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Seoreundeul

 

Thirty-two

 

 




Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


 

 

Deep black ink sloshed against crisp white paper, soiling the floor. That bastard. How dare he? 

    “My Lady…shall we go for a stroll? Perhaps to put your mind at ease?” In her fury, her hair had come loose from her low ponytail and it spilled every which way around her face, giving her an unhinged and disheveled look. Turning wild eyes up at the servant who had spoken, she bared her teeth. 

    “Get out.” The young woman blinked, mouth opening to offer some rebuke of her request. 

    “I said get out!” She screamed, turning and throwing another cup of ink, this time intending to soil the girl’s hanbok. She missed narrowly and wisely, the girl scurried out. Inhaling harshly, she threw the whole of the table onto the ground, producing a loud crash. How dare he. She’d suffered this entire while… taking his brother as a replacement….and this was the thanks she got for her wait? It bruised her ego when he’d run away with the little bitch. But she had never anticipated that he’d spend three years with her…living in what seemed to be heavens …cozied up with that dirty black rat. 

    At his return, it seemed their relationship had only grown stronger. Something about the two of them was different. They lived with no fear of consequence… no heedance to the present decrees or laws. It was as if they lived outside of the current society and it all but pissed her off. Whatever fairytale he’d lived while in her savage land was now over. He was back home now. Things would resume to normal. 

    Licking her lips, she smoothed the messy stray hairs back from her face. She didn’t care what she was. Princess or no princess. This was her land. Her terms. Her way. And she would not willingly give it up to some heathen. 

    “Lady Jae-Hwa, Cheol-su wangja-nim is here to see you.” Just the person she wanted to see. Good. 

    “Send him in.” Clearing her throat, she reached for her hair and put it into a neater ponytail when he entered, eyes downcast on the ink all over the ruined floor. 

    “Throwing a fit?” He asked, lifting steely eyes upward. 

    “It’s called the rage of an artist pyeha.”

    “Seems that’s one thing to have changed about you. Not once have you ever painted.” 

    “We’ve both grown haven’t we?”

    “Indeed.” 

    “Come in. Sit. Please.” A few gungnyeo came in, bringing with them tea and small treats on beautiful plates she’d selected herself. He reached up to remove his gat and eyed the tea placed in front of him. For a long while, he watched the wisps of steam waft up from the boiling tea mouth mum. 

    “Aren’t you going to drink?” She inquired, a slight sneer on her face. Then and only then did he lift his eyes and they seemed to cut into her, deep into her eyes, her face, every little imperfection she had she felt he could see right through and it made her dangerously uncomfortable. 

    “The little stunt you pulled the other day. I won’t have it happen again.” 

    “I did nothing wrong. I simply called her what she is.”

    “You did everything wrong by offending me. If you are wise you will not do it again.” His voice growled as he watched her lift the cup to her mouth and take a sip. 

    “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. And we meet with animosity between us.” Still he hadn’t taken a sip of his tea and it was starting to irritate her. 

    “If we can be mature about what has happened then I believe we both can move forward.”  For the first time since their meeting began, he laughed but it didn’t sound humorous. 

    “Move forward?” Putting down the cup, she took him in. He looked even more intimidating than he had before he left. Somehow, the last shreds of boyhood had been erased and in front of her now was a man hardened by experience, hardened by will. Ambition. Determination. Her mouth grew dry and yet another place on her body borrowed the moisture, drenching the dari-sokgot hugging her body. Gods…as furious as she was…she wanted him to take her and break her…ruin her from the inside out…make her crash into tiny little hard rough pieces to the point where she could only beg and cry and whi-

    “I recall my words to you those years ago…after finding out that you had participated in the selling of Tiye. I told you that you were dead to me. And I meant every word of it.” Anger and hurt blossomed in her chest.

    “And now here you’ve come home faced with a quite difficult situation.” His lips pinched as she again took another sip. 

    “I’m truly hurt Cheol-su… hurt that even after all this time and our knowing each other that you would continue to put that woman before me. Nevertheless….I’m prepared to tolerate it. And her. For a small askance.” His eyebrow lifted. 

    “Askance of what?”

