The days following their marriage were unbelievable.

Immediately, the rallying had begun, and so many people stood behind them.

Yewon had not realized the extent of her impact. From the patients she served at the hospital, to the families of the hostages that were freed because of her, to the servants that had known her in the palace– they all bowed in supplication to her and to Soonyoung.

It all happened so fast, but within days, there were masses around them, in recognition of their legitimacy as King and Queen of Solen, and the illegitimacy of the current King and his wife.

Yewon saw Dino; she saw Haein; she saw Seungyeon, and more. They all gave their testaments that this was indeed the legendary Princess Yewon of whom all the stories were told, and this was indeed her rightful husband, Prince Soonyoung.

She was baffled by the love everyone had for her. She found that she had cried on multiple occasions out of surprise, out of happiness, out of gratitude. She felt like she had finally found purpose and meaning in this country, and in her life as a whole.

-

Eventually, after their influence on the people had become threatening to the royals, Yewon and Soonyoung were granted audience with the ‘King.’

She had been gone from that palace for over a year, but so much had changed since then. The place seemed somehow darker than before. There were less smiles on people’s faces in general. There were so many more people carrying weapons than what Yewon remembered.

As she walked through the halls with Soonyoung at her side, escorted by fully armed soldiers with their spears pointed towards them, Yewon truly felt like something had gone dull and lifeless in the once-vibrant palace of color and laughter.

As she walked, she did notice a strange kind of interaction between Soonyoung and a few of the guards. They seemed to be communicating with their eyes. Upon looking through the guard’s helmets and focusing on their faces, Yewon remembered them; many of them were the same guards that Yewon had known when she had lived there, which meant that Soonyoung had also known them.

She then recalled that Soonyoung was the kind of man that made friends with his servants.

She saw nothing but amity between Soonyoung and the guards that were charged with holding spears at him. He seemed to greeting them as friends with his eyes, and they seemed to be greeting him back with gentle glances in his direction.

It was then that Yewon finally felt safe, even if she were walking with a speak pointed at her. She felt that even if the guards were asked to seize or hurt them, they would not comply.

The guards were on their side.

And it was not just the guards: all of the kitchen staff, the stewards, the maids, the cleaners, the pages– all were huddling around them to get a glimpse of the return of Prince Soonyoung, the Prince who had once treated them like equals from with a hierarchal system that somhehow deemed them inferior. He was that Prince that everyone loved and adored, despite all of his transgressions.

All of the servants were on their side.

When escorted into the courtroom, she found Wonwoo sitting in his throne.

He was very different from how she remembered him; his face was skinner, and there were crinkles on his forehead making it seem as if he’d aged many, many years.

He had no hint of a smile on his face, none of that kindness in his eyes that she remembered from when she had last seen him. On the contrary, Wonwoo looked cold and relentless– much like a King.

When his eyes locked with hers for the first time, she felt a chill run through her spine. He was frighteneing.

Wonwoo told the guards and the servants and the royals in the room to leave. Some of the royals protested, but Wonwoo only raised his hand and they were silenced, and they obediently left without a word, closing the door behind them.

“What are you guys doing?” Wonwoo asked them, his gaze grave and stern.

“You’re sitting in my seat, Wonwoo,” Soonyoung answered him.

“Do you know what you’re dealing with here? Soonyoung, the royals don’t want you or Yewon. And they will kill you if you don’t step down and stop mobilizing people against me!”

“I’m not leaving,” Soonyoung insisted. “Until you step down. You know I’m the heir. You know this my rightful throne. Why aren’t you stepping down?”

“To protect you. Both of you!” Wonwoo answered. “Did you forget what happened to Seungcheol?”

Soonyoung glared at Wonwoo and said: “I didn’t forget; it’s why I’m here. My brother wouldn’t want his murderer on the throne–”

Wonwoo narrowed his eyes at the allegation, and then turned to Yewon as if to see if she believed it.

Yewon stood there blankly. Soonyoung had told her that Wonwoo was involved with the murder of her husband, but she had yet to fully accept it. She still had hope that there was a miscommunication somewhere, or a misunderstanding on Soonyoung’s part, and that Wonwoo was actually innocent of this crime for which she would hate him so much had he actually committed it. She waited for Wonwoo to deny it.

“I didn’t kill him,” Wonwoo said simply. “His guard did.” Yewon could tell that the answer was deliberately obscure, and deliberately leaving out so much information.

“Were you involved?” Yewon finally spoke up, her voice hoarse and filled with aggravated disbelief.

“I missed you, my dear,” he said soothingly in that sweet voice she remembered he had. He finally stood up from his throne and took a few steps closer, and Yewon responded to that by taking many steps back. She was afraid of him.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” she asked him.

“I was not involved,” Wonwoo answered her. “Now may I please come closer and take a better look at you?” he asked. When she didn’t reply, he came closer anyways until he was right in front of her.

“Are you lying?” she asked him, her lips beginning to tremble. It would not have been the first time that Wonwoo lied. There were many times before when he manipulated and hid the truth, and somehow, even though she wanted to, she found it difficult to believe him.

