Jung So Min stared at him in horror. "Don,t talk nonsense," she replied.

"It isn't nonsense. If you don't marry me then there will be no wedding and I will never be King of Gojoseon."

He looked perfectly serious, but So Min refused to believe his words. "I don,t believe you. You,ve been groomed to be king all your life. If you don,t marry, your father will back down on his ultimatum."

He smiled without humor. "You don,t know my father. He would rather stripe me of my right to succeed than give in on one of his ultimatums."

He drew a deep breath and raked a hand through his thick dark hair. "Two weeks ago any woman would have satisfied me. I had resigned myself to a marriage where my wife and I would live rather separately. We would be polite and civil to one another. She would give me the required heir and I would give her jewelry and expensive houses to keep her happy."

He placed his hands on So Min's shoulders, his gaze capturing hers with intensity. "These last two weeks with you have shown me what marriage can be. I like being with you, talking to you. We could have a marriage of companionship, of laughter," his eyes darkened ", of passion."

Oh, it would be so easy to fall into the promise of his words, to give her fairy tale a happy ending, but there was one thing Hyun Joong hadn't said. He hadn't said the marriage would be filled with love.

He hadn't said he loved her.

"Goodbye, Hyun Joong." Before he could say another word, before he could say anything, do anything to weaken her resolve, she slipped through the door and left him standing on the porch.

She was grateful Min Ho and Hye Sun were in bed and she managed to get to her room before the hot tears flowed.

This trip to Dongyi had been intended to be a lighthearted vacation after the year taking care of her mother and an opportunity to renew the bonds of family with Min Ho. It wasn't supposed to be about heartache.

She undressed and got into bed, tears still tracking down her cheeks. Hyun Joong. Her heart cried out his name. It would be so easy to fall into the fantasy, allow herself to become his bride. But she was so afraid she'd be sacrificing her own dreams of love in the process. Loving Hyun Joong simply wasn't enough if he didn't love her.

Swiping the tears from her cheeks, she rolled over on her back and stared at the moonlight patterns that splashed the ceiling.

"If you don't marry me then there will be no wedding and I will never be King of Gojoseon." His words haunted her.

Surely he'd been bluffing. By tomorrow' the next day at the latest, there would be a news story announcing Hyun Joong's new fiancée.

"And they lived not happily ever after," So Min whispered, then turned her head into her pillow and wept for what would never be.