After the meeting and a meal, Kwon Jiyong had to go with the King to his study to discuss some important matters. While Kim Jisoo politely bowed when the two men left as she should, Sandara couldn't help but be in awe of her husband.

Why does seeing him walk with the King with that ever so serious face of him give her butterflies in her stomach? She smiled in realization when Kwon Jiyong was finally out of her sight. Perhaps it was the thought that she finally was able to stay with him in this place he used to call home. A real home, where he was born. Where he was raised. Where he used to be a little prince running around with probably a dozen nannies running after him because he was just a normal, naughty, playful boy.

Sandara sighed at the thought. What made you turn so cold and distant, Kwon Jiyong?

"Aunt in law..." The queen spoke to her in a shaky voice and Sandara immediately turned to her only to find her looking quite paler than the usual.

"Are you alright? Why do you look so pale?"

"I'm not feeling well. Can I go back to my quarters first?"

"Come. Let me go with you," Sandara called for Jo Sanggung to help the queen go back to her chambers while Han Sanggung ordered a servant to find a royal doctor.

"How do you feel? Are you hurting somewhere?"

"I was already a bit queasy since this morning but I felt like retching when I smelled the pickled radish earlier. I just had to contain it because I was in front of uncle and Jeonha."

"Aigoo, you should have excused yourself immediately. Your health should always come first!— Sandara held the queen's hand and patted her back only to find her vision changing. She stood petrified, her eyes blank on the outside, for she was already lost in the scene that was flashing before her eyes.

The queen was sweaty and in pain and she was crying. Her hair that used to be so neat and tidy looked like a mess as sweat covered fringes hid her small pretty face. At the sudden small cry, she heard someone announce a great news. "Mama, it's indeed a prince! Congratulations for giving birth to a prince!" She saw the queen smile faintly before she closed her eyes and her body fell languid. Suddenly, everyone was in chaos but she couldn't understand what was going on. 

Sandara's vision blurred when she heard she was being called. She took a lungful of air when she finally snapped back to reality and she immediately pulled away from the queen.

Kim Jisoo is pregnant! She wanted to tell the queen for her to take extra precautions but would she believe her?

"Aunt in law, are you alright?" Kim Jisoo asked worriedly.

"I'm alright. I just suddenly felt quite unwell too." She answered before turning to Jo Sanggung. "Please accompany Jungjeong Mama to her quarters."

------------------------

Indeed in life, big surprises come in small packages. And a tiny bud of life inside a mother's womb is one big proof to it.

For the rest of the day, Yi Sung cancelled all his remaining appointments and stayed by Kim Jisoo's side, partly in shock, partly crying, partly enthralled, partly in disbelief, but completely happy and pleased with the doctor's findings. Who would have thought the heavens would bless him with a child on his first try? 

That day when he told his loving queen he wanted a family, he tried all sorts of things to make it happen. And Kim Jisoo received all his love and affection, thus, a new member of the royal family is on its way.

"Jo Sanggung, I'm glad we arrived here today and received such a good news." Sandara told Jo Sanggung who have just returned to share the good news.

"You're right, Mama. A child is always a blessing. His Majesty looked very happy with the news."

Sandara's wide smile became faint at a sudden thought. Why does she have a bad feeling about this? Why did her vision earlier look more dark and ominous than a happy and joyous moment that it should be?

She decided to wait for Kwon Jiyong to return but realized the iceberg might work himself overtime again since Yi Sung was with the queen.

Still in deep thoughts, something suddenly popped up in her head. At one point in a life of a married couple, something like this naturally happens. While she liked the idea of having a child in the future, she started to doubt that Kwon Jiyong would want the same.

She's witnessed how cruel he was with Ryung and that only showed he wasn't happy with kids. But what made him the man that he is right now? She refused to believe he had been like that since he was young.

"Jo Sanggung... What was His Highness like when he was young?"

Jo Sanggung paused from making her some tea and took a while before facing her with a tight-lipped smile. "I see it's about time you ask things like this. I thought you weren't interested with your husband at all."

"Jo Sanggung, I was just curious." Sandara's face grew warm when she sensed Jo Sanggung's teasing tone, but the old lady simply sat before her and started to ponder about the past.

"His Highness? Well, he used to be a very sickly boy."

"Kwon Jiyong? That cold and rude and overbearing, distant iceberg???" Sandara exclaimed in disbelief but immediately clamped making Jo Sanggung laugh.

"Well he really is rude and arrogant and no one would ever imagine he was once a pale, weak and sickly boy. But I took care of him since he was born. I should know! Let me tell you a secret. He has a birth mark on his lower left hip near his cheek. You might want to check it one day."

Sandara immediately flushed at the thought. Well, she's seen him half before but not his lower part! Jo Sanggung was really trying to rob her innocence at this point.

"He was once a sweet and caring boy and the former King, his older brother adored him. But he had to be sent away when he was about five because of political issues. There can't be two suns inside the palace, you know that. So we stayed at the royal villa outside H