face claim chaeyeon of dia

back up jiho of oh my girl

 

wardrobe 

juyeon has been told that she is a representative of the imperial house of kim since a young age, and that is largely reflected on her style and wardrobe. juyeon has little to no opinions on what she wears publicly. her fashion style demonstrates luxury in the latest trend. most of the time, she is seen in blue and white gowns which represents royalty and wealth. only appearing in outfits in the highest quality of the country, juyeon's style easily takes over the trend of the high society. the most common material of her wardobe is brocade, satin and wool. usually her day dresses are brighter in colours, while her evening dresses are darker. floral patterns are commonly seen in her day dresses, and juyeon always wears petticoats to highlight her small waist, as required by queen sujeong.

 

juyeon's choice of jewelry compliments her gowns. if her gown is more complex and dramatic, she would opt for minimalistic accessories, and vice versa. most of her jewelry are made of gold, diamond, pearls and quartz. some common motifs are lotus flower and serpents. her accessories, from bracelets, to brooches to necklaces are all perfectly matched with her outfit as assisted by a designated handmaiden. her hairstyle varies, but typically styled in a high bun with some plaits. occasionally she would let her curled hair down when she attends a more casual event. juyeon likes to decorate her hair with flowers and velvet ribbons, and sometimes pearl handbands.

personality 

conscientious, patient, gentle, tolerant...the virtues

 

pragmatic, level-headed, insightful, reserved, detached, phlegmatic...the neutral

 

haughty, conceited, insincere, manipulative, egoistic...the vices

 

inspirations: 

manners, etiquettes, beauty — these are the values always assoicated with princess juyeon. her hair is neatly combed, her ribbon is properly tied, along with a standard, polite smile. she has the perfect package, almost like a doll that came into life. achieving as much attainment as a fellow prince in literature, juyeon is often praised for her conscientiousness and intelligence. but besides all these, juyeon has no character superficially. it is as if all her achievements and impressive abilities are all based on the fact that she is the king's eldest princess, not to mention his favourite daughter. when all these fade away, it seems that there is nothing memorable left on her.

 

as a princess, juyeon is taught to never lose herself in public occasions. she should always be level-headed and able to come up with solutions to overcome challenges, never at a loss for words. the way queen sujeong kept stressing the fact that she was not a pure royal member took away juyeon's naive fantasies. since a young age, she knew she was raised as a tool to sacrifice for her country. thus, juyeon is able to see things in a realistic way. she always prepares for the worst, whereas hope breeds eternal misery. and as she grew up, she became more detached and apathetic to the happenings around her as she knew her destiny has been decided years ago. from the moment she was registered and welcomed to the palace, she was not able to choose her own path. more importantly, she doesn't show what's inside of her easily, because she knows that would easily be used as a weapon against herself.

 

however, many were deceited by her innocent and elegant facade. underneath those soft features lied an ambitious and strong soul. little do they know she is the daughter of a mistress, a mistress who became the king's favourite one - and even having her daughter accepted into the royal family. the amount of schemings and manipulation it took were all inherited to juyeon. as the daughter, she only outshined her mother. she will not hesitate to manipulate anyone and anything around her to achieve her ultimate goal, even her own brother. juyeon is ambitious, and yearns to change her destiny. what is seen on juyeon is always what she wanted to be seen. the extent of her perceptiveness goes as far as no one could really tell if princess juyeon was ever lost or defeated; many times they thought she lost the edge, only to realise every loss was a part of her plan. it wasn't easy surviving in the royal family under queen sujeong's supervision, but juyeon managed to achieve everything she wanted while behaving as the most loyal daughter of the queen. juyeon's determination was also inherited from her mother. she is very patient, as long as everything goes with the plan, she could tolerate anything. deep down inside, juyeon has her own pride and confidence, whether as a royalty or as an overachieving lady. a common flaw of the high society, she is just as haughty as any of them, looking down on peasants and even nobilities of lower ranks and less educational attainments. her own qualities and achievements provided her with an excessive amount of confidence when facing non-imperial people, but she never shows it in an obvious way.

