Chapter Text
The ride in the carriage back to their village was awkward, to say the least. Her parents didn’t want her to ride with him alone and asked the king for a guard to be in the carriage with them. His father had picked the most serious and stone faced guard they had and every time they so as much looked at each other, he’d put his hand between them to keep them apart.
“Is this really that necessary?” Sunghoon complained.
The guard looked at him, said nothing, and then sat up straight again. His eyes trained on the both of them.
“It’s not like we would do anything anyway,” the prince grumbled and crossed his arms. “We did quite a lot the other day… and last night to consummate, like her mother advised us to.”
“From personal experience, doing anything in a carriage is terrible,” she mumbled.
“Personal experience?” Sunghoon smirked and her ears went pink.
“Th-That’s not what I meant. I haven’t done anything like that in a carriage.” Her cheeks were red now as she defended herself.
“Sure. Whatever you say,” Sunghoon teased.
“I swear!”
“No secret, late night rendezvous with your lovers where your parents couldn’t see? No handsome stranger caught up in your skirts either on the way back home?”
She pressed her lips together and turned her head away to gaze out of the window. “You know too much and we barely even know each other.”
Sunghoon laughed. “I guess we just share similar experiences from opposite perspectives then.”
The Lord’s daughter chuckled softly. “Never have I met a prince like you.”
“They must have been boring then. It’s a good thing you’re marrying me instead of them then, hm?” Sunghoon glanced at her and smirked.
They made eye contact and the guard quickly reached his hand forward, his hand coming into contact with the back window. Both her and Sunghoon flinched at the sudden action of his and stared at him with widened eyes. The guard sat back again.
Sunghoon sighed, shaking his head. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost. We’re a few minutes away.”
Sunghoon nodded and glanced at the guard. Each time the guard made a move, he made sure to only get in between them and nothing else. Sunghoon peeked at her using his peripheral and then, to test the guard and see just how far he’d go, he moved quick. He grabbed onto her face and kissed her.
The guard let out a yell and wrapped his arms around the prince to try to pull him off. She giggled and wrapped her arms around of Sunghoon to pull him in closer and away from the guards grip. Sunghoon laughed, his hands still on her cheeks. She grinned, holding him close.
Eventually, the guard just gave up trying to pull them away from each other and they pulled up to her family’s mansion still in each other’s embrace. They got out of the carriage one by one and Sunghoon held her hand.
She smiled, holding onto his arm. “How’d you know that’d even work?”
Sunghoon glanced at the guard. He went back stone faced, looking ahead.
“I didn’t, but I figured he wouldn’t want to hurt me or you. His job is to protect me from harm and danger, not from the arms of a maiden. Much less the arms of my future queen.”
“Very clever and perceptive of you.” She grinned and patted his shoulder. “Come then. Let’s see my parents first and then we’ll be off around the village.”
They walked around the village slowly, Sunghoon taking the time to make sure to greet everyone. A lot of people were intrigued to find out the prince had visited them, even more so when they found out about the marriage. All of the women in the village mentioned how handsome he was and how lucky she was to be marrying into royalty.
Sunghoon noticed some of the looks he was getting from several of the young men in the village and assumed they were her suitors or perhaps her lovers from before.
They took their time down the merchant street, every merchant selling food insisting Sunghoon try. He tried some of it and the rest went in the cart the guard was pulling along with them. It was quickly getting filled with gifts.
Later, they sat down by a water fountain nearby to an old, ancient looking building. It didn’t appear to be used for anything at the moment. They shared a piece of bread given to them by the youngest daughter from the bakery.
“Everyone here is so nice,” Sunghoon said.
“Yeah. One thing about here is our hospitality. When visitors used to come, they’d always talk about how nice everyone is.”
“Used to?”
She nodded slowly. “Uh, yeah. It’s why our marriage to each other is important. Like the king said, it’s good politically, sure. My dad has lots of connections with other kingdoms and other villages. It will be good. But for the people here in the village, it’s much more than just that. Before, our village used to be a rest stop between the neighboring kingdom and ours, but it is quite long. New and shorter routes to the kingdom are opening up, so visitors don’t need to come here anymore. Other kingdoms maps don’t have us on there because of it. My dad hopes that with our marriage, we’d get more resources and we’d be able to build up the village a bit more and maybe we won’t get erased from the maps anymore.”
Sunghoon observed the village and nodded. “This is quite the historical place then, huh? I think I remember reading about it when I was a kid. It’s the village that gave us our very first king, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is, which is why we shouldn’t be erased from the map.” She pointed to the old building next to them. “He was born right in this building, in fact. It used to be a place where people would visit on their travels and pray to him for whatever they needed. Guidance, safe travels, good harvest, whatever. Now, it’s just a practice we locals do.”
Sunghoon looked over at the building. “What type of plans did your father have for this place?”
“I’m not sure. He’s never told me. Why?”
“I’d like to hear them. This place is important to our kingdom and its history. We can’t let it disappear.”
“I’m sure he has lots of them. You might be stuck talking to him for a while.”
“That’s fine. I want to hear them all.”
“Would you want to hear mine as well? Or my mom’s? Everyone?” She glanced over at the people walking about the merchant stalls. “Everyone has their own ideas.”
