Chapter 6

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The next two months passed like a dream for Soo-yun. During the days, she threw herself into learning all about the royal procedures and court etiquette. A court lady was assigned to tutor her in all of the royal customs and rituals that she would be responsible for after her coronation. However, at night, all Soo-yun thought about was the archery field.

Soo-yun knew that it was scandalous to meet her fiancée unchaperoned at night like that. If her father or any court official were to learn about their secret meetings, the gossip would definitely tarnish her reputation even if she was merely meeting her betrothed.

Luckily, the Crown Prince was a perfect gentleman. He made no attempt to hold her hand or touch her cheek, let alone steal a kiss. If she was honest with herself, she was actually a little disappointed that he never made any attempts to deepen things. Sometimes, she would stop listening to his words and just focus on his lips, wondering how they would feel.

"Thirsty?" Crown Prince Ha-neul inquired.

"I'm sorry. What?" Soo-yun snapped her attention back to the conversation.

"I asked if you were thirsty. I brought some wine tonight. Your coronation and our wedding is coming up. This will be our last time meeting like this," Ha-neul explained. "I thought we could share a toast to celebrate before becoming husband and wife."

"I-I would love some," Soo-yun said. As the Crown Prince turned to get a bottle of cheongju rice wine and cups out of the basket he had prepared, she sighed in relief that he hadn't noticed her looking at him with such open desire. Then again, he never seemed to notice during any of their other nights together.

Soo-yun couldn't explain her attraction to the Crown Prince. She hadn't lived a life completely devoid of male contact. There had been plenty of male tutors that her father had hired. Her older brother would sometime bring his friends from school over to hang out. She would even see handsome men on the street when she went shopping for dresses or jewelry. Many of them had been attractive but none affected her like her fiancée did.

Ever since she first saw him here on the archery field, she had felt an instant pull towards him. The intensity was unlike anything she had felt before for anyone. She couldn't tell if it was his elegant features, the dark depths of his eyes, the lyrical sound of his voice, or the barely restrained energy that she saw in his every movement. There was just something about being in his presence that made her feel hyper-aware of her own attraction towards him.

"This is actually ywonyeopju," her fiancée explained as he poured the alcohol into two separate cups. "Lotus leaves were added during the fermentation of process. I saw it and thought of you, my 'perfect little lotus.'"

Soo-yun blushed at his use of the term of endearment. He had just started using it a few weeks ago. The first time he used it had caught her completely by surprise since he hadn't done or said anything remotely romantic up until that point.

Whenever she started to have doubts about these weekly visits or felt like he was pulling away, he would say or do something that reaffirmed to her that she was making the right decision coming to the archery field. She assumed that he just had a hard time expressing his feelings and needed more time to get used to her.

"By the way, I ran into the new Minister of Taxation yesterday. Isn't he a friend of your father?" the Crown Prince asked after they finished the first cup together. He quickly refilled her cup.

"Actually, he's my father's cousin," she answered. "No, wait, his second cousin. I didn't know he got promoted. It must have happened after I left for the Detached Palace. He along with some others from my father's clan would visit my father every week or so."

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