The wedding day is getting closer day by day, but Eunbi still immerses herself in work – meetings, audiences, reading, commenting, and signing papers...she only participates in preparation work or decisions making that cannot be done without her presence, like gown-fitting, rehearsals, and personally granted Jaeyeon the right to grow a mustache.

All preparation jobs are designated to a Working Committee that Chaewon set up, with Queen Joohyun, Jaeyeon, Nako, Yuri, Yena, Hodong, Saku, and also Priestess Hyewon, Tokkiz's renowned astrologer who also happened to be the eldest sister of Kang Kwangbae as the core members, in association with experts in many fields. Jaeyeon's job of protecting Eunbi ended before the last investiture that Eunbi is now guarded by a squad. So meanwhile, Jaeyeon just has to focus on one job: preparing to be the Princess's groom (it also suggested that he has more time to give Saku harder training T__T).

Even though it is an arranged marriage, Jaeyeon has tried to make it a bit more romantic. On the night of the Spring double full moon, he "dated" Eunbi in the Palace Maze Garden with flowers and small gifts, and decided to chat only on personal matters, but only found that it was very awkward for both of them to chat on something that is not about work, their childhood, or gossip on others.

Suggesting Jaeyeon not to make another move, the committee sent Saku to be the mediator to go back and forth between the Princess and the core team. Eunbi doesn't seem to mind at all and she now has all the reasons to request Sakura to accompany her every night.

Seeing Eunbi being far more interested in her work than her marriage, Sakura eventually found a reason to speak up. "Unnie, may I ask if there is anything bothering you?"

Eunbi looks up from her piles of documents, "what did you say, Kkura?"

"I asked if there is anything bothering you?"

"Did the unnies ask you to ask me?"

Sakura shakes her head, "they just thought that you are putting duty before your own happiness."

"Then why are you asking?"

Being more confident in the relationship with Eunbi now, Sakura speaks out her mind honestly, "I don't feel the happiness within you."

Eunbi put down the paper she is reading, "because there is none."

Sakura is taken aback. "Why?"

"It's the hardest duty I've ever known."

"Getting married?"

"No, that's the easiest part." Eunbi shakes her head and starts to pace up and down, "the wedding ceremony should be the easiest part. You just dress in some extravagant costume, always put on a smile, and perform whatever people have arranged for you. I grew up with that. The hardest part is – to make babies – the prime if not the only purpose of getting married is to give the Kingdom some more heirs. I have talked to Nako a few times and that's what made me worry."

"What did Nako unnie say?" Sakura's ants of curiosity, as Yena coined it, are climbing all over her face.

Eunbi looks at Sakura with an embarrassing expression. "Kkura, maybe...well...it's a bit like what the old man did to you – but nicely, with consent, and no force!"

Sakura squeezes her face, "that's awful."

"Well, supposedly if you do that with love, it should be different. Nako said she enjoys doing that with Kwangbae because they have strong feelings of love towards each other. Nako thinks it is a nice thing to kiss and hug, and..."

Sakura purses her lips but says nothing.

Eunbi shrugs, "but I and Jaeyeon don't have love in that sense – we like each other – I suppose he likes me too, we grew up together, we are good friends and good working partners, but I don't want to hug or kiss him, and...do that thing with him. I've never had that feeling as Nako described to anybody. I don't know what love is in that sense – I mean, I love Jaeyeon, as a dear friend, and as I love you Kkura as my little sister."

Sakura smiles sweetly and tilts her head to one side – obviously learned that from Eunbi.

"I've seen Anna do that once..."

"Anna!"

"She said it was just for fun, and she told me how it feels."

Eunbi stares tightly at Sakura, "Nako has taught me the techniques too, but it sounds gross."

"Anna said it was nice," Sakura says as she moves one step closer to Eunbi.

"Did she?" Eunbi suddenly feels alert, "did Anna kiss you? You are just a child!"

Sakura shakes her head, "no, she didn't. It wasn't me. But unnie, I am not a child anymore. I am now 13, a teenager."

Eunbi can't help but sniggers and moves closer to pinch Sakura's cheeks, "a teenager is still a child."

"Unnie, but you are still a teenager too," Sakura retorts with an innocent smile, "is Your Highness also a child?"

Eunbi rolls her eyes and pulls Sakura closer to her, "fine, then how about we children explore what an adult kiss is about?"

Sakura giggles, "but I have never kissed someone."

"Neither did I, but I need to do that soon. Why don't you practice it with me, Kkura?" Eunbi says and moves her face forward to capture Sakura's lips.

Sakura can't stop giggling but tries her best to act in concert with Eunbi's lips.

