People did not react too kindly when Seungcheol told the officials that he planned to surrender. The King was completely against the idea as well, but Seungcheol pushed for it with determination, and only because that was what Yewon decided.

He stood by what she decided without question or hesitation, completely trusting her and depending on her insight.

To officially surrender would mean that Galacia would win the war but with no more casualties. It would mean that Galacia would practically take control of Solen, and the royal family would potentially fall depending on the capitulation settlement.

That was why Yewon pushed for it. She wanted no more death, no more suffering and she thought that Solen losing its capacity as a country was worth it. Her association with Galacia had no influence at all on her decision; she truly thought that surrendering would yield the optimal result.

But the more that Yewon listened to others debate and argue the decision by which Seungcheol stood, the more she began to waver.

“What if Galacia enslaves Solenese citizens when they take over?”

“Surrender is a sign of weakness, and the enemy will attack regardless of whether we surrender or not.”

“If we surrender, our royal family will be publicly hung to make statement that Galacia had taken control. It happens whenever a country wins the war without a settlement.”

There were so many other what-if scenarios that she began to consider. There was so much risk with surrendering, and Yewon couldn’t know if her father would choose the route of death and enslavement for the enemy. She wished she could feel assured that her father was too good a man for that, but she was not certain at all.

But regardless of everything, Seungcheol remained with the decision to surrender. He pushed for it in all the meetings and court orders. Yewon attended some, and she witnessed people practically yell at him and beg him to reconsider. People suddenly lost trust in him, and she even heard rumors that some were planning to overthrow him as the heir because “he is making the stupidest choices for the country.”

Even Wonwoo, who had always been for peace and ending the war, opposed the idea to surrender. He fought with Seungcheol about it, telling him to stop being such a coward and change his mind, but Seungcheol did not.

“It’s ridiculous, Yewon!” Wonwoo told her when she visited him. “Surrendering isn’t going to help anyone!”

Wonwoo was unaware that Seungcheol did not make that decision out of his own accord; he did not know that Yewon was the only reason Seungcheol stuck to it. Seungcheol passed it off as his own chosen course of action, choosing not to implicate her at all within all this so that she would not be a target.

“By surrendering, we’re only telling the enemy they can do whatever they want with us. They're going to hunt us down if we do!” Wonwoo told her when she asked why it was such a bad idea. “That’s not how we ensure peace, that’s how we ensure oppression. I’ve read more than enough history books to know that any country who surrenders in a long war suffers.”

“Then what would you do in his place?” Yewon asked, feeling less and less confident about surrendering the more she spoke to people about it.

“I would propose a settlement, and I would at least have defensive forces to fight and protect our people from raids. There’s actually an opening from the East through which the enemy can easily infiltrate, and if they do, all our cities will be under attack. I would fortify that opening and… I don’t know what else I would do, but I will make the cowardly decision to surrender…”

Wonwoo seemed to know what he was talking about, which made Yewon feel more naïve and silly for proposing surrender because she didn’t know all of those technical details in which Wonwoo was so well-versed. She wished that Seungcheol had gone to Wonwoo for advice instead.

“You should tell Seungcheol what you think…”

“Seungcheol? He won’t listen to me. He’s the most stubborn person I know,” Wonwoo scoffed. “Plus, me and him are not on good terms right now.”

“Why?”

“Mostly because of this surrendering issue,” he answered.

“Why aren’t you taking part in the meetings? Aren’t you a prince? Don’t you have a say in all of this?”

“Me? A bastard? Of course not. The officials practically treat me like scum. Unless I’m officially appointed as an official, I have no place in those meetings,” Wonwoo told her. He looked upset by that, which made Yewon feel bad. Wonwoo was obviously very passionate about politics, and she knew he was itching to take part in the decision-making processes. It was unfortunate that his status as an illegitimate son was preventing him from doing so.

-

Yewon bore the guilt of all the negative sentiments towards her husband in that difficult time; it was her decision that caused them after all. All of this talk of impeachment, all of the insults that were hurled at him, all of the distrust in him– it was just too much for Yewon. But even though people shamed and shunned him, he did not waver at all.

At one point, she felt so frustrated by all of the negativity surrounding him, that she went to him to tell him that she no longer believed surrendering was the right thing to do. She wished he wouldn’t take her naïve decision so seriously and make his own judgement based on his own understanding of the conflict; he was a lot more experienced in politics than she was.

