The 4th prince's residence

When the 4th prince invited them over for dinner, those who received the invitation did not think over about it that much. Someone they were close to were inviting them to dinner, why would that be a special occasion? So the Astronomer Choi, Crown Prince Mu, 10th Prince Eun and 13th Prince Baek Ah made their way across the palace grounds to where the 4th private compound was. The dinner that followed was a normal dinner. Humorous and entertaining, and the guests witnessed the 4th prince smiling many times. It was during tea after the dinner that the guests were truly surprised. It all started with a single sentence that the 4th prince said.

"I propose to Soo today and she had accepted to be my wife."

Unfortunately, the 4th prince did not time his statement correctly. All the guests had just took a sip of their tea and the surprise caused them to spit the tea out, causing their mouth to burn. 4th prince just looked around in confusion at all the people at the table, who was either beating their chest or blowing air out of their mouth, drops of tea falling from their mouth looking at the 4th prince with a shocked expression on their faces. Then the questions started.

"I'm sorry. 4th prince, I must have heard wrongly. Did you just say marriage?"

"Yes. Ji Mong, marriage."

"To Soo? You want to marry Soo?"

"Yes Eun-ah. If I am going to marry it will only be with Soo."

"Hae Soo, Myung Hee Noona's sixth cousin. That child right?"

"Yes Beak Ah, to that Soo. Hae Soo."

"Did you say that you propose marriage to her?"

"Yes I did, Crown Prince. And she had accepted. Why is that such a surprising thing?"

"It's not that 4th prince. Just the surprise of you uttering that sentence."

"About marriage, Ji Mong?"

"Yes. We did not know you wished to be married."

"I don't wish to be married. I am stating it clearly that if I am going to marry it will only be with Soo."

"But when did you get to know her?"

"We talked before, during and after the kidnapping. We both want the same thing. Don't worry about unmatched affections, Baek Ah-ya."

"Hyungnim, you really want to marry Soo?"

"Eun-ah, think about it. If Soo marries me, she will be living right here in the palace. You can come over to play with her anytime. Besides if you marry her, she will drive you crazy due to her lectures and nagging. It is best that you stay as her best friend."

"If I can see Soo whenever I want than I am okay with it. So-hyungnim, congratulations."

"Thank you Eun-ah."

"If that is what you wish then I also agree. Congratulations, So-hyungnim."

"Thank you Baek Ah-ya."

"If that is your wish, I will fully support you as well."

"Thank you Crown Prince. Ji Mong?"

"So this was the reason, your star now has a mate. If the heavens have approved who am I to disapprove?"

"Thank you Ji Mong. Now, I need help from all of you. I don't know anything about sending a wedding proposal or any of the customs. I can convince her clan elders and Pheya but the rest."

"Don't worry about it. My mother is still close to Hae clan, if I ask her she will talk to her clan elders."

"To convince Pyeha, Ji Mong and I will help."

"For presents, I can ask my mother and my aunt, they know where all the best places are. Then, Hyung I will go shopping with you."

"I will also accompany you to go shopping, I can't trust Eun-Hyungnim with clothes. I can find out the clothing size of Hae Soo then we can order hanboks for her as well, not to mention accessories."

"If you are talking about accessories, did you ask if Lady Soo wants something special."

"She wanted a wedding ring and I have gifted that to her today, so no Crown Prince. She loves to do makeup, mix herbs, and learn astronomy."

"4th prince, you have a lot of preparations to do. Since we are all here, let's just plan everything out. It will be easy to tackle this with a plan."

Thus the five men spent the night, drinking tea, eating snacks while also planning for a wedding, though it was more like listing the things to do. People to contact, those they need approval from, identifying potential problems and their possible solutions, and deciding when to do what.

Hae Soo

She knew that she was not hiding her happiness nor nervousness well but what could she do. She was engaged. Engaged to the person she loves. And soon they will be married. She knew that it will be sometime before their wedding but she could hardly wait. But in order for that to happen, they had to do well today.

The morning after her unofficial engagement, the 13th prince visited Unni like usual but when Unni was not looking, he passed along a letter to her. The simple letter from the 4th prince told her that he, Eunnie-nim, Baek ah-nim, Ji Mongi, and the Crown Prince were all working together on making their marriage possible.

First they were going to convince Pyeha which apparently they were doing soon, and depending on when the King gave his approval, the princes will visit Unni together to gain her permission. If Unni gave her permission, then they will approach her clan elders to get the final permission they need. After all the permissions were granted, then they will announce the wedding in court than it will be the setting the date followed by preparations then it will be the wedding ceremony. Seriously, it was such a long process but she knew that His Highness just wanted to have all bases covered so they will not be any objections in the future.

A messenger had arrived at the house yesterday, two days since the first letter from the 4th, to inform everyone in the household that the Crown Prince had something to talk to Lady Hae and that he will be visiting the 8th prince's private residence. While the other princes came frequently to the residence, since the Crown Prince hardly visit the entire household was in uproar and there were servants rushing everywhere to make sure everything was perfect.