It took a long time before the two naive teenagers figured out how to do a wet kiss, while giggling all along.

Damn it feels so good! Eunbi thinks. The girl's lips are so soft, her movements are so gentle, her scent is so sweet, and hugging her petite body is like hugging her favorite plushie but better...

To Sakura, kissing Eunbi is like a dream – only very limited people on earth will have a chance to kiss a Princess in their lifetime, isn't it? And the feeling of being hugged by Eunbi was so warm and safe. It doesn't feel gross at all, but the intimacy triggers something inside of the younger girl. She starts to envy Jaeyeon. This is only a practice, but Jaeyeon will eventually be the only one who can kiss the Princess, at any time.

However, it seems that Eunbi is more anxious than Sakura.

"Kkura, are you sure that the one Anna kissed was not you? You are doing so well." Eunbi asks again.

"No, unnie." Is the Princess jealous? Sakura thinks, along with a little secret happiness. Nevertheless, she adds, "Anna is my good friend. She feeds me and treats me very nicely, but I don't want to kiss her."

"Jaeyeon is my good friend too. He protects me and spoils me, but I don't want to kiss him either..." Eunbi gushes out before she notices it, and she quickly shuts up.

***

The next day, Eunbi summons Kang Hyewon, the astrologer. She wants to hear more about Hyewon's reading on hers and Jaeyeon's birth chart.

Unlike her brother who is cheerful and down-to-earth, Hyewon is cool and otherworldly.

"Your Highness, is there anything I can do for you?" Hyewon asks in an unflattering monotone with a blank face.

"Seonsaengnim, I remember last time you told me that the combination of my birth chart matches perfectly with Jaeyeon's."

"Yes, you can comprehend as such," Hyewon steals a look at Eunbi, "but is that why you look disturbed?"

Eunbi freezes a bit and doesn't know how to continue, and can only watch Hyewon pull out her notebook and turn to a page with her own name on it. Hyewon picks up a pencil and points at a structure that is composed of eight single words, "Your Highness, this is your birth chart. Do you want me to explain a bit in theory?"

"Yes, please," Eunbi nods. Hyewon does, and Eunbi's ants of curiosity start climbing up her face.**

"Good," Hyewon continues, "there are many ways to read the agenary structure but there are two basics. First, we read about the relations, combinations, and interactions among the eight words and the elements they carry. There will be clashes and conflict, connections or merging, etc. that strengthen or weaken or even destroy some elements, these changes will tell a lot about a person and her life. Second, we find the balancing elements among the words, like, is there an element you need most, or what is the element that you need to avoid."

Eunbi asks immediately when Hyewon stops, "what are the elements that I need and need to avoid? Also, what is my hidden self?"

"There is no specific element that you need or need to avoid. Your agenary structure is one of the rarest birth charts I have ever read. It is very balanced, only when you are met with a very destructive luck cycle, do you need to be aware." Hyewon's pencil swaps between the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches of Eunbi's birth chart and continues, "if there is something that is imperfect, that is you tend to act differently than you think or feel – it doesn't mean you are hypocritic or inconsistent, not like that. It means that you are too eager to show a bright side to others, but that does not always match with what you really think and feel. See this word: it represents you, a big tree. You are selfless, kind, and righteous. However, you have lots of internal struggles, and you are not kind to yourself, you are too willing to sacrifice yourself and force yourself to choose something you are not happy with simply because you think it is right. The conflicts among the four words at the bottom have been shown."

Eunbi is left speechless.

Hyewon then goes on to Jaeyeon's birth chart, "but look here, these words in Lord Jaeyeon's birth chart can help you balance out the situation. When you are bound together by marriage, the fate of the two of you will start to interact and he will be a helping force to you."

"Is that what you mean by Jaeyeon's birth chart matches perfectly with mine?"

"Part of it. There is no clash nor conflict between the two charts, but there are not many connections and merges between the words of the two structures either – let me put it this way, the elements in his birth chart will help you, but the words themselves do not have strong connections. In a good sense, the marriage will be smooth, but in the not-so-good sense, you don't expect a loving relationship written in novels will happen to the two of you, at least not in the first 10 years."

Eunbi inhales deeply when she relates everything immediately, "that means we are destined to each other but we will never develop a loving relationship. Utilitarian couple."

Hyewon lifts her head and looks intensively at Eunbi as if she is penetrating through the Princess's soul. Only by now does Eunbi discovers Hyewon has a pair of very beautiful eyes that look like burning flames.

"Yes and no, Your Highness." Hyewon finally speaks, "if fate cannot be changed at all, fortune-telling is meaningless. Human efforts are greater than destiny. I do not mean you will succeed by trying, but you will surely fail if you don't."

