My Kingdom My Love (K-drama)

Chapter 14

The assignment took up all the space in Iseul's head, so she quickly forgot about Jae-sung's ridiculous remark. The headmaster hadn't mentioned it specifically, but they all knew the answer to the question would be reviewed by the king himself. For the participants in the selection this was a critical exercise. Over and over she considered every book she ever read about anything that even remotely spoke of diplomacy. If she had known in advance she would try to become queen, she would have read even more of her grandfathers books instead of the silly novels from the bookshop.

When she entered the dormitory's common room, she found Whan-wook passionately writing behind a desk. Her handwriting was neat and direct and Iseul heaved a sigh. What should she answer? What would be correct in the eyes of the king? Should she take the easy road and boast of the Military's strength? She shook her head, no, that was never something she would consider.

Her answer had to be hers and she had to be able to defend it.

For a while she sat down at another desk with a blank sheet of rice-paper in front of her. Yet, nothing came to mind. After two hours of staring and making more ink than she could possibly need, she stood up and went to bed. Whan-wook and the other girls were already asleep. Save and sound in the knowledge their answers had been neatly folded and waited to be handed in tomorrow.

What should she do?

Filling her lungs with another heap of air, she laid down and adjusted her pillow. Sleep didn't come, however, and half an hour later, she stood up again. In her white sleeping garment, she sneaked out of the dormitory and started walking along the low wall.

When she passed the entrance to the secluded courtyard, she stopped and lifted her chin. There were a lot of stars visible this night, she couldn't count them even if she tried.

"Can't sleep?"

A sudden voice startled her and when she whipped her head around, she recognized Chul-yeo in the dim light of the lantern that illuminated the gate.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I needed to think and heard shuffling. I watched you walk in circles for a while. Is something the matter?" There was a friendly smile on his face and his words were comforting in the dark of night.

Iseul thought about what Jae-sung had said, how the brothers weren't good company for her and she scoffed. They might not have the same kind of upbringing, nor the lineage, but both of the blacksmith's sons were kind and smart. She was happy to be able to call them friends.

"No," she finally answered, "just thinking."

Neither of them mentioned the assignment. If he wasn't in the selection, she might have discussed the topic with him, but it wouldn't be fair to pick the brain of a fellow participant.

"Where do you come from?" she asked. "I mean, where does your family live?"

Chul-yeo stared at the stars, cocked his head and then pointed west. "In that direction. It's about a two days walk from here."

"Do you have other siblings?"

"Yes, there are seven of us. I'm the second and Seok is third. Our eldest brother is married and helps our father run the forge."

Iseul's eyes widened when she heard the number. "Seven? Wow, do you have sisters as well?"

Softly laughing at her startled expression, Chul-yeo nodded. "Yes, three of them. They're very young, still. And the youngest child is a boy again. It's pretty common to have large families in the country. Don't you have siblings?"

Slowly, Iseul shook her head from left to right. She never questioned the reason her parents had to not have more children. Now she wondered if they simply didn't care for any more, or if there was an other reason. "It must be nice, to always have someone to talk to, or to play with," she mumbled, fidgeting with a piece of broken roof tile.

"It is," Chul-yeo said. "Although it's nice to be away from the kids for a change. Two of my sisters can't seem to stop talking."

Iseul grinned. "I'd love to meet them one day."

"My parents and siblings will try to come here for the rain-festival, if I'm still a participant by then." His smile after those words was a little less wide.

"Why would you doubt that?"

He shrugged. "I know what everybody thinks. Me and my brother, we don't fit in very well."

"But the king –"

"The king does not want a commoner on the throne, any more than the noble families want it." The young man frowned at her with his dark eyes and then added: "It's my believe they want a queen and in order to sway the people, they made it seem like they're also considering commoners, so there will be less opposition when they finally choose."

A shocked expression appeared on Iseul's face. "Do you really believe that? But you are just as capable as any of the other Hwarang. If you win this selection by demonstrating your talents and wit, why should you not sit on the throne?"

Chul-yeo's mouth curled up in an amused smile. "I don't know whether it's sweet or naive that you really believe the world works that way."

Iseul huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm perfectly aware that most people don't feel the same. They'd rather have an incompetent noble in charge than a commoner who knows what he's doing. But the king has spoken, so if you win, they will have to install you."

His smile softened. "I have to admit I never cared much for the wealthy families. It's the reason my brother and me left home to join this charade in the first place. But I think I will gladly submit myself to the new ruler."

With pursed lips, Iseul pondered those last words, but when she opened her mouth again to speak, Chul-yeo whispered: "I'm going to sleep, you should to. I'll see you in the morning. Don't worry too much."

He trotted away before she could formulate an answer and so she shrugged and strolled back to the dormitory.

Naive ... was it really naive to believe a talented, intelligent, good person should sit on the throne? It shouldn't matter what status he or she was born into. It could only benefit the whole kingdom if the ruler was a capable person. Ranks should not be this important. It would be better for everyone if everybody received the same opportunities, wouldn't it?

Suddenly she knew what she had to write down for an answer. She hurriedly found her way to the common room, where she lit a lantern and began to write. She needed two sheets of practice paper before she was able to fully explain her idea and her heart was pounding the whole time her brush formed words. The strokes might not be as delicate as those of Whan-wook, but she had poured her heart in every character.

She dried the ink, folded the final sheet and went to bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.