The “trial” was a lot more elaborate and serious than Yewon imagined. She stood on large stage, with hundreds and hundreds of common people gathered to watch her. The King and Queen were seated on their thrones beside her, and Seungcheol stood by her side.

A battered Sungyeon appeared before her. She was in tattered dress, her hair was down and frizzy, he once light skin was now covered with layers of dust. And there was no venom in her eyes like Yewon remembered. She looked downtrodden and frightened of what was to come.

“Princess Yewon has decided the fate of her former maid,” announced a man at the podium towards the common people, who were watching with interest as if it were a show. “Would her highness please come forth and read the punishment?"

Sungyeon would not make eye contact with Yewon. Her eyes were glued to the ground, and tears rolled down her cheeks, making a clean path across her dirty cheeks. She seemed hopeless, like she knew it was all over for her.

Yewon took the scroll from Seungcheol, who encouraged her with a nod of his head.

“I, former princess of Galacia, and current princess of Solen, have decided to absolve Sungyeon of all punishment…”

It was at that moment that Sungyeon’s eyes lifted from the ground to look at Yewon. The crowd reacted in a variety of different ways, ooing and aaing and talking amongst themselves, surprised.

Seungcheol urged Yewon to continue, and so she looked back at the scroll and continued to read: “Prince Seungcheol has asked me to make this decision based on what would serve my interests, and my interest wholly and completely lies in establishing peace between my country and yours. Punishing someone who wronged me is not how to do it, and so I will forgive Sungyeon in hopes that she would forgive Galacia in return. I will work hard as the representative of Galacia in Solen to repair what has been broken between us, and I will do that by making you love and trust me, not hate and fear me.”

Members of the crowd started applauding, others started yelling insults, but the vast majority remained silent.

Sungyeon, however, had a light in her eyes as she looked towards Yewon with awe.

“Thank you, your highness,” she said, her lower lip quivering as she began to sob. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…”

Sungyeon got on her knees before Yewon and bowed continuously.

Yewon was a princess. People bowed to her all the time, but for the first time in her life, she felt like this bowing was not just a product of expectation and culture. For the first time, she felt like someone was bowing to her sincerely, showing earnest supplication that she had never really seen from anyone. It made her feel taken aback and overwhelmed with uncertainty as to how to act.

Seungcheol took the scroll from her hand, and motioned for her to say something. Yewon didn’t really know what to say as Sungyeon bowed to her and thanked her but, she managed ask her to stop bowing.

Sungyeon obeyed, but she remained seated on the floor looking up towards Yewon as tears kept falling from her eyes.

“Go to your family, and provide for them,” Yewon said to Sungyeon loud enough so that only she and Seungcheol could hear. “I hope that the mercy I have shown you will give you reason to believe that Galacia is not as cruel as you believe.”

Sungyeon nodded, and that was the end of it. She was released from the shackles and set free into the crowd.

-

 The next day at breakfast, Prince Soonyoung sat beside her.

“That was a very admirable thing that you did with the maid,” he told her.

“Thank you."

“Hey princess: I know you think I hate Galacia and all because of our first encounter, but I really don’t. I’m with you about peace, and I want to be a part of the message that you’re trying to send.”

She smiled at him. It was true that their first encounter wasn’t very pleasant. Yewon found out that Soonyoung had told Yulhee that Galacia was where all the “bad people” lived, and Yewon had snapped at him.

She realized just how much she had changed since she first came. She used to snap at everyone who insulted Galacia, but now she did not feel as patriotic. Perhaps being around Solenese people for so long weakened her sense of identity, and in many ways, she did not feel like that was such a bad thing.

When you have such a strong sense of identity, you become so blind to other things. She could have never imagined that she would sympathize with Solenese people, but she did, even with those who had wronged it.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” Yewon apologized.

“Let’s forget about it and start over, okay?”

She nodded.

Yulhee and Seungcheol entered the room just then, bickering.

“Just tell me!” Yulhee whined to him.

“No,” Seungcheol replied.

“Why? Is it because I’m too young? I hate when you don’t tell me things because I’m too young!”

“It’s not because you’re too young, it’s because it’s top secret information,” Seungcheol told her as he took the seat right in front of Yewon. He glanced at her once, but then turned his attention back towards his food.

“What’s going on?” Soonyoung asked.

“He’s not telling me what he and Jeonghan were talking about,” Yulhee complained. “I heard them say something about Galacia and I want to know what they were saying…”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and shook his head as Yulhee ranted on about how unfairly everyone treats her because of her age and gender.

When the King and Queen arrived, they started eating and Yulhee did not stop talking. Seungcheol kept asking her to be quiet, but Yulhee was absolutely relentless. At one point put down his eating utensils, and covered his ears.

