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Snow n' Starlight

First born princess of Goryeo is promised to Silla in marriage. What has begun as a promise between families becomes a pact sealed in blood when her betrothed is mysteriously killed. Now what binds Seol, the lady Ha In of Goryeo to Silla is a blood debt – to turn away from it would be to topple the country into irreparable chaos. Yet, her heart lies with another. Raised from obscurity of illegitimacy, fate of concubine - born last son of northern Kang clan rests on the emperor’s grace. However, being tasked with the guardianship of the imperial princess is the last of his worries. In the whirlwind of emotions that she brings along, it is not just his title that is at stake, but his heart and a secret that he had brought from a grave of a different time. Theirs is a fate from an age gone by, but a love impossible to attain. Theirs is a story written upon dying stars. *** From inside: The snow caressed him in a way she yearned to; fluttering against his lashes, tangled up in his hair. She has always felt home in north, in the valleys that filled themselves with her namesake and with this man beside he, arrows slung over his shoulder and laughter in his eyes. Silla and her betrothed would never take that place. Seol opens her mouth; it is now or never. “Don’t say it,” he cuts her off, a hand stretched out for a lonely snowflake to perch upon. It turns translucent against his roughed palm. “My hand isn’t made for snowflakes,” he sounds joyous, as he always does – when she is weeping within. His eyes remain resolutely elsewhere. “I’ve been summoned to the garrison,” he continues in that same flat tone. “My last duty here will be to deliver your highness to your betrothed.” She is unaware of the tear that has escaped, until an ice cold thumb brushes it off. “Don’t cry,” he says then and she sees the laughing spark in his eyes for what it truly is; longing. “It breaks my heart.” ***

Sakura_Charmash · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
141 Chs

Trial of Patience - II

Hyeon Jong the empress of Goryeo was done for the day. Lifting the last of the heavy head pieces from her hair, she leaves out an imperceptible sigh, cracks her neck and leaves the last few hair pins for Lady Noh to pick out. Long coils of hair escape their confines and fall to frame her face, as she wipes her cheeks and neck with a towel soaked in scented hot water. Despite having worn it for more than a decade, the face in her mirror is still timeless and strange. A price she had paid to change the course of time, her fate itself and the fate of those around her. A reminder of what she had given up to achieve what she now had in abundance. 

Unknown to where her thoughts had led to, lady Noh starts to brush her hair. Behind them the other ladies begin to extinguish the candles on the queen's solar and gather the cups left behind after the empress met her firstborn.