Isn’t it confusing? How, At first she’s just a nobody to you…she was the total opposite from your type…she’s boyish…well she’s the daughter of the general and not to mention one of the most skilled soldier in the kingdom…she’s uhmmm…weird?...who gives a bear’s pelt as a birthday present? let alone with its head still attached??? yeah, no one except PARK SOON DEOK …that girl is heck of a ball of weirdness! But why is it that, despite those things, in just a short span of time of being together as husband and wife, she  turned into my world…my EVERYTHING …

( Wang Eun’s POV)

It all started after some beauty sessions with Hae Soo, standing on top of the stairway, there I saw how my wife glowed, blooming like a flower in spring time…I wouldn’t hide it…my Wife is beautiful even before, I’m just good at hiding and denying.  I remembered the first time I saw her with her hair down…it was when she was teaching me about something  and  was pranked by her father with a flying knife... the way her flowed down from her shoulder and how I got to see her face at a close proximity, I can feel my blood’s already rising, I’m already heating up, but thankfully she didn’t see it and I was saved.  But right now,  she glowed more after Hae Soo’s facial treatment…but something bothered me though apart from her beauty…it’s  the way she touched Jung’s face and how she complemented his face gave my whole body a reason to tense up and make my blood boil…is it because of anger that she’s trying to be close with my brother or the jealousy that I’m feeling because she complemented him and caressed he’s face non-stop? Well, I DON’T KNOW… call me “naïve”, “blunt”, “ straight forward”, "childish" or call me whatever…I’ll admit that I ‘am that…I can’t help it…Its how I’am! I didn’t even realize that I was able to  hurt her feelings with all the words I had said against her. She just bowed her head down in embarrassment in front of Jung with her back facing me…I waited for her to answer back like she always does, but she just stormed away from Jung and I… I just stood there not even bothered at all, following her was not my thing but something inside me felt different just looking at her now far away image…It feels like she’s going to be gone which made me frown…but, y attention was diverted automatically...now with my sweetest smile plastered on my face…the smile that I can’t give to my own wife… but to Hae Soo only.

“Am I being selfish though?”

After chit chatting with Hae Soo and Jung I came back to the Damiwon where me and Soon Deok are currently residing…I was expecting to see her sulking, sitting at that wooden floor facing the bath and ready to shout at me but no…she wasn’t there…I went inside our room, nothing seemed to be suspicious except for one thing…her hanbok that she used a while ago laid flat folded in the bed…and her sword on top of the shelf in front of our bed is missing…along with the armor she usually wears…just then…I heard hard footsteps from outside…I ran fast expecting it was her but no, it was Jung…

“OhJung-ah…what are you doing here?” I asked… “is Soon Deok inside?” he asked without looking at me but the opened door of our room…I glared at him closing the sliding door hard… why is he looking for my wife?! I thought… “NO! she’s not here…why? what do you want from her?” I asked continuously still glaring at him… he just looked at me in a puzzled way then pulled something from his pocket… “I came here to give this back…”  he said holding on to our wedding bond…the same ring I’m currently wearing… my eyes went wide… why does he have her ring…our ring… I got it from his hold and examined the ring as if it was something lost… “why do you have her ring?” I asked…still looking at it… “she kind of dropped it?”  he answered in an unknown tone… I looked at him puzzled… “well…I think she’s pulled it off her finger a while ago and dropped it…”  he added…I still felt clueless… “you scolded her without thinking at all!” Jung exclaimed…explaining… “we were doing nothing when you saw us earlier…she was just complementing me…that was all…and then you came blabbering stuff calling her this and that!” Jung said exasperatedly, then a deep sigh escaped his mouth  “Eun-ah, Soon Deok is your wife, she has feelings that’s fragile, a little foul word against and she’s hurt. But, hearing what you sid about her earlier,  maybe she must have had enough of your insults and took it as her final string…”  he added… the unknown feeling I felt earlier came back to me and now it was combined with shock , anger , loneliness and regret… “Maybe she finally surrender, maybe she decided to finally set you free, just as how you wanted to be. Knowing how Soon Deok love’s you dearly, she would give you what you want even if it means hurting herself in the process” those words from Jung rang a loud bell that echoed inside my head …

my body moved on their own running fast to where the direction of Soon Deok’s house is…I didn’t mind Jung who was shouting my name running after me…I can hear his inaudible shouting but that didn’t stop me… reaching the yard of the kingdom, I was about to run on the other direction where Soon Deok’s house is when loud pounding on the ground resonated from a distance…when I turned…several horses were on their way going out of the front gates…I remembered hearing General Park, Soon Deok’s father, talking to our father about some land that they want to obtain…so maybe this were the troops to be deployed,  fully dressed with armors and helmets with their swords strapped on their waist…I moved back to a safe distance. As I was about to continue to my destination, something caught my attention, a familiar black horse passed by in front of me with its rider, who looks quite familiar, her armor looks similar to someone I know, and that’s when it finally hit me,

