.thirty two.

Soon Deok sat on the grass with a sulk on her face, her knees bent at a ninety degree angle and her head in her hands. The pout on her lips was unmistakable and Minji watched her from about a foot away, her hands on her hips as she had watched the tenth prince storm off to some other part of the palace, after being disgusted with the fact that Soon Deok had snapped another living being's neck so easily, even if it was just a little bird. Normally, the now eighteen year old was accustomed to just seeing the food on his plate and not concerning itself with where it came from or the fact that it had been alive.

Trying to cheer her sister up, Minji walked up with a smile on her lips. "Why don't you start a fire and we cook this little bird for lunch?" 

In many ways, Minji was more like an older sister to Soon Deok, even though it was actually the other way around. Since in the present she was twenty five, she really felt that way. She sometimes even thought it strange that she was so attracted to Jung when he was only fifteen, going to be sixteen soon. But in this life she was fifteen as well and that made her a bit less hesitant about their relationship. Perhaps if she were to return to her present life and find him in the future, he might be about her age.

Her words seemed to snap Soon Deok out of her melancholy thoughts for a moment and she nodded her head, getting back on her feet and searching through the clearing for the things she needed to start cooking their lunch.

The two girls then sat together and waited for the bird to be ready when their father arrived. He had been in the palace at a meeting with the king, and had been told by one of the other soldiers that his daughters were visiting. The smile that had plastered onto his face when he saw him was wiped off when he saw his daughter Soon Deok pouting whilst a bird nearly burnt over the fire she had built. Minji, not knowing much about nature, or even cooking, was starting to think she should say something before the food could become inedible. 

Sitting down on a rock nearby where the girls sat, he asked his daughter, "Did you give the tenth prince that present you were really excited about?" Saying with hints of disdain, he added, "He probably didn't even appreciate it as much as he should have. A genuine bear rug. You've never gifted me something like that."

"He did like it." Soon Deok informing him, jutting out her bottom lip as she once again remembered yet another rejection from the tenth prince.

"Then why are you so upset?" Their father asked.

When Soon Deok took long to speak, Minji was the one who spoke for her. "We were catching birds with the tenth prince and he flipped out when unnie snapped its neck."

Her father raised an eyebrow at her. "Flipped out?"

"Well...he thought it was weird that she killed the bird like that." Minji repeated in words they could understand better.

"That's why I told her to marry the thirteenth or fourteenth prince. They aren't overly sensitive like he is." General Park pointed out. Minji remembered that conversation they had one morning at breakfast when she had just arrived in Goryeo. It had been several months prior, when he informed his daughter that she would have to choose a husband soon, as her eighteenth birthday was coming in that upcoming year. Her choices, which he had laid out for her, were the two youngest princes of Goryeo. 

Soon Deok gave a shake of her head at the thought. Her mind still hadn't changed when it came to choosing a husband. She already knew exactly who she wanted. The only problem was that he did not want her. "I don't want to marry Baek-ah, and Jung's already getting married to Hak Soon. The one I want to marry is Prince Eun."

"What about Prince Han?" Minji suggested, one other person coming to mind. Eun had mentioned to her that he wasn't interested in Soon Deok, but also his other reason for not choosing her was because he suspected that Han was in love with her. From what Minji had observed, she thought the very same. Ever since he had returned to Goryeo, he spent most of his free time at her house visiting Soon Deok, and it seemed like he wasn't returning to the battle fields any time soon.

"Prince Han?" Soon Deok asked as though she had never thought about it.

The fifteen year old nodded in confirmation. "He looks like he likes you."

Soon Deok crinkled up her nose. "Han and I are just friends. I have never thought about him in that way."

"He is a much better option than the tenth prince." General Park agreed with his younger daughter's suggestion. He had practically raised Wang Han and he knew the eleventh prince was a good boy. He was also gifted in military training and would easily be able to protect his daughter from harm. It was also the reason he was so on board with Jung marrying Minji. The fourteenth prince was the most talented in martial arts and would be a worthy husband for his fifteen year old daughter. Two strong military men to join his military family. They would be a perfect fit. Her father soon added, "That boy would never be able to protect you if you were to find yourself in danger. How will he protect his wife and kids when he doesn't even know how to fight? His majesty has told me he isn't even proficient in basic sword training!" To him, that was an outrage because he thought any prince should be at least able to wield a sword.

Soon Deok was quick to defend the boy she loved and wanted for a husband. The pout never left her lips as she spoke. "I can fight. I can protect the both of us."

"Besides," Her father continued in his complaints about the tenth prince with a scoff. "What kind of man can't even catch a bird?"

"I can catch them." Soon Deok seemed to have the solution to every problem that could arise should she actually get to marry the tenth prince.

General Park soon changed the subject, knowing his daughter would not budge. The only way to get her to pick someone else was if the tenth prince got married...but didn't get married to her. "The King will start performing the rain rituals tomorrow because this drought has not ceased." When both Soon Deok and Minji looked at him, he continued explaining, "The first few ceremonies will include only the princes and a few nobles. But if things escalate, we will all need to be there."