Yewon did not mean to, but she let out a small laugh. It was a funny scene: the big Prince of Solen being beaten down by his little talkative sister.

When she laughed, she quickly stopped herself, but it was too late, he noticed her laugh and eyed her when she did.

“Sorry,” she apologized and bowed to him.

“Why are you apologizing?” he asked her calmly. “Because you laughed?”

He seemed to expect an answer, and so she gave it to him: “yes. It was rude of me. I’m sorry.”

Seungcheol sighed and shook his head: “please don’t be afraid of me anymore, princess. You didn’t need to apologize for laughing.”

“Wow,” Soonyoung interrupted, “you went from telling her that you’re willing to hurt her to asking her not to be afraid of you. Make up your mind.”

“I’ve already admitted that was a mistake and apologized for it. You didn’t have to bring it up again,” Seungcheol told his brother with a frown.

“Oh, you apologized?” Yulhee interrupted. “You apologize to her, but not to me! You say mean things to me all the time and you never apologize to me for it. It’s not fair at all. Do you love Yewon more than you love me?”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes at Yulhee and stuffed a piece of bread in so that she stops rambling.

Yulhee chewed the bread, but did not stop talking: “I know you love her more than me. You even sent her a gift and you never sent me anything before.”

“Chew your food before you speak. And I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Seungcheol told her.

Yulhee was talking about the sweet bread…

“You like denying how much you love people, don’t you, oppa?” Yulhee said, still chewing. “You love Yewon, don’t you?”

Soonyoung was laughing very hard at this point, and Yewon just focused on the food on her plate, not daring to look up and catch his eyes as Yulhee was spewing her nonsense.

“Yulhee, I need to glue your loose lips together,” Seungcheol said.

“Why are people so afraid to talk about who they love? If I ever loved anyone, I would tell them immediately. I don’t understand people who refuse to say it like it’s the worst thing in the world. Just tell her you love her if you love her. Why are you so afraid? Men like to act like they’re strong, but they’re actually so weak they’re unable to say when they fall in love…”

“Yulhee, I think you’ve said enough,” the Queen said.

“Everyone gets awkward when I talk about love,” Yulhee mouthed. “I don’t know why.”

“It’s because love is weird,” Soonyoung answered Yulhee. “Because when you’re in love, you feel weak in front of the person you’re in love with, and so people don’t admit it because they don’t want to be weak.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Seungcheol doesn’t love Yewon,” Soonyoung told her. “They only met a few weeks ago, and love doesn’t happen immediately like that; it needs time. But maybe in the future, Seungcheol will love her. Who knows?”

“Gosh, Soonyoung, just stop talking about this,” Seungcheol said. “And it won’t happen. I’ve made it clear to her that this marriage does not involve any passion at all. It’s a political arrangement, and there is no passion in politics.”

“I hate politics,” Yulhee said with a pout. “I don’t want to marry for politics. Dad, please don’t make me marry for politics.”

A conversation between the King and Yulhee ensued, thankfully changing the awkward subject and distracting Yulhee just a little bit.

“Princess Yewon,” Seungcheol called out to her after the awkwardness of that conversation faded, “I’ve spoken to Jeonghan. He has accepted your offer to help with his charities.”

“Hold on,” Soonyoung interrupted, “Jeonghan accepted her offer to work in his charities.” It sounded like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world to him.

“Shut up, Soonyoung,” Seungcheol snarled at his brother before turning to Yewon: “He said he would like you to work in his hospital helping with the patients.”

“I would like that,” Yewon replied.

-

She went with Jeonghan to the hospital he funded.

It was the first time she spent an extended period of time with him. He was generally quiet, but he told her about the hospital and how he built it to provide free treatment to those who can’t afford it. He said that most patients are mortally wounded from the war with Galacia.

And of course, he looked as angelic as ever before. He had that toothy smile, those bright eyes and that kind tone of voice. But no matter how much Yewon tried, she simply could not shake away what others had told her about him: he was a hateful person who led all the raids and exacerbated the war.

“Why do you want to do this your highness? Why would you waste your time with something like this?” Jeonghan asked her as they were on their way.

“I’m here as a representative of my country,” she answered, “and I need to make the most positive impression on the people here. I can’t make a positive impression staying in the palace and punishing everyone who does me wrong.”

“I understand that,” Jeonghan said, “but with all due respect, your highness, I believe the damage has already been done, and nothing you do can change their impression.”

“I still want to try.”

“Suit yourself.”

Walking into the hospital after they arrived, Yewon felt her breath hitch up in . The sights she witnessed inside were horrid.

Men without arms and legs. Wounded faces. Gory scars of black, crimson and blue.

Yewon tried not to cringe at the sights that she saw, but it was so hard to keep a straight face when she was met with the image of decaying skin and blood.