    “I’ll go along with this…situation…only if you give your word that the contract between the two of us be fulfilled. The words your father swore to my father and mother before bringing me here…intent on being wed to you. I want it realized.” His eyes grew dark with fury. 

    “You’re in no position to request anything of me. How dare you.”

    “You have obligations pyeha. Obligations that you are bound to by honor. And knowing you so well… I know that you will see them through. Whether you want to or not.” His cheeks, once reddened now blazed bright and cherry. As if fire itself lit him up from the inside. But no explosion came… what she expected was not to be. 

    “I assure you this Jae-Hwa. The foolish boy ruled by familial duty died within me long ago.” His words sent chills down her spine. He leaned back comfortably, eyes blazing with heat. 

    “This game you’ve played with my brother…continue if you like. But hear me very clearly. Should you get in my way… I will destroy you and everyone else who helps you.” Her throat grew tight and she felt as if he had taken his own hand and choked the air from her lungs. 

    “Who shall wear the crown as my Queen will do so only by my desire. Don’t forget that.” 

    “P- pyeha…” 

    “I came to you today with a request of my own.”  

    “And…that is?”

    “For you to go to Deoksugung.” Her hand stilled from lifting her cup. 

    “Excuse me? Go where?”

    “You heard me.”

    “Why?”

    “Because I want you to. I owe you no other explanation. You are to be nothing but obedient to my wishes and go.” 

    “And the woman you claim is a princess? What will be of her?”

    “That is none of your concern.” 

    “Cheol-su you can’t possibly think I-” 

    “End of discussion. We’re done.” She watched incredulously as he stood, placing his gat back on his head. 

    “You have your orders. I will see my way out.” As she watched him leave, the cup which she held began to shake most violently. 

*** 

 

 

    The day was cold yet clear, not a trace of clouds anywhere. White sky and white snow, white hands and white cheeks looked back at her. 

    “On an outing are we?” Everything about this moment had her stomach feeling like worms were crawling around inside. But as she looked up into the deep dark playful eyes, she swallowed up her fear.     

    “Yes. You’re in my way.” She was no longer the girl forced powerless who had to bow and grovel. Lips grinned, a sick twisted smile. 

    “Am I now? I offer my apology.”

    “Don’t patronize me.” He chuckled, running eyes over her appearance. A grey black chima covered her bottom half and a pretty pink jeogori adorned her top half, cut to end at her hips. A olive green knot ensured it stayed closed, neat and prompt. On her head a silk pungcha finished the tasteful yet feminine look, black with red lining and ash grey fox fur. 

    “Allow me to offer my apology once again. Had I known you were of royal blood.. my treatment of you would have been… better. More… appropriate.”

    “Royal blood or not it is disgusting. And so are you.” 

    “Tiye,”

    “Don’t. Don’t ever say my name again. Now, move.” She hissed, baring her teeth as if a cat about to bite. He smirked as she began to walk by. Smirk turning up to a sneer, he reached forward and grabbed hold of her little heart shaped face. 

    “Now now little one… don’t forget your place.” 

    “Let go of me!” Squeezing her jaw, he brought her closer, leaning down to draw her face closer. Eyes dropped to her lips. Finding her eyes once again, his tongue inched across his own. 

    “You may be a princess. But you have been cared for. Spoiled. Pleasured. Fucked. Under my roof. Show respect where it is due.” Anger traveling through her veins like liquid fire, she grit her teeth and grabbed him down below the waist bringing a surprised little grunt from him. 

    “You don’t deserve my respect. You deserve to be flayed like a fish by my soldiers.” Closer his lips drew to hers. 

    “Dangerous words from such a endearing little mouth hm?” For a moment, he closed his eyes and inhaled her, a little groan of delight slipping past his lips. The sound, the action, the man himself chilled her to the bone and the repulsion in her belly tossed and rolled like the sea. 

    “You’re a tempting little bitch. Were you anyone else, I’d skin them until nothing but bone remained.”  Her hand’s grip tightened, making him furl his eyebrows, pain drifting into his features. Even so, the harder she squeezed…the more pain that entered his eyes the more he seemed to glow with arousal. 