Eunbi sighs and lowers her head when Hyewon continues, "so now I am going to predict a bit based on your luck cycle. I hope that by knowing them in advance you will get yourself prepared. If you permit, I will come back every year to do the reading in detail, now is only the overview."

Eunbi nods.

Hyewon moves her pencil again. "I will consider you as a lucky person. You have good luck all through your life except between the age of 20-30. Heaven forbid, in those 10 years, His Majesty the King may leave us, you will be faced with tremendous obstacles, there will be enemies from the outside as well as from the inside. Jaeyeon will not be by your side when he is needed – that will be for a few years – he may have left physically for war or some other missions, but the worst-case scenario will be he stays by your side but has some affairs outside the Palace. He will be back, I cannot see a divorce option. If both of you handle it well, life will restart. In those 10 years, your prime support and protection will be from your female friends and people who are younger than you, including your children – since you will be the head of state, children also include your subject, it means the people will be loyal to you in the most difficult times. Personally, you will also have many children and they will be your protectors. If you can overcome these 10 years, a new world will come, everything will become good. Jaeyeon will stay loyal to you and you will be happy together until the last of the days."

Eunbi leads out a long sigh. "I understand. So, seonsaengnim, will you be with me in these 10 years?"

Hyewon bows lightly, "I will be Your Highness loyal protector until the end of my days."

***

 
The big day finally came. Tokkizians haven't witnessed a national celebration on this scale since the King's coronation. With the creativity of Choi Yena and the aesthetic sense of Jo Yuri, Princess Eunbi's wedding was splendid and magnificent. The wedding ceremony was held according to tradition in the Grand Temple of Tokkiz which stood in the middle of the Holy Hill, with only the Royal family and some special guests invited. Saku was assigned as the Ring boy – the noble page boy who held the bride and groom's wedding rings during the ceremony. He was a bit old for that position, but nobody would object when Eunbi insisted.

People waiting outside the Great Temple started to scream and cheer in great enthusiasm when the bride and the groom walk out of the temple, led by dozens of big dragonflies who are carrying tiny bells on their tails and escorted by a thousand butterflies in all shapes and colors. Even in Tokkiz, no one has ever seen something like this. The bride is stunningly beautiful in her pure white dress with very subtle pink embroidery (the national color of the Tokkiz Kingdom). The groom also shines with confidence in his red-gold uniform. He looks much more handsome and mature with a carefully trimmed and waxed mustache.

The newlywed couple boards the State Coach and starts the procession back to the Palace, escorted by the cavalcade and a formation of 12 big silver-white Cranes carrying guards of honor on their back with Choi Yena, HMV riding on the Head Crane leading the formation (it's a miracle she managed to train the new aerial squad in merely two months). Describing the cheering crowds gathering along the roads as enthusiastic is underrated. People gathered along the roads and showered the carriage with flower petals and stardust, which is not a new experience, but chanting the name of the Princess Regent together with the Prince Consort is something new. Smiling and waving to the people is what Eunbi has been trained for in her whole life, but Jaeyeon soon finds his cheeks muscle rigid with pain. Moreover, the State Coach is not comfortable...

After a very long ride (not very long if one gallops on horseback), the royal family greets the crowds once more on the balcony in front of the Palace Main Building before they retreat and take a rest.

Jaeyeon never feels so tired in his entire life. After being able to escape public scrutiny finally, he massages his face and looks painful when he stretches his shoulders and neck.

"Oppa, tired already? You know there are still many schedules ahead?" Eunbi says jokingly.

"Yes I know, it has been much more comfortable to be your knight," Jaeyeon sighs, "Your Highness."

Eunbi sniggers, "too bad you are Prince Jaeyeon from now on, Your Highness!"

At the moment, Saku is passing by the couple, and Eunbi quickly stops him, "Saku, will you like to help Prince Jaeyeon?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Saku nods and takes Jaeyeon to another room.

"Hyeong, are you alright?" Saku asks when he carefully takes off the heavy neck badge from Jaeyeon and loosens the high collar for him. He then massages his face and neck diligently.

Jaeyeon stays silent for a moment, "just not accustomed to my new role."

"I understand," Saku responds quietly. Two simple words. Yet it weighs a lot from the mouth of the one who was elevated from a slave to a Royal Knight (not to mention the Prince of Wolves) within just a few months.

Jaeyeon smiles. The boy always warms his heart.

"Sitting down for hours is killing me," Jaeyeon says, "how I wish we were fistfighting on horseback now."

