A banquet was held to celebrate the end of the long and brutish war, and everyone in the palace was invited to attend. The nobles, the guards, the maids, the kitchen staff, the soldiers– it didn’t matter what ranking or social status you occupied; it was a celebration for everyone.

The hall was filled with smiling faces, loud laughter, and happy conversations. Yewon had never seen so many people so genuinely cheerful before. And that cheerfulness was contagious. Even Seungcheol, who rarely ever smiled, seemed happy.

It was also fascinating to see the hierarchy just collapse in this banquet. Nobles were dancing with servants, guards with high-ranking ladies, and princes with maids– it was like for one no one cared about their honor; everyone was just too happy to care.

It was the first time Yewon had ever seen the dance floor was so crowded with people, and everyone seemed to be having so much fun with their partners. And seeing everyone dance so joyfully, Yewon also wanted to dance.

“Dance with me,” Yewon beckoned Seungcheol, but he shook his head.

“Why not?” she pouted.

He said it was too crowded, and he was uncomfortable dancing among the servants. No matter how much she whined, he adamantly refused.

She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated huff, trying to make him see that she was irritated with him, but he was unfazed.

At one point in the banquet, Yulhee handed Yewon a small note. “This is from… from… I’m not supposed to say,” Yulhee mumbled, side-eying Seungcheol. “Read it and find out, bye!” she scurried away.

Yewon opened the note, and Seungcheol was obviously side-eying to see who it was. Yewon, still irritated with him for not dancing with her, angled it so that he couldn’t read.

Dearest Princess,

This is weird, but I had to try. I really want to dance with you. Can I dance with you? I understand if you don’t want to, but please don’t fire me for asking!!

Sincerely,
the gossiping guard

Yewon looked out and saw Seungkwan smiling at her sheepishly from afar, and she smiled.

“If you don’t want to dance,” Yewon said, directing the words at her husband, “I’m going to dance with someone else.”

She didn’t even ask for his permission. She got off from her chair and the platform, descending down to where Seungkwan was, giving him her hand.

Seungkwan beamed, smiling happily and bowing towards her excessively. He hesitantly placed his hand on her waist, and she put hers on his shoulder.

“I’m dancing with Princess Yewon!” Seungkwan said loudly, making all heads turn and Yewon flush pink.

“Lower your voice!” she said as they began to move across the hall to the music.

“This is just so unreal!” Seungkwan said, a wide smile on his face. “I feel like this is a dream.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“I’m just so honored, your highness! I am unworthy!”

“Stop talking, you’re making this awkward,” she said, shaking her head. She didn’t want to be reminded of rank right now; she just wanted to dance.

And they did dance. Seungkwan was a bit of a clumsy dancer, as expected, but he was fun. He caught her up on all of the latest gossip in the palace and told her a few stories about Seungcheol she didn’t know (Seungcheol was apparently a decent singer, much to her surprise!).

“Also, I have another secret to tell you, but you can’t tell Prince Seungcheol,” he conditioned.

“I won’t,” she promised, waiting eagerly to hear.

“You remember that day you went to Seungcheol’s room, and you opened the door and you saw him with Jeonghan for the first time?” Seungkwan whispered after leaning closer into her ear.

Yewon nodded. She could never forget that moment, the moment she first saw her husband’s aberrant infidelity right before her eyes. It gave her one of the biggest shocks of her life, and made her so resentful of both him and Jeonghan for a long time.

“Well, I was stationed outside. I could have stopped you, but I didn’t. I felt like you had the right to know, so when you barged through the door, I let you.”

“I see. Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Yewon said with a shrug.

“You’re right; it doesn’t matter, because our prince forgotten that man and is now in love with you,” he stated matter-of-factly. He seemed so sure of it, which flustered Yewon. Seungcheol had never been public about his affection for her. He wouldn’t even dance with her for crying out loud, probably because there were a lot of people in the hall. How Seungkwan knew with such conviction that Seungcheol loved her, Yewon didn’t know.

“What makes you say that?”

“That he loves you? I can tell, your highness. I know he’s not very readable, but I think I know Seungcheol better than anyone else in the palace. I’ve seen him every single day for the past many years, and I can always tell when he’s in love. And right now, he’s definitely in love. He’s like a different person with you!”

Yewon smiled. “I’m glad to hear that,” she told him. And she was indeed very glad. She often wondered if it was all in her head, if Seungcheol being in love with her was just a passing delusion of her whimsical, naïve judgement. Seungcheol only said it once and never talked about it again, being too shy or too proud or whatever. And so, the fact that Seungkwan noticed it made her doubt herself less.

“You know how else I know that Seungcheol loves you?” Seungkwan whispered.

“How?”

“He’s glaring at me right now! If I lose my job, please vouch for me,” Seungkwan whined amusingly, making Yewon laugh.

It was just then that someone appeared from behind Seungkwan and tapped him, cutting off the dance completely and causing Seungkwan to turn and bow to him.

“I don’t mean to ruin your moment,” Wonwoo said apologetically, “but I was just tempted. Might I dance with Princess Yewon?” Wonwoo seemed to be asking both Seungkwan and Yewon at the same time.

Seungkwan bowed and retreated, quickly scuttling away embarrassedly. Wonwoo turned to Yewon, and held out his hand with an inquisitive look on his face. “May I?”

Yewon took his hand, and he pulled her closer.

Yewon had not spoken to him much at all since the whole Jinye ordeal, although many months had passed since then. It wasn’t that she had been avoiding him, rather, he had avoided her.