“Please, Seungcheol,” she said. “Don’t stick to my decision like this. If you think there’s a better course of action, take it.”

“Last time I chose a course of action, it ended disastrously,” Seungcheol told her. “You have much better judgement than you think, your highness.”

“But…”

“There are two things that you should know about me: the first is that I don’t have much trust in my own judgements, and the second is that when I do make a decision, I am firm by that decision until the end.”

“But you didn’t make that decision,” Yewon replied with a groan.

“I didn’t decide to surrender, but I did decide to trust you,” Seungcheol said. “And I’m still firm by that until now.”

That would have been flattering if it didn’t mean that she bore all the guilt of the insults and distrust he got because of it. She found herself pouting remembering all of the negative things people were saying about him. Coward. Traitor. Idiot.

“When Jeonghan was still alive,” Seungcheol said, “he made most of the military decisions because I couldn’t.”

Seungcheol rarely spoke about Jeonghan to her, but when he did, Yewon knew he was making an effort to open up to her. She could tell it was hard for him, because whenever he spoke about his deceased lover, his eyes would wander and avoid hers. Even as he spoke right now, he was staring at his fingers and not at her.

“I remember,” she replied. “Wonwoo told me you were like a dog who blindly followed him.”

“I depended on him a lot,” Seungcheol admitted. “So when he was gone, I didn’t have someone I could trust like that anymore, and I felt like I lost my way.”

“You need someone to replace him then,” Yewon suggested.

It was at this point that he lifted his head to look at her. He nodded and said: “You’re right. I do need someone to replace him.”

“Are you still firm by your decision to trust my judgement?” she asked, wanting to use his words against him.

He nodded, his gaze still fixated on her.

“Then appoint Wonwoo as Jeonghan’s replacement,” she suggested. “He would make such a great advisor...”

Seungcheol finally averted his eyes back to his fingers. He looked like he was considering Yewon’s suggestion, but it didn’t take long for him to do so. “Yes, Wonwoo would make a good advisor,” he agreed with a slight nod of his head. “I’ll appoint him, because I trust your judgement.”

Yewon let out a sigh of relief. She felt like she just delegated all the pressure to someone who actually wanted it, to someone who had the relevant and experience to make the right decision.

-

And so, Wonwoo did replace Jeonghan as Seungcheol’s advisor and right-hand man. Seungcheol appointed him that same night Yewon asked him, and Wonwoo accepted the position immediately.

The next time Yewon saw Wonwoo, she congratulated him.

“You know, when I was first offered the position, I was actually very upset,” Wonwoo told her.

“Upset? Why would you be upset? You told me you wanted this.”

“I do want this,” Wonwoo confirmed. “But Seungcheol would not have appointed me unless someone influenced him into it, and I know you were the one who did that, Yewon. And that got me to think: if you’re able to influence him, that means that you got through to him; it means the two of you have grown much closer than I expected. That upset me,” he confessed.

“That’s not something you should be upset about.”

“I can’t help it. It feels like the more time passes, the more you slip through my fingers. And it drives me crazy,” he told her. He looked very shaken when he said it, as if he were seconds away from bursting into either a fit of rage or a fit of tears. Whatever it was, she could feel his distress.

But as bad as she felt for him, she could not lament the fact she was indeed growing closer to Seungcheol and growing further from Wonwoo. On the contrary, she felt like everything was going in the right direction. To her, Wonwoo had become a good friend, someone who supported and encouraged her, but no longer did she fantasize any romantic association with him. She loved him very much, but it wasn’t the same kind of love that he had for her; it wasn’t the kind of love that made her crave him, at least, so she felt.

“Answer honestly: do you think Seungcheol loves you?” Wonwoo asked her.

“Of course not,” Yewon replied immediately with a doubtful look on her face. And she truly believed that: Seungcheol cared for and admired her, but it was farfetched to think that he harbored feelings any deeper than that. It was ridiculous to think so, actually. Seungcheol was a man who kept his past lovers in his heart; there was no room for anyone but the two siblings who drove him mad with both love and sorrow.

“I think you’re wrong about that,” Wonwoo told her. “I personally think that he loves you very much.”

“And I personally think that’s absurd.”

A/N: I might take a little longer to post the next chapter. sorry in advance!