✔️ Predicted 𓆩♡𓆪 | y.jw

2.40

A/N: hi guys i have covid loll so please excuse my slow brain moments during this chapter 

"Married..?" I echoed, trying to process the words he proposed.

"Yes. Married." Jungwon breathed out. "That's the only way I can defy my father's wish."

I was at a loss for words. Of course, the aspect of marrying this man that I loved so much wasn't the part that scared me. It was the risk. Would this really solve everything?

"I won't force you if you're not ready." He continued. "But marrying someone else- just the thought of being separated from you- I can't possibly bear it. I won't do it. I would rather take the death penalty."

I blinked at him. He swallowed, mind racing with too much to say and too little words to describe it. "Are you saying you face the possibility of a death penalty if you reject the King's wish?"

Jungwon hesitantly nodded. "Yes, but please don't use that to finalize your decision. I want you to know if you're ready to be married."

I sighed, taking his face into my hands. "You fucking dork." I whispered, squishing his cheeks playfully. "You'd be more than happy to face death than having to face me not being ready to get married? Don't say such silly things. Let's get married, so stop spouting out things like that. You're scaring me."

I released his face, noticing the excited flint in his eyes with relief. The utter despair and panic in his eyes from earlier had worried me, but Im glad to see it gone now.

He placed a quick peck on my lips. "Although these are undoubtedly not the conditions I would have liked to propose to you under, I'm glad you accepted me."

I smiled at him, enjoying the big words and princely nonsense he was sputtering. I could practically see his mind buzzing with intelligence as he paced back and forth on the balcony. "The Queen is smarter than I'd like to admit, so she probably had every person who can grant marriages sent away to prevent me from marrying you."

I carefully listened to him, realizing that he was indeed right. However, an idea formed in my head before despair could creep in.

"Yunseo." I gasped. "She definitely has connections to worlds that even the Queen doesnt hold power in. She can help find us a person."

Jungwon looked at me with bright, awe filled eyes. "You, my love, are brilliant."

✧༺♥༻∞

"Jungwon." I sighed. "I can't help but feel as if you have no idea  where we're going."

Said boy turned back around to me, throwing a sassy hand up to his chest. "Ecks-ki-use you, I practically own this palace." 

I rolled my eyes, throwing both hands up in the air. "Yeah, all 2,583,339 square feet (240,000 square metres for my international readers) of this palace, and I'm sure you have every inch of this place memorized". 

"You know, I kind of like the sound you make when you shut the hell up." Jungwon muttered as he continued aggressively pushing away the leaves that kept smacking him in the face as we walked through the forest.

 You might be asking: Where the hell are we?

And to that, I would also like to know the answer. 

It all started when a rather plump pigeon with a note tied by a string to its leg (very original, I know) plopped itself onto Jungwon's shoulder right when we were about to leave the balcony. The poor prince who had yet to notice the note attempted to whack it off his shoulder after initially clutching it in a mixture of surprise and pain from the (plump) pigeon's weight before I stopped him. 

The pigeon let out continuous cooed when it saw the note in my hand. I unraveled the paper and held it out so the two of us could read its contents. 

Please meet me at The Crystal Tree. 

And, yes. I am anticipating the arrival of your prince.

The pigeon cooed again once I finished reading, apparently very vocal. I faced Jungwon with a bright smile on my face, eyes glinting with hope. He returned my look with an equally excited face, as we both gave each other mental high fives. 

"Oh my gosh," Jungwon said as he grinned. 

"Coo."

"This is great!" I replied, rereading the note just to make sure we hadn't misread anything. 

"Coo." 

"I think I recall where this Crystal Tree is from when my instructors were talking about it. Let's head there n-"

"Coo." 

In one swift motion, Jungwon turned his head and glared at the pigeon straight into its eyes. "One more coo and I'll chuck you off this balcony." 

"It's a bird. I'm sure it'll be fine." I deadpanned. 

Hearing my words, Jungwon sighed in defeat as the pigeon wiggled its eyebrows at him. Wait, do they even have eyebrows?

And that is how the great Crown Prince of the Yang Kingdom and his Prime Mistress were now currently swatting mosquitoes away from them as they made their way through the forest to the so called 'Crystal Tree'. 

And yes, the pigeon is still with us. I named it Jerald. 

Jungwon rolled his eyes again when he heard Jerald make another noise from his shoulder, pursing his lips in annoyance. I could practically see the murderous thoughts swimming around the prince's cunning little head. "Okay, like, seriously. Does he ever shut up?"

I shrugged, my attention currently completely focused on not tripping and falling on my face. "I don't know, man. Maybe sing to him or something? To calm him down?"

Jungwon scowled, before singing in a mocking and entirely musically incorrect tone. "Twinkle twinkle little star, I want to hit you with a car! Push you off a cliff so high, hope you break your neck and die! :D". 

"Again, Jerald is a bird." 

Before he could answer, his eyes lit up and all thoughts of Jerald were forgotten. Jungwon pointed at something in the distance, practically laughing in delight. "Yumin, look!" 

I followed where he was pointing, before finally recognized what it was. A smile formed on my face without even realizing, relieved the the walk was over.

The Crystal Tree was exactly like what its name revealed it to be. A literal tree made out of crystal. It was massive, so massive that if it hadn't been in the middle of a forest with other trees, it would have definitely been a great tourist attraction. The smooth material it was made out of gleamed beautifully under the moonlight. 

Before I could even say it, Jungwon glanced at me. "Don't ask me about its origins. I have no clue." 

I closed my mouth, shooting him an 'okay' sign. "Noted."

However, another sight took my breath away as we neared the tree. 

Underneath the tree, stood a woman. I felt my entire face heat up and tears start to well in my eyes as my emotions hit me like a wave and threatened to wash me away. She had features that were so incredibly familiar to me. Features that I missed the most and yearned to see one last time. 

Yunseo.