 

but if you ever get deep inside kim juyeon's world, one will see the very few good qualities shaping her into a real person instead of those virtues of a mere princess persona. she is conscientious and very disciplined because she never forgets her goals and objectives. two years of isolation has shortly distracted her from her calculating lifestyle. she has become more gentle, occasionally, youngdo would catch her talking to plants and playing with butterflies. spending two years to collect her own thoughts, juyeon has grown into a more grateful and appreciating person. she is taking baby steps learning to repay those who previously helped her or performed good deeds for her. of course, juyeon wouldn't easily let her guards down for people to see her softer inner personality. at least, until now, youngdo was the only one witnessing a different side to the princess juyeon.

 

background 

juyeon was born as the king's eldest daughter, and her mother, jiryeong, being one of his royal mistresses. jiryeong was one of his most favoured one, not to mention juyeon looks a lot like jiryeong, and therefore the king registered juyeon into the royal family, inheriting the royal title as the eldest princess. queen sujeong was furious in the beginning, but rather than turning it into a royal scandal, she decided to keep it a secret and became juyeon's paternal mother in the palace. very few people were aware of juyeon's background. though there were rumours of juyeon being an illegitimate child, they were never confirmed and queen sujeong put on a good act being juyeon's mother. jiryeong passed away when juyeon turned eight, and queen sujeong has since raised juyeon into a political marriage tool. she gave her the best etiquette education and made sure she was the most elegant and graceful member of the high society in korea - so that she would be the perfect candidate to be married off to the chinese royalties far away from the land. "you either be the only one or be no one, juyeon," she remembered hearing queen sujeong repeating this motto over and over again, whenever she couldn't perform up to the queen's standard.

 

juyeon officially debuted in 1828 at the age of 18. juyeon immediately got everyone's attention as the first princess to debut of the ruling royal family. juyeon is gorgeous, well-mannered and sophisticated in every aspect. she gained popularity and became relevant in royal gossips. the first gossip about her was that her relationship with the crown prince juwon is definitely not as peaceful as it seemed superficially.

 

starting from the second year, juyeon's choice of fashion began to become trends. female nobility members were often seen imitating her style and sometimes certain items would be quickly sold out once juyeon was seen wearing it at an event during social season. juyeon's 'it-girl' status was established the third year after her debut, when several noble suitors proposed to juyeon but were all rejected by her. girls in high society were jealous of her, but at the same time, juyeon was a convenient connection between the crown prince and them. as a result, as much as girls secretly hated her, juyeon was still popular around those who wanted to marry her brother. over the seasons, juyeon remained one of the most discussed character in high society, but as queen sujeong trained her, she developed a strong mentality in facing questions and rumours. as a royal member, it is rare not to be talked about. and queen sujeong always stressed the importance of remaining relevant with a good reputation. just when juyeon's social status was solidified, news of her being engaged to a chinese prince were released.

 

as queen sujeong expected, the chinese royalties were very satisfied with juyeon and granted her as the secondary fujin of the eldest prince yinzhi. however, two weeks before the wedding, she disappeared from the palace. no one knew what happened to her and one day before the wedding, just when the king and queen were so anxious of explaining a missing bride to china, prince yiwei called off the engagement and cancelled the wedding with compensation. without a satisfactory alternative bride, the king agreed.

 

the news of the engagement were spread everywhere around the capital and the country. therefore, when news of the chinese prince calling the engagement off, the people, especially the high society, were shocked. juyeon has always been deemed as the perfect wife, and more surprising was how the king willingly agreed to cancel the wedding. different versions of rumours circulated around cities and provinces, but the royal family remained silent; especially news about juyeon disappearing were handled carefully. yet, it was eventually discovered by the people as it was hard to find a people urgently in a subtle way. rumours have been spread to every corner of the country since then, and juyeon has not only become one of the most controversial topics among nobles, but also the talk of the town.