"You will be fine, hyeong," Saku says and massages Jaeyeon's shoulder and back with his elbow carefully so as not to mess up his uniform sash.

And Jaeyeon doesn't speak anymore.

Sakura suddenly feels a small pain in her chest. Unlike Eunbi, Jaeyeon never talked about his marriage, but according to Anna who knows everything, Jaeyeon was seen going out to "have a drink" more often lately. Sakura doesn't know what is the exact message that Anna wanted to convey, but the memory of Jaeyeon getting drunk suddenly comes to her mind. He was in a good mood when he drank – does that mean he has not been in a good mood lately so he went out to drink? Sakura decided to concentrate on feeling his vibe. That's some magic trick Eunbi has taught her during their late-night meetings.

Uncertainty. Sakura tries to feel again and the result is the same.

A thousand "whys" instantly cross Sakura's mind. Why will Jaeyeon feel uncertain? Is he not happy marrying the Princess? Why did he never mention it? Why did he work so hard on the marriage that he is not certain about? Why does it look so different looking from the outside and the inside?

To Sakura, Jaeyeon is a pillar so faithful and strong that he can support the whole sky alone. But suddenly, she feels a part of her world crumbles.

"I feel much better now," Jaeyeon suddenly announces, breaking Sakura's train of thought. "Thank you, Saku-chan."

Sakura immediately stops and helps Jaeyeon to dress back up.

***

The of the royal wedding is the dance after the grand banquet in the evening. Although this time the traditional ball was designed by Jo Yuri the foreign noble lady, everyone in the Working Committee felt satisfied with the arrangements that strictly observed the Tokkizan tradition but subtly enriched by a sense of Arukasian elegance.

Sakura doesn't really have any role in the ball, everything is being well-taken care of by the Palace staff, but somehow the newlyweds demand her to be by their side. Eunbi asks her to stay with her in the quick change corner even when she starts changing. This is the first time Sakura sees Eunbi's half- body. The boy's jaw drops in such an exaggerated way that the bride has to slap lightly on his face. "Hey kid, you are drooling! Go to Jaeyeon's side, go!"

Jaeyeon is also changing into a civilian dancing suit when Saku enters his corner. As usual, he stretches out his big hand for Saku and the boy quickly grabs it. And it's icy cold! Saku looks up and finds Jaeyeon stealing a look at him while giving him a nervous smile.

Anna's warning to Saku suddenly rings in Sakura's mind – "you should not hold hands with Jaeyeon anymore even though you are a boy. Jaeyeon will be a married man and he should only show intimacy to his wife."

Yet it feels comfortable for both of them so they only break their hold when Jaeyeon is ready to meet Eunbi. They wait for a while before Eunbi comes out from her corner, stunningly beautiful in a magnificent red dancing dress with a small diamond crown. This time, both Jaeyeon and Saku drop their jaws.

When they are ready to go, the staff signals the chamber orchestra and waits for the music to stop. When the music stops, the staff opens the doors of the Red Hall and announces, "the bride and the groom!" And the music starts again. The bride and groom then share the first dance. Even though they have only rehearsed a few times, the newlyweds match each other's steps in perfect synchronization, their bodies moving gracefully as one. Under their gorgeous outfits, the young Princess and Prince Consort emancipate a vibe of proficiency and maturity. They look into each other's eyes when they dance and their smiles overflow with sweetness. It is a fairy tale that becomes reality.

But is what I am seeing real? Sakura feels that she is suddenly pushed into deep confusion. Are they the unnie and hyeong she has known? They are so near yet so far apart. An unpleasant feeling gushes up her mind, it is so strong that she feels like throwing up.

"Feeling jealous, my child?" Saku turns to the voice abruptly and sees Great Yoojung standing beside him, followed by Chaewon.

"Grandmaster," Saku cheers up immediately, "I miss you grand...grandma!"

Yoonjung gently pulls Saku into a brief embrace, "do you mind telling me what's on your mind?"

"I..." Saku frowns, looking back and forth between Yoonjung and Chaewon. "I want to tell you but I don't know my heart. Jealous, maybe, but I am not sure who I am jealous of."

"That's true." Chaewon nods, "it feels like they grew up in one night and I don't know them anymore."

"Exactly, my Lady, but I feel something more that is beyond my comprehension," Saku lowers his head and says quietly.

Yoonjung gives Chaewon a look and then holds up Saku's face with both hands and looks into his eyes, "I know what you mean. That's the adult world. People accept their roles and work hard to act it out, even if it is against their wish."

Saku looks startled, "so you mean they are lying?"

