True Beauty
Cupid at Heart
With arms interlocked and body pressed together, there was no way to get out of suspicions. The two men saw the sight with their very own eyes, and there was only one conclusion one could derive in their mind. Not if the princess could help it.
“Thank you for catching me, sir cupid,” Hyunmi spoke almost too naturally, quickly letting go of Woohyun. She stepped away from him, lifted her long skirt a little and pretended to look at the floor. She tried to find an item to put the blame on.
“It seems the maids have mopped the floors to slippery. Be careful, Your Highness,” Woohyun told her with a playful smile, adding another bit to her make-belief lie.
Hyunmi stared at him with such amazement. He was always so quick to catch on and knew exactly what to say. It was if they had rehearsed this excuse beforehand, though they hadn’t.
“Ah, is that so? We shall have to put one of those maids under trial,” Sunggyu spoke, authority clear in his tone. His vague expression showed no hints whether regarding his belief towards the lie. But he went over to the two and grabbed the princess by the wrist—a bold move that made her scowl silently. His eyes remained on cupid.
“Thank you for saving my future bride’s life.” The glare in his tone was clear, and he made sure cupid would not miss his emphasis.
“Anything for the princess,” Woohyun spoke, bowing politely in return. He kept his usual friendly smile on his face, completely not intimidated by Sunggyu’s words. But one glance, and Hyunmi saw his friendliness morph into some sort of determination. She secretly hoped that determination was meant for her.
“Hyunmi,” Sunggyu then began, watching her make an appalled face, as if everything he did was questionable to her. “I heard you do not like formalities when people address you, so we may skip the earlier stages of our relationship and start calling each other without honorifics. Unless you’d like to start with a term of endearment?”
Hyunmi’s face was clear in showing her disagreement, but the prince seemed to have missed it. She could counter this. “I once read a book stating that a relationship moving too fast will end equally fast. Do you prefer darling or dear?”
“I- I have never heard of such books,” Sunggyu said, dismissing his earlier intention after her words. He cleared his throat and straightened his blazer, which was a faded color of dark brown with golden embellishment to the side. One look, and anyone knew it was made by the most expensive fabric for the royal family.
He raised his arm to her, waiting for her to take it. “Princess Hyunmi, I’d like to invite you to have a walk with me in the garden.”
“What if I were to refuse?”
“Then Sir Hoya will report it back to your father and you shall be reprimanded for your refusal,” Sunggyu answered. He lifted his head in his usual cocky way, grinning for he had the upperhand.
Hyunmi turned to Hoya who wore a stoic expression, as always. His forehead did wrinkle a little, and he avoided slight eye contact with her. Why was that? Did he realize the slippery floor was just an excuse? Or was he occupied with something else? He did seem disconnected from reality lately.
“I think it would be wise for you to accompany the prince for now, Your Highness,” Woohyun’s suggestion interrupted her thoughts. For someone who declared he wouldn’t let her marry off the prince, this move was rather contradicting. “I won’t take my eyes off of you for even a single second.”
Hearing those words reassured her that, at least, he wasn’t sending her away blindly. Until they had figured out an answer, they had to be smart in hiding their secret relationship. Even if it meant to go along with Sunggyu’s courting.
“That shall be rather difficult, sir cupid. What if you wanted to blink?” She humored him, and he laughed.
“I’d find you as soon as I open my eyes again,” Woohyun answered, his lips tilted furtively. He wanted to grin, but not too much. Hoya was already staring intently, reminding Woohyun to be more careful with his remarks. Especially when his words always left Hyunmi with a certain smile of awe, he had to ensure no one else would notice.
“Well then, shall we go, Princess Hyunmi?” Sunggyu still offered his arm, completely oblivious to the two’s exchange. This time, he chose to keep the honorifics.
Hyunmi was in a lighter mood knowing that Woohyun would be with her. So with the polite smile of a princess, she linked her arm around the prince’s and let him lead towards the garden.
The walk at the garden was serene, mainly because Hyunmi had unconsciously muted out Sunggyu’s ongoing chattering. She tried her best to focus, she really did. But what was she to do when he started listing his accomplishment since the age of three?
“When I was five, I played chess against my father and checkmated him. We knew I’d be a great strategist someday…”
Clearly, Myungsoo’s plan did not work. The chimera only damaged the castle—which she had to scold Myungsoo for some day—but it induced fear in the prince’s heart instead of an unlikability towards her. She still yearned to be a red rose: beautiful to the eye, yet painful to touch.
“Did you know my first words as a baby was ‘democracy’? I had predicted the way I wanted to lead my people once I become king…”
However, she was still raised to behave like a true princess. Her actions were elegant and kind hearted, never showing any ill intentions even to those who wronged her. She didn’t know how to act rude enough to be disliked. No one ever taught these kind of things. It was supposed to come naturally, as Myungsoo had said.
“When I was thirteen-”
“Why do you like me?” Hyunmi interrupted his speech, staring at him sternly. She supposed her sudden interjection was impolite enough according to royal standards.
“Excuse me?”
