Chapter Text
“I have nothing to tell you about.”
It is somehow infuriating to An Lili - the cool way she was dismissed, with somehow so much anger, sadness, and sorrow lurking around the edges of the king’s perfectly cultured tone. So like the way Yona says ‘I’m fine’ when things are clearly killing her inside. It’s hard to remember, sometimes, that Soo-won and Yona are related, but when he gets that look in his eyes and that tone in his voice… if she hadn’t met the princess, would she be able to read the king so easily?
It’s so strange. It’s hard to understand what that man is seeing, or thinking, or feeling, and for some reason it hurts inside. She wants to know. She wants to get closer to him - why? He’s Yona’s enemy, he’s a murderer, he’s a bad person and yet…
No, An Lili thinks to herself, lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling. No, he isn’t a bad person. That’s what makes him so terrifying.
She closes her eyes and tries to sleep, but…
A soft knock comes at her door. She sits up, listens.
“Come with me,” says a soft voice, one she recognizes, and then the sound of footsteps hurrying away. Quickly, she pulls herself out of bed, dresses hastily, finds her feet pounding against the castle floors in pursuit of a swiftly retreating, pale-cloaked figure.
She finds him in the courtyard, surrounded by trees and grass, with a far-off look on his face.
“Your Majesty…”
He turns towards her, and for a moment, that look is still there, as if he’s seeing through her. Then, just as suddenly, all emotion cuts off, replaced by such a pure and happy smile that it’s difficult to believe it’s the same man, even, and for a moment, that boy who follows Yona is stuck in her mind, the one with yellow hair, and she can’t quite figure out why.
“Ah, you came,” Soo-won says, and the smile is bright. “I’m sorry to wake you in the middle of the night. If I came to speak with you in proper daylight, General Joo-doh would make assumptions again…” He laughs, softly, and Lili wonders if General Joo-doh has ever understood the pain behind that laugh.
“Why am I here?” she asks, bluntly as ever, and that smiling face falters for a moment before returning.
“Because I’m afraid I’ve been quite rude to you,” Soo-won says. “I still…. can’t speak of things, properly, here.” His eyes flicker around him, and he steps closer to her. “There are mutual acquaintances of ours you wish to discuss. I…” He frowns, briefly, then smiles, leaning over towards her. “I am making a diplomatic visit to your homeland a few weeks after your return. I will very much want to speak with you at that time, in private… where the walls have fewer ears.”
He places a gentle kiss to her forehead, and Lili feels her heart freeze up.
“No one can know what this meeting is really about,” he says, just as softly, in her ear, with the tones of a lover speaking to lover.
“Meet me there,” he says, more loudly, and presses something into her hand. Then he whisks away, leaving her holding a delicately filigreed brooch shaped like a lily.
She knows the whole meeting was a ruse, to fool anyone who was watching. She doesn’t feel like that about her king. Her king who hurt Yona so badly, who Yona is still in love with so why.
Why won’t her heart stop pounding…?