 

kim juyeon is a woman with endless schemings. queen sujeong thought constantly reminding juyeon that she was not a pure royal blood would eliminate her ambition and make her understand that she was doomed to be a puppet for the imperial house of kim forever. but instead, juyeon took advantage of her beauty and intelligence to be the whole package - receiving the best education, overachieving in korean and chinese literature, growing into the perfect lady everyone in the high society either loves or hates - of course juyeon would not be married off to china just like that. she was determined to live a comfortable life with sufficient power and influence in her own country. so she secretly made plans and even manipulated the crown prince juwon into helping her flee.

 

after two months, juyeon returned to the palace, being discovered by royal guards in incheon. the queen was so furious that she locked her up and isolated her for an entire two years. juyeon was not allowed to go anywhere outside the estate in incheon she was assigned to. queen sujeong only assigned sir youngdo as her personal guard and well, five maids to take care of her daily life. not even her lady-in-waiting was allowed to stay with her. it was a temporary defeat for juyeon, but she knew too well the queen would not just let all those expensive education and strict training go in futile; and she would not bear the shame of revealing juyeon as the king's illegitimate child. she was certain, the queen would continue using what's left on her. juyeon was finally released in 1833, ready to join the social season this year as the protagonist of the biggest royal scandal. she was the 'it-girl' among the high society in the past; but she had to return as a scandalous and still unmarried princess, as it seems that queen sujeong has other plans for her.

 

trivias 

things juyeon likes include the nature, literature, dessert, seafood dishes, alcohol, and chinese cuisine delicacy like bird's nest and ginseng.

 

things juyeon dislikes include anything she deems tacky, proximity with the commoners and dirtiness (and anything associated with it honestly).

 

juyeon is often seen tucking her hair behind her ear, combing her hair before she sleeps and smirking to herself when she feels disgusted by the surrounding.

 

some of her hobbies are reading, horse riding, singing and playing the piano. occasionally, she would play weiqi with lady danhee. she also has a weird hobby of listening to youngdo reciting recipes. she has no intention of ever stepping in the kitchen and start cooking but she enjoys listening to him reciting.

 

juyeon prides herself on her literature attainment, singing skills, horse riding, archery, waltz, and her capabilities in the chinese four arts: guqin (chinese string musical instrument), weiqi (board game), calligraphy, and chinese painting. in fact, queen sujeong used to stressed the importance on excelling in the four arts to prepare for her marriage in china.

 

very picky when it comes to food and accommodation environment. she is a bit of a clean freak, and requires the highest level of cleanliness if possible. however, when she's enjoying herself in the nature, she becomes less fastidious.

 

among all activities, juyeon enjoyed archery the least. after demonstrating her  competent ability in her year of debut, she stopped participating in archery competitions in the following years, because of her lack of interest. but when someone dared to challenge her, juyeon would kindly demonstrate what it's like to be a failure.

 

she enjoys and is most confident in literature. as mentioned, juyeon is not the type to flaunt her abilities and skills, rather, she prefers to surprise everyone only when asked or requested. but that does not mean she would tolerate being publicly questioned.

 

attaches a lot of attention to her appearance, especially her hair. juyeon's visual is known to be one of the best within the high society, therefore the queen strictly requires juyeon to take good care of her look.

 

relies on carriages for travelling a lot. she is not comfortable walking side by side with commoners.

 

her ex-fiance prince yinzhi was based on the qing dynasty's prince yiwei, daoguang emperor's first son, prince yinzhi of the second rank.

 

her birth mother passed away on april 16, and she was allowed visit her mother's grave that time every year.

 

her original plan was to hide in her mother's hometown in anyang, but juwon offered to help, and she ended up hiding in incheon under juwon's protection.

