Heart of Ice

Headlong

All she told her father was that she wanted to get married again, and that she wanted to go and live with her new husband. She figured that she shouldn't tell him that this new husband was actually the King of Solen, and that she was going back to overthrow the false King and stop said King from allying with Galacia and conquering land.

Her father told her that she could do whatever she wanted, and that he had no control over her anymore; she was no longer his daughter after all. Still, he wished her well, and he gave her money to get her started on her new marriage. She used that money to buy a ride back to Solen for both her and Soonyoung.

And so, disguised as lowly townspeople in ragged clothing and unkempt hair, Yewon and Soonyoung slipped away on the next ship to Solen.

-

Ships had always been places of bad memories for her.

The first time she ever rode one was when she headed for Solen to marry Seungcheol. She remembered how she had dreaded that marriage with every inch of her soul, as it involved saying goodbye to her home and making a home in a country she had been brainwashed to hate.

The second time she was on a ship, it was to go back to Galacia so she could be exchanged with hostage Seungcheol. She remembered finding out she was not pregnant on that ship after her affair with Soonyoung, and how much that had distraught her; it meant that the affair was all for nothing.

The third time, she was with Wonwoo in the storage cabin, and it was definitely one of the worst experiences of her life.

The fourth time, it was returning to Galacia after being widowed and heartbroken.

Every voyage on that ship between Solen and Galacia was a time of torment and agony, and so when she was on that ship once again, she was overcome with anxiety and heartache as all those memories came crashing down on her again.

She thought she would be depressed the entire way there, but as it turned out, that was not the case at all. In fact, of all voyages on which she ever had the displeasure of going, this was by far the most comfortable. That was all thanks to the person who travelled with her.

Soonyoung was very different from the man that was exiled from Solen. Not only was his addiction to women gone, but he was more spirited, more knowledgeable, and more determined than ever before. Yewon only began to catch on to that as she spent and more time with him on the journey.

He told her a lot of things– stories of what happened to him while on his journey of self-discovery, anecdotes that the old sage had relayed to him, and some of his musings on life in general that she had always found surprisingly wise.

"Do you think I'll make a good King?" he asked her once as they sat on the deck of the ship and gazed at the moon.

"I think so," she answered. "You're a very good person, Soonyoung."

"What if I slip back into old habits when I'm King? There's an entire beautiful harem waiting for me over there!"

Yewon frowned at him.

"What?" he asked when he saw her expression

"Did you already forget that you're marrying me?"

"Do you expect loyalty?" Soonyoung replied in bemusement.

"I do," Yewon declared. She knew that he was not committed to her or anything, and she didn't expect him to be, but she still expected that he would respect her dignity enough not to sleep around.