Wonwoo had buried himself in books since Seungcheol dismissed him from his position. Although Wonwoo had not let himself be completely divorced from the politics of Solen, he was still a lot less influential than before. Despite that, the nobles and the court valued him and often went to him for his strategic input, behind Seungcheol’s back of course. Seungcheol knew that this was taking place, but he didn’t interfere. Even if Seungcheol didn’t like Wonwoo, he knew that Wonwoo’s involvement was crucial if Solen was going to get anywhere with the war.

When Yewon had tried to speak with Wonwoo in the past months, he appeared so disappointed with her. Although he didn’t say it, it was as if he felt betrayed by her for not speaking out against her husband, and for not hating him the way that Wonwoo obviously did. To Wonwoo, it had felt like she took her husband’s side and left Wonwoo to rot.

Wonwoo had not been the only one who was left to rot. Jinye’s body had remained in the sun until the putrid scent was unbearably repulsive. The guards then burned her remains and her ashes were scattered by the wind. She never found peace in a grave, and, according to Galacian beliefs, her soul had no home, no center, no focus. Her loved ones would never be able to speak with her again.

Yewon only remembered afterwards that she had promised Wonwoo that she would convince Seungcheol to bury her, but that had completely slipped her mind. She had felt bad about it, and Wonwoo probably had held it against her too.

He didn’t remind her though, or say anything to make her feel guilty. He just let it pass, but she still felt his discontent from the minimal conversation that he had made with her since then. Perhaps asking her to dance was the most forthcoming he’d been with her in months.

“How are you, my Hita?” he asked kindly.

“No need to call me that now. My hair’s not that short anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. No matter how ugly Jinye became, she was always Venus.”

At the mention of Jinye, Yewon flinched a little.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t talk about my tragic ex-lover when I’m dancing with you,” he said cynically.

“She was very tragic,” Yewon agreed, and he nodded.

“Anyways, I just wanted to take the chance to tell you that I’m sorry for being distant,” he said told her as they danced. “I needed some time to recover from everything, but I think I have recovered, especially after learning that the war was finally over. I would like to go back to the way it was before now. And by before, I mean the very beginning. I know all of the love confessions and the kisses made things weird, so let’s forget about it all, okay? Start over from zero. Hi, I’m Wonwoo. What’s your name?”

Yewon smiled and nodded in agreement. “Hi Wonwoo. I’m Yewon.”

-

Seungkwan was right. Seungcheol was angry with her. Yewon didn’t know if it was because she danced with his guard (someone of a low rank) or because she danced with Wonwoo (someone Seungcheol was still feuding with). Maybe it was a little bit of both.

He gave her the silent treatment that night, and didn’t talk to her at all for the rest of the banquet. Yewon let him be angry. She wasn’t planning to apologize either; she was convinced she didn’t do anything wrong. It was his fault for being too proud to dance with her.

That silent treatment however, lasted for much longer than she expected.

It lasted until two days after the banquet, when the King asked for audience with her and Seungcheol.

The King, sitting atop his high and mighty throne, gave Yewon a apologetic look as she entered and bowed to him. It made her a little anxious; why was he looking at her like that? Why did he call to meet with her like this? The last time this happened was when the King asked her to have with Soonyoung…

 “You know that I love you, Yewon, right?” the King began.

“I do, your Majesty,” Yewon answered. And she indeed believe it.

“I truly do, and so it pains me to have to tell you this,” the King told her with a sigh. “But the court… the nobles… they’re not satisfied with…”

“With the fact I haven’t been able to conceive yet?” Yewon finished the sentence for him. She was very much aware of what the nobles thought of her. The nobles thought the royal princess was engulfed in scandal with Prince Soonyoung, and that her image was irreparably desecrated among the masses. She was aware that they were pushing Seungcheol towards other women so that he could father bastards if not legitimate children. She was aware that they thought she was unfertile. The infertile princess with hair like a man’s and the reputation of a .

“Yes, you’re right,” the King replied with much difficulty. “And now that the war is over, they feel like the country doesn’t need you anymore…” The King was stuttering on his words, aware of how much they were hurting Yewon, and indeed, they were like a spear tearing straight through her heart.

She was so afraid of what the King would say next. What was his decree given all of this? Would he say that she had to go back to Galacia? Back to a family that disowned her in a country that thinks of her as a traitor?

Solen was her home now. The thought of going back to Galacia made her feel suffocated. The thought of leaving Seungcheol and Yulhee and Haein and Wonwoo and Soonyoung and Seungkwan and the hospital patients and everyone else that she had come to treasure… it hurt.

She felt her breath get heavy as she anxiously waited for him to tell her what he had decided to do with her.

“Relax, darling,” the King told her when he saw how unsettled she appeared. “You have done so much for this country, and I will not give in to the royals so easily. I just want to… I want to warn you that… that if you aren’t pregnant in four more months, then I’ll have to… you know…”

“I have to leave,” Yewon completed the sentence, looking towards the floor.

“I’m sorry, Yewon. I’m truly sorry,” the Queen said, who had been silently crying on her throne as the King imparted all of this information.

“You still have four months, Yewon,” the King told her. “Do whatever you need to do.”

The most hurtful part of that encounter was not how the King basically threatened her, or how he decided to turn his back on her, or how she saw her life in Solen flash before her eyes. The most hurtful part of that encounter was Seungcheol sitting at her side and hearing all of this, but not saying a single word.

A/N: I already know what’s gonna happen in this fic but I really wonder how it feels to be reading this fic and not writing it lol; everyone seems super anxious whenever I update, like you guys expect things to blow over in one fell swoop lmao