--

17

--

For days, you holed yourself up in your room. And for days, Joon tried to get you out of bed, but you refused, leaving only to take a bath. Joon frowned when he left food for you, only to come back to see it half eaten, or even with only one or two bites.

“You can’t do this. You’re going to lose whatever stamina you’ve built, and you’ll be back to square one again,” Joon said, pushing at your back. You laid on the far side of the bed, the side farthest away from the door. It was colder over there, but your body didn’t feel warm to begin with anyway.

You didn't move when you felt arms wrap around you. Woohyun’s scent filled your nostrils, and you closed your eyes and fell asleep for the first time in a while.

--

Woohyun never said anything to you when he came by to hold you. It was like he knew if you opened your mouth to say anything, then you would start to cry again, and the last thing he wanted to do was make you cry. He comforted you quietly with his presence, the only way he knew how.

For a week, the only times you got out of bed were to bathe and change your clothes or go to the bathroom. Joon brought your food to you and stayed to force feed you. Woohyun took over that job after Joon left your room one day looking like he was going to strangle someone.

A week and a half after Myungsoo left, you started to get some feeling back into your body. You could feel Woohyun's arms around your body while the two of you slept during the day. You felt his breath on the back of your neck, and the gentle back rubs he gave you.

You noticed that he blew on your hot food to cool it down slightly before feeding you a good amount of food, not too much or not too little at a time. You noticed how he didn't force you to talk about your feelings and how his eyes didn't hold any pity. Instead, Woohyun looked like he was waiting.

What is he waiting for? you thought to yourself. Whatever it was, it looked as if he would wait as long as it took.

--

You woke up one morning, two weeks after Myungsoo left, feeling pleasantly warm. You finally stopped crying yourself to sleep and woke up without a pounding headache. You shifted on your bed, realizing that Woohyun was still there and still asleep.

Woohyun. For two weeks, he didn't leave your side except for the briefest of moments. You found yourself wondering where he went, but then you felt the overwhelming sadness that Myungsoo left you, and your thoughts immediately tried to blank themselves out.

You sighed and felt a dull ache in your heart. It felt so empty, the space that Myungsoo used to occupy. You felt an itch, and suddenly, you were desperate to fill it with something, anything that would make the aching go away. You let out a soft whining noise and snuggled closer into Woohyun's arms, burying your face into his chest, stirring him from his sleep.

He blinked sleepily a few times before glancing down at you. He could feel you pressing yourself into his arms and raised an eyebrow before tightening his arms around you. You tensed up for a moment before your entire body relaxed. 

For the time being, you felt safe. Maybe Woohyun would be able to squeeze the hole away, because deep down, you knew he wouldn’t be able to fill it. You poked at his chest with your finger for a moment before looking up to see him staring curiously at you.

“... Good evening,” you said, your voice croaking from lack of use. Your throat was dry, and you could feel it scratching from the greeting. That seemed to surprise Woohyun enough to wake him up completely. He shifted so his arm fit comfortably underneath your side.

“Good evening,” he replied apprehensively. You two blinked at each other until you closed your eyes and snuggled closer to him, going back to sleep. Woohyun couldn’t help but smile. He bent down and kissed the top of your head before closing his eyes.

This was safe. You just wanted to feel safe.

--

When Woohyun opened his eyes again, you were gone from the bed. He heard shuffling from the bathroom and waited for you to finish bathing. Joon knocked on the door and stepped inside, holding a tray of food in his hands.

“How’s she doing today?” Joon asked, setting it down in front of Woohyun.

“A little bit better. She said good evening when she woke up today.”

Joon nodded. “That’s good. She hasn’t said anything to anyone since Myungsoo left. Do know know what he said to her?”

Woohyun was silent as he thought. He was right there when it happened. Even he thought that Myungsoo was being a little bit harsh with his words. Maybe a little bit too harsh. He wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t believe his words, but it seemed like everything was starting to sink in for you.

“Oh, Seungho wants to talk to you, too. He said it’s urgent.”