-

The King of Goryeo kneeled at an altar for the third day in a row, pleading the heavens to bring them some much needed rain. The drought was bringing on a shortage of food, in addition to the water. The people of Goryeo were becoming impatient with the King. They complained that he was not doing enough for the country and they demanded for him to do more. But there was nothing more he could do but perform the rituals and wait.

By the third day, Ji Mong noticed how kneeling for long period of time was affecting the King. It was a strain on his knees and drained his stamina. He could not manage to perform the ritual properly, as he would stand up every few minutes to massage his hurting knees. 

That was when Ji Mong suggested for one of the other princes to fill in for him. The King thought of only one person who would be suited for the job--Wang Mu, his oldest son and the heir to the throne of Goryeo. But the astronomer quickly reminded him that there was no way for that to happen, seeing as though the first prince was out on the battle fields and would not be returning for a few weeks. He then made another suggestion to the king. For one of the other princes to fill in for him. In order to make things fair, he would put all the names in a box and they would select a representative at random from there.

The king thought it a good idea and each of the princes wrote their names on a small wooden plank. One by one, they submitted their names with Eun being second to last. He stayed towards the back, reluctant to put his name in because he didn't want to be the one to perform the ritual. First of all, he did not know how to perform it. Second, he didn't want to be watched by all those people. But Wook took the plank from him and dropped it into the box, just as Yo and Won started cracking some jokes that were actually pretty realistic.

"Whichever one of us gets picked is going to have a hard time." Yo said. Despite that, he wanted to be the chosen one. "There's no way a man can force the heavens to work for him."

"And when it doesn't work, the people will be angry. They will demand blood." Won added, creeping up on Eun from behind and scaring him with a jolt. The tenth prince immediately started whining.

"Please Ji Mong." He rushed to the astronomer and tugged on his arm as he pleaded. "I don't want to be picked."

But as Wang So walked up to drop his name in the box, he said, having given it some thought. "Its not that a man can move the heavens to his will. The concept is that he will perform the ritual until it rains, so that it can seem that way."

-

By the fourth day of the rituals, Minji had been told that she and her family were to attend the ceremony at the palace because her mother was of noble blood. All she knew exactly, as told to her by Jung, was that So had been chosen to take the King's place. 

He would walk through the village and then kneel at the altar in front of everyone, to perform the ritual.

Everyone was waiting for the fourth prince to arrive, and when he finally did, there were gasps heard at what they saw. The fourth prince was terrified, covered in muck from head to toe. Everyone stared as he entered the palace with villagers at his feet, throwing rocks and muck at him. Minji's eyes searched for Hajin in the crowd. She stood by the other court ladies. When So's eyes searched for her too and found her, he found pity. Hajin quickly looked away. 

That had been what was the last straw for him.

He dropped the ceremonial jug onto the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces. He then took off running in an unknown direction. The Queen and his older brother Yo watched with grins lining their faces. 

As the ceremony ended and the people dispersed, Minji went to find Jung.

They had all been separated into sections based on their rank. The royals--the king, the queens, the princess and the princes--were at the front of the palace near the altar. Then were the nobles to one side, the military to another. Minji had been standing by her mother during the ceremony, as she had dropped her military rank in favor of a noble one, since she didn't really know how to fight and was uninterested in military. Her sister Soon Deok, however, had been standing with her father and Han, who were military. The latter had snuck into the military lines, just to stand by her side.

Jung had tried to do the same with Minji, but his mother found him and dragged him back to the front. She even scolded him about it being shameful to stand by the nobles when he was a prince. He was of a much higher rank. 

Jung found her in the crowd and pulled her into his embrace. 

"Poor So." Minji lamented, seeing how torn he looked.

Jung, who didn't quite get along with his older brother, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. And the worst part is he has to do it all over again tomorrow."

Minji thought of the cruelty of it. No one had stepped in to help him, not even his brothers or his father. As Jung had mentioned, it was horrible that he would be forced to repeat the ceremony again the next day, and every day until it could rain again.

With those kinds of humiliations, Minji was starting to suspect the fourth prince could grow a resentment against his family. Perhaps he would become the infamous Gwangjong, who killed his brothers mercilessly. But there was no way of knowing that, not then. They would all have to wait to find out. But Minji couldn't help but feel like it was unfair how she knew these things about the future, while Jung and his other brothers were in the dark about it.

She and Hajin would just need to watch the fourth prince more closely. If at least, Minji wanted to prevent him from hurting Jung.

-

this one is kind of filler because next chapter is where we will start talking about very close wedding plans. how will this all pan out? will eun marry soon deok? will minji marry jung? 

how will everything play out?

only i know that right now. i'm going to eat something and then im going to the park to jog with my cousin. so i will be seeing you all later.

thank you for reading!

-clary