.forty three.

It was still early afternoon when the two went back to Han and Soon Deok's home, having nothing else to do at their own home after the king left. Their siblings were outside, underneath the shade of the trees in their back yard, practicing their martial arts and sword skills. Since Han was a soldier, he was allowed to take a few weeks off in honor of his wedding. But he would need to return to the battle fields sooner or later. Eun helped Minji sit down in the grass and then plopped down beside her, the eighteen year old prince watched his brother and his brother's wife train while Minji enjoyed the nice afternoon breeze that rustled the trees surrounding them. It had only been a few minutes of their arrival before Eun started to whine a complaint to the three people present.

"This is boring. I want to do something fun. I want to play." He pouted like a child, jutting out his lower lip. At the same time, he groaned and pressed his forehead into Minji's shoulder dramatically. 

Minji giggled as the force of it sent her falling onto her back, with her husband's head still on her shoulder. Her arms wrapped around him for balance and the tenth prince started laughing with her. Soon Deok eyed them from a few feet off with sadness. She was glad that her sister was not unhappy with her marriage, as she initially thought she would be. But it hurt. It stung to see the two of them like they were actually in love. The two people she loved most, being happy without her, and she was the odd person left out. She had Han, of course, but it just wasn't the same. He wasn't Eun and she didn't love him the way that he wanted. She didn't like the way things had turned out--her sister forced to marry the tenth prince, while she was forced to marry his brother.

At least, she consoled herself on the thought that, she would be able to see her younger sister every day. She wouldn't have to be apart from her.

Minji thought about her husband's complaint, that he was bored, and started to think of things for them to do which would keep him entertained. Eun was already making himself comfortable on the grass by her side, cuddling into her and burying his face into her neck, when and idea came to her and she tried to sit back up.

"I know what we can do." She said to everyone, and their attention was instantly on her. She then continued with a grin forming on her lips, "There's this really nice place in the forest that I used to go to with--" She stopped herself before saying Jung's name because she knew the tensions between the youngest Goryeo prince and Minji's husband were high. Eun didn't want Jung anywhere near her, as he blamed him for everything that had happened to her up until now. While Jung was just not willing to give up on her. A pang of guilt also touched her heart as she remembered it was their place, and Jung had mentioned only they knew about it. Now she had accidentally leaked its existence to other people. Jung would surely feel hurt if he knew about it.

"Where?" Eun asked her with excitement, breaking her out of her thoughts.

But she shook her head, refusing to give further details about it. "It might not be such a good idea to go there. I used to go with Jung and he always told me it was our secret place. Only the two of us could go there."

Han scoffed in amusement at her words--not because of what she said, but because she had mentioned that only she and Jung knew where it was. "Jung-ah is so innocent." He said about his youngest brother, "He claims that no one knows of that waterfall, but I know the forest like the back of my hand, all military people do. Plus, Ji Mong used to take us there all the time when we were kids."

"Oh, that waterfall." Eun said as it dawned on him and he remembered what his brother was talking about. "I remember going there. Can we go?" He looked to Han, and then Minji, for approval with excitement filling his dark brown eyes. The smile on his lips was evident. For the moment he had chosen to ignore the fact that Minji and Jung used to go there together. It wasn't something worth his concern, as it had happened before they got married.

Minji bit down on her lip.

Han and Soon Deok didn't have a problem going. It was only up to Minji for the final decision. But Jung didn't have to find out. He probably didn't even go there anymore, she told herself, since he couldn't go with Minji. It took a few moments of hesitance, but she finally decided to go with them. Eun and Han went to get their horses from the stalls and came back to find them. Han had brought with him two horses, since Soon Deok wanted one of her own. She wasn't too keen on the idea of relying on her husband, horse riding with him. 

Minji, on the other hand, was glad to wait for Eun. She couldn't ride a horse by herself because of her disability. But she also didn't know how to ride one anyway. To the others though, horse riding was like second nature to them. They had learned it from a very young age.  

-

Their time at the lake was nice and Minji was relieved that they didn't run into Jung while they were there. She was sure there would be problems between him and Eun if he knew that Minji had taken him there, to a place that was only for the two of them. 

The four returned home when the sun set and Eun led Minji into their house.

The moment she set foot past the door, Minji let out a giggle and took off running in the direction of their bedroom, knowing the way expertly. "Chase me, Eunnie." She called to him playfully, turning in his direction as though she could see him, holding her arms out to her husband. When he took a step towards her, she turned and took off running again. It was an unspoken agreement between them not to move anything in the house. Minji had every nook and cranny memorized to a detail, and moving anything would throw her knowledge of the house entirely.

