Author's Note:

Holy I really went MIA for such a long time I almost forgot this story.

Life update: I was juggling my thesis and intern for a few months but I graduated now and I GOT MY FIRST JOB IM CRYING! It's been very, very busy and everytime weekend comes I just want to laze around and spend alone time with myself lol :(

But here's the update. It's long and overdue and some of you perhaps have forgotten this story or unsubscribed but uh... I deserved it so...

Here's chapter eight.

VIII.

ad meliora.

toward better things.

Seulgi never felt much of the war in her whole life. Sometimes she wonders if people ever get tired of holding grudges and plotting vengeance, but she supposes she can’t quite understand them because she can never truly know what it feels like to have home torn away from her hand, to have her son killed mercilessly by cold, cruel hands and to live her life in fear for what’s to come.

She can only grasp that concept through the books she read, the documentaries she watched and the stories she heard from the elders.

One story she remembered most is the story of her nanny’s grandfather. Seulgi was seven when she heard this story. The Arians were still occupying the land and they did lots of terrible things—Altairians were used as slaves, forced to work in plantations and fields, some even used for the sake of pleasure. When her nanny’s grandfather was still a child, his parents were one of the slaves working in the plantation. One time, a group of Altairians launched a guerilla attack on that area—it failed and the Arian army captured the Altairian soldiers.

When the sun rises, the Arian army forced all of them to stand and watch as they bound the Altairian soldiers’ hands and feet, laid them one by one side by side on the ground, face covered by black cloth. Then, one Arian soldier picked up his rifle and walked. With every step, the explosion of the rifle can be heard for miles. In less than five minutes, twenty five captured Altairian soldiers were dead, shot in the head.

Her nanny told Seulgi how her grandfather could still remember the way blood soaked the dark cloth, slowly seeping out onto the ground and how those bodies jolted when the bullet pierced through their heads, even until he was on his deathbed.

Those are just one of the many. Sometimes it feels so surreal, how cruel and merciless humans can be towards one another.

“Nervous?” Jongin’s soft voice breaks her from her reverie and she turns to look at him.

Dark hair pulled back with warm eyes and calm smile. Why is he so different than the Arians that her people often describe? Why is he so kind and open and humble? But then again, what makes them all so different? Deep down, they are all the same but it seems they put much more thoughts into fussing over their differences.

Seulgi grips the document in her hands tighter. “Very.” she answers, letting out a shaky breath. She studies his posture- back straight, hands clasped comfortably behind his back, eyes staring back at him with a mild expression on his face.

“You don’t look nervous.”

But Jongin laughs, “Can’t let my emotions betray me.”

This somewhat makes her insecure. Jongin is always so good at putting up a mask. Better than her, but a lot of people is better than her- Joohyun, for example, and Jaehyun, and her parents.

“I should’ve been more like you.”

Yet her husband shakes his head. “Most people would beg to differ.” he replies earnestly.

Seulgi doesn’t say anything, only smiles and continues to look at the big door in front of her. She senses Jongin stepping closer and subtly laces his fingers with hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. “You can do this. We can do this together.”

“Together.” she nods, squeezing his hand back.

****

The room is slightly colder than the hallways and Seulgi doesn’t know if it’s really cold or if she feels cold because of her nervousness. A long table completed with chairs is set neatly on the middle of the room. On the right end are three chairs, the middle one slightly bigger and taller than the other two, that chair is now occupied by Seungwoo, his right would be Jongin’s seat and the left side would be for the Prime Minister Changmin.

Seulgi takes a deep breath to steady herself. As she heads to her seat, she makes sure to take in her surroundings, particularly the people who are attending the meeting. Her chair is on the right, just beside Jongin and beside her is Secretary Kim Ryeowook. Before her is the Minister of Trades, Park Chansung, he gives Seulgi a kind smile when their eyes meet. Then, there’s the Minister of Finance, Lee Soohyuk, a tall, slim man whose face looked morose. There’s also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kwon Jungmin, who is repairing his tie, beside him is the Minister of Arts, Culture and Education, Han Jaehee, before Jaehee is the Minister of Health, Seo Hyunbin, then there’s the Minister of Transport, Yook Sungjin. There’s also Minister of Home Affairs, Son Eunbin.