 

with lord yul's close friendship with juwon, juyeon isn't completely unfamiliar with the commander. they would run into each other in the imperial estate, but since lord yul's a cold character and juyeon isn't exactly a person full of passion, they are barely acquaintances. juyeon sees lord yul a part of her brother's team, and therefore is constantly aware of him. superficially, lord yul respects princess juyeon as a royalty, but juyeon's presence always gives him an uncomfortable vibe. as for lady suji, before her marriage with lord yul, she was a competent rival of juyeon in the high society, but at the end of the day, she was just a daughter of a baron. then she got married to lord yul, which juyeon thought the latter could've done better.

face claimdoyoung of nct

back up wonwoo of seventeen

 

wardrobe 

youngdo's choice of fashion leans towards the more minimalistic, subtle side. he is a knight, not a noble. in addition, he believes as long as he appears in the appropriate dress code, those overly pretentious and dramatic fashion is simply unnecessary. of course, such thought is based on that he has no intention of competing with other nobles to attract those ladies. at a certain point his style could be considered boring. youngdo always appear in black clothings, a habit he picked up from his father. this season, however, people began observing him appearing in a navy overcoat, which was rumoured to be handpicked by princess juyeon. youngdo usually wears a pair of black gloves and brings along a pocket watch for practical use.

some might shiver at the mention of sir youngdo, but most of the people respected him as the warrior bringing glory to their country. he was constantly expressionless, and hid in the shadows with his black outfit, earning him the name of 'the black knight'. with his glamorous reputation of victories and such good look, he was a popular option to be married to.

 

youngdo's personality was greatly developed in relation with his upbringing. his father was an outstanding general officer, therefore he raised all his three sons into brave warriors who would fight great wars. his father told him that a great fighter not only needed to be tough and courageous, but also rational. in extreme circumstances, he had to be able to think and make the best decisions for greatest benefits. and as a soldier, obedience was of utmost importance. youngdo was taught to be loyal and obey authority. with his father and his two elder brothers' influence, youngdo was used to keeping his feelings to himself because he should not make his emotions a weakness to enemies. eventually, youngdo became inarticulate in expressing himself. youngdo has the tendency to detach himself from happenings around him and remain apathetic so as not to be easily distracted. furthermore, youngdo inherited his father's warrior spirit just well. he is tolerant and would not easily give up on his goal with strong determination. praised by the neighbours since a young age, relatives and friends had high hopes for youngdo, who was expected to be just as great a soldier as his father. therefore, youngdo has become more arrogant around people and became judgemental without knowing the person. he thought the pretentious high society was vain and shallow, just as how he assumed princess juyeon upon first sight.

 

perhaps these were all just defense mechanism. his mother left him in an early age, and youngdo, unconsciously, was afraid of being abandoned. therefore, he stopped involving in genuine relationships and stopped feeling. until he had the chance to know prince juyeon, who he truly, truly cared about. he became more attentive to her feelings, and was willing to believe in her completely, even showing her his weaknesses. he became the one to reach out. it turned out he just had to meet the one who would make him a person with more temperature and more lively.

 

background 

jo youngdo was born as the third son of general officer sir insoo. as his father was knighted to serve directly under royal family, he too, was trained to serve the royal family since a young age along with his two elder brothers. his eldest brother, jo youngmoo, soon saved enough money to recruit and train the house of jo's very own private army. the jo army effectively brought more victories led by sir insoo, and greatly raised the reputation of pongyang jo clan, the clan they belong to. however, the king refused to grant the family lands and titles as he was threatened by the jo family's military influence.

 

youngdo joined the army at the age of 16, and was knighted at the age of 19 after achieving impressive victories at wars. he began serving directly under the imperial house of kim, working as the king's imperial guard and occasionally running secretive errands for the imperial family. after knighted, youngdo only attended social seasons as guards for the royal family members. despite not actively participating in events unless the queen ordered, youngdo still gained plenty attention with his legendary war stories and good look. many ladies attempted to get to know him but all were politely turned down. but that never hindered his popularity among the girls. he never thought of looking for a wife during the beginning seasons as neither his brothers were married yet.

 

at the age of 23, he was appointed as princess juyeon's personal guard - well, that's what the queen said, but really he was appointed as princess juyeon's personal playmate during her punishment. for two years he was unable to attend any public social events or fight in wars. slowly, people forgot about his existence and when news of him being appointed to look after the runaway princess for two years were revealed, the respect for him previously mostly turned into disdain. most importantly, rumours of him and the princess have swirled continuously - to the extent that some versions of the rumours were him being the reason the princess ran away in the first place.