    “Had it not been for your brother I would have sliced your throat, cut open your chest and ripped out your lungs. Even now, it is thanks to him that I don’t crush your sad excuse for a manhood. Unhand me.” He did, at once, lips grinning. She was slow to withdraw her hand but when she did, she did so quickly. 

    “It doesn’t matter where you go or where you hide. I will finish what you started. I will make you my pet.” Her answer came in the form of spit and it landed on his mouth and cheek. Without another word, she left him, feeling his unblinking eyes burn holes into the back of her head. 

 

*** 

 

 

    In the library was where she found him and she breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad to be away from that monster he had for a brother. Leaning against the entryway, she watched him as he dipped his quill into another helping of ink. Whatever he was doing, by the look on his face it was of grave importance. He wrote meticulously face of utmost seriousness. She took in his hair which was half up secured in a gold holder and the remaining down, drifting down across his back and shoulders. It wasn’t everyday that he wore his hair in that way and she wondered if it was due to stress. Since returning, he was away most if not all of the day with his Father and court and the past couple of nights she could tell he hadn’t been sleeping well. Quietly, she cut through another opening, wanting to surprise him. Back now facing her, she admired him openly, biting her lip as she traced the shapes and lines of his broad back and shoulders, hair like black silk. 

    “I thought I’d find you here.” She spoke with a smile, pressing her body against him. He grew still but she could see his lips smile in return. 

    “When am I not here is the question isn’t it?” He teased back with a frustrated laugh. Sliding hands down the folds of his jeogori, she wrapped arms around him and pressed her cheek against his. Eyes took in what he’d been writing. A proposal of sorts. 

    “Take a break Cheol-su. You’ve been at this all morning.” 

    “It can’t wait.” Lifting up, she began to gently massage his shoulders, biting her lips again at the soft delighted rumble that drifted from his throat. 

    “You’re so stiff my love…”

    “I’m…mm…” Leaning his head back against her stomach, she leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. 

    “Temptress.” He breathed against her mouth, smiling into another sweet kiss. 

    “I’m sure whatever this is can wait until after lunch time. Right?” Opening his eyes to look up at her, he sighed. 

    “Right.” Nuzzling his nose, she withdrew as he set the quill back by the ink. Getting up, he stretched some, lifting his arms above his head. 

    “Shall we eat in the pavilion?” Blushing, she nodded, cursing her breathlessness. Offering his hand, he waited until she intertwined their fingers before heading out. 

 

*** 

 

    Through the cloudless sky, the sun attempted to break through, kissing the atmosphere with coral, orange and pale pink. Its light guided their way as they made imprints of their feet in the thick snow. Fingers kept her steady as they travelled past the courtyard. Eyes twinkled at her as they walked past the lake, now frozen. Lips, lush and playful smiled as they stood together, a long stretch of bridge ahead of them. The crisp sharp air swirled around them and for a moment, they both were silent, the beauty of winter’s blessings all around. Here, the water hadn’t frozen solid but the promise of chilling temperatures arose in its quiet lull. 

    “Come.” He began to pull her forward and she followed him, in awe of the way his hair seemed to sing with the breeze, dance with the waves of the water tapping the bridge beneath their feet. Soon their footprints led them to the beautiful pavilion. This place he hadn’t taken her before. Rich green, red and white all around and up above. 

    “My mother used to bring me to this place when I was a child.” He spoke, nostalgia on his breath. 

    “We’d sit and play and talk. Sometimes with my halmeoni-nim. Even now I can hear her rich hearty laughter. Her eyes twinkling like stars.” Tightening her grip on his hand, she offered a gentle smile as he drew her further, up and into the structure, past the vibrant doors. 

    “I’ve always wanted to share this place with you Tiye. But, the time was never right.” 

    “It’s right now. Here I am. Here we are.” 

    “Mm.” 

    “May we play? Before we eat?” 

    “Do you need to ask?” Grinning, she turned to the beckoning snow and he followed, bringing a loud joyful scream to her as they met the ground. Laughing, she lifted a handful of snow and smushed it all over his face. 

    “Yah!” Giggling, she lifted up her hands to protect her from a much larger handful of snow and soon they tumbled down the small hill. Hair full of thick puffy white, he turned to look at her, cheeks rosy and bright, teeth fully exposed. She couldn’t help it… couldn’t help the kisses she pressed to his lips. He smirked as she pushed him back against the cold with a hand, coming to sit on top of him. 