Lastly, at the end of the table, a tall, burly man with eyes that reminds Seulgi of ice and not once she felt comforted or at ease even when the whole room bowed to her and Jongin. The Minister of Defense, Hong Seunghyun. The one who oversees Aria’s military troops and was very famous for his hatred towards Altairian and was unafraid of voicing his blatant disdain towards the Decree of Peace. There are other people in this room who didn’t agree with the Decree, but no one makes her skin crawl more than Seunghyun.

His cold eyes followed her even until Seulgi takes a seat. She stares back at him. There’s a part of her wondering if it’s wise to challenge him even when the meeting has yet to begin, but then again, she is the princess of Altair and soon-to-be queen of Aria, even without those titles she won’t back down, she wouldn’t show her fear.

Changmin clears his throat and stands up. “Good morning, everyone, thank you for attending this meeting.” He starts, giving a slight pause and sweeps his gaze across the room. “Today’s meeting is about how we proceed with the Decree—now that it’s signed and the holy matrimony of Crown Prince Jongin and Princess Seulgi has took place as a symbol of unity between the two kingdoms. Just a week ago, a bombing took place in Verona, the biggest residential area for Altairians in our kingdom and even though the culprit has been captured and has been given a fitting punishment, this bombing emphasizes that we still have a long journey in creating peace between Altair and Aria.”

“Reformations must be made, now that we are transitioning into a completely new era. Now that we are a country of peace, some things needed to be changed and for that, Princess Seulgi is going to present a few points that she deems fit to be established in order to strengthen the peace and make sure that Aria becomes a nation that accommodates everyone, including Altairian.” Changmin continues, a professional smile blooms on his face. He turns to look at Seulgi. “Now, Princess Seulgi, if you may.”

Seulgi can feel all eyes on her and for the nth time that day, she takes another deep breath and stands up, trying to ignore the coldness on her hands. “Good morning King Seungwoo, Prime Minister and Ministers.” She starts. “It is an honor for me to stand here and I am thankful that we have the chance to meet and make efforts to set things right. As Prime Minister Changmin has said, I have a few points I would like to propose. Crown Prince and I made these points with the safety and well-beings of Altairians and Arians in mind, all for the sake of peace.” She finishes, before taking inhaling another breath.

She scans the whole room, taking in the unfamiliar faces around her, turning their disinterested look into confidence that she can project onto them. “The first point is the ID.” She starts. “Altairians have long endured forms of segregations from Arian and one of them, and also the very crucial one, is the ID. Aria is a diverse kingdom, housing many races and ethnicities but only Altairians who have their own different ID, this is a symbol, like a mark to show who is Altairian and who is not. Sadly, this ID is not only different in terms of visual from the regular ID, it’s also different in practice. Limited, less privilege, a definite symbol of which people who were oppressed and who weren’t.”

“This Altairian-exclusive ID costed things that aren’t little. Altairians have more limited career and education opportunities than the others. Altairians are tied to blue-collar jobs and have smaller chances in entering prestigious, high-quality schools and universities. Not only that, there are disparities in the right of votes between Altairians and other groups of people in Aria. I would like to propose the abolition of these separate IDs and more equality in career and education opportunities along with equalities in the right of votes for the Altairian.”

Seulgi inhales, exhales to compose herself and continues on speaking. “I would also like to propose laws regarding Altairians. Presently, there are few laws to protect and ensure the livelihoods of Altairians in this kingdom. Hate-speech and hate-crime against the Altairians is a polemic that has been going on in Aria for a very long time and we need stricter, more detailed law and clear punishment for people who propagate hate and conflict against Altairians.”

