Luckily, Woo Hee had already packed her things, so all they had to do was return to the palace for Baek Ah to quickly pack a few more provisions. Before they left though, Woo Hee pulled Soo to the side to bid her farewell.

“Woo Hee, were you planning to leave? Was that why you were already all packed up?”

She nodded, and reached down to hold Soo’s hands.

“I am planning to return to my hometown. I do not know when I will be back, but please take care of yourself, all right?”

Soo smiled and squeezed Woo Hee’s hands in response.

“Do not worry about me. I will be fine. You take care of yourself as well. Please write if you can.”

Woo Hee smiled and pulled Soo into a hug.

“Take care of the 4^th prince as well. I know he will do the same for you,” she said with a sly smile before pulling away, and climbing onto her horse.

Soo tried to hide her blush as Baek Ah gave a nod to her and So before he headed off with Woo Hee, their horses galloping out of the palace swiftly. After their figures could no longer be seen in the distance, So led her back to the astronomy tower. He and Ji Mong had decided that it would be safer for her to be close to them, in case anything happened. That night, she tried to sleep in the makeshift bed they had provided her, but she couldn’t. After rolling around, she decided to talk a walk. Soo knew it wasn’t safe to be wandering around the palace at this time, but she figured that it would be safer now that dark had fallen, meaning less chance of being spotted. Her wandering led her to the throne room, and she stood in front of the throne, pondering.

This seat had held kings. Kings who had to fight tooth and nail to sit in it. Once they were in that seat, the fight continued. They could never let their guard down, and furthermore, they had the people and kingdom to rule. Not a day went without complaints to be heard, nobles to be kept in line, or enemies to be kept at bay. She wondered how they all did it, the kings. When she heard the door open, she froze, thinking she had been caught. However, when she heard the voice, Soo immediately relaxed.

“What is it? Do you want to sit in it?”

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Everyone risks their lives for that seat, and you don’t like it?”

She let out a scoff and shook her head, looking down.

“The King threw away Court Lady Oh in order to protect the throne,” she said before looking over at So. “And you, your highness, will have to fight your brothers.”

She looked back at the golden throne. It may have been a throne, but to her it seemed like a gilded cage. A cage where once you entered, could only be exited through death.

“It is a scary seat.”

“You asked me before if I wanted to be king, right?”

“Do you still not want it?”

He looked over at her and smiled.

“I told you. If I cannot make you happy, then being king means nothing to me.”

“Your highness, you will have to fight tomorrow, won’t you?”

“I do not see any way out of it.”

“Even if you fight tomorrow, you won’t hurt them right?”

There was a silence before So asked her a question in return.

“Are you worried about Wook?”

She averted his gaze when he turned it on her. She couldn’t help but still worry about the 8^th prince. Perhaps her feelings of affection had ended, but he was still someone who had taken her under his wing, someone who had given her hope and happiness when she woke up in this world.

“He never was just a relative to you, was he? He was the one you were referring to, when you told me you had feelings for someone.”

“Does that anger you, your highness?”

“Why did you come to me? You could have just stood by and watched while they attacked. He would have ensured your safety.”

There they went again, dodging each other’s questions with more questions of their own. It reminded her of their relationship when they had just met. Although now, instead of not knowing the answers to each other’s questions, it was more of trying to ignore the truth. He knew she was worried about Wook, and she knew that the fact she had former feelings for Wook upset him.

“He said it was for my sake, that he is attacking tomorrow. He was angry he could not do anything when I got kicked out. He couldn’t help and had to leave me alone.”

“I do not understand.”

“Your highness?”

“I gave him everything. I told him it was my mother who orchestrated the poisoning. But why could he not do anything?”

“How did you find that out?”

He frowned at her before looking away, almost as if he was ashamed.

“She invited me for dinner with my brothers. I foolishly thought she was finally accepting me, after my scar was hidden. However, it was all a ploy. She told me to kill the Crown Prince when I had a chance. When I refused, she told me she already sent poison to be put into Crown Moo’s tea, on the 9^th day of the 9^th month of the lunar year.”

The day she was forced to serve tea, after one of the court ladies feigned illness. When she had asked for the lady who had her serve the Crown Prince, she learned the lady had already escaped, only to be found dead a few days later.

“But I could not say anything, even if I wanted to.”

“Because she would simply say she did it for your sake.”

He looked at her, nodding silently as she continued to piece the parts together.

“That was why you drank three cups of tea. You knew there was poison in it, and you hoped that by drinking it and leaving before your symptoms arose, you would hide that it was there at all. If I had brought back another pot of tea, and discarded the old one, no one would have found out.”

It was all her fault. She should have kept protesting when they all told her to serve the tea. Or at least gotten Court Lady Oh to confirm the change before she blindly went in. It was all planned, to get rid of her and the Crown Prince in one fell swoop. But who would do that? Who would want her gone so badly?

“I should have known. I should have done something! There was still time before everyone came and discovered you.”

“No, it would not have mattered. Yeon Hwa drank the tea as well.”

“She did?”

