(Yeondeok Palace, Songak)

~Hae Soo's POV~

I came back from Rongjang Palace in a good mood because the 10th Prince always put me in a good mood, and even his lady mother was easy to get along with. But once I got home and Chaeryung had informed me of what had happened to Myunghee while I was out today, I regretted not staying at home with her today.

Although the maids had done as they were supposed to and attended on Myunghee, I didn't really feel reassured, and so I crept into her room very quietly just to make sure that she was warm enough. She was sound asleep, so I left after a moment. She slept through dinner as well, so it was only me and the 8th Prince at dinner, eating dispiritedly.

Even at night, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop worrying about Myunghee. Frustrated, I got out of bed and found Prince Wook in his study. "Sorry...it's late and I don't want to bother Your Highness but…"

"Soo-ya? No, it's fine. What's wrong?" He asked tenderly as I sat beside him. I didn't dare sit too near him, because if I sat too close to him then I would want to be even closer than that, and I didn't think I ought to allow myself to do that.

"I can't sleep," I shivered.

"Are you cold?" He inquired immediately. "I'll go get a shawl for you."

"No...I feel warmer already, here with you," I said, but still shuddered. "But I'm scared, Your Highness. I'm scared that I'll lose Myunghee," I explained. "Are you scared too, my Prince?"

He put down his ink brush and turned to me. "I know how you feel. I don't want to lose her either."

I shook my head and looked down. "I don't think I'll ever dare go out again. I should be attending on Myunghee day and night."

"You can't forget to look after yourself too," he replied solemnly.

"I'm not even that important, Prince Wook. I just can't bear to lose Myunghee. She means so much to me," I sighed. "I'd give anything for her to be healthy again."

"I know you would, Soo-ya. I've been trying to think about what there is I can do to at least make it easier to improve her health. I've consulted a number of court physicians about it, even," he revealed, sounding hopeful.

"You have? And what was their advice, my Prince?" I enquired.

"I think one of our best options is to move to the countryside," he answered. "As such, I'm going to speak to my father about it and see if His Majesty approves. After all, I'm expected to attend the exorcism ceremony. I'll also see what Myunghee prefers."

"The countryside..." I nodded slowly. "I wonder what it's like there."

He looked baffled. "Soo, I thought you lived in the countryside when you were little? Before your mother passed..."

Slightly embarrassed, I scratched my head and said, "eh, that was before I, you know, hit my head."

"Right," he replied, no longer befuddled. "I'm thinking we can go to Hwangju. That's where most of my maternal relatives are, and we have a residence there, so if both the King and Myunghee agree to it, then we'll move there, and I'll make the necessary arrangements."

I nodded, more confident this time. "I'm sure Your Highness will be able to do what's best for us."

"I've also heard that there's a healer in Hwangju who was able to cure even a paralyzed old man. Maybe he can help Myunghee too," he added. "There's hope, Soo. Besides, I don't think she'd be happy to see these pessimistic thoughts keeping you up at night. You know that she wants more than anything to be able to take good care of you. But if you continue to worry like that, you'll eventually fall sick too. Even if not for Myunghee, I don't want that either."

I felt reassured now, and even his tone was soothing. He made me feel safe and that I could rely on him. It did feel good that I could just count on him to make everything alright. It was a kind of comfort that I needed and only he could bring me that. I needed him in my life.

"By the way, Soo-ya, you said that you were at my 10th brother's residence today, right?" He spoke again, but sounded tentative.

"Yes," I nodded. Why'd he bring this up suddenly? He didn't further pursue this topic at dinner when I mentioned it then. "Prince Eun brought me to visit his lady mother. Why, Your Highness? Should I not have done that?" I asked, wondering if I had somehow brought trouble to Prince Wook again as I seemed to have an affinity for that.

"I see," he said absentmindedly. "I was just wondering if there's anything going on between you and...between you and Eun, since normally a Prince won't introduce a woman to his mother unless he intends to marry her."

