Chaewon's first days back at the castle were utter hell. 

After being torn from her lover and rushed back to the castle, she was immediately taken to the healer's wing and underwent some strange procedures that they called 'removing the influence of the witch magic'. Chaewon just thought it was waving a bunch of herbs in her face, and after a while she became too anxious and bored to continue, so she pretended to be 'healed', knowing nobody would believe that she had any part to play in this escape anymore, so they let her free. 

She regretted that decision almost immediately. 

She was only given a few hour's rest before being sent to meet suitors once again, just like she had been doing before her escape. But this time she had to see tenfold more per day, to make up for lost time, as everyone around her said, since her eighteenth birthday was looming so much nearer now. She hadn't even been spared a moment to go visit her sister or Vivi, the two people she actually had missed and wanted to see. 

Part of her wanted to see her mother, a little bit. But a bigger part of her knew Queen Haseul was behind the increase in suitor visits. Did her mother know the truth, and was she trying to punish her for it? Chaewon could only think so. But nobody ever spoke a word of doubt about Olivia's story. 

At least not one person blamed her for this. She'd been punished alright but technically her fate since the capture was not a real punishment: no trips to dungeons, no casting out or exiling. She would still be queen one day. And that was all because of Olivia. 

Curse her, that brave and fool-hardy girl! Chaewon's heart simply ached at the fate she had imagined had befallen her lover. Nobody would tell her where she was or what had happened to her, thinking it a symptom of the so called witch magic. How could she have been so foolish? How could anyone have loved her so much, to sacrifice their own life and livelihood for the sake of a girl they had known only a few months? 

But Chaewon knew. Chaewon knew that if the roles were reversed, she would have done the same, in an instant, without a moment's question. 

And that, she knew, was real love. 

Not this. As she was pondering these thoughts one of the sons of a lord in the council was chatting her up, describing his jousting wins and the wealth and prestige of his family. Chaewon didn't care at all. With this man, or any of the suitors she'd met, she would never find the love she had with Olivia. She didn't think she could ever find it again. 

This had to stop. She couldn't take it any more. 

Suddenly, she stood up. The suitor looked at her in shock. 

"Sorry. I must go," she spoke. And before he could answer, she stole away into the stairwell. 

Without a second thought she began her long march up the staircase to her mother's room, no tiredness filling her bones despite the extra effort of her lungs. Finally she knocked as hard as she could on the door with her small hands. Soon enough she heard the sound of footsteps in the room and the door being thrown open, her mother standing before her. 

"...Chaewon?" Haseul spoke, staring at her daughter aghast for a moment before capturing her in a tight hug. 

As much as Chaewon wanted to melt into her arms like she did when she was a child and hold her back, she forced herself to remain still. She had to remember the slights her mother had committed against her. So she stood there with her arms hanging by her side. 

"I missed you so much," Haseul choked out. 

"How could you say that when you haven't even seen me once since my return?" Chaewon answered coldly. Slowly, her mother pulled away with a heartbroken expression on her face. "How could you say that when the only people I've met are suitors?" 

Haseul sighed, years of pain in her breath. "That's not-" 

"Mother, I'm here to tell you the truth, although I suspect you know it already. I was not kidnapped, I went of my own free will. I didn't want to abandon the kingdom and especially Yeojin so I planned to return at some point. I planned to follow your will but now, after all I've seen and done, I can't. I just can't. I could not lose myself and marry some horrific suitor." 

Haseul gasped and Chaewon looked at her in surprise; clearly she had not known that Chaewon wasn't kidnapped. But Chaewon steeled her resolve and continued.

"You know that girl? The one who apparently kidnapped me? She is my lover! On our journey I fell for her and realized what true love really meant. After having that I could never marry man. And I'm not sorry about it. I don't know where she is, or what has happened to her. You must know. Free her, please, if you want to have a daughter." 

"Come. Sit," Haseul said, patting the small couch in front of her bed. 

"I must-" 

"No. Chaewon, you have been honest with me. So now I have to be honest with you. Please, come here what I have to say." 

Despite her doubts Chaewon was curious, so she followed her mother to the seat and sat down. 

"Chaewon, I understand you. I understand every feeling in your heart." 

"You don't." 

"I think you don't realize how well I understand you." Haseul sighed and looked off into the distance. "When I was first crowned and married I met a....very special woman. At the time she was of the nobility and I had no political power so we spent much time together at balls and in the royal court. We... we fell in love, much like you and this girl you traveled with did. Now...I know I am to blame, as nobody should cheat on their spouse. But your father cheated on me constantly as well, so I thought it was fair and okay. But once he found out... everything was over. He truly tried to have her imprisoned. There was not much I could do, but I at least stopped that. But she had her title stripped from her." 

"Where is she now?" Chaewon asked, involved in this story. 

"Haseul-" A voice suddenly carried over from the doorway. Haseul and Chaewon turned around to see Vivi had just thrown open the door. Chaewon watched as Vivi and her mother locked eyes. She had always seen something strange in their glances before but now...Chaewon was suddenly filled with understanding. 

"I'll...come back later," Vivi said, seeing the tense moment between mother and daughter and leaving the room. 

Haseul looked back down at her lap and Chaewon saw so much in her expression: hurt, heartache, pain, but also so much affection and love. 

"You see," Haseul finally spoke. "I know how you are feeling. And I... I never wanted you to have the same fate as I. You think I haven't done anything but believe me, it was a fight to get you the intensive education you had. The Council of Lords was very against it but I insisted; I didn't want you to be as powerless as I was when your father died with no knowledge of how to run a kingdom. And meeting the suitors...that was something I despised as well in my young years. I refused to meet any and pick my own, and...that's how I ended up with your father as my husband. I wanted you to do that not thinking you would fall in love. I hoped you might, but I did it so you could at least have someone decent." 

Her mother cleared and continued. "When I was your age...even now...I did everything I could to change that law. But the council and my parents would not budge. But...you have gone beyond what I thought possible. You've done the unthinkable. So I will support you in every way I know how. I don't know the whereabouts of this girl you've fallen for, but I will do my best to make sure she's okay. And you and I, together, can make one last stand against this horrid law." 

By this point, Chaewon was beginning to tear up. 

"I'm sorry," Haseul choked out. "I'm sorry; I promised myself that I would make sure my daughter never had to go through what I did. But here you are, in my exact same shoes. But I've done my best, Chaewon. Do you forgive me? Do you forgive me, sweet daughter?" 

Finally, Chaewon let the tears spill from her eyes. "Of course mom. Of course." 

And they reached out and held each other, honest with one another for the first time in their lives. With that, Chaewon found a new strength inside of her. She would have Olivia and the queendom. With her mother by her side, she could do anything.