The tenth prince grinned at the idea of this game they were playing, and more than that, he was excited for the challenge of it. Eun hated losing, and he would be damned if he was going to let anyone beat him, even if it was his wife.

He ran after her, catching up just as she reached the door to their room. Minji leaned against the door and grinned at her husband. "You caught me."

Eun grinned as well, proud of himself. "Since I won, what is my prize?" He asked her.

Instead of waiting for her answer, he leaned in to steal a kiss from her. It was all he knew about romance with a woman. But just before their lips made contact, she reached behind herself and pushed the door open, stepping into the room and taking her by surprise. He stumbled a few steps into the room, but managed to balance himself before tumbling down onto the floor.

This time he said to her, "Sometimes I feel like you can actually see, and you're just playing with me." But it wasn't an accusation, but rather an observation or a way to tease her. Of course he knew that she could no longer see after being punished by the king. But sometimes it felt like she could see him, like just now when she moved away just before he could kiss her. "How did you know I was going to kiss you?"

Minji gave a small shrug of her shoulders before replying to his question. "I didn't. I just guessed because I know you well. But with other things, like when you walk, I've learned to tell your footsteps apart from anyone else's." She didn't know how to explain it, but she could easily tell when it was Eun approaching and not one of the servants. 

"You must have super powers." He concluded, fully convinced.

He couldn't even tell, while being fully able to see, who it was when someone was walking up behind him. Yet Minji could tell when it was him just by the pattern of his footsteps. 

She gave a small shrug. "When you lose one sense, the rest make up for it by becoming sharper."

She noticed this the very day that her sight was taken away from her. If she didn't experience it on her own, she would have thought she was going crazy. But sounds were sharper, smells were easier to detect, and the pads of her fingers were able to more easily recognize certain things. One example was her husband's face. Sure she had seen it hundreds of times when she had her sight. But when she touched his face, his features felt all the more real to her. 

Eun frowned, but quickly changed the subject. "So since I caught you, little bird, do I get a prize?"

A smile spread onto Minji's lips. Lately he had all kinds of terms of endearment for her--unlike before when he would call her a wench. His most used of the late were sarang, the word for love, and jagi. This was a new one that was most likely alluding to the times he would spend out in the field trying to capture little birds for fun. She was his little bird, and he had caught her. Now that he had her, he would never let her go. How much the tenth prince had changed in such a short amount of time, and Minji welcomed this change.

She beckoned him to come closer to her, and she did, taking a few slow steps in her direction. He thought she would turn and run away giggling again, but he was pleased when she didn't. Minji's hands reached out for him when she felt him close enough. That was another thing that had been sharpened by her impairment. Whenever another person got close to her, she could feel them from the warmth radiating off them. Her hands touched the front of his gown, on his chest, and she felt the soft material underneath her finger tips. She also felt how he tensed nervously at her touch. But it was a good nervousness, full of anticipation.

"You've been very eager for me to show you how to make babies." She started, her hands fiddling with the material of his gown. "But Han thinks its going to be too overwhelming for you. He thinks you'll faint."

The tenth prince quickly shook his head. "I won't. I promise."

She placed one of her index fingers over his lips. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep."

Eun gulped nervously at her touch.

He had already seen her without any clothes on, and he had made it through the experience, even though he was blushing madly. He thought making babies with her wouldn't be anything too much more complicated.

"Tonight we'll start with something basic." She said to him, and pulled away.

She then reached for his hand and innocently led him to their bed. She sat her husband down on the side of the canopy bed in their room, and took him by surprise when she took a seat on his lap. At first it was uncomfortable, and a bit awkward between them, but they managed to get through it. It was their fiirst step into a more intimate relationship which would culminate in the consummation of their marriage. Minji showed him how to take their kisses a step further, and soon she was having a make out session with the innocent tenth prince who would not very far into the future lose his innocence. 

That night the two teenagers shared enough kisses until their lips were sore.

Eun was glad to get even a shred of affection from her because Minji never lied to him, and she was one of the few people who actually cared about him. He knew he could trust her, and he knew it even back when they didn't get along. That was why he had chosen her as his wife.

-

so i have read all of you guys' comments about that question i asked--should i be vague with the details about eun and minji's first night? or should i full out write a smut? the results were varied. but i saw a lot of people who would rather i keep it vague. so i'm going to describe the building up to that point. then when we get there, i will just keep it vague.

also BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: i posted a spin off for han and soon deok. because i thought their story needed more details. but i didn't want to write about it on here.

so please check it out if you have the time. it is called "sky without clouds". and i hope you all enjoy it.

also, thank you loads for reading and supporting this story. even though eun hasn't verbally admitted it, i think his actions show it clearly. but what do you think? has he fallen in love with minji? what about she with him? has he won her over? tell me what you think in the comments.

-clary