 

things he likes include military treatise, weapons, outdoor activities, sport competitions, and tea.

 

things he dislikes include pretentious people, studying, and disappointing his father.

 

youngdo is often seen staying alert of the surrounding by subtly looking around, bringing a sword with him all the time, touching the grip of his sword when he's irritated or anxious, and unconsciously tapping his fingers on the table when he's thinking or impatient.

 

some of his hobbies include practising swordsmanship, horse riding, archery, and cooking (for juyeon).

 

youngdo's mother passed away when he was eight. his father never married again and focused on raising the trio siblings, joo youngmoo, jo youngsun and him. youngmoo was currently the general of the jo army, while youngsun was serving the country's army as a captain under lord yul.

 

he likes to wear black outfits because it can hide his wounds and blood stains from enemies. in addition, his father used to lie about his wounds in front of his mother covered by black uniforms.

 

youngdo especially enjoys listening to juyeon singing. he thinks juyeon singing along to classical music melodies next to the piano is the most beautiful picture he's ever seen.

 

as youngdo's family all work in the military, he was educated with basic knowledge of medicine, both western medicine and traditional herbal medicine when treating wounds.

 

the first present juyeon gifted youngdo was a very old and original copy of the art of war by sun tzu. they often read it together in the garden in incheon.

juyeon and youngdo first met in 1827, five years ago. the family was having afternoon tea in the garden when the king introduced youngdo to her and her siblings as the latest addition to the imperial guard so that they wouldn't freak out seeing a stranger around the estate. just like other imperial guards, youngdo didn't talk a lot so juyeon doesn't really have much memories of him in the beginning. what she did know, though, is that his features resembled too much with her brother that caused her nauseous. on the other hand, most of the time when youngdo saw juyeon, she was either socialising with other nobilities at social events, or being escorted by other imperial guards to do shoppings. youngdo respected juyeon as royalty. but honestly, without much chance to knowing her, he thought she was just like other girls of high society - too into their own look, and typical.

 

their destinies really met after the queen ordered to isolate juyeon. youngdo was really surprised that she actually escaped a royal engagement, as his faint memories of her were mostly how she behaved meticulously according to the standard of a princess. now the idea of princess juyeon became richer and more like a person rather than a living standard of a princess. he thought she would look devastated after breaking the news of the queen's order to her, but juyeon looked calm. he distinctly remembered her saying, "at least her royal highness found someone to suffer with me, right?" that was when youngdo realised he had always underestimated juyeon, especially her mentality. everyday youngdo would have to follow tightly wherever juyeon went - well, it was either her bedroom or the garden next to it, really. in the beginning, youngdo would stand firmly outside the door. but juyeon was too bored, and she knew he was too. thus she began to spend an excessive amount of time in the garden, so that they would be able to talk easily. youngdo refused to talk a lot initially, because he knew his duties and responsibilities of reporting everything about the princess to the queen. she was almost like a criminal, and he was loyal to the imperial family.

 

juyeon knew if she wanted life easier, she had to turn youngdo into her ally, instead of the queen's. it was challenging to get close to an ex-soldier, not to mention an upright knight like youngdo. until she started reading her chinese novels out loud and caught youngdo standing awfully near her compared to typical days. it did the trick, she smirked. since then, they grew close with each other. juyeon would teach youngdo classic fables of both korea and china. in exchange, he would tell her stories happened during wars he participated in. the two began behaving more like friends than the criminal-guard relationship youngdo interpreted at first. juyeon demonstrated a completely different side to him, with so much more thoughts and knowledge than he expected. she was not like other shallow and ordinary girls he met. sometimes, through her words, though unclear, he could even feel her ambition. to juyeon, youngdo was the only person she felt comfortable enough to at least open up a bit to besides danhee. she never planned all these to happen. she only wanted him to be on her side and be loyal to her, so that she won't be supervised by the queen. but youngdo was an accident, one of the very rare unplanned accidents in her life.