Woohyun glanced towards your closet door as you stepped out and brushed some hair away from your face. You ignored Joon’s presence and hopped up on the bed, sitting and staring at the tray of food.

“Uh... Tell him I’ll be a few minutes,” Woohyun said slowly as he looked you. “Unless... will you be okay by yourself?” You stared at the tray of food for a second and nodded.

“I’ll be okay.”

--

“By my calculations, you have about a month and a half until Myungsoo’s energy runs out in her body. And if that happens, she’ll die. So you have less than a month and a half to get her bonded to yourself.”

Woohyun stared blankly at Seungho. Less than a month and a half? It’d barely been two weeks, and you finally started talking again. How was he supposed to get you to agree to marry him and get bonded in a month and a half?

Seungho sensed Woohyun apprehension and sighed. “You don’t really have much of a choice. Convince her somehow, or I’m going to have to force something to happen.”

--

You were sitting in front of your vanity, brushing your hair. Your room felt unbearably empty, and you kept hearing Myungsoo’s last words to you echoing in your mind.

Forget about me.

You heard a clink as your brush knocked against the ring on your finger, and you stopped, putting the brush down to stare at your hand. The small bit of metal on your hand never seemed so large at this moment. You remembered when Myungsoo took the rings from you after Mir had given them to you, and forced it on your hand, ordering you to keep it on and never take it off.

Maybe you should’ve done the same for him. Deep down, you refused to believe that you meant nothing to Myungsoo. There was no way you could’ve meant nothing to him. If that were the case, why would he even bother telling you to forget him? To say goodbye?

You knew he still cared but...

But his words still stung.

Stop being so selfish. Your duty is to your people, not to me.

You stared sadly at the ring on your finger before you carefully slid it off of your hand and dropped it into a small jewelry box on your vanity. Immediately, you felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness, making it hard to breathe.

You started to panic until you felt hands on your shoulders and looked up to see Joon giving you a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

You took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, turning your eyes towards your mirror. You looked so tired and beaten up. “I’m... I’ll be okay.”

Joon pursed his lips. “Well... Mir is back in town. He says he has a whole bunch of treasures for you to see.” A visit to town sounded nice. “And who knows. If you ask him about where he got some of them, maybe he’ll tell you.”

--

You went outside and noted that the temperature of the weather dropped drastically. No wonder Joon made me wear this heavy cloak, you thought to yourself as you weaved your way through the crowd.

The cold air was biting now, making a blush appear on your face as your body attempted to keep your face from freezing. It was amazing how fast the weather could change. Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise, you were locked in your room for two weeks... You sighed and politely greeted the people that said hello to you.

“Well, well, well. Fancy meeting a princess in a place like this,” you heard a familiar voice say. You turned and saw Mir leaning over his table, grinning at you. His canine popped out at you as you hurried over to him with a slight smile on your face.

“When did you get back?” you asked, eyeing all the new things on display.

“Oh, sometime around early morning. Let me tell you, treasure hunting is hard work. But here, let me show you a few of the things I found...”

--

Woohyun went searching for you in your room, but when he opened the door and didn’t see you, he started to panic a little bit.

“She went into town. The local treasure dealer is back in town, so I’m betting that’s where she is right now,” Dongwoo said as he passed by Woohyun. He stopped and stared at Woohyun. “It’s going to be you, isn’t it?”

Woohyun didn’t have to ask to know what Dongwoo was talking about. “I’m trying. She really loves Myungsoo so...”

Dongwoo nodded in understanding. “Well, good luck. Wish it was me. Why do I always get lumped into friend territory,” he mumbled to himself as he walked away. Woohyun closed your door and hurried towards the town.

--

You stood there, going through all of the things that Mir found. He told you a few stories about certain treasures, making you laugh or go wide eyed at him.

“Imps have a good sense of treasure. I wish I had enough time to comb through this entire land to see what I could find. But you know, I’ve got to make a living somehow, and Rivedon treats me nicely.” Mir noticed you weren’t wearing the eternity knot ring anymore, but chose not to comment on it. It was probably something you didn’t want to talk about.

