Heart of Ice

Hint

"Where were you last night?" Seunghceol asked Yewon the following morning. He had come to her room while Haein was fixing her bun, and he appeared quite angry with her.

"With Wonwoo," she answered, not looking at him.

"Lady Haein, please leave us," Seungcheol requested, and Haein bowed and retreated.

"Princess, you can't just spend nights with men..." Seungcheol said.

"Why not? You do it all the time," she snarled at him.

Seungcheol frowned at her, visibly quite irked by her statement. Yewon thought he deserved it.

"I'm happy for the friendship between you and Wonwoo, but don't go overboard. Spending the night with him is going overboard."

"Why is it okay for you and not for me?" Yewon asked him, as if challenging him.

"Because..." Seungcheol hesitated, but came up with a valid answer nonetheless: "I will be the King of my own country, and you won't. I can't be kicked out of my role as King, but your role as Queen is hanging by a thread."

Yewon had nothing to say to that. Seungcheol was right: she was not in the position to jeopardize herself and do things that could undermine her honor. And yes, her role as queen was hanging on a thread. She was then reminded that the only way for that thread to become stronger was if she bore a son, and she was not even close at the moment.

Suddenly stressed, she turned to him and told him she needed a son.

"I know you need a son. And I need one too. And I was prepared to give you one yesterday, but you ran off with my brother..."

"Tonight," she reassured him.

"Okay," he said. "Make sure to be here."

She nodded.

"One more thing," Seungcheol added quickly. "Jeonghan's going to the hospital today. Do you want to go with him or do you hate him too much?"

The idea of spending an extended period of time with him made her feel anxious, but she also did not want to abandon her mission of being a good example to Solenese people. She nodded hesitantly, but made a note to herself to not speak to Jeonghan at all.

-

Yewon and Jeonghan were in the same carriage on the way to the hospital, and Yewon made it pretty clear that she did not want him to say a word to her by avoiding all eye contact.

But Jeonghan did speak to her eventually, "your highness," he called out to her, "I know you hate me, but hating me won't help your cause. Please don't make your aversion to me so obvious in front of the patients. They trust me far more than they trust you, so cooperate."

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. She nodded her head towards him in agreement.

"I also have something to say to you," Jeonghan said locking eyes with her, looking sincere for the first time. "Your husband is very, very dear to me. He saved my life and later gave me reason to live. You might think that our affair repulsive and unfair to you, but from my point of view, it's my most precious thing. Please think about that."

For the first time ever, Yewon felt that he was vulnerable as he spoke to her. From the slight waver in his voice, she could sense how genuine his words were, how much he meant them from the depth of his heart.

"Please don't turn him against me," he added seconds later.

That was perhaps the most human she had ever seen him. He wasn't smiling like he usually was, and his eyes exuded of earnest passion as he pled her not to turn her husband against him.