The day of Kyungson's funeral was the longest day ever recorded, according to every member of staff on the palace grounds. Everyone, except the King, followed the casket down to the royal burial grounds and watched as she was lowered into the ground. The hearts of the people were broken and that was reflected by the weather was unbearably cold and depressing. Once she was buried, people started to slowly walk away one by one. The last person to leave was her faithful husband Prince Suho and the guilt ridden Prince Kyungsoo who didn't have the heart to tell his brother that his mother had been poisoning the love of his life. On the way back to the palace, Jinhee and Jongin were silent, many things being unsaid between the two of them from the months that she had locked herself in her room. They made it back to the palace and a dark cloud hung over everyone they passed. Jinhee reached for their room door but Jongin reached out and gently grabbed her hand, startling the fragile woman.

 

"The day is still young, I was thinking that I could train you to protect yourself." Jongin looked excited at the idea of training his wife but in a deep pit in her soul, Jinhee knew that it was wrong.

 

"What if someone catches us? You know royal women are not supposed to be...brutish." It was the best word she could think of to describe the situation but Jongin scoffed and rolled his eyes at the thought. He told her to wait and he came back out with the sword he had as a child.

 

"This will be good enough for you to practice with right now but one day you will use a proper sword and maybe I can even teach you to use a bow." The child like smile on her husbands face made it hard for her to refuse so she sheepishly agreed to training and he brought them to a secluded courtyard in the back corner of the palace that he promised hardly anyone ever used. It started off with basic poses and Jongin started to grow frustrated with the lack of progress Jinhee was making which was making her nervous.

 

"Maybe this way a bad idea." Jinhee lowered the sword to her side, her shoulders already hurting from only an hour of practice.

 

"No, I don't want you to ever feel powerless again. No one is better than my wife." Jongin took a deep breath and began the training from the beginning again. He used a broken handle of a broom he found shoved in a corner with some fire wood, as a practice sword against her. "Step forward, good." Little comments he made during the practice began to lift the weight off of her shoulders and, for a split second, she felt like her old self again. Strong and wild. "Do you want me to be a bit more aggressive?" Jongin could see the twinkle of confidence in her eyes and didn't want to lose it. He could tell from her movements that she would make a wonderful fighting once she knew what she was doing.

 

"Okay, but promise not to go too rough." Jinhee nervously went into her starter stance and Jongin lunged at her. She skipped to the side, barely missing the stick that would have jabbed her in the stomach. "You said you wouldn't be rough!" She exclaimed but Jongin laughed.

 

"I never promised." He lunged again and Jinhee yelped and moved to the side again. "Stop running away, fight your fears head on."

 

"I'm not ready yet! I barely know how to hold the sword properly." Jinhee whined and stomped her foot on the ground. Jongin took this chance and quickly brought the tip of the broom handle to her neck and she felt the fear rush through her as if it were a real blade.

 

"Enemies won't care if you're not ready. They will see an opening and take it." Jongin lowered the broom handle and embraced Jinhee into a tight hug. She hugged him back which calmed her and brought peace to her heart. Being apart from him for so long wasn't good for her spirit and it frightened her how much she needed him in her life now. She could vaguely remember a time when even the thought of being in the same room as him made her stomach twist into knots. Now it was as if they were two pieces of a whole person. Stronger together than apart. "Let's try again." Jongin said as they separated. Jinhee held her chin up and got back into her proper fighting stance. This time when he lunged at her she didn't flinch and used her sword to deflect him away from her. Their spar went on for a few minutes this way before Jinhee felt bold enough to swing her sword at him, splitting the broom handle in half. The snapping of the broom handle echoed through the courtyard and they both stood there shocked. Jinhee dropped the sword and brought her hands to with a gasp.

 

"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" Jinhee asked before Jongin scooped her up in his arms and happily spun her around in his tight hold. He laughed happily which made Jinhee laugh in turn.

 

"You were amazing! I am so proud of you my love!" Jongin put her back on the ground and grasped her face between his hands, passionately kissing her on the lips. It shocked Jinhee for half a second but she quickly melted into the kiss and they embraced each other. "You'll be my little warrior queen in no time." He whispered as they separated. They both stared lovingly into each others eyes and they could feel the familiar fire growing between them. "Come, let's rest for a while." Jongin took her hand and led them back to their bedroom.

 

As the sun set, Kyungsoo went into his mothers room where she was being dressed in one of her nicer hanbok's by the elderly servant woman.

"You missed the princesses funeral." He said as he sat at the table, snatching up one of the sweets the King must have sent her. She looked at him in the mirror she was facing and scoffed.

 

"Why would I go out and be around a bunch of miserable people all day?" Her selfishness still shocked Kyungsoo and he didn't know why, perhaps it was because he had never met anyone else who was so heartless. "How was Prince Suho?" She asked between a long drag of her cigarette which filled the room with a sickly smoke that made it a little difficult for Kyungsoo to breathe, he had no idea how the servant was being so nonchalant with all of this going on around her.

"

He was still at her grave when I left." The candy turned sour in his mouth and he forced himself to swallow it. "He doesn't look the same anymore."

 

"Perfect!" She spun around, knocking over the servant as she charged towards her bookshelf which looked as if it had been untouched in years. Kyungsoo jumped to his feet and helped the woman back onto her feet, apologizing for his mothers rude behaviour. She thanked him and then left the room, clearly not happy with how she had been treated but it was expected from Kyungsoo's mother. His mother pulled out a book and slid a letter from between it's pages. "If everything goes as planned, in a few months you will be King." She kissed the letter, leaving large red lip marks on in. Her laughed filled the room and Kyungsoo wanted to run away like a scared child. He didn't want to be the King anymore, not if it meant following his mothers orders.