Prince Lee Minho stretched from the bed, wincing at the pain from his head. He looked around his room, realizing that he was not in the same room that he would usually be in.
Right, he was in the Geulimjja Kingdom. He had been for three days now, and still his head was not healed. He was getting more and more used to being away from his family and kingdom, which made him guilty, but the stress-less lifestyle that was provided here as he healed was nice and comforting. Much like the life he used to live before he had come to marry the Han Crown Prince.
"Good morning, our prince friend!" Jongho marched into the room carrying a tray of food and tea with him. "How does getting up and taking a walk today sound?"
"That sounds good," Minho bowed his head and smiled in appreciation as the tray was set down in front of him.
"Good, good!" Jongho nodded. "I'll let the servants know, and you may go wherever you please!" he smiled, before backing out of the room, leaving Minho to his thoughts once more.
Yongbok was getting anxious from what Minho could tell from his notes. Not being home in three days and he was worried Minho would never return home.
Fortunately, Minho was not wasting his time that he had here. Gaining allies would be crucial to the survival of the Han Kingdom, which Minho was now to serve. He had been spending good time with the two captains, and even on occasion, the king himself.
This kingdom was nice, Minho had determined. There were few to none risks, happy people, a flawless law system, Minho almost wished that he had been forced to marry into this kingdom's bloodline instead of the Han's.
Minho shook his head. No, his kingdom was the Lee Kingdom and whoever his king ordered him to serve, he would serve. No matter what.
Thinking of the king made Minho frown. He had yet to send his brother a letter confronting the sudden stripping of his title. There had been no explanation that came with the announcement, though Minho felt it was safe to assume that Yongbok and Min-hyung had sent letters back home demanding one from the king and their other older siblings or cousins.
Minho stared down at the soup in front of him. He remembered the soup from the Han Kingdom was very rich in flavor. He picked up the spoon gently and pulled back the silks hanging from his arm so they wouldn't get into the broth. He dipped the spoon into the soup and took a sip.
This one was not as flavorful, but did have many different flavors which were not as strong as the Han Kingdom's.
"The soup tastes different, right?" Minho looked up to find Lord Hongjoong standing in the doorway. "Yeah, I know..." he turned and walked forward, sitting down at the table across from where the Lee prince sat.
"How would you know?" Minho asked, widening his eyes.
Hongjoong shrugged. "I travel a lot of behalf of the king. I also was born in the Han Kingdom, before the late King Han was murdered, and the queen as well. After that the kingdom fell into chaos for a few months before Master Kang and the other masters could pull it together."
"I didn't know that happened," Minho murmured, looking down at his lap in confusion. The Han Kingdom had fallen into chaos? He hadn't read about that anywhere.
Hongjoong must have sensed his confusion, before he smiled. "The Han Kingdom kept it quiet, making sure no one else found out. After news that the king and queen died, it would have been a very easy time to invade the country and take over. They didn't want that to happen."
"Of course not," Minho glanced up at the older male, before taking another sip of soup.
"Not that I'm pressuring you to leave, but when will you be returning back to your home?"
"I don't know if I have a home at the moment," Minho murmured back, eating away at the food in front of him.
Hongjoong narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"My brother stripped me of the crown prince title the day your men found me at the border. I don't know what he means by doing so, and so I'm not sure I would be welcomed home if I returned to the Lee Kingdom. And the Han Kingdom rejects my presence. I married their king, and the court as well as the people do not approve."
"Then how are you married to him?"
Minho chuckled. "That is a long story. In short, the agreement that I would be married to the first Han child born was never severed, and since it was the last thing the late Han King ordered, the masters had no choice but agree. The document did not specify what gender the baby would be that I would marry in the future, therefore I am married to the king of the Han Kingdom."
"I didn't think that was the reason," Hongjoong whistled. "That's an impressive story. Very dramatic."
Minho nodded, smirking as he finished the side dishes served to him. "I should turn it into a play for your subjects to act out, just so you'll remember when I'm gone."
"You should still come and visit," Hongjoong said thoughtfully. "The men here have taken a liking to you. Perhaps your stay was not in vain."
"I know. I seem to have acquired a few allies."
"Indeed."
~oOo~
Lady Oh Hae-won was moving into the palace. She was in the room right next to the one the king and his male bride were currently sharing.
Jisung wondered if Minho would move out once he was married to his new bride, his wife.
