Chapter 4

The weather, despite the not-so-pleasant events in the palace, seemed to be in defiance. It was sunny and warm. There was almost no wind. Everything around was lit up with light, to which all the flowers in the area reached out with their leaves and petals. The leaves rustled inaudibly, and all the courtiers were cheerful and busy with everyday worries from the very dawn. The valet was hurrying away from the seamstresses with new suits for His Serene Highness; the cook was urging lazy pages with errands for the forthcoming tea-drinking in the open air; the maids were everywhere making beds and putting the offices and rooms in order.

The palace was enormous. It was even rumoured that the king himself envied the beauty and taste of the interior decoration of the Wang Han family, and the size of this royal palace was only a few towers more. Wang Han Wang Han received the palace after the death of his father, who was killed in the war, and immediately went to serve in the hope of punishing the opponents of the kingdom and avenging the death of a parent who was everything to him. Mother, immediately after the sad news, was bed-ridden and never got up again. Severe consumption and grief broke her body and spirit, and when the young Wang Han returned from the war, only an empty palace was waiting for him. Wang Tae did not witness their mother's death either, as he was travelling through the Chinese villages with some kind of "educational mission," in which Wang Han saw only empty sermons. Their mother died alone, and not a single brother could forgive himself for not being near her in the last moments.

"This is like a cruel joke, Your Royal Highness. My reputation is at stake, and I want you to know that I am deeply offended by this event. Tell me this is some kind of joke, shall you," muttered Wang Han in a drooping tone, watching through the window as his brother and Heonui were talking on a park bench.

The Li-ens squirmed nervously, not knowing what to say to the Prince. Queen An Ha, with eyes red from tears of emotion, was silent, and King Lee Song tried to defuse the situation with any words of consolation.

"You must understand that Wang Tae wants to marry your daughter not from high feelings but only to annoy me and jeopardize the throne. Having been banished from society because of his tales, he seeks revenge, not gratitude, and I have been attending to his recovery for years. Wherever he has been! He saw all the landscapes of the world! I thought this would improve him, but it only accompanied him in his vanity. I do not believe a single word he says. Voices? Ghosts? He only bears all this nonsense in order to live idly. How can one even imagine that these young people, having only a couple of minutes of acquaintance, would become husband and wife? I wanted to become Heonui's husband, and I admit it here to you, but I was ready to give her all the time in the world and not insist on my intentions at the very first meeting with her! The lady must recognize her promised husband, get used to him and go down the aisle willingly."

Elderly Li-en looked at each other.

"Your Royal Highness…" the King began, clearing his throat, blushing under the gaze of the young Wang Han, who immediately sensed something was wrong. "Our daughter does not go down the aisle against her will. She wants to agree to marry Wang Tae."

The Prince's eyes widened. They were a mixture of pain and disappointment.

"Then these fools are worthy of each other," he said with annoyance in his voice and, bowing, quickly walked out of the living room.

An Ha sobbed. After following first Wang Han with his eyes, then shooting a meaningful glance at his wife, King Lee Song approached the window. His daughter, beaming and embarrassed, was talking animatedly to the gesticulating Wang Tae.

"Fools? Or lovers?" the King asked thoughtfully.

"All the same!" An Ha quit and hurried after Wang Han.