“Yes, but if that happened, Wook should have had even more reason to find the culprit. But, why did he not? He was so determined after I gave him the evidence, but days before your execution date, he suddenly stopped the investigation.”

“You didn’t say anything because you wanted to protect your mother, didn’t you?”

He looked at her in surprise, and she smiled.

“She’s still your mother, even if she hasn’t exactly acted like one.”

“Although that was true, when I saw it was you serving the tea, I knew that I had all the more reason to hide it. I knew you would be implicated if I did not. But I suppose that was useless, you were still punished for a crime you did not commit.”

“You don’t suppose Wook was trying to protect someone as well? Do you think that is a possibility?”

He shook his head slowly.

“I cannot think of a reason. Who else would he have to protect…” he said before his eyes suddenly widened.

“…unless he was trying to protect Yeon Hwa.”

“Yeon Hwa? But why would she need that? She drank the poison without knowing….right?”

“Baek Ah told me Yeon Hwa suddenly wanted to ask for three drinks after I left. It seemed out of the blue, but he did not think much of it.”

“Are you saying that Yeon Hwa also knew about the poison, and drank it willingly like you did?”

“She did not drink it willingly. One cup should have been enough to do significant damage to someone like her, but she was up and walking fine the next day, from what I heard.”

“Then that means she pretended to drink the tea…”

And it finally hit her. If Wook was trying to protect Yeon Hwa, it meant she knew about the poisoning ahead of time. It also meant that she was in cahoots with Queen Yoo. But how clever she was. She knew that there would be chances of being caught, but she had a wild card. When Wook found out, she knew he couldn’t turn her in, because that would lead to the ruin of not only his sister but also his mother, not to mention the entire Hwangbo clan. And they couldn’t suffer another blow like they did in the past, when Queen Hwangbo was accused of ruining a court lady’s pregnancy.

“So that was why he couldn’t help me. Because if he did, he would jeopardize Yeon Hwa and Queen Hwangbo’s reputation.”

The realization brought tears to her eyes. So this was why he could not help her. So this was why Wook turned his back on her. Although she could understand, she had never felt more betrayed. So this was how much their love amounted to: empty words and promises. When it came down to it, she knew that if she was placed in the same position, she wouldn’t have known what to do. But Wook did, and he chose to throw her away. He seemed to regret it, but that regret had turned into something more. A desire for revenge, for redemption, and for power. It turned him into someone she could no longer recognize.

So, seeing her cry pulled her into an embrace.

“I am so sorry, Soo ya. Wook was right. You were caught up in my mother’s plots, and I could not do anything.”

“No, it is not because of your mother. It is because of Yeon Hwa.”

It all made sense now. It had been her plan from the start, to have her serve Crown Prince Moo’s tea. Yeon Hwa had planned to have Soo implicated for the poisoning.

“Yeon Hwa?”

“She has hated me ever since I entered Wook’s house. I never knew why, but I always knew.”

Perhaps Yeon Hwa saw Soo as a distraction for Wook. Although she didn’t know what kind of distraction, she could surmise it was for the throne. Why else would Yeon Hwa join hands with Queen Yoo? And it worked. Everything worked out to Yeon Hwa’s favor. She might have not gotten rid of the Crown Prince, but she had gotten rid of Soo, and motivated her brother to fight for the throne.

“Wook says he wants more power. And now I know why…”

“I felt that way back then too. It frustrated me to no end that I could not do anything to help you.”

“But you tried.”

“I should have tried harder. Maybe we would not be in this position now if I did.”

If he did, what would have happened to Wook? If he had been punished at the time, she would have been devastated. She would have blamed the 4^th prince instead. However, things were different now. They could not change the past. The sting of betrayal still burned even after a year, but she still worried for the 8^th prince.

“The King told me to live my life rationally, and according to reason. That is why I am siding with the Crown Prince. But, if the 8^th prince were to get injured, I would be scarred forever.”

He pulled back to look at her face.

“Do you still have feelings for the 8^th prince, Soo ya?”

Soo shook her head. No, she did not. She knew that much. But she also knew that even if she didn’t have anything to do with the 8^th prince, she didn’t want anyone getting hurt. She would try to prevent as much bloodshed as she could.

“No, but I still don’t want him to get hurt. That goes the same for anyone else.”

He smiled and wiped away her tears.

“All right. I cannot be confident, but I will try. I do not want Wook to die either.”

Suddenly his face scrunched into a frown before he looked at her.

“What about me? I could die too. Are you not worried about me?”

She let out a chuckle. Of course he would be jealous at a time like this.

“Ya, even if people who seem like they will never die, eventually die. Do you really not care about me?”

She shook her head before wrapping her arms around his waist, and pulling him into a hug. She felt him stiffen before his arms hesitantly wrapped around her, returning her embrace.

“You will be fine, your highness. I don’t know much else, but I am sure about that.”

He was to be Gwangjong. He still had a long history ahead of him, and hopefully she would be there to witness it.

Thank you for reading! Please comment and share :D

No copyright infringement intended. This is simply a fan work based on the drama “Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart: Ryeo”