For some reason, the thought of marrying her, even though in the past it would have made him beam with delight, made his stomach turn now. He had always joked with Changbin about marrying a lot of pretty women and having lots of children, but now the thought seemed wrong. Like he was wronging Minho.
Changbin, who was currently sitting as Jisung's side as they went through documents, frowned upon seeing that the king was distracted and not looking through anything at the moment. "Is there something I can get for you, Your Majesty?" he asked, bowing his head.
Jisung looked over at him and sighed. "No, I don't think there is anything you can do."
"Is it because Lady Oh has moved into the palace?"
"Indeed. The masters are advising me to make her my queen. That would mean that Minho would no longer be aloud at my side as he is now and would either move to a different palace or be moved elsewhere here."
"He might not mind," Changbin murmured, trying to imagine the Lee prince's face if and when they told him that Jisung was to marry Lady Oh.
"Yes, he will," Jisung muttered, and Changbin sighed. He had to admit, in any scenario he thought of, there was no way that Minho was going to just be fine with Lady Oh coming into the palace.
Yongbok was worried as well. On top of Jisung marrying Lady Oh, he was also fretting over Minho not being within the Kingdom, while also being injured. It took much convincing on Changbin's part to keep Yongbok from jumping on Cho and riding all the way to the Southern kingdom to bring his cousin home.
"Your Majesty!" a servant ran into the room with a deep bow. "Lady Oh is here to see you."
Changbin set down his brush and folded his arms as Jisung nodded, and Lady Oh was brought into the room.
It was hard to admit it, but she was very stunning and beautiful. She was cunning as well, but not half as kind as Minho was.
Lady Oh bowed as she entered the room and gave the king a beaming smile. "Good morning, Your Majesty."
Jisung bowed his head to her and stared her dead on. "Good morning, Lady Oh."
Lady Oh nodded.
"What is it that you're here to talk to me about?" Jisung asked, glancing down at the stack of parchment that was waiting to be looked through. "I am very busy."
"Are you too busy to plan your own wedding?" Lady Oh asked, bowing as she asked. "It is only in a few weeks from today, Your Majesty. Perhaps we could talk about it sometime?" she looked over at Changbin with sharp eyes. "Alone?"
"Yes, some other time," Jisung brushed her off, picking up the next roll in the stack. "Master Seo and I must return to our work."
Lady Oh bowed. "Of course, Your Majesty. Please accept my apology for interrupting you."
As she left, Changbin let out a long sigh. He turned to face Jisung with a serious face. "I don't like her. Do you?"
Jisung didn't look up from the parchment; he was suddenly very keen on reading. "I have no feelings of dislike or of liking her. I just have to marry her to make my kingdom happy."
"Does it really matter if your kingdom is happy?" Changbin asked, picking up his brush once again and dipping it in the ink. "Are you happy?"
"That doesn't matter. My main job is to keep this kingdom safe and at peace. As long as there is no wife of the king, and there is no queen, the kingdom will not be happy. This is what I am told will fix that."
Changbin paused, before going back to writing. "I see..."
Jisung let out a long sigh and continued with his work for the rest of the day.
As the evening came, he lay back on his bed that he would usually share with Minho and stared at the ceiling. He wondered what he husband was doing at the moment. Was he in pain? What was he thinking about? Had he eaten?
Jisung didn't know why questions like this passed over his mind, but he shook his head, trying to clear them. Minho was most likely not thinking of him right now, so why was he thinking of Minho?
As it turns out, Jisung was wrong. At the same time, in the kingdom to the north, Minho lay among the silks that the northern kingdom had given him to sleep in, staring out the window at the bright moon, wondering how different it must look from where Jisung was right now,
And he wondered if Jisung missed him at all. Even just the presence.
He doubted it.
Still oblivious to the fact that Jisung, while he was away, had decided to marry a woman, he slept in peace that night, his breath softly stirring the hair that lay on his cheek.
Outside his window, a masked man jumped from the rooftop, landing silently on his toes.
He did not wear black, and was not here to assassinate the young Lee prince.
Instead, he stared through the window at the sleeping young man, a frown showing through the white coverings over his face. "I'm sorry, my poor boy..." he murmured, before he leapt away, back towards his horse that was waiting for him outside the palace walls.
He landed on the horse's back, kicking her forward back towards the mountain he had come from. "All in time," he murmured, staring up at the twinkling stars in the sky. "All in time..."