The maids flinched as the vase crashed loudly against the wall. The teacups were next in line, and soon the glass wares laid broken on the ground. 

Jiyeon stood there, her chest rising up and down in heavy pants. She clenched her jaws as the image flashed itself in her mind, and a steady course of lava spread through her veins quicker than the most potent poison.

"Leave!" She yelled, and the maids scurried out of the room. She raked her hair in frustration, and sat on the bed with her head down. 

Who is she? How dare he did that in front of everyone? How dare she and him go around behind her back? From what despicable corner did she crawl from? What did that woman have that she didn't have?

The questions repeated in her mind over and over again, until she had to lay herself down on the bed clutching her head to relieve herself of her headache.

She stared at the ceiling; her cold and calculating mind working like the wheels of a carriage. 

He was hers and hers alone. 

And no one was going to take him away from her.

------------------------------------------------

He whistled, walking nonchalantly in the garden and grinning like an idiot as he recollected on what happened.

He crashed his lips on hers, and nothing else seemed to matter. For a single moment when he was connected with her, the whole world seemed to stop and he knew he was going to have this lady no matter what.

She pushed away, and wiped fervently as she ran away from the platform. The crowd spitted and made way as they stared on with amazement. From afar, he could see Jiyeon and the smoke coming out of her ears as she stalked in the opposite direction.

His own brother was no longer there, but he could care less. He touched his lips as a smile took place on his face.

He knew he was going to get in major trouble for it, but right now he didn't really care. Strangely, he no longer had any concern over his position, just that he wanted to be with her.

What he felt...was definitely something more.

"Your Majesty!" Riego came at him from a direction, his expression worried as well as flustered. "The King requested your presence in the throne room!"

Figured, he thought as he walked past the anxious Riego to walk in the direction of the throne room. 

He opened the grand doors, and there they all were. The King and Queen were on the thrones, and next to them with a poker-faced Jiyeon. His brother was in a corner, and his father did not have a pleased expression on his face.

The first thing he received after he lifted his head from a bow was a slap from his father.

"You bastard! How dare you insult me and your in-laws in front of the whole kingdom!"

"Let's calm down." The King said, although he didn't exactly have a neutral expression on his face either. "Let's just be objective and listen to all sides of the story."

Jiyeon scoffed at that, her eyes mocking as she regarded Seunghyun.

"Who was that woman?" The Queen asked, a serious expression on her face. "What was her relationship to you? Why did you kiss her in public knowing perfectly well that the whole kingdom know about your engagement with Jieyon?!"

"Is she the woman who rescued you in the forest? Is she why you went missing for days?!" His father raised voice echoed throughout the throne room. "Answer me you coward!"

"Yes she is." He answered, lifting up his gaze. "And I love her."

His father gasped, and the Queen was fanning herself. The King's jaws were clenched as he visibly tried not to lash out. Jiyeon's mouth was opened and a dark scowl crossed her features. Siwon standing the corner only looked and listened.

"How dare you..." The Queen started, but the King interrupted her.

"So you do not want to marry Jiyeon?"

"With all due respects your Highness, I cannot do it even if my life was at stake." He bowed, and walked out of the room with his head high. 

"Guards!" His father called, but the King stopped him.

"Leave him be. We have to quell the rumors going around the kingdom first."

"I'm really sorry. That insolent little...."

"He'll get over it. He's still young after all. But if it helps, we'll have to find out who that woman is." The King spoke, catching Siwon's attention.

"Leave it to me." Jiyeon suddenly spoke. 

"What are you going to do?" The Queen turned and asked.

Jiyeon stood and walked out of the throne room with a destination in mind. Siwon looked contemplatively at her figure.

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She tried to focus as she balanced jars in the air and reading her spell book. But no matter what her mind wouldn't leave her alone, and she would found herself thinking about it as she distractedly put stuffs inside the cauldron.

The cauldron bubbled, and a strange odor radiated from it. She smelled it, and a moment later the content inside all blew up in her face.

Her face was covered in whatever gross stuff was in there; her hair stood up and she looked absolutely horrendous. 

"Argh!"

The jars that were floating in the air crashed down on the floor, causing her to jump. She sighed at the mess she just caused and sat down.

Damn it. Damn it all to hell. Damn him.

Who did he think he was? What right did he have, kissing her in front of public when he was already engaged? What right did he have to claim her? Why would he kiss her, a witch who could...

And what was this feeling in the pit of her stomach? 

She closed her eyes, and heard knocking on her wooden doors.

What now? Couldn't she have some privacy in the middle of a forest? Couldn't she have some time to think after someone who left her without even a goodbye kissed her in public when he was engaged with the Princess.?

She opened the doors, and her eyes widened to see the cold blue eyes of the Princess staring back at her.

"Tea?" She offered as the Princess sat down and inspected her little home. The female's nose wrinkled and she frowned, indicating that whatever judgement she had was not favorable. "Your Majesty?"

"Whatever." She answered curtly. Bom served a tray on the table.

"May I ask what brings you here, Your Majesty?" She already knew, but let's just have the benefit of the doubt.

"You know I'm engaged to the Prince, right?"

"Yes."

"You know I'm the Princess of this kingdom, right?"

"Yes."

"You know everybody knows about the engagement, right?"

"Yes."

"Then how dare you seduce him and go behind my back to embarrass me in public?"

The female's voice wasn't angry, but chillingly calm. Even as a witch, Bom was immediately on guard.

"With all due respects, Your Majesty, I did not seduce the Prince. I treated him when he was wounded and he left. There was nothing..."

"Then how do you explain him kissing you in public?" The female was circling her, as if assessing a prey.

"Your Majesty, I do not know myself." She lowered her head, as Jiyeon stood in front of her.

"Oh really?" Jiyeon's jaws clenched and unclenched. "Are you sure you didn't cast some sort of dark magic on him you despicable witch?"

Bom flinched at the accusation, and leveled her gaze with the Princess.

"With all due respects, My Lady, I don't use spells for those purposes." 

"We'll just need to see, now don't we?" Jiyeon said, and at that moment guards bursted through the doors and seized her by her arms.

"Be a dear while I search this place. And you better pray, because I can have you executed for witchcraft." Jiyeon flipped her dress as she passed by Bom, whose arms were held tightly by the guards. She didn't want to use spells against them, because that was against her principles.

Jiyeon went up the stairs, and inspected the witch's bedroom carefully. It seemed normal. She walked around, her feet clicking loudly on the wooden floorboards. What did he see in this hag anyway, Jiyeon thought? She stank and her hair was a mess. 

She stopped in the middle of the room, frowning as she looked down. Why did the clicking of her feet sound different here?

She slowly lifted the old carpet, and saw a trapdoor. Lifting the trapdoors and going down inside, she marveled at the endless shelves of colorful potions.

A pink one caught her eyes, and the label read "Bewitchment". She took the bottle, staring at it as an idea formed in her mind. She smiled, for he was going to be all hers.

"I guess it's your lucky day." Jiyeon said nonchalantly as she walked down, appearing unsuspected. "But don't count your blessings yet."

The guards released her roughly and Bom landed on the floor.

"Stay away from Seunghyun." Jiyeon said with a smile before she disappeared out of sight along with her entourage.

Bom sat there, on the floor. Never in her life did she encountered a situation like this, and it was all because of her naive heart.

Witches don't get happy endings. 

Why did she bother to believe otherwise?