From the corner of her eyes, she saw the surprise crossing Woohyun’s face. But it didn’t stop her from proceeding. “You sought for a girl who is up to par with your skills and abilities. For a royalty who admires you and flatters you. There are many other girls with royal bloodline lining up to take that place. Why do you choose me over them?”
Sunggyu seemed surprised with her sudden question. It sounded quite condemning and threatening, as if choosing her was morally improper. But he had his reason, and he stood by it.
“Because you’re beautiful,” he stated with conviction.
The answer was expected, but unexpected. She knew a lot of people saw her as the most beautiful being that surpassed a goddess’ visual, but she didn’t expect him to be shallow enough to admit it out loud. It placed him in the category of men who only looked at outer appearances.
“Is that all? Are you risking your entire future based on the foundation of beauty?” She asked him, perplexed. She couldn’t help raise her tone, offended and disappointed at the same time.
“Yes.” Clearly, Sunggyu saw nothing wrong with his honest intentions. “A queen needs to be presentable. She will become the spokesperson and role model to the people. You possess the beauty befitting a queen.”
“Unbelievable,” Hyunmi muttered in annoyance. She released herself from him and ran her hand through her long dark locks. “You are more narrow minded than I have given you credit for. You aren’t in love with me, you are in love with my appearance.”
The calm look on Sunggyu was replaced by a glaring frown. Clearly he was getting agitated with the way she spoke so rudely to a visiting prince from another kingdom. “I do not appreciate you calling me narrow minded. In my kingdom, you could get beheaded for such foul language,” he warned her.
“This is who I am. If you had bothered to look beyond my appearance and had taken the time to get to know me, you would’ve known what kind of mess you’d end up marrying,” Hyunmi spoke, spreading her arms out to present the entirety of her. Forget lady-like behaviors or the poise of a princess, her fluctuating emotions made up for the rudeness she was never taught.
“How naive,” Sunggyu scoffed with an eye roll. Instead of being appalled or regretting his choices, he looked rather sympathetic despite that arrogant stance. “You out of everyone should know people judge by appearance. It’s the only reason they love you, princess.”
Hyunmi’s hands curled into a ball, feeling herself trembling. Tears threatened to come out. She wasn’t angry at him, for he had spoken the truth. She was well-aware of it and knew it was the reason behind people’s default kindness and admiration toward her. If she was to be stripped off of this curse, she’d be an ordinary woman with no one looking up at her.
“Do you really think I’d marry you after this humiliation?” She questioned, throwing daggers to the prince through her glare. Her reluctance was bigger than ever.
“I do not think you have much of a choice, Princess Hyunmi. Before there was me, no one had asked for your hand in marriage. Why do you think that is?” Sunggyu questioned, tilting his head sideways to take a closer look at her flinch. He knew she was well aware of the answer, but he needed her to hear it verbally.
“When a flower is too beautiful, people rather put it on display than risk keeping it for themselves.”
An insult that was disguised as a compliment, Sunggyu seemed to be familiar in the area of twisting the truth. He had called her beautiful, but stated that was all she ever was and will be. Nothing more, nothing less.
She was on the verge of slapping his cheek, but Hyunmi knew better than to opt for violence. She may have allowed her emotions to take over, but she knew the clear boundaries that limited her actions.
With a final grunt, the princess lifted the sides of her dress and stormed back into the castle.
“We have not finished our walk,” Sunggyu called out to her, but she chose to ignore him by strolling further. He chuckled a little, shaking his head once again. “She’ll warm up to me someday.”
But when he tilted his head and saw cupid glaring at him, he showed a hint of fear for the first time since he arrived. The deity’s usual smile was completely faltered into a sinister frown, looking like he was ready to put up a fight anytime.
“A gentleman knows how to treat a lady with the proper respect she deserves. If you dare to make her question her value one more time, I shall personally drag you down to Hades’ place,” Woohyun spoke with a smile, but his tone was anything but friendly.
Sunggyu attempted to remain calm and collected, but the fear began to sink in. “To the Underworld? Alive?” He asked, unable to mask the horror in his quivering voice.
“Alive or dead isn’t an issue. Hades is an uncle of mine. I am sure he would be happy to let you stay there for an infinite amount of time,” Woohyun said, this time his tone was more cheery. “Please excuse me, but I have a princess to inspirit.”
He did not wait for Sunggyu’s attempt to better the situation, knowing the prince simply did not have it in him. With haste trained by Hermes himself, Woohyun entered the castle building. He frantically scanned the place; the red curtains with golden lines underneath the fabric, the tall windows hidden beneath the diamond shaped railings, the endless hallways that led to different places. She couldn’t have gotten far.
Suddenly, he felt a force pulling him from behind, gentle and careful against his attire. Woohyun turned, surprised to see a hidden entrance behind one of the curtains. It seemed connected to the rest of the palace wall, coated with beige colored paint, but cut off by a hidden door that shifted in a circular motion. The secret room successfully hid the princess behind it.
“Hyunmi,” he was more delighted than confused to find her. But when she shushed him and motioned him to come with her, his confusion took over. He blindly followed her, and the wall closed on its own.
