you think doesn't even matter that much — tell him what he wants to hear. But don't try to praise him — he'll most probably order you to explain why you think of him so highly, and then you won't know what to say, and then you'll panic and your brain just stops working and you feel like you could die. A very stressful experience. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to go through it again."

"Oh my goodness…" Hyeong said under her breath. She was at a loss for words and probably stressing out right now. But it was better to be mentally prepared, for I wasn't.

"My Lady," Chaeryung approached me subtly. "We should go home now."

I got what she meant and said to Hyeong, who was still shocked, "It's about time for Myunghee to take her medication for her cough. I think we better return to Yeondeok Palace soon. We'll see each other around then, Hyeong-ah. Enjoy your birthday!"

(The royal court, Songak)

~Eun's POV~

Today was such a boring day. I couldn't find my 14th brother Jung or my 13th brother Baekah or even my 9th brother Won to play with me. When I swung by their residences, I heard that they were celebrating somebody's birthday. I wasn't acquainted with the birthday girl. That meant my brothers were there in Hyunhui Mansion having fun, without me. If that's not the cruelest thing they could do to me…

I was utterly bored and I really could not stand it. I knew that my eldest brother Mu, my 3rd brother Yo, and my 8th brother Wook were probably busy with something our father the King must have assigned to them, since they were more skilled at dealing with the government, which was no fun and certainly not something I would want to do. But then it was probably not a good idea then for me to pester them. And honestly, even if my 4th brother So was available, I was still a little frightened by him. The last time he walked by in front of me, I almost couldn't breathe. I wasn't sure if I could survive approaching him on my own.

The worst thing was that even Hae Soo was with the An family. I was truly all alone.

Or maybe not. I saw my sister Yeonhwa about a hundred steps ahead, with a few maids following her as usual, but she did not see me as she was not facing my direction. Normally she was not the one who would entertain me. At least we hadn't been playmates in a decade now, but I was going to try anyway.

"Yeonhwa! Yeonhwa!" I yelled excitedly as I bolted toward her. Standing right behind her, I covered her eyes with my palms. "Guess who!"

"Who else would shout so loudly in the palace and still be able to get away with it?" She reprimanded sharply. Her admonitory tone contrasted so starkly with my spirited and mirthful one. At times, this sister of mine could really intimidate me.

"Yeonhwa...you're not gonna punish your little brother, are you? I just wanted to play..." I withdrew my hands and chewed on my lip sorrily. I'd seen for myself how merciless she could be when she penalized the maids and servants who made mistakes. Well, they shouldn't have made mistakes in the first place, but sometimes — actually, most times — I felt Yeonhwa was too harsh on them.

Once she turned around, I pouted and looked at her with puppy eyes. Whenever I did that with my mother or with my aunt or with my grandfather, they'd let me get away with any misdemeanor. I'd be stupid if I didn't exploit my cuteness to my advantage!

She sighed lightly but smiled in the end. It wasn't a very toothy smile, just a standard smile that she gave to me and my siblings whenever she saw us. "If I wanted to rebuke you just because you wanted to fool around, don't you think I would have done it a long time ago? Songak is your home and you are a Prince. It's part of your power to do as you please."

"That means you're not angry with me. Great! Let's go play then!" I grinned and tugged at her arm, but she didn't budge.

"Eun-ah, why do you always want to play? Don't you ever think maybe you should learn a thing or two about politics? This way, you can help out with our father the King's Majesty just like some of our brothers are doing," she suggested.

I let my shoulder slump and made a face. "Yeonhwa-ya, why do you never want to play? Don't you ever think maybe you should relax and have fun? Do you think our brothers are ever happy when they're working? I only ever see them smiling when they're not working. Clearly, work and politics are doing some awful things to them. Besides, we used to play together as kids, didn't we?"

"Yes, but we aren't kids anymore," she pointed out. She was always so serious. With all work and no play, I did wonder how she managed to live till this day.

"Still," I pleaded. "Come on, sister, play with me. I promise you won't regret it."

After a pause, she relented and said, "alright. We can go horse-riding together."

"Yay! It'll be fun!" I clapped my hands joyfully and beamed. I couldn't believe my luck.

A/n:

The most unique aspect of writing in Hae Soo's POV was the chance to show the great differences between Goryeo and the 21st century. How did y'all like reading in her POV? :D

I added Eun to the chapter because we all need a little Wang Eun in our lives to bring some joy. Here you get to see what Eun thinks of Yeonhwa and their contrasting priorities. In the next chapter I'll show what Yeonhwa thinks of Eun and give you more insight into what's going on in her mind. :D

Last but not least, isn't there this one particular character that you're waiting to see if they'll celebrate Hyeong's birthday? Hmm, maybe you'll find out in the next chapter. But for this chapter, be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think! I appreciate feedback! Thanks for reading. :P