    “How lucky am I to have a wife so beautiful.” He praised, lifting a hand to caress her cheek. Feeling her own cheeks blossom in color, she leaned down to press her head against his chest. 

    “Do you think she would have liked me? Your halmeoni-nim?” Large arms came around her and held her tight. 

    “Had she met you and gotten to know you…I think she would have loved you as if you were one of her own.” Humming, she nuzzled his neck and closed her eyes, the sharp chill no longer bothering her. 

*** 

 

    As they ate, he told her of his plans…those he had put on paper. He wasn’t sure when they would strike. But when they did…he wanted to be ready. That was why he would request that the gisaeng start defense training. It sounded silly…laughable even. And in fact not only did he father laugh but those in court. Why spend money to train useless cheonmin women? Why give them a hope…a dream that they could do anything other than entertain? But they were under the watchful leadership of Hae. The women there trusted her and would follow her should she ask. Enjoying the sight of his lovely wife eating her warm filling soup, he smiled. 

    The noblemen of court were money-hungry fools. They didn’t see that even a woman could be lethal.. dangerous…deadly. She was worth far more than a hole to fill. She could be a warrior on top of the many other hats she already wore. Mother. Sister. Lover. Wife. Queen. Yes, Tiye and the women in her family had given him inspiration.. motivation…even hope. And for as long as he drew breath, he’d make it so that the women in his Kingdom were given agency…an opportunity to have leadership roles, roles of influence and that of the like. It contradicted everything he’d believed and been taught. Even the religion he practiced. But, if Goryeo was to be the greatest nation on the earth, they had to lead by example. Hold on to tradition yes. But pave the way for the future. 

    “I think it’s a great idea my love. The women here can be just as fierce as the ones back home. Should she desire to be so and be given the tools to be successful.” 

    “Hm.”  

    “Would you like me to lead the initiative?”

    “Along with Hae.”

    “As you wish.” Taking her in, admiration, respect and desire blossomed like a winter rose and he knew that on this day…in this place… he would have her. The reoccurring desire to fill her womb with his seed hit him in the stomach. In time he reasoned. In time he’d plant a thousand year seed into her soil and watch as abundant fruit grew within. Cheeks red, he bit his lip in another smile. In time they would have everything they wanted. He’d make sure of it. 






Chapter End Notes:

 

A/N: HI GUYSSSSSS!!!!! How have you guys been? The semester is done and I'm glad of this rest period. I will take this time to create, work and align goals for this upcoming year hehe. I decided to treat you guys to a Christmas present! THREE chapter update. I hope you enjoy them hehe! I've already started to outline the remaining chapters so sadly soon our lovely Yeonwang will be drawing to a close. But no time too soon hehe. So we have time to enjoy the story as it unfolds! 

I call this both premonition and peace before the storm hehehe. Jae-hwa is losing her mind which really isn't surprising considering who she's letting into her body and space... *eye roll* Seo Jun will get his comeuppance. Take my word on that while he up here trying be all ugly. His obsession for her has led to very dangerous actions and unfortunately( or very fortunately depending on how you lookin at it keke) for him will lead to even more dangerous consequences. 

End of story is that Cheol-su is a man that is ahead of his time. His generation... his time period can't handle him and his 'ideas'. He's simply TOO BIG to be contained and his ideas are both revolutionary and unorthodox. I LOVE A WOKE MAN LOL. 

Please share your thoughts hehe. I have pictures down below and as always thank you for reading, supporting and loving my humble work! 

God bless and see you next chapter! 

D&L~

 

Pictures: 

Though it was not mentioned in the chapter, I imagine Tiye and Cheollie's stroll out to have been accompanied by outfits exactly like THESE: 

HOW CUTE ARE THESE MATCHING OUTFITS OMG. lol. Of course Cheol-su had his winter hat on and Tiye had her hands covered. hehe. Oh and her jeogori was a lot longer than this. This is a Joseon fit. Pretty and gorgeous hehe. 

This was our Future Queen's fit when she bumped into the Great Rat of the Century: 

The pavillion where our two lovebirds went to eat (and play hehe): 







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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.