The tight space resembled an old stoney dungeon, barely fitting five people inside. There was a small torch burning on the side that flickered the dark room with dim lights. It smelled like the earth, natural but muddy.
“What is going on? What is this place? Are you hurt?” Woohyun had too many questions in his head, but decided her safety was most important. He was examining her, closing in their distance to the point the room started to feel big.
She was holding on to his sleeves, and through the faint light from the flickering light, he read that beautiful smile on her face. Wasn’t she crying before? Wasn’t she infuriated?
“Was I rude enough? Oh, I hoped my misbehavior put him off. Even I wouldn’t want to marry myself after what I’d done,” Hyunmi spoke with a little giddiness in her. It even came with some sense of pride.
Woohyun blinked. “Were you pretending?”
To his greatest disbelief, the princess nodded without a hesitation. Relief and worry washed over him at the same time, and he pulled her in for an embrace. He held her so tightly within his arm in the small and confined space.
“W-Woohyun?”
Though it may have been an act, though she probably dramatized her reaction, but Woohyun knew the pained expression on her face wasn’t forged. Maybe this cheerfulness was her true act. He didn’t know. But he could feel the tension release from her body as he kept holding her.
“Ask me the same question you asked him,” he then whispered, his lips so close to her ears when he buried his head against her shoulder.
Hyunmi fluttered her eyes, her voice caught in the back of momentarily. Her memory retraced what she had asked, and when she remembered, she was almost embarrassed to say it out loud.
“Why do you like me?”
Clearly it was a question to throw Sunggyu off track, to make the prince question his motive and rethink his decision. But with cupid, she did not know what to expect. Her heart tugged louder. She wanted to know.
“I like you because you’re you,” Woohyun whispered, unconsciously tightening his grip around her. It was to reassure her that everything he said would be honest and genuine.
“You do not abuse your status to order people around, instead befriending the ones lower than you as equals. You care for your loved ones more than anything, sacrificing your own interest to save them by studying herbal medicines.”
“Well, I do enjoy making potions and brewing herbs in my spare time,” Hyunmi interrupted with a sheepish laugh, but he pressed his finger against her lips. This time he shushed her, and she chuckled.
“You know what you want and are determined to get it. Although I am not sure how to feel regarding your manipulative schemes at times,” he faked the wonderment in his tone, deliberately carrying the last word into a long hum.
“You should be proud, as I am,” she answered in his stead.
He grinned, knowing he had successfully lifted her mood. Even if her earlier cheerfulness was not one of pretenses, he elevated her joy either way. That was the one ability he truly took pride in.
“I may not know whether I have fallen in love with you or not, for I do not know what love is itself, but I know you are the only person I have ever had such strong feelings for.”
“I suppose that is enough proof that you love, or perhaps, almost love me?” She concluded with a shrug. She was toying with the idea what this emotion could truly mean, or what it would do to a person.
“You are truly beautiful, inside and out.” Woohyun’s smile never faded, and his hand went to the back of her head to caress it lovingly. When she put up her usual good mood, he could finally take notice of the room.
“Please enlighten me regarding this room.”
“It’s a safety room to hide and protect us from any attacks on the palace. It also conceals the entrance to a secret passageway that is connected to all the safety rooms throughout the castle,” Hyunmi answered with a small chuckle. “But the castle is well-guarded and we didn’t need the use of these rooms. I ended up playing hide and seek with Seulyi a lot.”
Woohyun noted Hyunmi’s close friendship with Seulyi. Again, it showed her admirable and humble quality as a princess, to abandon the differences between economic classes that others would uphold at the cost of their own pride. He did wonder why she didn’t play with the older sisters instead.
“The gods and goddesses must like your family enough to protect you from such calamities,” Woohyun finally told her, lacing his fingers through hers. It was true, the deities were the ones who watched over individual kingdoms.
“I should show my gratitude for their protection.” Hyunmi chuckled lightly, but then she froze, and turned to Woohyun with sudden enlightenment. “I should show my gratitude!”
He widened his eyes, and through her excitement and the dim-litted room, his unease was hidden.
“I should meet your mother, the goddess of love, Aphrodite.” Hyunmi was dreaming all by herself, oblivious to the growing reluctance from the male.
“Hyunmi, I really don’t think we should-”
“Perhaps she could teach us about love,” Hyunmi interjected him, clasping her hands together against her chest.
Her excitement was always too easy to read, and Woohyun felt bad to ruin it. It was contagious even, and he didn’t have it in his heart not to smile along.
“Very well,” cupid gave in to her desire. “We shall go and meet her.”
Okay, I can understand if you hate Sunggyu more because of this chapter, but he allowed a fluffy WooMi moment to happen, so I can't hate him~ And yes, inspirit is actually a word, meaning to encourage/enliven. We have a cool fandom name, guys XD Thank you all for reading~ The Greek mythology is gonna play a bigger part next <333
Yay! Won the bid today! I hope you will enjoy the story~ Would love to know your thoughts, so please do leave comments too~ Thank youuu <3
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