“Next,” Seulgi continues, inserting a small pause before speaking. “I propose a rectification on all of Aria’s history books concerning the history of war between Aria and Altair. Book censorship in Aria regarding the war between Aria and Altair is quite severe and I’m not saying this to corner this kingdom but… to create peace and move on from war we need mutual understanding and respect and one of the best ways to reverse the damage that has been done to both of our kingdoms is through education. Let teachers in school taught the children the truth about the war from both kingdoms’ point of views, learn from each other’s mistakes and victories, learn each other’s cultures and values and learn how to respect each other.”

“I would also propose an official establishment that foresees the Altairian-Arian Welfare.” she glances at her paper. “An institution, or an organization led by Altairian-Arians for Altairian-Arians. This institution will be independent and answers only to the Crown. The Crown Prince and I have agreed that both of us will be the chairmans so that there will be no interference from other parties.”

“On to my last point… is the bilateral relation.” Seulgi says, placing her papers down on the wooden table and looks around at her audience. “I think bilateral relationship will bring many benefits for both of our kingdoms—investments, trades, diplomatics—those things can help strengthen both Aria and Altair’s economy and relationship. Altair also has a huge amount of workforce, cheap labors and professional workers that can surely be of use for Aria.”

Seulgi finishes her speech rather nervously and sits down. It’s quiet for a few moments but Seulgi does not like it. The air has turned so much colder and tense than when she entered the room. One can clearly cut the tension and silence in the air with a knife.

This time, Changmin doesn’t bother to stand up, but he does scan the whole room with his gaze. “Right, and now for King Seungwoo and the Ministers to respond to Princess’ Seulgi’s propositions.”

Seungwoo only tilts his head, motioning the rest of the ministers to speak before him. Right after, one hand shoots up to the sky. It’s Minister Jaehee.

“You presented bold points, Princess Seulgi. Very bold.” Jaehee speaks, clasping her hands in front of her face, looking at Seulgi through her glasses like a vulture eyeing its prey. “I would like to first applaud you for that.”

“Thank you.” Seulgi manages to say despite feeling like someone is choking .

Jaehee smiles a thin smile, one that doesn’t reach her eyes. “However,” she continues, sweeping her gaze, looking at everyone in the room one by one. “The censorship regarding the Arian-Altair War in Arian books has been an on-going problem for years. I was there when the first proposal was made and I am here, too, when you proposed it again.”

“I am fully aware of how… detailed Altairian history books describe the war between our kingdoms. Those books explained the history of war chronologically, not one thing is amiss and not once Aria has ever protested it.” Jaehee says, the thin smile still hovering on her lips. “Altair is free to describe the history of war in their books and Aria is free to censor whatever happened in the war and move on. Think of it as different ways of how our kingdoms cope with the war.”

She finishes her speech with an innocent, polite smile, a stark contrast to the ringing in Seulgi’s ears and she can feel her nails digging through the material of her clothing, clawing at the skin of her knees. How can a woman as heartless as Jaehee rule over one of the most important aspects in Aria’s government?

From the corner of her eyes, she can see Jongin’s jaw clenches just slightly. King Seungwoo, on the other hand, looks unfazed. He has probably heard this kind of bull hundreds of times before and more, just like her own father.

“With the greatest respect, Minister Jaehee,” Seulgi smiles, hoping that it doesn’t look as tight as she feels. “Altair described the events of our war in their books, it's because the war really happened.”

“We’re not saying that the war did not happen. Goodness, who could change history?” Jaehee’s eyes widen innocently. “We did describe the war in our books.”

“Mentioning the colonization of Altair in the just three sentences doesn’t describe it, Minister Jaehee.” Seulgi defends bravely. “And neither does summarizing 85 years of war into three paragraphs.”

“Minister Jaehee,” Jongin speaks up, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “As the future King of Aria, I’ve spent my whole life studying our country’s history and culture. Yet after talking with Princess Seulgi and reading foreign books about Aria and Altair, it’s disheartening how it seems like I know nothing at all about our history.”

Jaehee is about to open but Jongin doesn’t seem to need her reply. “Tell me,” he continues, silencing her even before she gets the chance to speak. “How would you expect one could be a good King in