“My dear, you know me,” he told her. “Do you think I would kill my own brother?”

“No, but I didn’t think you would start wars either,” Yewon said.

“I’m not starting any wars,” Wonwoo replied. “I’m expanding our lands…”

“That’s how all wars start!” she yelled at him. “You’re conquering other people... and…”

“Look, Yewon. You wouldn’t understand,” he told her. “I have to do this in order to protect my country. I have to conquer land for Solen to become powerful and secure. Otherwise, the other countrie will come after Solen and exploit my people…”

“I can’t accept that,” Yewon replied, shaking her head. “You should not exploit people to prevent others from exploiting you. It’s wrong.”

“You’ve always had a kind heart, my dear,” Wonwoo told her, a small smile playing on his lips. “But kindness can kill you. The real world sometimes doesn’t let us be as kind as you wish to be. Sometimes, we have to do bad things.”

Yewon just shook her head as he told her this, trembling in disbelief. The words that were coming of his mouth with eerily despotic.

“I know you don’t believe in what I’m saying,” Wonwoo replied. “But that is why I make of the unpleasant decisions that you’ve heard about. Even then, there are a lot of unpleasant things that I simply cannot do, even if I should, and that included killing my brother…”

Soonyoung finally stepped in on the conversation: “so you didn’t kill Seungcheol?”

“I did not kill him,” Wonwoo replied with stout confidence that made Yewon believe in him for a second. “… But I did know that he was going to die.”

Yewon felt her heart give out. She lost balance and hand to hold Soonyoung’s arm for support. This was the confession that did it for her.

“The royals wanted him out,” Wonwoo explained, “so they decided to get a scapegoat to kill him so that I could be heir to the throne. They wanted me to be the King, you see. They thought I was suitable for the job. I had already taken Soonyoung out of the picture when I drove his exile, and so Seungcheol was the only obstacle stopping them from getting what they wanted. So I did know about the plan; I just didn’t stop them.”

“That’s just as bad as killing him,” Soonyoung hissed, obviously riled and disturbed. He looked like he was about to pounce onto Wonwoo and strangle him.

“Is it though?” Wonwoo replied incredulously. “When you think about everything that that man had put me through…”

“Nothing justifies what you did,” Soonyoung yelled back, lunging forward and pushing Wonwoo back. Wonwoo, skinny and weak, fumbled backwards and fell on the floor

Yewon had to hold Soonyoung back before he got more violent.

Wonwoo stood back up gracefully and glared at Soonyoung as he smoothed the creases on his clothing.

“I don’t have the conscience to kill you Soonyoung, but I do have the conscience to let you die. So if you want me to protect you and your wife,” he looked at her bitterly. “Then show me the respect you owe me as your King.”

“You are not the King!” Soonyoung spat. “And you will never be the King. And if you insist on being one, you’ll have no one but the royals to back you up. If you let either me or her die, then you’ll have a whole country who will hate you. And don’t forget that most of the guards protecting you right now know me.”

Soonyoung’s words seemed to have shaken Wonwoo a little bit, for his eyes widened slightly – he never seemed to have considered that side of things.

“Step down from the throne, Wonwoo,” Soonyoung threatened. “It will end badly for you if you don’t.”

Something about the conviction in which Soonyoung said those words, and the way that Wonwoo seemed to shake in response, gave Yewon the confidence that this haphazard coup will end in their favor after all.

Being good to others will always pay off in the end; Wonwoo was wrong to ever suggest that kindness could kill. In Soonyoung’s case, for example, the unconditional kindness he had shown to the servants all his life had given him the support that he needed to dethrone a tyrant.

-

Letter #14

Dear Yewon,

You know the old adage “power corrupts,” right? There is a lot of truth in that. I’ve seen so many people get tainted by power, and most of all, Jeonghan. I remember how power slowly crippled him emotionally and stripped him of the ability to sympathize with others.

I want to tell you about something that happened a while back, an incident that still haunts me to this day. I was out on the battlefield with Jeonghan. The battle was over and Solen had won, and as we trampled over dead bodies and collected booty, we found a young Galacian boy hiding under a dead horse. When I saw him, he bowed down in surrender, begging to not be killed. Jeonghan was unmoved by the boy’s pleas, and he slaughtered him on the spot.

Jeonghan had never been the kind of person to ever kill someone like that. Jeonghan had been like an angel who everyone loved. It was in the moment he killed that boy that I realized that Jeonghan was not really an angel anymore.

When Jeonghan harnessed power, it transformed him in profound ways, and I fear that when I’m King, my extra power will also blind me to the suffering of others on account of my actions. I fear that I’ll commit heinous crimes, and that all life and humanity will be out of me.

Love,
Seungcheol

A/N: sooo this is kind of a political chapter which I know aren’t as intriguing as the romantic ones for a lot of people but yeahhh. Anyways. I think there are three more chapters left!!! The last chapter is already written so I literally only have to write two more chapters. I’m sad :(

Anyways next update will come soon I promise it wont take as long as this one took. I’ll start working on it immediately!