The hospital was a large building, with rows and rows of beds. It was bustling with physicians, doctors, nurses, family members, wounded men and children. Women were walking around serving the wounded, bringing them food, water, medicine or otherwise.

The doctors and volunteers all rushed towards Jeonghan when he came in and bowed to him as if her were a prince. Someone of them kissed his hands and others thanked him for sending supplies. Jeonghan genuinely smiled at them all, and listened to everything they said with careful consideration.

He really did seem like an angel to Yewon, and for a moment she forgot that he was a hateful chauvinist.

When the people in the hospital turned to look at her however, their bright expressions darkened immediately.

“This is Princess Yewon,” Jeonghan introduced the crowd that formed around him. “She is from Galacia, now married to Prince Seungcheol,” he told them. “She wanted to come and… um… help around…”

Yewon bowed to them, and when she rose, she felt the venom in their eyes. They hated her.

None of them bowed to her. No one even said anything to her. They only glowered at her with an expression that reminded her of Sungyeon.

She felt like the only prey in a room full of hungry predators who could pounce at and kill her any moment. She found herself inching closer to the guards who had been tasked to protect her, somehow, she knew that their presence was the only thing keeping her alive.

She regretted coming to this hospital. How could she have thought it was a good idea to go to a hospital, which would be exactly where those who were effected most by the war would gather? She was literally around the Solenese people who would hate her most.

Jeonghan began to check on particular patients, having his servant write a list of thing that the hospital needs.

He left her in the midst of the unwelcoming glares, as if she were the one who personally hurt them.

Hatred is such a strange concept, Yewon thought. It’s a terribly negative emotion, but at the same time, is a terribly therapeutic one. Hating her was their way of coping, their way of making sense of the horrible reality of their situation. She represented everything they thought was responsible for their pain.

She, however, had lately started to realize that the problem did not lie in the other. Galacia’s pain was not because of Solen, and Solen’s pain was not because of Galacia. It was hatred that fuelled the war, and the war will continue as long as hatred continues to exist.

In that realization, she remembered why she was there to begin with. She wanted to reverse that hatred by embodying all that is good.

She took a deep breath and walked towards one of the patients. He had a bandaged arm and was sitting there alone.

“Hello,” she told him awkwardly, trying to smile.

He didn’t answer her. He just looked at her once, frowned, and then looked away.

“What happened to your arm?” she asked him.

“One of your men took a knife and hurt me with it. What else do you think happened?”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“But are you really?”

“I am,” she told him. “Would you like me to get you anything?”

“I would like you to leave me alone,” he stated.

There was nothing else she could say to him. And she did not have luck with any other patient she spoke to. Most of them didn’t even answer her. One of them even spat at her. The guards seized him when he did, but she told them to back off him. It was just spit after all.

But it was extremely demeaning being there among people who hated her and didn’t want any of the help she was willing to offer. She felt lost and hopeless, and just as she was about to leave the hospital in defeat, a voice called out to her.

“Hey Princess!” the voice said. She turned to the source, and saw a boy in a hospital bed. He had only one leg, and his arms were bandaged everywhere.

Despite how painful it seemed to be in his body, he seemed cheerful and bright.

“Why do you hate us so much?” he asked her.

“I don’t hate you. I’m married to your prince,” she replied to him.

“But why do you kill us then?”

Yewon didn’t know how to answer that question. How do you explain war to a young boy?

“I think it’s because the people fighting think that you hate them too,” Yewon answered.

“But you hated us first!” the boy claimed.

“Everyone thinks that the other hated first, but in reality we all hate at the same time. It’s bad, and we need to stop it,” Yewon told him. He seemed to understand what she was saying, for he stared at the ceiling pensively and considered her words.

“You should tell your fighters to stop hating and hurting us. Maybe they’ll stop.”

“I will,” she told him, “and you should tell everyone here to stop hating us too.”

“Okay, I will,” he told her. He seemed so innocent; it was endearing.

“What’s your name?” she asked him.

“Dino,” he answered.

“What happened to you, Dino?”

“I was fighting, and then a Galacian hurt my leg with an ax, and then they threw arrows at me. It hurt a lot.”

“I’m sorry, Dino,” she told him.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Maybe you know the person who did it to me,” he stated, and that got Yewon to think. It could have been her uncle, her cousin, one of the men who served her; it could have even been Jisoo. It could have been anyone she cared about who did it to Dino, and she would have not given it a second thought that he would have caused this much damage to a cheerful young boy who certainly did not deserve it.

“Are you crying?” Dino asked. She was indeed starting to cry. She wiped her eyes quickly, not wanting to make a scene of it, but the tears were not stopping.

It was just such a messed up situation. War was such a messed up thing.