I gaped at him slightly. "No, Your Highness! There's nothing of that sort going on between me and His Highness. The 10th Prince is my friend. That's all," I clarified. As for whether or not Prince Eun liked me more than that, he was the only one who could answer. "I'm sure His Highness didn't mean it like that. I didn't know that it would be a big deal that he was introducing me to his lady mother."

"I understand. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with being friends with Eun-ie," he replied calmly, but there seemed to be relief in his tone. Oh, Prince Wook, I thought to myself. Even if I'm not allowed to show it, don't you know that my feelings are only for you? You shouldn't have doubts about that.

"I think I'll go back to sleep now, my Prince," I said softly. As I stood up, I suppressed the urge to yawn. "Goodnight, Prince Wook."

He gave me a light smile. "Goodnight, Soo."

(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)

~Hyeong's POV~

The next morning, the official announcement that I was to marry the 14th Prince was released.

Very soon after, a maid sent by Queen Yu from Naklang Palace had come to my home to deliver the message that the Queen was going to have dinner with me and Prince Jung tonight. This was not an invitation I could turn down.

"Calm down, sister," said Geolsang to me while our mother rummaged through my wardrobe looking for something suitable to wear for my meeting this evening. "You'll be fine. Just relax."

"Relax? It's easy for you to say," I squeaked and sat on the edge of my bed, utterly uneasy.

"I don't see what you're so stressed about. Just take it easy. If the King gave you his permission, the Queen won't have any objections," he stated coolly.

"You don't understand. Don't you remember how our meeting with the King had traumatized me? They say the Queen is as formidable as the King is...I don't like the feeling of my palms sweating and my limbs shaking and my voice trembling," I shook my head uncomfortably.

"But Prince Jung will be with you. I'm sure he'll have plenty of nice things to say about you," Geolsang replied.

"I don't know. I could accidentally say or do something that could offend or displease the Queen. I can't stop being worried about that," I admitted.

Suddenly Woljin came into my room with a secretive smile on her face which made me so curious about what news she bore that I had neglected to worry about my big event tonight.

"My Lady," said Woljin innocently. "You have a visitor."

My mother and my brother nodded at me as they stayed in my room while I went downstairs with Woljin. I was surprised to see that it was the 3rd Prince Yo, and even more surprised when it hit me that I hadn't been thinking of him these two days, as all that I'd been thinking about was my betrothal and Geolha's courtship with the Princess, as well as Myunghee's sickness.

I bowed at Prince Yo but before I could so much as utter 'Your Highness', sternly he had asked me if we could go somewhere to speak in private. I sent Woljin back upstairs, and then led the 3rd Prince to a courtyard where servants seldom passed by.

"Hyeong-ah," he began. Although he was addressing me affectionately, his tone was just as icy as his stare, so much unlike the way he used to speak to and look at me. It felt so wrong, and it almost made me feel as anxious as I did just now, about dinner with the Queen. He was capable of coming off as so untouchable and aloof. Was that why some people at Court feared him?

"Your Highness," I said dazedly. I didn't know what else to say to him. We both looked grim and that was not good news.

He took a long pause, and used that time to take a good look at me. The way he looked at me made me feel like he was singling me out whilst everything else in the courtyard faded and vanished. Therefore I was also compelled to cast out everything else on my mind to focus singularly on him. Without saying anything he had commanded my full attention.

Finally, he spoke.

"I want to congratulate you on your betrothal to my little brother," he said, but his voice sounded like...something was a little off. "Really, I want to, but I can't bring myself to do it," he continued.

"Are you displeased with my choice, my Prince?" I asked gingerly.

"I'm displeased that you went with it so willingly," he revealed. "Do you not realize that your betrothal to Jung means that I won't be able to take you out on dates anymore?"

"I never thought it was that serious to you, Prince Yo," I confessed. "I had to go with it and pick someone anyway. The King himself told my lord father to choose, and my father let me choose. I don't think Your Highness would have felt better had I chosen somebody else."

