.thirty one.
Yo continued laughing in amusement as So left the room in a hurry, hurt and humiliated. Eun lowered his head, having regretted his request. Hajin shot the little prince a glare as she exited the room, chasing after the fourth prince. Minji left Jung's side, going over to the tenth prince and starting to scold him, although she could already see he felt bad about what he did. "You shouldn't have done that to your brother. You really hurt his feelings." She said, Yo still laughing as though something hilarious had happened. Even Yeon Hwa, who was one of the most horrible people Minji knew in Goryeo, thought him horrible for having convinced Eun to make the request.
"I know." The tenth prince admitted with a sigh, "I feel terrible."
Minji sucked in a breath, ready to fight him on it, since she thought he would no doubt try to defend himself. But when that did happen, she was taken by surprise. She didn't press him further when she realized he actually felt bad about the situation. Instead, she placed a hand on his shoulder and started offering some reassurances.
"Maybe if you talk to him and tell him you didn't mean to make him feel bad, he'll understand. He's your brother and I'm sure deep down he cares about you." She explained, adding the deep down part because she once remembered Eun mentioning to the other boys that his older brother had proportioned him a very scary death threat when the tenth prince accidentally stepped on his foot one time. Do you want to die? The tenth prince perfectly mimicked his fourth brother while covering half of his face with his hand.
With the celebration ended, Han and Jung walked Minji and her sister home.
Han talked to Soon Deok with excitement. "That bear skin was so cool, Soon Deok-ah." The two then started talking animatedly about catching the large wild animal and making him into something of a rug. Minji thought it stomach churning to hear about, but she thought it was nice to see them bonding. It was obvious that Han had a thing for Soon Deok, even though the seventeen year old was completely oblivious to it.
Jung and Minji were having their own side conversation about how he wanted her to plan something like that for his birthday.
When they arrived at the general's house, the boys said goodbye and walked back to the palace together. Soon Deok was happy that things hadn't gone badly for her when she gave the tenth prince her present. But it had all been thanks to Minji who had been there to persuade him into thinking it was a good present. Soon Deok couldn't bear to think how he would have reacted otherwise, if her sister hadn't been there. The seventeen year old was more awkward and quiet than her social younger sister who seemed to get along with all the princes of Goryeo, but especially with the four youngest ones. Jung, Eun, Han, and Baek-ah seemed to like her and consider her a friend.
Soon Deok gave an enamored sigh, thinking about her very brief interaction with the boy that she loved. To her, it was like they had shared more than just a few words. "His majesty will be expecting Prince Eun to choose a wife soon." She still had hope that despite their very little interaction, he would end up choosing her.
Minji crinkled up her nose, knowing the private details of the whole situation, things that neither her sister nor Jung knew yet. Eun would pick her when the king asked her who he wanted to marry, which would likely be soon considering that the King had been pestering his son during the days right before his eighteenth birthday. That would leave Soon Deok without Eun as an option to marry, and it would leave Jung without a girlfriend. Minji didn't know if she should tell them both about it. She knew Jung would absolutely not take it well. Perhaps her sister would understand. But Jung would never. He would think that he was right all along, that Eun had always liked Minji and was just not ready to admit it. But it wasn't about that. Eun had told her quite clearly.
