Heart of Ice. [Scarlet Heart: Ryeo fanfic - BOOK 1]

Chapter 18 - Chanced Meeting with Queen Evil.

A/N: Don't misunderstand the title, 'Queen Evil' is a play on words! Evil being the first name of the Queen. (Evil Queen is such a cliche title. Just like Hae In, I'm trying to be unique.)

Ha Eun's (Hae In) POV
After the rain stopped, Prince So brought me to tour around the palace. As we stood by one of the rooms, we suddenly heard many footsteps and I turned to see one of the Queens. Prince So pushed me behind the walls, in an attempt to hide me from her.

I stuck my back against the wall, and tried not to eavesdrop. I heard Prince So's voice. "Omonim." His...Mother? "Are you happy that you can stay here, and not return to Shinju? Because I can assure you, you will definitely not be able to stay here for long. Enjoy your time while you can, because it will be time for you to leave." I knew that Prince So's mother was evil, but I never knew that it would be to the point of wanting to chase him out of the palace. I didn't hear Prince So's voice and she continued "You must be so proud of yourself, to be able represent the King in the rain ritual."

Wang So's POV
I hated this. I always thought that I would be immune to all her words, but that's never the case. Words cut deeper than swords do, and I definitely agree with that. No matter how many scars I had on my body, it never hurt as much as when I spoke to my mother. I just smiled at her words and when she was done, I bowed and said "Goodbye, Omonim." She walked away and I turned to get Hae In from behind the wall. As I turned to face the wall, a pair of lips crashed onto mine.

Hae In was as shocked as I am but I just pulled away and pulled her in front of me. She pulled me into a hug and said "I hate how she treats you..." I hugged her back and said "So now, you realize that you treat me the best?" She nodded into my shoulder and I said "Are you hungry?" She nodded and I smiled before saying "Let's get you some food."

Ha Eun's (Hae In) POV
During lunch, I was zoning out, not being able to take the Queen's words out of my mind. "Hae In." I snapped out of my trance and said "Yes, So?" He said "I called you so many times. What's on your mind?" I said "Sorry...It's nothing important." He said "If you say so. Are you not going to eat? You said you're hungry." I said "I'm going to eat." Before beginning to eat slowly. Ugh. Just remembering what she said made my heart ache and I lost my appetite.

Not wanting to worry So, I forced myself to eat and after that, we went to the lake. AGAIN, I zoned out. "HAE IN!" I said "Yes?" So crossed his arms and said "This is the second time this happened. What is wrong with you? I don't want to hear you tell me that it's nothing, because it's definitely something." I sighed and said "It's just...I can't get what she said about you out of my mind." He said "That's for me to think about, not you."

I said "But she's making you feel guilty and bad about yourself! I hate the way she talks down to you, as if you're just a prick in her eye. I really hate it, she makes you sound so bad, like you don't deserve to be here! You definitely deserve to be here, and you shouldn't return to Shinju! This is your home, So!" He stared at me, eyes wide open and I just said "I told you that it was nothing. You wanted me to tell you." He wrapped his arms around me and said "I'm serious. you shouldn't be thinking about that. It only makes you feel horrible because of me. And I don't want that."

I said "But it hurts me to see you in pain. I don't want you to think that what she said is true, because it isn't..." I hugged him and whispered "I don't want you to view yourself as a monster, because you're not...In my eyes, you're never a monster, you're an angel."