"You're right about that," he said cynically. "No matter who you pick, I still won't be happy. I didn't expect you to be married off so soon, so about that, I'm disappointed. I thought we could have more time together."

"Forgive me, Your Highness, but I really don't know why this is affecting you so much," I said quietly.

"Why wouldn't this affect me? Why would I have asked you out on a date with me if I weren't interested in you?" He retorted, poking me with his words like spikes. "Lady Hyeong, if you were just slightly uglier, your temperament just a bit more difficult, your personality just a little less endearing, this wouldn't bother me so much."

"Why are you telling me this now, my Prince?" I questioned. I was really upset now. "I don't understand what Your Highness is trying to achieve. Strictly speaking, we aren't even friends, are we? Maybe we're a little more than acquaintances, but at the end of the day, I'm just one of your subjects, and soon to be your sister in law."

"I don't want it to be that way," he raised his voice in displeasure.

"I don't know what you want from me!" I almost exclaimed. This was making me so confused and frustrated that there were tears in my eyes threatening to spill.

"You can't just give me your pretty smiles and say you want to be in my arms, and then tell me the next day that you're going to get married to my brother!" He snarled at me. "You're not allowed to do that!" He put his hands on my shoulders and had me cornered. A tree was right behind me so I couldn't move backward. My head moved slightly from left to right as my eyes would have done, trying to look for escape, but somehow I just couldn't tear my eyes off of him, even if it frightened me to look at him when he was so angry.

He must have noticed that I was shaking. I saw it on his face that he felt bad about it, so he pulled me in and squeezed me in his arms. My cheek was pressed against his chest and that had forced a teardrop to slide down my face. I didn't want to let him know that I was crying so I buried my face into his torso. But I couldn't stop sniffling, so he still knew. He must think that I was weak and irresponsible now. Why should I be crying when everything seemed to be going well for me? I chose who I wanted to marry and I got the King's blessing for it. I should have nothing to complain about. Except I couldn't meet with Prince Yo like we used to, once I got married. I thought about it and had to agree that the way that His Highness and I acted toward each other was not something that a man would accept if his wife was acting like that with his brother. I then remembered all the nights that I went to sleep with the 3rd Prince as my last thought, and waking up in the morning with him as my first thought. I didn't even know how he managed to get under my skin, but I would not like to have to limit myself to interactions between us that would be characteristic of siblings in law. Now I understood why he was so upset and angry when he came here today. I clung to him as I cried, clawing and clutching the sleeves of his hanbok. But after a moment, I pushed him away from me. It took me a few attempts to get him to let go of me and take a step back.

"We shouldn't be doing this anymore," I stated, and tried to sound resolute, except there was no way I could do that since my voice was shaky. "If we stop now, we can still get over it and move on."

He shook his head. That one gesture alone was firmer than any words I could utter. In addition to his intense stare at me, it only reminded me of the first time we met.

"Why would you give up on me so easily? Is it because you were never interested in me at all?" He demanded.

"It's not that…" I said breathily.

"Then you have reason to reconsider," he asserted. "These nights, there's some work that the King wants me to complete speedily, so instead of sleeping in Gyeongchun Palace I will be burning the midnight oil and working overnight in the study in Joyun Hall, which is right behind Cheondeok Hall. If you ever change your mind about me, Hyeong-ah," he said. The soft and affectionate gaze in his eyes was restored. "You can come to me anytime."

It would have been so much easier if I just found the strength in me to say no to him right away. But he had walked away from me and left my residence as soon as he had put forward his offer to me. And it was such a tempting offer, but how could I do that to my newly betrothed? It wouldn't be fair to Prince Jung who had never done me wrong. I needed to talk to him about this. He was my betrothed now. I wouldn't have chosen him if I couldn't trust him and confide in him. Tonight, I would speak to him about how we were going to make our marriage work.

A/n: Well! What do you think? What should Hyeong do? Give her some advice in the reviews below please! :D