- The Lyre -

The following week passed slowly as Soomi familiarized herself with her new life inside the castle of Lux. She began to memorize the names and faces of the dukes and duchesses she met during dinner, and she no longer got lost in the spacious castle. After breakfast, she usually spent the rest of the morning with royal advisor Wang, who taught her about politics and economics as ordered by the King. However, Wang didn’t hide his disdain for the princess and never ceased to remind her that she was a misfit, somebody who would never make a good queen. Soomi was relieved whenever she was finally allowed to leave his study. After lunch, she was accompanied by Kyungsoo, who kept an eye on her. He was quiet, but she didn’t mind his silence and preferred his calmness over the endless rambling of the royal advisor. Soomi often asked him to her to the stables, where she would visit the cute foal Yumi. The horse was getting used to her and had befriended her over the past few days. Sometimes, Jongin would watch them when she came by. Soomi also became familiar with the stable hands caring for the horses.

They had been astounded to see her at the stables every day, and at first, they had only stared at her, whispering about her when they thought she wouldn’t notice. It had taken some time, but eventually, they accepted her. Now, whenever she entered the stable with Kyungsoo, they would bow and smile at her. Soomi also grew closer to Lisa, who became the closest she ever had to a friend.

On the other hand, her relationship with the prince and the nobles remained bad. They treated her coldly, their condescending looks and snarky comments hurting her even though she tried to ignore them. The situation was grating on her nerves.

This evening, after dinner, the Queen approached her to talk. “Princess Soomi, I need to inform you of something,” she said, her warm eyes crinkling at the corners. “Next weekend, the annual summer festival will take place. All dukes and duchesses will be invited. We own a summer residence in the nearby woods where we hold the festivities every year.”

Soomi wasn’t sure what to think of this. She didn’t want to show her dislike in front of the Queen, who had been kind to her, but it was apparent the nobles would make the event hell for her.

“Surely you noticed that the King is in bad health. Therefore, we both won’t attend. It will be your and my son’s duty to be the hosts and to entertain the guests. I’m entrusting this task to both of you.”

“I will not disappoint, Your Majesty,” Soomi said, keeping up a strong façade despite knowing the festival would be a terrible ordeal. Surrounded by nothing but hate, how should she survive the weekend without losing her sanity?

Later in the evening, Soomi sat in her chambers on the bed, waiting for the prince to join her. He had attended a meeting with the King and the royal advisor and only just returned from it. His forehead creased, and he glared at the floor with a vengeance. It seemed like the meeting hadn’t gone well at all since he looked more annoyed than usual when he was around Soomi. She avoided glancing at him and felt the bed shift as he sat down. He kept his back to her when he spoke.

“I assume the Queen told you about the festivities,” he said coolly. “I’m not expecting much of you. Leave the speeches to me, and don’t interfere too much.”

Soomi held back a groan. Of course, he wouldn’t trust her with anything. Other than the Queen, her son seemed to think she was incapable of anything but standing at his side while looking pretty. It was infuriating, and she vowed to prove him wrong. The question was, when would she get an opportunity to? It wasn’t like she could just do whatever she wanted in this castle. Each and every mistake she made would reflect poorly on Caelum. It was a difficult situation. She was already treading on thin ice with her daily stable visits, not to mention the fact that she barely interacted with her husband in public. Not that it was her fault; he avoided her most of the time, and she had no idea where to find him.

When she didn’t answer him, he sent her a glower over his shoulder, putting the sword in the middle of the bed like he always did. Soomi had hoped he would stop this horrifying habit of his. She had gotten used to sleeping at the very edge of the bed, scared to hurt herself on the sharp blade by accident.

“Sleep well,” she mumbled in an attempt to be civil with him, but she received no answer.

It had been an exhausting day, so she soon fell asleep. As usual, she was plagued by nightmares and unsettling visions. Her fears and worries manifested before her. She was hunted down by assassins who vowed to stop her from becoming the new queen of Lux. Sometimes, it was a stranger who killed her and other times, her own husband held the blade.

Soomi woke up hours later, staring at the ceiling of the canopy bed, breathing heavily in fear. Her heart was racing, and she gripped the cover, her fingers digging in its soft fabric. She sat up, noticing that she was all alone. Baekhyun was gone, and so was his sword. Why would he leave in the middle of the night? Did this occur often? Soomi didn’t like the idea of him watching her as she slept and shuddered instantly.

No longer able to sleep, she slid to the edge of the bed and got up. She moved to the wardrobe and got a cloak that she wrapped around her shivering frame. Putting on her shoes, she walked to the door and peered outside in the dark hallway. Since the royal chambers were located in the tower, not many people came by, and she wasn’t surprised not to see any guards either since they were positioned at the entrance to the building a few stories below.

Not wanting to light a candle, Soomi padded down the hallway illuminated by dim moonlight falling through the windows. She walked to the stairway when she heard a strange melody. It came from below. Led by curiosity, she descended the stairs and followed the tunes until she reached an ajar door. She was silent, careful not to be seen or heard as she looked into the room. It was spacious and filled with luxurious furniture. However, what ultimately drew her attention was the grand piano in the middle. A dark figure sat in front of it, slightly hunched over. fell open when she realized it was the crown prince himself. She almost hadn’t recognized him in the sparse moonlight. His fingers moved over the keys of the piano with skillful accuracy. He was focused on his melancholic song, not noticing anything or anyone around him. His expression showed no trace of the dark scowl he would wear around her all the time. Instead, he wore a sorrowful frown that made her wonder what he was thinking of. The melody he created was hauntingly beautiful.

It took Soomi a long time to tear her eyes away from the sight. The princess hurried back to her chambers before he took notice of his unwelcome audience. She put the cloak away and slid back under the covers, where she lay in silence. Her thoughts were running wild, revolving around what she had just witnessed, but unable to understand it. She had believed the prince to be an intimidating future sovereign who fought for his kingdom during the war. She would have never expected him to care for music. Maybe it was time to look behind his façade…

The week leading up to the summer festival passed too quickly, in Soomi’s opinion. Before she knew it, it was Friday already, and the castle was in a hustle, the servants preparing for the celebration. Some of them had left to prepare the estate in the forest for the noble guests.

Soomi spent the afternoon with the foal and Jongin watched them both. He had shown her a fenced-in area behind the stable where he would usually train the horses. Soomi used it to spend time with the foal. The tiny horse jumped and ran around excitedly, prompting the princess to giggle. Yumi followed Soomi wherever she went and sometimes rubbed her head affectionately against her arm. She petted the foal, talking to her from time to time. Although Yumi didn’t understand what she was saying, the foal perked up her ears and listened, occasionally whinnying in response.

Jongin smiled as he watched the two of them, leaning his elbows on the wooden fence. Kyungsoo had left earlier, telling him to take over his job of guarding the princess, which Jongin didn’t mind at all. It was extremely entertaining to watch a royal fool around with a horse. As time passed, the foal began to tire and accompanied Soomi to the gate. Jongin opened it for her, and she took Yumi back to the stable.

“You’re getting along well,” he commented amusedly.

“Do you really think so?”

“Yeah, Yumi gets all excited every day at noon and moves around in her horsebox until you arrive,” Jongin grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets. Contrary to Kyungsoo, the brown-haired knight preferred light leather armor, which was more comfortable than the metal armor the others w