.thirty four.
As the decision was made and finalized, both General Park and Minji were left speechless. She didn't want to get into a forced marriage like that, and her father was not ready to let his fifteen year old daughter go when she was so young. He had planned to marry Soon Deok off to a good husband first and then worry about Hak Soon later. He had three years to plan and ready himself for having to let his youngest daughter go. But he knew that he could not go against the king. For one, he was the ruler of their country. And also, he was one of his good friends. A comforting thought that visited his mind was that at least his beloved daughter would not be moving somewhere far away, which was one of his key fears when he thought about marrying off his daughters.
The king explained to them that he had been planning for the wedding in the weeks before Eun's birthday. Preparations had been halted only because of the drought. There were only a few final details to be arranged and that included the fitting of the bride in her dress.
Since he was in a rush to marry his son off as soon as possible, as people were beginning to talk about his refusal to marry, he informed to the dismay of everyone that they were to be married a week from then. And just like that, he called in a group of court ladies to take Minji off to some part of the palace to have her dress sized and fitted to her frame. Minji felt tears pool up in her eyes as one court lady pried Jung's hand away from hers. Jung pulled back, but tried not to make a scene in front of his brothers and father.
Jung and general Park watched as she was taken away somewhere with tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. Eun looked to his younger brother now, the same apologetic look, to which Jung responded with a glare full of resentment. The general left the palace with news for his other daughter, while the King dismissed himself as he had other issues to tend to.
But his youngest son wasn't going to let the subject drop so easily. He followed him into the main room where the King sat at his chair at the top of an altar. The doors were closed behind them and as soon as they were, Jung truly let out what he had been wanting to say but couldn't in front of his brothers.
"You can't let them get married." He protested, the same anger and resentment pointed towards the King. He couldn't believe that this was happening--the girl he loved being taken from him and forced to marry his brother. Still, he tried to keep his words as calm as he could because he knew he still owed his father some respect, as king of their country and as his father as well. But Jung just wanted to lash out in that moment and demand for the King to change his mind. "You have already promised her to me. She doesn't want to marry him. She won't be happy with him."
The king felt for him, he really did, but as he had mentioned already, he was more focused on one son at a time. Currently, it was Eun who had turned eighteen and he would get to pick first who he wanted to marry over his younger brothers. As long as he could get Eun to marry, something he had been refusing to do for about a year, he would please any request he might have.
He sighed, attempting to explain, "Jung-ah, you have to understand..."
Jung cut him off, something he would have never dared to do on any other occasion. But in that moment he was so upset that the last thing on his mind was a fear of being punished for disrespecting the King. "I have to understand that you're taking the woman that I love from me and giving her to my brother?"
"He would have had a hard time finding a wife." The King tried to reason with him. "That's why I wanted to please him. You can easily find someone else."
"But I don't want anyone else." Jung said, his voice now reaching a whiny complaint kind of tone. "Hyung should find someone else instead of taking Hak Soon from me. I have loved her since we were children. He's never liked her. never so much as glanced at her until she and I made our marriage official. Doesn't that count for anything?"