 

love was bound to blossom as they spent so much time alone and was each other's only company for two whole years. he started hiding things to report back to the queen. she would read him love poems, and he would train her archery intimately. juyeon could tell youngdo was completely loyal to her and she could feel his crush on her - his sincere eyes told her everything, because nothing could escape juyeon's sharp eyes. sometimes words were not even needed between them, just an exchange of a glare, they could understand each other. everything felt right when they were together. very occasionally, juyeon would find the present situation agreeable, which freaked herself out. but she chose not to do anything, because she wasn't completely sure of her future. a few months later, the king granted her freedom and the queen allowed her to join social seasons as before as the royal princess. juyeon knew the queen would not stop exploiting her values as she implied juyeon start looking for competent candidates as prince consort.

 

in the beginning of the season this year, juyeon was torn between her own feelings for youngdo and searching for a strong lord to strengthen her power and influence. sure, youngdo was a knight, but that was not suffice for the queen in terms of political influence. juyeon was a royal princess, still. as youngdo attended events taking place in social season, his eyes were unable to drift away from the glamourous juyeon, properly dressed as she made her epic return to the game. on the first day of this year's season, youngdo resumed his role as a companion to the imperial family. this year, he specifically accompanied juyeon as she entered the ballroom, with their arms linked. he could tell that the atmosphere intensified as the isolated princess returned, while being accompanied by the scandalous imperial knight. whenever youngdo heard people talking about juyeon's gossips, he just wanted to take her back to incheon and gaze into the stars like they used to do, instead of being stuck in the stuffy ballroom.

 

but juyeon knew she could no longer hang onto youngdo during this season. she had to look for strong husband candidates by socialising through the bunch of lords and nobles, especially those she missed the previous two years. though juyeon personally didn't bear the best reputation currently, her imperial family background was alluring enough to make her the most desired lady amongst all. lords and gentlemen would still approach her, make conversations, ask for a dance with her, and accompany her in different events and competitions, hoping to raise their social status by courting the princess. dull, boring and so full of themselves, juyeon thought to herself while maintaining an elegant posture. at this point she'd rather hang out with the crown prince juwon and engage in meaningless arguments than interact with these shallow dukes. this thought scared herself. social seasons were always a way for her to compete and outshine everyone, and to enjoy the moments of embarassing other ladies for their lack of attainments. she was so used to having the spotlight and lords revolving around her, what changed?

 

social seasons have never been more suffocating than this year. in the past, they were merely boring and unnecessary. youngdo would treat it as a duty and job to accompany the imperial family in the previous seasons, but this season was an ordeal to him. he had to see the one he truly cherished being courted by different lords and nobles, while there was nothing he could do. she never promised him anything, and he knew how much emphasis she placed to her royal title. youngdo heard of her past story, but juyeon's background never made him look down on her. instead, he had sympathy for her in such circumstance. comparing himself to the other nobles, they were all high-ranked nobility and he was just a knight among them. those two years in incheon, was a initially punishment, but ended up ironically a midsummer night's dream to him.

 

during a polo competition, juyeon's heart never beated so fast as she saw youngdo racing through towards her direction. a certain lord probably commented one or two regarding youngdo's oustanding horse racing performance, but juyeon brushed him off indistinctly, for her focus has already drifted to the shining knight. but kim juyeon was not kim juyeon without extreme high level of self-control. she only showed her feelings if she wanted it to be seen. juyeon deliberately wanted to the queen to see her falling for youngdo with queen sujeong's own eyes. therefore she chose to enter the ballroom with youngdo on the first day, and many times as youngdo participated in races, she would allow her affection show. juyeon clearly knew the queen saw everything. she needed to know what would it take for the queen to negotiate with juyeon's 'weakness' being revealed, with her feelings for youngdo became harder and harder to suppress as days passed.

