25 The Internal Battle.

Soojin was delighted.

The excitement of seeing Bohoja after 2 weeks had been building in her gut, all this while.

What she'd been looking forward to, for days, was now going to become reality.

After he'd professed his undying love for her and made promises of clutching her close to him, it was time the two lovers met, face to face.

Soojin had throughly prepared to meet Bohoja.

She'd bathed in rose water and exfoliated every crevice other body with a Vanilla extract.

Vanilla was an aphrodisiac and Soojin didn't want to take any risks whilst meeting Bohoja for the very first time, as lovers.

She'd even perched a rose in her hair as she tied her hair skilfully, strands of her loose hair framing her heart-shaped face.

Powdering her cheeks, she applied rouge to her lips.

She was dressed in white, like a harbinger of joyous news.

Her face was radiating tranquility and her wild heart was beating in her chest.

Her hands were clammy and she had to reassure herself that meeting him was an event written by The Gods themselves.

Maybe her happiness was just an arm's reach away from her.

With the manner in which the events had unfolded before her, it was only evident that whatever she was facing today was only so she could live a luxurious and peaceful life later, with Bohoja.

Poor Soojin didn't know she was trusting the Big Bad Wolf, the one who'd be using her like a chess piece, just to eliminate the King.

All she knew was, her life would change with the advent of Bohoja in her heart and soul.

Why did he like her? She wondered.

The way he'd expressed his possession over her had her feeling all giddy.

A part of her feared that Min Yun Ki would learn of the things she was doing with a man who wasn't her husband.

She feared he'd strangle her and feed her to the boars, as he'd been famous for.

She was starting to see glimpses of humanity in Yun Ki and she wasn't sure whether it was her mind playing games with her or him, being the actor he was.

'No Soojin-ah, you must rue the man with your all. Never forget the way he's manhandled you.' Soojin explains to her own reflection in the mirror as she adjusts the bust of her corset, for the millionth time.

She waits for the clock to strike 2 so she can leave her chamber at the drop of sleep that has consumed the palace.

She would then make her way to The Garden of Jasmine, where Bohoja would meet her under The Cherry Blossom Tree.

It was all planned.

To top it off, the Chief Guard, who was on Bohoja's side would keep an eye out for them.

She had to take the risk.

She had to see the light amidst the thick dark clouds that were cluttering her thoughts.

Soojin sat on the edge of her bed, staring out at the Moon through her window.

It reminded her of her own self.

Beautiful, enchanting and yet heavily dependant on The Sun to shine and stay illuminated.

God, the way her only purpose in life had become to rear the King's heir.

Pathetic!

What also wasn't of help was how The Kingdom of Baekmin believed in the ideology of Monogamous Marriage.

Which meant The King could only have 1 wife, which also meant that the entire Kingdom was looking upon Soojin to deliver before them the good news of an heir.

She envied The Kingdom of SIlkim for the Ruling Crowned Head had 3 wives.

The people of Baekmin probably thought that Soojin and Yun Ki were trying their best to conceive a child.

That was a lie, of course.

She was still a virgin and she had little to no thoughts on changing that unless claimed by the man who ruled her heart.

She did believe that Bohoja had become that man but it was still too soon for her to believe she was blinded with unperturbed love for the man she met once a fortnight.

Maybe she loved the idea of him.

The idea of a man who looked like her husband yet touched and gratified her soul in the gentlest way possible.

She was romanticising a situation that she had no idea about.

She was falling prey to her own notions.

She was being manipulated and there was still a part that the 19 year-old hadn't discovered yet.

All she knew was, meeting Bohoja had changed the way she saw herself as a distressed Queen Consort.

It gave her hope that maybe things could change.

She could uplift herself from the crumbling oppression of patriarchy and to her, nothing sounded better than that.

If it meant that she had to trample over the man who'd 'bought' her for his pleasure and thrusted before the title of 'The Queen Consort', she would do it with her eyes closed.