Heart of Ice

Hosting

"Why did you do that to him?"

Those were the first words Yewon said to her father after not seeing him for months. She could not get the sight of Seungcheol like that out of her mind. The dirt and the blood and the tatters and the chains. It looked so wrong, and she wanted some kind of closure about why he had come to this state.

"He waged war against us, Princess Yewon. Did you forget that?" her father asked with a frown on his face, but he sounded sympathetic all the same.

"But..."

"You should ask him why he made a decision which costed the lives of hundreds of our men before you ask me why we treated him the way we did..."

Yewon fell silent. From that perspective, it made sense. But still, it felt so wrong and unnecessary. She was still uncomfortable with the idea that her own father had ordered the beating and the mistreatment of her husband.

-

Everyone in Galacia seemed to be in a celebratory mood. The villagers were singing, dancing, sharing food and holding parties. The staff in the castle were all smiling, even the gruff guards who usually had no expression on their faces. And her family was so happy, happier than she had ever seen them. Even her irritable brother Jihoon seemed to be in high spirits, and her father wore a hint of a smile that Yewon rarely saw from him.

Even though she was so glad to see them again, and even though being in their arms again brought her some solace, she could not absorb their happiness. Despite the temporary contentment of reuniting with them, her heart was still heavy with regret and apprehension for the future. She tried to forget about it and focus on her family and her home which she had not seen in too long, but she could not push away the negative feelings no matter how hard she tried.

Somehow everything reminded her of Solen. Her youngest sister Kyla's hyperactive outbursts reminded her of little Yulhee and her big mouth. The charming doorman and his flirty smile reminded her of Soonyoung and the way he used to lure all the women to him with such effortless ease. The courteous cleaner maid with the chubby cheeks reminded her of Haein. The innocent little messenger boy with the bright eyes reminded her of Dino. The sweet bread reminded her of Seokmin. The soap reminded her of the daily baths in Solen... everything around her was suddenly imbued with memories of her short time in a country she had thought she hated.

She found that her own disposition had shifted dramatically because of her time in Solen. She had almost forgotten how to dress herself because she was so used to Haein dressing her. She found that having her hair down was so annoying, and she was tempted to just tie it up in a convenient bun like the women did in Solen. She also felt dirty after days of not bathing for many days, and found that she missed the Solenese custom of having daily baths. Her dresses suddenly felt uncomfortably loose and also quite unflattering. And that greeting– that damned Galacian greeting. She had completely lost touch with it. She always forgot to greet with it, and instead found herself bowing

She really had not realized the extent that Solen had changed her until she came back to Galacia. She had truly absorbed some of the Solenese customs, customs she had taken for granted in her time there.

She missed it.

When she told her father in the first day during dinner that she wanted to go back to Solen, he instantly shut her down, telling her that he didn't want to hear any talk of that sort from her. When her sisters began asking her questions about Seungcheol, her father also told them that they were prohibited from talking about him. He then decreed that Yewon not talk about anything to do with Solen ever.