Seungcheol visited Yewon again that night, which half-surprised her. Seungcheol always avoided going to her bed whenever things weren’t going well, and now, things seemed to be so far from well. She had witnessed him get furious and let his passion trump his politics, and she figured that he must have been embarrassed about that.

The fact he was here, Yewon thought, must mean he was being pressured a lot for an heir.

He looked downcast as he made his way towards her, and Yewon could tell that tonight’s session was not going to be anything like last time. Seungcheol would be in no mood to soften the atmosphere like he did before. It was going to be awkward and painful again, and Yewon would just want it to be over.

Yewon also felt slightly embarrassed about being caught in Wonwoo’s room, and about the stupid comment that Wonwoo made that provoked him. She felt like she had to explain herself to her husband, but she didn’t know what to say. Seungcheol knew that Wonwoo and her were friends, and so it wasn’t like she did anything wrong. But she did find that she regretted following Wonwoo, because she was afraid that it made Seungcheol misunderstand.

“You look stressed,” she noted as he sat on her bed and began to take off his shoes.

“Everyone at court loves Wonwoo,” Seungcheol answered with a shrug. “My decision to dismiss him didn’t sit too well.”

“Are you really dismissing him? For good?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” he answered, “and I won’t change my mind.”

Seungcheol was a stubborn man, and proud man at that. He wouldn’t back down from a decision so easily, and she knew that she could do so little to convince him to change his mind.

“Are you sure you’ll have everything under control by yourself?” she asked. Seungcheol was the kind of person who found it hard to make decisions, especially large-scale decisions involving war. He’d much rather defer the decision-making to someone else.

“I’ll find a new advisor soon,” Seungcheol said.

Yewon only nodded, eyes darting to the ground.

“You disapprove?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” she replied with a shrug.

“I know you disapprove. You don’t have to tell me,” he said. “But I stand by my decision. I actually would have had him banished by now if he weren’t important to you.”

Yewon was surprised to hear that for two reasons: the first was that Seungcheol really was actually willing to banish Wonwoo and the second was that he didn’t for her.

“Don’t banish him please,” she pled.

“I won’t,” he reassured her. “I wouldn’t do anything that could reduce the chance of you carrying an heir.”

Yewon froze as the implication of his words sunk in. “What?”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Seungcheol said quickly, shaking his head.

“But I do,” Yewon replied. “I want you to know that Wonwoo and I are friends and nothing more. There’s nothing between us now, and there won’t ever be.”

“Nothing? Really?” he frowned. “I know you’re just like everyone at the court, Princess. Wonwoo is appealing to you. Everyone loves Wonwoo, and thinks I’m worthless in comparison. If only Wonwoo was the one born pure-blooded and I was the bastard: you would have been happily married to him, and he would have led this country to greatness, not driven it to destruction like I have. I know that deep down, you feel that way about me; I destroyed your country and destroyed mine in the process. I’m a worthless Prince and will be an even more worthless King. Unlike Wonwoo.”

Yewon was so taken aback by what he said that she was lost for words herself. Just when she thought she was beginning to understand him, she realized that she didn’t know him at all. She had had the impression that he was a confident man, but he was so much more self-conscious than he ever led her to believe.

“I know that you love him, your highness,” Seungcheol continued. “It’s okay, I understand why you would-”

“You have it all wrong, Seungcheol,” she interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. “You have me all wrong, and you have yourself all wrong too.”

“Tell me, then. What’s wrong in what I said?”

“You didn’t drive your country to destruction, and you aren’t a worthless prince. What Wonwoo said about you is wrong; you don’t let personal feelings get in the way of the good of the country. If you did, then you wouldn’t have married me.”

Seungcheol lifted his downcast eyes towards her, showing her that he was listening to what she had to say.

“You were in love with someone else and you married a girl of the country you hated with all your heart, just for a chance at peace. Meanwhile, I didn’t want to do that for my own country. I opposed marrying you, and I cried and complained, but my father forced me. I’m glad he did, because I’m so happy to be married to you right now.”

“Are you really though?” he asked. “I’m a ually crippled man, cold-hearted, hung up on his past male lover, can’t make decisions, failed his country; unlike Wonwoo who is kind and intelligent, able to make decisions for the good of our country-”

“Stop,” she said in low groan. “Stop comparing yourself to him. I am happy to be married to you, and I don’t wish that it were him instead of you.”

“Your highness, you don’t have to lie to me,” he replied. “We both know what Wonwoo is to you.”

“I’m not lying!” she insisted, realizing that it must feel like she only said it out of pity. “I’m being honest; I’m glad it’s you.”

He still didn’t look like he was convinced.

“I love you,” she finally confessed. This was not the way she had ever imagined saying those words to him, but the circumstances impelled her and it came out of her in a burst of passion.

He did not show any reaction or any indication that he actually took her confession to heart. He either didn’t care or didn’t believe it. Whichever it was, Yewon felt shut down and upset. This wasn’t how these kinds of confessions were supposed to go.

“Please don’t feel that sorry for me, your highness,” he finally responded. Lowering his gaze the floor. He always avoided eye contact with her that when things got too personal.

“I mean it,” she said softly, pathetically, hoping he would show some kind of reaction.

He remained blank, like he wasn’t taking her seriously. She struggled as she tried to think of how she could show him that she wasn’t just exaggerating things to console him. It seemed like he was so stuck on comparing himself to Wonwoo that he couldn’t even fathom how she could possibly claim to love him and not Wonwoo.

But despite all of Seungcheol’s apparent flaws and Wonwoo’s seeming perfection, there was something perfect about Seungcheol and something so imperfect about Wonwoo. Yewon did not know how to convey that to Seungcheol, because she could not even explain it to herself. The way that Seungcheol made her feel transcended everything that he had ever done in the past, the ways he had treated her when he first met her, the bad decisions that he had made for his country and hers, and his lingering attachment to a past that will never return.

She looked down in defeat. She couldn’t rationally explain her heart to him; it was nearly impossible for him to believe her if she tried.

He stood up from the bed, having finished taking off his shoes and reached out for her hand. She gave it to him, and he pulled her up from the bed, turned her around and began undoing the laces behind her back.

When her dress was off and she turned around to face him, she asked him if he didn’t believe her.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he reply, then he took her chin in his hands and kissed her.

Not another word was exchanged between them that night.

A/N: Okay actually this was meant to be half a chapter, but I decided to split them. Good news is that I have the other part mostly written so you’ll get another update very soon J