Heart of Ice

Hammering

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but i had my reasons which i won't bore you with here.

Anyways, here's one update today. There will be another update tommorrow.

Enjoy... I hope ^^;;

It wasn't long before Yewon opened Seungcheol's first letter from his batch of apology letters, all conveniently numbered from 1-20.

It was only two days after she received said batch of letters, following a meeting with the King. Yewon had expected that Seungcheol would do what he told her he would do and fight against the King's decree to force them to separate on account of her childlessness. But Seungcheol flaked; he was such a coward in front of his father.

"Time is running out!" she told him after the meeting. "I have less than a month before it ends."

"Just... be patient," he replied bitterly.

"What are you even waiting for?" she bit back.

"For the right time."

"When is that? After the King announces our divorce, or before?"

"Stop hounding me," he replied with a frown. "The more you do, the less I want to defy him."

"Then we might as well divorce now if you aren't going to take this seriously!" she blurted in a burst of anger and passion.

"And if that happens? What's going to become of you? Face it, you need me so much more than I need you. Divorced from me, you're stranded and homeless. Need I remind you that you've been disowned and exiled from your actual country?"

There he did it again. He said hurtful words with that loose tongue of his that always somehow managed to make her want to cry. Keeping a strong face and holding in her tears, she just turned her back to him and rushed away into her room.

Seungcheol struck a very sensitive chord when he reminded her of her less than ideal position as a stranded princess. She couldn't go back to Galacia, and if they divorced, she did not know what would become of her. She would probably lose her princess title and become a commoner roaming about in Solen. Or she could become Seungcheol's mistress. But then remembered that she had another option: Wonwoo.

She didn't even want to think about that possibility now. If her marriage really did combust because of the King's decree and Seungcheol's unwillingness to fight it, then maybe she would consider it, she thought for the first time.

But Seungcheol would save their marriage. Right? Right?

She wasn't so sure after that conversation between them, but she wanted to be sure. She wanted to get at least some semblance of a guarantee from him that he cared about her enough not to just give up.

It was in that gloomy trail of thought that she remembered the letters. Hoping to find that guarantee, she opened the first one.

Letter #1

Dearest Yewon,

Oh dear... If you're reading this letter, it means I upset you. What stupid thing did I do or say this time?

I want to apologize about whatever I did. I know I have a sharp tongue and a heart of ice, but I wasn't always like this, believe me! I used to be a pleasant guy, but then the bitterness of the world caught up with me and I became a bitter man myself. But I am slowly trying to change that, Yewon! I'm making a conscious effort to be less mean, starting with the servants. I smiled at Seungkwan like three times yesterday; the poor guy was so confused!