Perhaps the surprising thing about the wedding was that most of the preparations were being made domestically. One would expect a king to import the most exotic and luxurious goods for the sake of such a grand occasion, but instead, he looked to his own people for resources. While there were some merchants and nobles who grumbled that it would damage trade and political relations with other kingdoms, for the most part, people were pleased and honored that the king thought so highly of them.

Seulhee had been fourteen when the current king ascended the throne, and she had been old enough to remember several years before him, during his father’s reign. While the former king had been fair enough and not so horribly corrupt, he hadn’t been well-loved either. Instead, he had simply been tolerated.

It was difficult for her to imagine being king at such a young age. She herself felt as if she knew nothing about the world and if anyone even told her to run the village—not that it would ever happen, of course—she would have no idea to do beyond what little she had learned from helping her family out.

Of course, the king had obviously been well-educated. Doubtless from a small age he had been tutored and given lesson upon lesson in etiquette and finance and history and languages that would have prepared him for his future position.

But despite his popularity, he was still a king, a ruler, someone far, far away, barely exerting much influence on her life. Aside from the taxes and the law enforcement—which was done more on a local level anyway—the king was just another faceless name. She was happy for him, and she contributed her share in the work to produce the food and goods for the quota, and but in the end, she didn’t care that much if she never heard word of him again, as long as her life continued as it did.

***

When those months of laborious work finally came to an end, the whole village was exhausted but happy. The inspect sent by the palace to examine their handiwork seemed reasonably satisfied, if not impressed. Frankly, if he had given any sort of bad reaction, Seulhee was sure some of her neighbors and acquaintances would have driven the man out for insulting their masterpieces. Everyone had expended some degree of blood, sweat, and tears on the project. It meant something to them, more so than to the king, who had hundreds of towns and villages sending him his things.

Thus, they sent off the last of their food and goods, and everyone began to wait for the actual wedding day.

During this time, a scroll was delivered to the village council. It contained a message to them asking them to select one young individual from the village to attend the Royal Academy along with a promissory note worth enough to finance such an education. Although no one had quite expected it, the king was keeping his promise. Seulhee suspected the reason the palace had not sent any gold or jewels was most likely because they feared it would end up in someone’s pocket rather than be used for its allotted purpose. She thought this was rather good and wise of them.

The council took some time to discuss the matter. There were about three dozen people her age in the village, so it wasn’t a large pool to choose from. When the council announced its decision, however, Seulhee was the most surprised of anyone.

“Sungyeol! You’re going to the capital!” she nearly screamed when her friend came running over to her home. “I can’t believe it!”

“I can’t, either, but it’s great!” he gushed. “I heard they teach you magic there.”

Her eyes widened. “They’d let a commoner do magic?” She was skeptical of the idea. Although there were hedge witches and healers, she had never heard of anyone learning or knowing the fancy kind of magic that was taught in large cities and universities. That sort of thing was for rich people.

“They’re letting a commoner attend the Royal Academy, so I don’t see why not?” He shrugged.

“It sounds so exciting. I wish I could go.”

“Same here,” he sighed, sounding disappointed. “But don’t worry, I’ll come back to visit and I’ll tell you everything and I’ll buy you gifts and stuff.”

“Basically everything short of a marriage proposal,” she joked, elbowing him.

Immediately, she regretted her statement, as Sungyeol turned quite serious, more serious than she’d ever seen him.

“You might want to wait for that,” he said.

“What?” She stared. “You’re joking, right?”

“No.”

“But—“

“I mean, I don’t like you in that way—“ Well, that was a relief since she didn’t feel that way either. “—but I can’t imagine marrying anybody else. We’ve grown up together. We know each other so well. Who else is there?”

“I don’t know, one of other boys in the village?” To be quite honest, she had never really thought of such things in the past. She was still young, after all, and she wasn’t in a hurry to find a husband.

“You’re sixteen now. You’re going to get married eventually, probably within the next three years. If you don’t want to be stuck with a total stranger for the rest of your life?”

Seulhee didn’t really like where this conversation was headed, so she curtailed it by saying, “I’ll worry about that later, and if you still want to marry me, then we can talk.”

Much to her surprise, he respected her wishes and didn’t speak of it again for a long time.

***

Very soon after, Seulhee found out that she would be able to attend the wedding.

When she heard the news, she nearly fell out of her chair.

“We’re letting you go since you’re still young and you’re not absolutely indispensable,” her mother explained, smiling at her. “Go, have fun, but be careful. Sungyeol is going, too, along with other people from the village. He’ll protect you.”

Even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to get an up-close view of anything, the idea of traveling to the capital at all was just mind-boggling and tremendously exciting.

“Oh, what am I going to wear?” she wondered, about a week before. They would be setting out a few days before in order to get to the city in time, with some leeway in case they got delayed somehow.

“You’re not the one getting married, love,” her father laughed. “It doesn’t matter that much what you wear. Just be presentable, blend into the crowd, and nobody will be looking down on you for anything.”

***

The journey from the village to the capital was a long one, as expected. During their travel, Seulhee saw so many things that were foreign and new to her. She kept asking the head of the team, a man who had traveled more than the average villager, all of the questions that came to mind. He answered them as best as he could, and he didn’t tell her to shut up, but she felt so ignorant all the same. Living in the village had been like living in a bubble.

More than ever, she wanted to live in the city.

As it turned out, they had been wise to set out early. They arrive about a day before the wedding day almost couldn’t find a place to stay. Many people from outside of the capital had flocked to the area just for the occasion.

During the day, she and Sungyeol ran around the city exploring. They hadn’t brought much money with them, and they couldn’t afford that much in the first place, so mostly they just browsed and examined the things they came across, trying not to seem too horribly country bumpkin-like and out-of-place. They were pretty sure they failed, though. It was simply too exciting for them.

“Can you believe that you’re actually going to be living here?” Seulhee sighed before they went to sleep that night. The next day was the big day, and as tired as they felt from all of their adventures, they would be waking up early the next morning so as not to miss a single second of the show.

“Yeah, I can believe it. I simply can’t wait,” Sungyeol replied before falling fast asleep.

Soon enough, Seulhee also drifted into restful slumber as well.