After Evie and Kangin left, the party continued. Iseul had been mingling the whole evening with officials and royals and family and friends and pets and even almost every tree in the courtyard. Her parents liked to show her off to anything and everything. Including the trees, but that wasn’t until they had gotten quite drunk though. Kyuhyun had spent his evening glaring daggers at their backs; he’d been wanting some time with HIS woman, since he hadn’t seen her for a while. But noo, she’d been flaunted and shown off like some crown jewel, but that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that there had been a number of eligible bachelors that had eyed her with interest. Too much interest. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he whisked her off, much the same way as he did at the eve of the autumn ball. When he’d brought them to an area that was secluded enough for him, they walked side-by-side, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful night sky.

            “So the wedding was nice,” Kyuhyun began awkwardly, glancing at Iseul sideways thankful that the darkness hid the blush that was gracing his cheeks.    “Yes, I thought it was a very beautiful ceremony. I can’t believe they’re married though, it seems as though everything just went by so fast,” Iseul continued, not noticing the awkwardness surrounding the man beside her.

            “You know, I’ve always wanted a quiet wedding for myself, not something huge. Although this one was nice, it was a bit big for my taste.” Kyuhyun thought out loud, only realizing what he’d actually said after the words had left him. All he could think of was ‘Oops, shouldn’t have said that…’

            “Oh really? I always thought like that too. But I don’t know when I’ll ever get married, besides, I don’t think that many royals actually get to choose their own partners, do they?” Iseul’s mood seemed damp as she replied to him.

          “Well no, not all do. But I don’t think your parents would force you into a marriage you didn’t want though, I mean, they just got you back,” Kyuhyun tried to cheer her up.     

“Yeah, maybe not…” she mumbled in response, if anything seeming even sadder.

Kyuhyun couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to make her so sad. It broke his heart to see her so devoid of hope and the happiness that always surrounded her. All he knew was that he desperately wanted to make her smile again. And he only knew of one way to do that…

“Iseul-ah,” he called softly, effectively stopping her in her tracks and making her turn around to face him.

“Yes?” she said just before he s his arms around her waist, pressing her against him in a tight hug.

“What are you doing Kyuhyun?” she questioned him, her only response being his lips pressing against hers. She could feel her knees weaken under her so she wrapped her arms around his neck. He pressed her even tighter against him, deepening the kiss. He had no idea what drove him to do what he was doing, he’d only planned on giving her a hug, but it just felt so natural and so right. His heartbeat quickened as her arms tightened around his neck and he could swear he felt butterflies. Of all the things he could’ve felt at that moment, why the girly butterflies?

The two of them stood in that same place, clinging to each other and stealing kisses until they heard the early morning bell.

“We should go to sleep, it’s late,” Iseul whispered, regret thick in her voice.

“I guess we should,” Kyuhyun whispered back at her, not quite wanting to let her go. But he did, and as they walked back to the palace they stayed silent, just enjoying each other’s company. His mind was buzzing with thoughts of Iseul and how she affected him. He knew he liked her, a lot, but he didn’t realize until those few stolen moment earlier that somewhere on the way, he’d fallen madly in love with this woman walking beside him. He had to maker her his, he just had to. He could only hope her parents would agree.

***

Back at the Royal Palace of Kyuhyun’s family, after the wedding

“You want to marry Iseul, the Princess of Rea?” his mother repeated skeptically.

            “Yes, I do,” Kyuhyun answered, his fingers crossed behind his back.

            “And you want me and your father to make a marriage agreement with her parents?” his mother continued, her right eyebrow raised so high on her forehead that it seemed like it would disappear behind her hairline anytime.

            “Yes, I would appreciate it if you could do that.”

            “And are you sure they would be willing to marry her off just moment after reclaiming her?” his mother was getting on his nerves now.

            “No, I’m not, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Besides, you have the letter I wrote to them, just give them that and see what they’ll say.” Kyuhyun said rather forcefully before turning around and stalking out of the room. He could hear his mother laugh hysterically through the door as it was closing and his father mumble, “this isn’t that funny you know,” to his mother, just before he cracked up as well. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and walked to Heechul’s chambers, where he and Leeteuk sat by the fireplace, Heechul talking away while Leeteuk read a book in the chair opposite him, not seeming to listen, but Kyuhyun knew he was. He always had to do something while listening to his brothers ramble on and on about life and it’s annoyances.

            “...I’m gay,” Heechul whispered as he stared in his lap, effectively stopping Kyuhyun in his tracks and making Leeteuk snap his head up from the book in his hands.

            “Whaaaat?” Leeteuk said, confusion obvious in his face while Kyuhyun merely shrugged and said;

            “About time you realized it too,” making Leeteuk snap his head in Kyuhyun’s direction.

            “Why does he know?” Leeteuk questioned, an annoyed edge to his tone.

            “Figured it out, wasn’t that difficult,” Kyuhyun said as he sat down in the empty chair by the fireplace. Heechul had just gaped at his younger brother from the time he came in till he sat down. He didn’t seem like he was about to say anything anytime soon.

            “Soo, uh, what does he mean?” Leeteuk asked curiously as he closed his book and placed it on his nightstand.

            “Well, there are apparently some very attractive bandits sitting in our dungeons,” Kyuhyun answered nonchalantly, earning a simple “Oh” from Leeteuk. “But the bad thing is that one of them is already in love with the other and the other is taken because of that, so either Heechul needs a three-way relationship, or just some other guy to drool over,” Kyuhyun continued, now browsing through the book Leeteuk had been reading.

            “WHAT? H-H-HE’S IN LOVE WITH THE BAD DUDE?” Heechul suddenly yelled as he jumped to his feet, looking at Kyuhyun. When the latter merely nodded Heechul turned around and ran out the door. The two guys left behind just grinned as the watched him fly out the door and could only guess where he was off to. 

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A/N: The following updates may be few and far between for a while, because I'm getting over a year long writer's block for this fic. But I hope my muse has decided to return for good and finish this story with me this time. So please bear with me and I will do my very best to keep the updates coming fastfast !! ^^ 

Fighting! 

Oh, and thanks for reading Ever After ! ^^