“There you are.” You looked up and saw Woohyun coming towards you, holding a thicker cloak made of animal fur of some sort. You could see a white fur lining the hood before Woohyun draped it over your and pulled the hood over your hair.

“Oh, is that polar bear fur?” Mir asked, leaning forward to get a closer look with a grin on his face.

“Yes,” Woohyun said, adjusting it on you until you batted his hands away. You had to admit though, with the additional cloak, you were feeling a lot warmer now.

“Wow, polar bear fur. I haven’t even gone that far in the land of the dead yet. They say you’ve traveled and explored more of the land of the dead than even I have.” Woohyun eyed Mir and ignored him, turning towards you.

“What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”

“It feels nice,” you said absently, admiring a blue gem. Mir smiled and jerked his head at you.

“Sapphires. Hard to come by, but I’ll let you have it. It matches the color of your eyes. That polar bear fur just makes them stand out even more.” You smiled at Mir and held up the sapphire, hold it up next to your face and turning to Woohyun.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Woohyun blinked a few times.

“Your eyes are prettier.”

--

Myungsoo thought it was fitting that the weather would turn harsh as soon as he left the castle of Rivedon. You brought a certain warmth to his life that made things bearable, but without you, all he felt was the cold.

The knights and trainees would be walking to the knight’s den, stopping occasionally to rest. It was at least a month’s worth of travel there on foot, a week less on horseback. Soohyun said it would be their first lesson on enduring harsh weather conditions.

“Myungsoo, over here,” Eli said, beckoning him over to him. Myungsoo left Sungyeol’s side and made his way over to the older knight.

“Yes?”

“I’ve gotten word that your stone is ready for you at the knight’s den. Are you sure you want to do it? I heard it was painful. And there’s a chance that it could reject you.”

Myungsoo breathed hard and nodded. “I’m sure.” His thoughts turned to you again, and he wondered what you were doing back at the castle. He felt a twinge in his heart and sighed. It’d barely been a few weeks, and he already missed you more than he could ever imagine. How was he supposed to do this for a hundred years?

--

Woohyun watched as you ate at your eatery. The cooks complained that you were wasting away to nothing, and said that they were going to move up to the castle to cook for you every day until you gained all of your weight back.

You blamed it on the large sizes of your cloaks, but Woohyun knew that you did lose a lot of weight from losing your appetite after Myungsoo left. But as of right now, it looked like you gained it back again as you shoveled food into your mouth.

He smiled fondly at you and adjusted the cloaks on the back of your chair so they wouldn’t fall. “You’re feeling better?” he asked. Your cheeks were rosy as your turned your eyes towards him and chewed on your food before swallowing.

“Yeah,” you said, small smile on your face. “Being around people certainly helps. I can’t dwell forever, right?” You turned back to your plate of food, and Woohyun saw your eyes get sad again.

“It’s okay,” Woohyun said, “take your time. No one’s rushing you.”

--

You were about to fall asleep when Woohyun called your name. 

“Hmm?”

“Your dream wedding. What does it look like?”

You blinked sleepily for a moment before closing your eyes and snuggling closer to him. “It’s Spring. There’s flowers everywhere, the moonlight is flooding down on the castle. It’s decorated with lace, and ribbons, and flower petals. Everything smells wonderful. My dress is perfect and...” Your voice started to fade out as you started to fall asleep.

“And Myungsoo’s there, in the ceremonial uniform, smiling at me like... like...” Woohyun felt his heart twist a little bit as he heard Myungsoo’s name. Of course.

“Like I’m the most important person in the world...” You fell asleep, fingers wrapped up in the front of Woohyun’s shirt. Woohyun sighed, staring down at your sleeping face.

“I can smile at you like that. I do smile at you like that. Does it have to be Myungsoo? Why does it have to be Myungsoo?” Woohyun asked quietly.