Yoonjung laughs a bit, "oh, no, don't put it that way. They are just being loyal to their parents and the kingdom, and there will always be issues of clashing loyalties within one's life – meaning, we are always obliged to do something that we don't want to."

This is beyond the intellectual ability of a 13-year-old – Yoonjung thinks and quickly changes the subject.

"Saku, I want you to start your magic training this Summer. Eunbi will not come this year. Chaewon has reported to me. You should also visit Admiral Daejung for your martial arts and military training. Since the two kinds of training complement each other, you can choose to start with what you like or take both alternately. Why don't you leave with me after the wedding? I will surely be enjoying your accompany. I still have some obligations here and won't leave the city immediately."

Saku looks excited about Yoonjung's suggestion but he dares not jump up and claps his hand in the presence of Chaewon.

A person who passes by greets Saku. She then sees Great Yoonjung and Chaewon and bows gracefully to her seniors.

"Good evening, unnie. Hello, grandmaster, I am Jo Yuri, Saku's Arukasian seonsaengnim. I have heard a lot about you and it's nice to meet you."

Yoonjung returns the greeting and the three women start sharing information on Saku's education.

"Yuri, why don't you take Saku to the dance floor?" Chaewon looks a bit impatient - obviously, she is not in a good mood, "it is a great opportunity for him to learn about socialization."

"Sure, unnie – good night, grandmaster, it has been nice talking to you." Yuri bows to the older women and takes Saku's hand. "Come on, class time!"

Saku also bows to the grandmaster and Chaewon before Yoonjung rounds her arm on Chaewon's shoulders and pulls her away.

“Oh, are you jealous too, my dear child?” Unfortunately, Saku the Prince of Wolves can still catch what Yoonjung is asking Chaewon after they walk away.

Although Yuri has not started any regular dance lessons with Saku, it takes no time for the boy to get hold of the basic steps. But Sakura feels so nervous holding the seonsaengnim's hand while supporting her waist, she dares not look at Yuri straight in the eyes when they join the dancing crowd. She ends up focusing on the pendant on Yuri's neck through the whole dance. It is a golden silhouette of a wolf holding a piece of glistening black object in its mouth.

"How do you like my necklace? You have been staring at it all the time." After the dance, Yuri pulls Saku aside to have a drink and decides to .

"What is the wolf eating?" Saku asks, as curious as usual.

Yuri laughs, "It's a pearl. Have you ever seen a pearl?"

"Yes, I think so, but I never know it is called a pearl, and I have never seen a black one, and this one is not round." That's the best answer Sakura can offer.

"It's fine." Yuri takes another sip of water and continues, "pearl is something that can only occur spontaneously in the wild, it can be farmed but cannot be crafted or molded. It is formed within a shelled mollusk naturally so the result is random. The most expensive pearls are those in a perfectly spherical shape but they are extremely rare. This pearl in the wolf's mouth is quite big but isn't worth as much because it is in an irregular shape. However, it's still valuable because it resembles the physical shape of Arukas. When I and my twin brother were born, our grandmother commissioned the royal goldsmith to create a pendant of a wolf's head in gold and set the pearl into its mouth. The goldsmith then carefully cuts the wolf's head and also the pearl in half, so each baby will have half of the pendant, symbolizing unity and power. I got the one with the wolf facing left and my brother's wolf facing right."

"Aunt Yena has told me about him," Saku says innocently.

"What? Such a big mouth!" Yuri exclaims in disapproval, but her eyes are smiling.

** In order not to bore everyone out, I am putting the theory part in the footnote. The birth chart is a composition of a person's birth year, month, day, and time in the order of four different pillars. Each pillar contains a pair of words, one on top and one on the bottom – the group of words on top are called the Heavenly Stems and the words in the bottom are called the Earthly Branches. The stem is simple, representing something that is shown to the public, meaning the external side of a person. But the branch is complicated, it is embodied with lots of codings and variations, and also represents a person's hidden self/side. Together they form the structure that is called agenary. The words in the agenary structure are encoded with many different meanings, the most basic coding is of the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water under various properties (like Yin-Yan, feminine-masculine kind of duplicity and their attributions). The agenary can tell a person's personality, life encounters, relationships (ancestors, parents, gf/bf, spouse, and children), wealth, etc. through the interactions of the five elements which are represented in the eight words. Below is an example of the Eight Words birth chart of Queen Elizabeth II of England. The reading is from right to left.

TIME/DAY/MONTH/YEAR

Author's Note:

I am really really sorry about the late update. I have just started another new job which is even more demanding than the last one, so it was hard to squeeze time for writing (and it became a long chapter since I need to explain a lot of stuff). But I finally did it, hope you have enjoyed it!