Sunghoon smiled. “I’m sure they do. Just let me start with your father’s first. I’m sure there’s one or two he’s been wanting to discuss with my father but couldn’t.”
“Alright then. Let’s head home for dinner. You can talk to him there.”
Much later, she was in her room waiting for Sunghoon to return. Her dad’s talk with him filled their entire dinnertime and then well after. Sunghoon was with him in his study for the last couple of hours.
Finally, she heard Sunghoon’s steps approaching her room and the door came open. He walked in and shut the door behind him.
She grinned as he walked up to her bed. “You’ve finally been released~”
She raised her arms to him and he leaned down to give her a soft kiss. She rested her hands on his shoulders as he knelt down next to the bed, laying his head in her lap.
“So? How was it?” she asked, gently patting his hair.
“It was good. Your father has a lot of good ideas. I don’t think they’d all happen as immediately as he hopes it would. Some of it is big projects that will take a lot of time.”
“But?”
“But they’re all definitely possible.” Sunghoon looked up at her. “And together, you and I, can make it happen.”
She smiled and glided a finger over his cheek. “We will. For as long as you may reign.”
“And when we have children, they will continue it for us. They shouldn’t forget about the place where their mother came from.”
She blushed, nodding. “Mm. Now, let’s get you in the bath. Tomorrow, you’ll be meeting the farmers.”
“Will you be joining me?”
“To meet the farmers? Of course I am.”
Sunghoon laughed, shaking his head. “No. In the bath.”
Her face turned pink. “I… I shouldn’t. You might get distracted. Your bath will get cold.”
“I won’t care about the cold if you’re with me.”
“Tempting, but really, I shouldn’t.”
“Fine. Tomorrow night then.” Sunghoon got up and captured her lips in a kiss.
He pulled back, shot her a wink and headed off to the bathroom.
The next morning, she expected to wake up in his arms. The same way she fell asleep. But she didn’t. She looked around her room and he wasn’t there. She got out of bed and quickly changed out of her pajamas. She went to the kitchen expecting to see him eating or talking to her dad or their cook, but he wasn’t there either.
The cook was there preparing their breakfast. “Good morning.”
“Good morning. Do you know where the prince went?” she asked.
The cook nodded and gestured outside of the window. She frowned, going over to the window and found Sunghoon just down the street. He was sitting on the steps she knew to be the school, talking with the kids.
She smiled softly and left the house to go to him. She walked up to them. “Good morning.”
Sunghoon smiled. “Good morning, beautiful.”
He reached out for her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She smiled, putting her arm around his shoulders.
“Kids, I’m sure you know her, yes?” Sunghoon smiled when the kids nodded and responded with a yes. “She’s going to be my wife soon. She’ll be your new queen after my coronation.”
One of the little girls pouted and pointed at her. “No fair! I wanna marry him when I grow up too!”
She laughed. “I’m sorry. You’ll have to find your own prince to marry. Preferably one closer to your age.”
“Boo! You just don’t want to share! Greedy!”
Sunghoon laughed. “Frankly, I’m not sure I’d even want to share her either. Guess we’re both greedy then.”
She grinned and hugged him close. “That’s right. And with that, I must whisk him away. We need to have breakfast and visit with the farmers today and you kids are going to start school very soon.”
“No!” The kids all pouted. “We wanna follow the prince!”
Sunghoon chuckled. “I’m sorry, but you can’t. Education is very important. So on to class now.”
“Aw!”
The kids went inside and she held Sunghoon’s hand while leading him back to her house.
Their day went by great. They had their meeting with the farmers and had both lunch and dinner with them. They offered to make them their meals during their meeting. Sunghoon silently listened to their concerns and their hopes for the future. All which he assured them he’d try his best to get done and at the very least, right now, he could tell the king about it and they’d get started on some of them right away.
After their bath together, they laid in bed. Her head rested against his chest. She lazily drew circles on his chest.
“Tomorrow’s our last day here. By nightfall, we’ll be well on our way back to the kingdom,” said Sunghoon.
“Did you like it here?”
“I did. I’d like to visit more often. Get to know more about this village you’re from. You can tell me all the places that were your favorite when you were a kid.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No. I want to. We just met. Our marriage was arranged. And yet, I find myself so infatuated, I yearn to learn more about you. You’ve intrigued me in more ways than one, my future queen, and I just know that the more I find out about you and the wonderful person you are, the more I’ll fall in love with you.”
She smiled. “You’re already throwing around that word?”
Sunghoon glanced down at her and caressed her cheek. “You want to hear it again? I love you.”
She blushed. “Prince Sunghoon…”
“You don’t have to say it back just yet. I just thought you should know that I love you.”
“S-Stop it.” Her face flushed a brighter pink.
Sunghoon grinned, cupping her cheek. “I love you.”
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He happily kissed her back, his hands finding her hips to pull her body in even closer.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.
She smiled and pulled back, looking up at him. “Impress me one more time, my prince and maybe I’ll say it back this time.”
Sunghoon smirked. “Thought you’d never ask. Should we go do it in the carriage? You seemed disappointed when—”
“No. Here is fine.” She blushed.
“Alright. Give me ten minutes. You’ll be saying it in no time.”
“I’ll give you five this time,” she teased.
Sunghoon chuckled. “That’s plenty of time.”
She grinned and he smiled, leaning back down to capture her lips in yet another kiss.