The next morning, Siri woke up to an empty bed. Ryu had risen early and kissed her forehead to go back to sleep. Siri was worn out with all their love play last night and have completely knocked out again when he left her side. She knew he had work to do and didn't want to hinder him in his way to gaining support and ascending the throne.
When she woke up, she quickly took a bath and had lunch, by now it was early afternoon and Gilldy and Nurse Nancy filled her in on last night's, night hunt.
"Princess." Gilldy said as she combed Siri's hair to prepare it for the day. "During the night hunt, it is said that Crown Prince Morgan got injured during the hunt. They found the Five Horn Wild Boar and chased it down and injure it. When it became trapped, it went wild and charged at Crown Prince Morgan. It impaled his horse and injured Prince Morgan along the way. It is said that the Crown Prince lies in bed in a coma. He has not awaken from his injuries. No one was able to find the injured Five Horn Wild Boar thus far and everyone came back empty handed. There is a halt to The Spring Hunt until the Five Horn Wild Boar is killed. King Cai is furious with Cown Prince's guards and they have all been punished."
"My husband?" Siri asked. "Any word?"
"No Princess." Nurse Nancy said. "He did leave word that you may explore the royal forest should you like to get a bit of fresh air."
Siri looked back at herself in the mirror that Rose held up. She took a quick glance at Gilldy's handy work before getting up and changing into a forest green dress with silver embroidered peonies, fitting for The Spring Hunt.
"Let us take a look around, shall we?" Siri said as she stepped outside. When she walked, out of the 30 guards who stood around the tent guarding her, 20 of them followed. The sight of 20 men, 2 maids and 2 nurses was a sight to behold. It told others of Siri's value to Prince Ryu without even saying a single word.
Siri set out to talk to each General's wife and Minister's wife that she came by. She was campaigning for Ryu and she did it with style and grace. She personally sat with each wife and talked to them over tea. She got to know the women and their families. Before the Spring Hunt, she had Steward Mo write up a report with all the names and profiles of all the Generals and Ministers. Inside their profile was their family's information, of their likes, dislikes, connections, habits, debts, and current news on the family.
Siri had read over all the information provided so when the time came to speak to the wives, she would know the right words to say or not to say. Through her talk through the tents closest to her, she gave out several congratulatory gifts, should a child's birthday just passed, should there be a birth within the family, should their son's pass the military exam or government exam.
Siri's thoughtfulness was greatly appreciated and greatly annoyed Concubine Nina when her Nurses would whisper to her ear about Siri's conquest. She had enough to worry about at the moment with Crown Prince Morgan's health. Should he not wake up, her son had a very large chance of being named Crown Prince and so she sat next to King Cai as King Cai watched over his first son whom he loved very much.
"If you need to go, you can." King Cai said as he saw Nina's nurse whisper to her ear a second time within a couple of hours.
"There is nothing more important that staying by Your Highness side. It is this concubine's wishes and blessing to be by Your Highness's side, please do not tell this Concubine to leave." Nina said as tears start to form in her eyes. "This Concubine is also very worried for Crown Prince's health and would like to pray for him by his side."
King Cai looked over at Nina and nodded. She had always been beside him through tough times and good times. She always knew the right words to say and the right actions to make. She was the right choice for him when he married her.
"Em." King Cai said as he held Nina's hand. "Stay and lets pray."
Queen Yuna stared hatefully at Nina as she watched the play in front of her. How dare that bitch pretend like she cares for her son! How dare she pray for his health when truthfully, the only thing Nina would pray for is for her son to die or never wake up. But Yuna knew better, she kept herself looking worried about her son as tears run down her face. She couldn't vent out her anger or her frustrations.
Across the way, Siri just left her ninth tent that she visited and decided to take a break. She walked off to the side towards the beautiful lake that was just pass the forest. Siri walked on the clear pathway and stopped right where the water met the shore. She was lost in the beauty around her until a movement off to her right caught her attention.
When she turned to look, her heart froze in surprise. It was her husband in the presence of Chunhua. Behind them was Petra who had stood off to the side to let them have some privacy. Ryu had his wheelchair back towards Chunhua as she embraced him from behind.
Her cold silver eyes met his dark onyx eyes across the way and the air was suffocating her. Her heart felt itself crack as she stared at the scene unfold.
Chunhua rested her head on his shoulder and Siri squeezed her hand tightly shut. A rage like one she never felt before consumed her as she started marching towards Ryu and Chunhua.
"Princess..." Rose began to say before Meada pulled her back to keep quiet. It was their Master and Mistress's business, they had no say in the going ons in their life.
Her steps towards them were strong and steady as she held on to his gaze, challenging him, questioning him. Him, not flinging Chunhua's arms away from him, angered her even more as she and the 20 guards came up to them. She wasn't a storm raging, no, she was the blizzard about to bury the both of them in the snow.