Compared to other people, Unni was calm and Soo wish that she could be calm like her but unfortunately she was high-strung. Especially when she had noticed how much the Princess had dressed herself up. She knew that the Princess was beautiful and powerful, she wished for power and recognition, and she wanted that with her Prince So. Unfortunately for her, she had not met Go Ha Jin yet. Nor Hae Sanggung.

From the moment that she came back, she already knew that she will have to be strong, and this time she will do what she can to be a support for her prince rather than just someone that could comfort him. In her mind, there was two battles today. First was to get Unni's permission. The second was to truly charm the 4th so much that he will not take his eyes off her, and never even look at the the first battle was a collective effort, the second could only be won by herself.

When she knew that everybody was dressed and that they were all just waiting for the Crown Prince to arrive, she sneaked back into the room to change dresses. From the pretty but quite plain hanbok, the one that she wore when she visited the palace with soaps, she changed to a new pair of hanbok that she brought secretly on her trips to the market. Ivory full sleeves hanbok with gold vine patterns on top of a navy blue half-sleeve long layer held together with a gold ribbon. Similar to what she wore when she lived as his unofficial queen. She swept her bangs to the side, then put half on her hair into a braided bun, the rest left open. Then she took out the chain from beneath her clothes and place her ring on before the chain with the prince's wedding band underneath her clothes again. Then it was time for her to show her skills. Taking out the makeup she personally made, she prepared herself with a natural look with pink blush and pink lips. Finally, she took out the peony hairpin that the 4th prince had it delivered to her through Eunnie-nim, and place it on her hair before putting her simple gold earrings on.

Now ready, she made her way quietly to where the servants with the serving trays were. The Princess had ordered her to only enter the room when the drinks were called for, not before. She had simply nodded when the princess had talked to her, she did not trust her tongue around her. The snake who had poisoned her prince, one of the reasons behind the death of Court Lady Oh.

Wang So

Riding the horse behind the Crown Prince's palanquin, he realized that he was nervous. Politics were easy compared to anything that dealt with Hae Soo. But the first step of their plan has been accomplished so now it was time for step number two. They had planned for heavy attack from the beginning, so getting the permission of the King was first. In the land of Goryeo, the king's words were law, and if he gave his permission, the rest will just be just formalities so that they will not be any problems in the future.

While he appreciated the support of Ji Mong and Crown Prince, he had requested them to just be a support unless he truly needed. His father was truly a manipulative politician of the finest quality but he also had his skills from over 25 years of reign. This was something that he will not accept defeat in at all. Every objection that the king arose, he had countered it.

Why the sudden marriage? He was waiting for someone that will not mind the scars on his body.

Why with that girl? She is the only girl who had fought with me, and she had seen his scar but had not cared.

Princes marrying girl from the same clan? Her older cousin is terribly ill, eventually she will die then there will be a need for a new alliance with the Haes as they are in charge of the Khitan border. In this way, there is already an alliance in place.

What if Haes wish to keep the alliances with the Hwangbos? He knows that the clan elders of Hae had been feeling wronged by the 8th prince as there is no physical evidence of the union. Why would the Haes object when through him, they will also gain an alliance with the Yoos and Kangs?

In this manner, he had shot down every single objection. He did not know it but there had been a lot of unique objections that the King had given but he had not noticed that at the time. All Wang So did was fight for his happiness. After nearly two hours of back-and-forth arguments, the king had requested time to think over, so they had left the King's presence.

The next morning, he was greeted with a royal order that states Lady Soo of Hae will wed the 4th Prince Wang So of Goryeo. After thanking the King, then he met up with his brothers to plan the next part. The plan was simple, visit Lady Hae together with the Crown Prince and Baek Ah to give the proposal to her, and when granted permission, they will hand over a copy of the royal order to her so she can start the wedding preparations.

As they approach the residence, he release all the held breath in his body before wearing wrapping himself in a stance of confidence with a tiny bit of danger mix into it. After all he will be coming face to face with the siblings that were the reason behind a lot of pain that Soo and him had suffered and he will need to be absolute sure that he will not lose his composure.

Hae Soo

She had heard the palanquin arriving so she looked out from the window nearby towards the entrance. The Crown Prince dressed in a pair of light green silk hanbok. Then it was Baek Ah nim, light green with a waist cloth of tiger print. Then it was the 4th prince. By coincidence, he was also wearing navy blue. On top of his usual black hanbok, he had on a dark blue belt, then on top of it he had a long sleeve navy blue hanbok with black twirls. (change the colour of his outer layer to a navy blue and black, from the carnival date). He had his hair up in a neat ponytail held together by a blue ribbon, and had his mask on with his bangs. Soo allowed herself to simply stare at her fiancee for a moment. At his handsome and strong image. This man is hers. She could not help but feel giddy at the thought.

"Agasshi, it's time. Where are you?" Hearing Chae-ryung's voice, Soo steps away from the window and start to walk to where the servants were. In no time at all, she will be face to face with her Prince and his brothers. Then the battle will start. The one for her future marriage, as well as the personal one over the 4th's affection.