“I’m sorry I made you cry,” he said sadly, “please don’t cry.”

“Oh no, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Yewon said wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. People were starting to stare at her, and her tears would not stop falling. And everywhere she turned, she saw more and more young men that are mortally wounded and in pain.

None of them deserved it.

And in some twisted way, she felt responsible for it. She was Galacia. She was their enemy. They had every right hate her. They had every right to want to kill her.

She did not want to make a scene, but she ended up making one anyways. Her tears caught everyone’s attention, even Jeonghan who had been busy with the hospital inventory.

“I’m sorry,” she kept apologizing. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“Hey princess!” she heard someone call out to her. “Stop crying and bring me some water please.” She looked towards the person who had asked it from her; it was the same young man she had spoken to earlier. She nodded and went to find some water, happy to finally have something to do. She couldn’t stop crying though, but it didn’t matter. At least she was doing something.

A young nurse gave her a cup and she brought it to the young man and offered it to him.

“Thank you, your highness,” he told her with a slight bow before drinking from the cup.

And suddenly, other started calling her over to ask her for something: water, repositioning, food, medicine, calling a doctor and more. Perhaps it was her tears that made them feel her sincerity, but whatever it was she was glad to finally be of help.

She eventually stopped crying and continued to serve the patients, and when she had nothing to do, she spoke to them. She asked them their names, their stories, about their families and homes. Some of them answered her, others seemed more withdrawn, and some still gave her the cold shoulder.

But she felt that cold shoulder less and less as the time in the hospital progressed, and she was dragged into endless conversations with old grandpas about their granddaughters, with curious young men about Galacian culture, with old uncles who lost everything because of the war.

Yewon had tried not to cry, but she cried a lot, because she felt responsible for their pain. And it seemed to gratify them to see her cry, because it felt like their enemy was finally starting to acknowledge their pain.

It was painful for Yewon listening to them, and she knew she would walk out of that hospital a changed person. Despite how much sorrow it brought her to listen to them, how much she started to hate herself because of it, she kept listening and listening, because the more she interacted with them, the closer she felt to erasing the hatred they felt for her and her country.

There was one point in the visit when she heard Jeonghan say something that triggered her.

“We’re still going to fight them, right? We’re not just going to give up just because she married the prince, right?” one patient asked Jeonghan, a patient who had scowled at her earlier.

“Of course we’re still going to fight them. Do you think I would let all of our men die in vain? We’re planning an attack soon. It’s not over, don’t worry.” That was Jeonghan’s reply, and it made her so angry and sad at the same time.

“No,” she turned to Jeonghan. “You’re not going to continue this war…”

Jeonghan seemed uncomfortable with the fact she overheard him, but he shot her one of his fake smiles and replied: “that is none of your concern, your highness.”

“You won’t,” Yewon repeated.

“Please continue serving the patients,” he told her, clearly trying to change the subject and get her to forget.

But she did not forget.

-

As soon as she returned to the palace after eight hours of helping in the hospital, she went to find Seungcheol.

She walked immediately to his room, and knocked on his door.

“Come in,” Seungcheol said. The guards at his door opened the door for her, and she entered.

Seungcheol wasn’t anywhere she could see when she entered through the door, so she figured he was probably behind one of the walls seperating each part of his room. Indeed, when she walked in further she found him sitting on a chair in a bathrobe, clearly having just finished a bath.

He seemed surprised to see her.

“I expected the kitchen boy with my tea,” he stated simply.

 She blushed, looking away from his eyes.

“Don’t look away. We’re going to sleep together soon, remember?”

“Yes,” she said firmly, gaining the confidence to make eye contact with him.

“How was the hospital?” he asked.

“It honestly gave me so much heartache,” she admitted, her voice wavering as she felt the knot in . “Your people have suffered a lot because of this war, and I want nothing more but for it to end once and for all.”

“And it has ended,” he told her.

“But Jeonghan… I heard him say that he’s planning an attack. And I remember you were looking at Eastern maps, and I just remembered that Galacia is in the East. You’re not going to attack, right? Please, please no more attacks. I won’t let you attack. Please, please end the war…” she couldn’t hold back her tears. Her heart was still vulnerable from that harrowing visit to the hospital, and she felt anything could reduce her to tears.

 “Lower your voice, Princess,” he told her calmly, and it was only then that she realized she was yelling.

“You’re not going to attack, right?”

He stepped towards her, took her cheek in his hand and wiped his thumbs over her tears. “Of course we’re not going to attack.”

The intimacy startled her slightly; this was the first time he had ever touched her like that, the first time he had ever seemed to actually care that she was hurting.

“But Jeonghan said…” she stuttered.

“We’re not going to attack,” he told her, and before she knew it, he placed his lips against hers and kissed her.

A/N: yay more development ^^