“PARK SOON DEOK”

I murmured under my breathe, she was riding her horse fast alongside her father,  regaining back myself from the shock Soon Deok and the battalion of soldiers had exited the front gates already and the guards on the gates are already closing them giving me a last sight of my wife. I tried to run for her but was stopped by the guards that was guarding in the watch towers, I tried my best to get pass them but no, I wasn’t strong enough to be able to. Jung who had been following me had finally caught up, “Eun-ah!stop it!” Jung said pulling me off from the guards, but no, I wasn’t stopping I have to catch up with my wife, I know it’s impossible to do anymore, she has a horse while I have none…she was gone… “LET ME GO!” I shouted but still the guards wouldn’t let go of me but after Jung assured them they finally pulled away from me, I felt my knees weak, Jung who was behind kneeled to my side, my gaze was fixed on the dirt with little tears dropping on it one by one “I have to get her back…”  I murmured… “she has to come back…” I felt a little tap on my shoulder…when I looked up there the king, our father was standing…

“time is given to us to be used wisely Eun-ah…and I suppose you know already how to treasure your given time with the people you LOVE, today Soon Deok went out on a mission with her father…I declined her wish and her father did the same thing but she insisted on going…she told us that she needed a breather and that going out could maybe help her ease her mind…”

 their father, the king revealed…

“right now, Soon Deok is out of this protective walls, and her safety is not guaranteed…” the king further added… “you know what I mean Eun-ah…you’re not stupid like you think you are…you’re a smart young prince…regrets can be avoided if only you know how to open your eyes to the choices that would fit you best…” the king again told him… “right now, what you can only do is hope for Soon Deok’s well-being to be able to come back to you…” he’s father finally ended, The king patted his head like how he does when they were young and came back inside the palace with his advisers behind.

his father’s statement pierced his heart, Jung was right after all, Soon Deok finally decided to give him back his freedom, the freedom he thought he wanted for a very long time, the freedom that he’s cursing at the moment, if it wasn’t for his stupid childish acts, Soon Deok could still be beside him right now, It doesn’t matter that they always fight as long as he can hear her voice and is sure that she’s alive and well…

“Park Soon Deok you better come back to me in one piece…” he thought and pounded the ground in frustration

Night time fell and the damiwon was unpleasantly silent, he missed their night time bickering, hearing her bicker back to his childish remarks is nicer than not hearing her voice at all… he can’t stop thinking about her, What she might be doing now? Has she eaten? Is she fine? Is she safe? Is she even still alive? Wang Eun scratched his head hard burying his face in between his knees. In times like this, Soon Deok was there to comfort him, but not now. He sat properly looking up at the night sky, holding on to his make shift ring necklace that he made out of Soon Deok’s ring, he was waiting for a shooting star, to make a wish for his wife’s safety, for him to hear her voice again, for her to come back to him.

Two days passed and there was still no news from the troops who went out two days ago. Eun was getting anxious, and just like the days that had passed, he is stuck sitting in the bench near the gates waiting for it to open and reveal an alive and well Soon Deok, he had been patiently waiting for her everyday ever since she left with her father, he just leaves his spot only to eat then come back again, but today, he decided not to leave at all, he wasn’t feeling hungry, he wasn’t feeling himself, he just sat there and waited, waiting for a miracle to happen.

He felt a light tap on his shoulder, when he looked back, he saw Hae Soo along with Jung with some food in their hands,

“You have no  plans of leaving your post I guess, so we decided to bring you some food instead…” Hae Soo said showing the food their carrying, Eun just smiled a little and nodded then his attention back again to the gates.

Hae Soo unwrapped some of their food that they brought the handed it to Eun…he just looked at it first then to Hae Soo… “Eat ,you need energy to greet Soon Deok when she finally gets back…” she said still handing him the food…with the mention of Soon Deok’s return he decided to fill in his stomach with some food, knowing how Soon Deok doesn’t like it if he’s starving himself, he was about to get a hold of the food given to him when horns from outside were heard, it was the signal that the troops had finally came back, Eun stood up and hurriedly walked to the opening gates, one by one horses with their riders came in, a small smile was plastered in his face. This were the troops that Soon Deok went with…his Soon Deok is finally back. His eyes roamed the people un-mounting from their horses, exhaustion clear in their faces, some of them bruised some of them with a few scratches in their body others who badly injured were being helped by other soldiers. The  smile on Eun’s face disappeared and was changed into a worrie