--

Woohyun spent all of his time with you, whether you were getting lessons with Seungho or training with Byunghee. With all of the trainees gone, Byunghee took up a new class, and while he was starting over with them, he created special lessons for you to help you build up your powers.

“So. Have you chosen a suitor yet?” Seungho asked one day while he and you were in his study. You went quiet and stared at your hands.

“You have to choose sooner or later. The people are starting to get a little bit restless. You should really give them something to celebrate.” You thoughts turned to Myungsoo, and Seungho could tell, by the way your eyes crinkled unhappily.

“Listen. I know you miss him, but he’s going to be gone for the next hundred years. You want to see him when he comes back, right? You won’t be able to live through a hundred years unless you get bonded. And you can’t get bonded, if you don’t choose a suitor.”

“I know,” you said quietly. Seungho sighed and ran his hands through his hair before glancing over to the portrait of Gyuri. It was still covered. Seungho couldn’t bring himself to uncover it.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” he said to no one in particular. But you knew that he was talking about the both of you.

--

Woohyun had two weeks left. He had two weeks left to convince you to marry him, and at this rate, he had no idea how he was going to do it. He spent as much with you as possible, keeping you company. You seemed comfortable with him, but he was too afraid to bring up proposals in case you started to retreat into a shell again.

“I accept.”

Woohyun could heard you accepting his proposal as clear as day as he laid on your favorite bench in the gardens. The plants were gone by now, and it felt a little bit barren, but he could still smell the flowers as if they were blooming.

Then he realized you were standing next to him.

I accept.

“Wait. What?” Woohyun suddenly sat up on the bench, staring at you with wide eyes and shocked expression on his face.

“I... I accept your proposal. I’ll marry you, Woohyun.” Woohyun stood up from the bench and looked at you in disbelief. Was he dreaming again?

He reached out carefully until his fingers brushed against your cheek. You were warm, and when you leaned in slight towards his touch, he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

“You... You will? I’m not going to force you into anything you’re not ready for. Are you sure?” You stared at Woohyun’s face for a moment and nodded.

Woohyun stepped in closer until he was right in front of you and tilted your face up with his fingers, eyes searching yours for any uncertainty.

He found a little bit of sadness, a little bit of resignation. Had you given up on Myungsoo? He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and smiled at you, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“If you’re sure. We should go tell Seungho.”

--

Woohyun didn’t react the way you thought he would when you accepted his proposal. You expected a huge grin to appear on his face, and for him to swing you up off the ground and pull you into a hug, maybe even kiss you.

But his reaction was apprehensive, like he wasn’t sure if it was something he wanted, making you confused. You told Joon about Woohyun’s reaction as he was helping you get ready for the night while Woohyun talked to Seungho about wedding preparations.

“I see... Woohyun’s not stupid. I think he was apprehensive because he thinks you’re still in love with Myungsoo. He doesn’t want to set himself up for heartbreak by telling you he loves you if you can’t love him back.” Joon wanted to say that Woohyun knew that you were still in love with Myungsoo, just like Joon knew, and Seungho.

“I... I’ll forget about Myungsoo over time. And I can’t really forget about him if I don’t have the time to forget about him, right?”

“So you’re just using Woohyun to forget about Myungsoo?”

You blinked a few times and shook your head furiously. “I can learn to love him. I think I might already,” you said, turning your eyes away. The love you had for Woohyun wasn’t anything like the love you had for Myungsoo, but you still loved him. 

Wasn’t that what counted?

--

Seungho stared at Woohyun, and Woohyun stared back.

“Cutting it kind of close, aren’t you? There’s only about two weeks left. She should be starting to slow down and feel more tired.”

“She came to me and accepted my proposal out of nowhere. Did you say something to her?”

“I might’ve.”

Woohyun sighed and rubbed his temples.

“What’s the matter? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“It is but... I wanted her to accept my proposal because she loved me.”

“I’m sure she does, Woohyun. Maybe not the same way she loves Myungsoo, but I’m sure she loves you. I’ll start the wedding preparations. You two will be wed by the end of next week.”