A queen who doesn't believe in love and a prince who happened to be a kind, hopeless romantic - binded together by arranged marriage in order to save one's kingdom. Will they ever fall for each other despite the differences of beliefs, perception of...
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The day Jeongyeon met Nayeon after quite some time, was one of the most memorable moments she had — in a really bad way. Jeongyeon had to storm out of the house despite the heavy rain pouring outside and the deep, dark forest surrounding them. She couldn't believe she would meet here once more. The timing felt so wrong, it's making her heart feel the weight of the heavy emotions once again. The same emotions she's been keeping since the day she left.
"Jeongyeon..." Nayeon was holding an umbrella over at her younger sister who's crouching down on the bottom of the tree nearby. "Can we please come inside? You'll get a cold if you stay out for too long. Your bruises and cuts aren't even—"
"Why do you care?"
Her voice was trembling. It was quiet but enough for Nayeon to hear her. She brought her knees up to her chest, ignoring the coldness she's feeling at the moment.
"Can we just please talk about this inside?" Nayeon pleaded, still standing right behind her.
"There is nothing to talk about!" Jeongyeon replied with yell, making Nayeon flinch. There was a small pause before she decided to speak once again.
"Are you angry that I ran away and started a family of my own?" She asked quietly. She doesn't sound angry, she sounded like she wanted to open a conversation and have this closure they never had between them.
Jeongyeon didn't answer and would rather kept quiet. She's not the type of person who's really good in communicating her feelings well. Sure, she's been trained to do public speaking, speaking out her own opinions politically and logically wise — but speaking out her feelings are difficult for her to lay out.
"It's really hard to explain." Jeongyeon replied, clenching her fists.
"I know it is. We're not good in confrontations anyway. It was something that they never taught us to do." Nayeon softly said. "I sure do hope you take your time to explain what you feel about me. Anger, sadness — whatever you need to tell me right now, I will listen."
She took a seat right beside Jeongyeon on a medium-sized rock, supporting herself and her baby while she's still holding an umbrella for the two of them.
Ever since their mother died, the relationship between the king and his daughters in terms of facing conflicts within their family isn't really healthy. The king would often avoid confrontations in which most of the problems results to being unsolved. Unfortunately, it brings unfortune for the sisters because in this way, they're not learning how to communicate with their feelings — all except for the eldest daughter.
"Why did you run away?" Jeongyeon spoke, "Do you know how hard it was without you? All of the responsibilities being passed on to me at the age of 18, the non-stop pressure I've been feeling because I'm not emotionally nor mentally prepared to be queen. I don't even have the choice to say no and now I'm marrying a prince next week from another kingdom to fortify the nations even though I just met him!"
Nayeon didn't budge yet responsed with a small 'hm' to acknowledge what Jeongyeon was saying. She looked down on the wet patches of grass infront of them, the loud shushing sound of the rain is the only noise they could hear aside from their breathing. The dark forest upon them had never looked so cozy yet scary at the same time.
"I know it's too late for me to say sorry, but I truly am. I deeply regret my last minute decision of running away without thinking the weight of my shoulders being passed on to you. It's still a huge burden inside me that I've been carrying since the day I left the palace." Nayeon spoke, her voice was quiet. "I remember father telling me that I was going to be married in five months around springtime — to the eastern kingdom despite their bad reputation."
"Eastern kingdom? They're thieves and murderers. How could father sell you off like that?" Jeongyeon turned to her sister with such bewilderment. Nobody has ever mentioned this issue to her before.
"He didn't care." Nayeon replied. "He didn't care about my feelings. He'd rather strip my title, my rights, and my home away from me than seeing me happy with the man I love — Jaesung." Her eyes turned to the man by the window inside the small cottage. He was tasting the stew with a wooden laddle, satisfied with its taste, he waved his hand cheerfully at his wife who waved back in acknowledgement, telling them to come inside for supper.
Jeongyeon looked at the both of them. Their loving stares and smiles are enough to explain the bond they have ever since. Nayeon looked back at Jeongyeon before she gave out a small sad smile.
"Come join us for dinner, Jeongyeon."
It wasn't long until Jeongyeon joined them inside, drying herself with a towel that was provided by Nayeon's husband Jaesung. It was a chicken stew with vegetables, the aroma filled the cottage house beautifully. Jeongyeon's stomach reacted to it and a loud sound emerged, earning a look from the couple.
"It's okay, your highness. You haven't eaten for almost three days now. Come sit." Jaesung motioned to the seat right infront of him while Nayeon carefully took a seat beside her husband, supporting her huge belly with her right hand.
They started to fill their bowls with the hearty meal and Jeongyeon didn't hesitate to dig in right away. She haven't had this good food for such a long time now — the last time she had chicken was several years ago. The only meat that is available in her homeland would be the fresh seafood, and caribou cuisines.
The dinner table was a bit quiet and somewhat awkward, Jaesung was trying to stuff his face as much as he can while Nayeon's just looking down on her soup while chewing the vegetables. The young queen decided to break the tension,
"So, how far are you by now?"
Nayeon didn't expect her to speak but she wiped her mouth with a softspoken tone, "I'm almost 8 months by now."
"Are you hoping for it to be a boy or a girl?" Jeongyeon replied while tasting her own food.
"Either way is fine. I don't mind whether it's a boy or not." Nayeon smiled at her husband who smiled back at her.
"Congratulations." Jeongyeon flashed them a small smile before they all continue to eat in a quiet yet a better atmosphere than it was a while ago.
Suddenly, there's a loud knock on the door. It was a bit muffled by the loud sound of the rain pouring outside but enough for them to hear it. Jaesung stood up from his seat, looking at the peephole through the door. His eyes widened from realization,
"It looks like a royal member, your grace."
Jeongyeon's eyes widened, rushing to the door as quickly as she could. Nayeon tried to warn her but her hands grabbed the handle of the door to open.
The same pair of dark brown eyes she's been yearning to meet, the heart shaped lips, and his gorgeous face — he was wearing his hanbok that's already been soaked in the rain as well as his strands of black hair dripping down his forehead.
"Jeongyeon."
"Jimin."
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Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since my last update. A lot of things are happening at the moment as usual and there came to a point that I had to rest for a long time for my mental health. Updates might take a while but I'll be here if you have any questions or concerns. I'll do my best to update every now and then.