 

queen sujeong knew the two have fallen in love, so in an afternoon tea session, she bluntly told juyeon the only way out to the misery was if youngdo was able to offer the jo army to the imperial house of kim on behalf of his family. juyeon has heard of the mysterious jo army, and she knew how much it meant to youngdo's family. for so long the king was unable to demand sir insoo offering his own army because it was so mysterious and secretive that the imperial family never really had evidence of jo youngmoo training a private army behind the king. juyeon refused to bring youngdo and his family into the imperial matters. "mother, you've underestimated me. sir youngdo was a convenient tool for me, and a mere playmate during my stay in incheon." the queen neither agreed nor disagreed with juyeon, "if you're so certain, my darling."

 

throughout the season, juyeon has tried to kill her feelings for youngdo and set her mind on marrying to high rank lord, just as she planned a long time ago. but it was futile. her eyes could not easily tear away from the sight of youngdo. it was even more difficult when youngdo acted all gentle and caring around her.  he became so attentive, and pampered her well even if people talked badly about her. after dinners, he would walk with her under the moonlight if she had too much alcohol, never demanding any explanations from her. she even tried to say things that would hurt him, and when he suffered, she suffered too.

 

"sir youngdo," juyeon looked at him, "you should stop." youngdo only stared at her with affection but remained silent. juyeon sighed, "i was just using you. of course i had to turn you to an ally to make life easier in incheon. do you understand now?" youngdo remained silent but his eyes were clearly in amusement. she didn't know how she lose all her patience shortly that night, maybe she didn't want to torture him, or torture herself anymore. juyeon furrowed her brows in confusion, "i'm tired and shall excuse myself now, have a good evening."

 

youngdo swore to god if he didn't know juyeon so well, he would easily assume her as a ruthless and cold-hearted lady with all those words. but he knew her well. all these times she has been calculating everything accurately, yet so many times she failed to consider him as a variable in her formula. for example, that her act could no longer fool him, and that he overheard everything between queen sujeong and her that day during afternoon tea. youngdo could tell juyeon did not want him to easily give in to the king and queen sujeong by offering the army. however, youngdo didn't view the situation this way. the moment he overheard the queen and juyeon's confrontation about how they need the jo army to expand the imperial's military power, he knew he was going to give in for juyeon. many years ago, his father and his brother wouldn't offer the army to the king in exchange of nobility because they didn't have last resort as guarantee or protection. but now, juyeon would be able to act as the insurance for the pongyang jo clan. youngdo knew juyeon has her own power and influence across the country, and he believed juyeon's schemings would keep his family safe.

 

"princess juyeon," youngdo took a step forward to caress her cheeks and moaned very lightly, "what should i do with your royal highness?" juyeon was taken aback by his actions but her expression remained calm. "your actions crossed the line, sir youngdo," she took a step back before being interrupted by youngdo again, "i know everything, princess juyeon. i heard everything that day after the afternoon tea between your royal highnesses. i thought i would feel conflicted, but when it's about your royal highness, i never have a doubt. i will offer the jo army on behalf of my family willingly, in exchange of a happy life for us."

 

juyeon was, for the first time, at a loss of words. youngdo's behaviours, in her point of view, were completely impulsive and irrational, totally not in line with his personality. she should reject him and stop these feelings once and for all; this was the most correct thing to do. but she found herself unable to put her thoughts into words. finally, she managed to mutter a few words, "youngdo, you're not thinking clearly..." "i don't have to. i believe in you." as he pulled juyeon into an embrace, she felt genuine joy spreading in her heart. "you've interruped me for an awful lot of times tonight, sir youngdo," juyeon said in dismay. in such youngdo replied, "that's because your royal highness has been saying too much nonsense that upsets me."

 

finally, with his family's consent, youngdo offered the jo army to the imperial house of kim, leading youngdo's father, sir insoo, to become marquess of incheon. afterwards, marquess insoo and youngdo officially proposed the latter's intentions of marrying princess juyeon, which was happily granted by the king and the queen. the combination was looked fondly upon by the people, with their previous unsolved and unconfirmed scandals and rumours becoming more legendary. the ladies of the high society congratulated juyeon's engagement, mostly because she ended up with a lower rank noble, leaving them more chances to be wedded to higher rank lords. upon their marrage agreement, juyeon and youngdo were granted marchioness and marquess of anyang, the hometown of juyeon's birth mother.