Prince Wang Won; son of King Sunjong and Queen Myung-hee of the Park clan; who was still a child at heart would be crowned as the Crown Prince of Goryeo at the age of seventeen.

It was quite late for a crown prince coronation, but he was crowned under special circumstances. The King had been trying to put it off for years now, not because he was still grieving over his late son but because the Royal Court was divided between two factions- one supporting Queen Myung-hee(which was obviously bigger one than the other faction) and the other one supporting Concubine Ok.

The King wanted to remain aloof and possibly even not declare a crown prince but he was being pressurized too much by High Minister Park and his lackeys lately. High Minister Park was Queen Myung-hee's father and a very powerful man in Goryeo- he had monopoly over many resources and acres of land; being the Head of the Department of Taxation.

His Majesty knew that his favorite concubine and the love of his life wouldn't take this news with good grace, but he was still hurt when she refused to even see him, claiming that she was unwell; for refusing or turning down the King was considered a sin worthy of death. He knew the real reason why she wouldn't see him- she was angry with him.

It pained him a little that he somehow always ended up hurting his beloved, but knew that he couldn't give the throne up for her either. This fact was a constant burden on his heart- no matter how much the others thought of him as a corrupt and greedy king, he was still a human and had emotions; he too went through heartaches.

***********************************************

"Ah, Your Highness what brings you by?" Young-ja curtsied low and greeted Prince Won.

Prince Wang Won was shocked to know that he would be crowned as the Crown Prince when a palace eunuch had interrupted him and Hye-ri in the royal gardens that eventful day. He had been trying to come to terms with the news since a fortnight. It had been a fortnight since he saw Hye-ri too, so he decided to go and visit her.

"Young-ja, do you know where Ji-hyuk is?" he prince gave the old lady a grin; he had known her since his childhood too- she would often come and scold Hye-ri when the latter tried to join the princes and her brothers in their games; claiming that a young miss shouldn't be doing those things.

To be true, the strict lady did scare him a little, but she had always been warm towards Prince Won so over the years he began to see her as a grandmotherly figure.

"Your Highness, you should be preparing for your coronation ceremony." Young-ja frowned at him and said disapprovingly. If they were in the palace, she would have been punished for reprimanding the prince.

"Yes, I agree Young-ja. Why, did you miss your lover Your Highness?" My brother missed you too, now you both can finally reunite and all." a familiar voice spoke up from behind and Prince Won turned to find Hye-ri standing there. She looked beautiful as usual, in a cream colored hanbok with pink flowers embroidered at the hem.

"My lady, you should mind your words! Your Highness, please ignore this brazen child's rude words." Young-ja scowled at Hye-ri who rolled her eyes and muttered an insincere apology.

"It's okay, now that I'm the Crown Prince and all, I've become more tolerant. I will excuse Hye-ri, I know she's too childish to know better than this." Prince Wang Won taunted her and smirked, while Hye-ri narrowed her eyes at him.

"Thank you so much for your kindness and consideration O great Prince." Hye-ri sarcastically remarked but when she got a deadly glower from Young-ja, she tried to change the topic,

"By the way, Oraboeni is not home today."

"Huh? Oh isn't he?" Prince Wang Won racked his brains for an excuse to stay longer and spend some time with her.

"It's okay then, I'll make do with my new servant. Or did you forget that you lost the bet that day and are now bound to obey me for three months?" Prince Won saw Hye-ri glare at him with her pretty brown eyes and clench her fists in anger but she visibly swallowed her pride and simply replied,

"No, how can I? What does His Highness want me to do now?"

***********************************************

"Absolutely not! Never in a million years will I ever agree to do such a thing! You have finally gone mad Prince Won, though I did suspect you have always been crazy!" Hye-ri shook her head fervently and shouted the words at the prince.

Both were currently standing under the shade of an old tree among many in Hye-ri's garden. Eunuch Bang and the royal bodyguards stood several feet away, but when Hye-ri screeched like that, they all whipped their heads towards the duo's direction and the old eunuch stepped forward to intervene but the prince merely raised his hand up to stop him in his tracks.

Then turning to Hye-ri, he said,

"You have to do so. Didn't we agree that you would follow my each and every order without any complaints if I won the bet?" Prince Won argued and Hye-ri stomped her feet in annoyance,

"Yes, that we did, but this...this is beyond inanity; you are insane!" Hye-ri flapped her arms in exasperation which make her look like an adorable bird and made the corners of Prince Won's mouth rise in a warm and loving grin for a split but he tried to cover it up with a snobbish sneer,

"Yah, you do know that I can get you beheaded for talking to me like this, don't you? Now I'm not merely a royal prince but also the Crown Prince. With one flick of my fingers, I can have the royal guards kill and bury you where no one will ever find you!" Prince Won threatened her but she just scoffed and snarkily replied,

"Yes, I do know ,Your Royal Highness, how could I not? It's all everyone talks about these days; how our dear and most favorite prince is going to be sitting on the throne in the future."

"Is it true? Am I your  favorite?" Prince Wang Won leaned forward suddenly and Hye-ri took a step back, perplexed by the change in his playful tone and his expression- his dark brown eyes darkened with an unfamiliar expression.

 It was the first time in his presence that Hye-ri felt a strange tingling feeling. She blinked as if to clear her head and he stepped closer still, trapping her with her back touching the rough tree bark.

"You are my favorite too..." he whispered and Hye-ri couldn't believe her ears.

Their faces were closer than they had ever been, and Hye-ri could see that his dark brown eyes had flecks of golden brown in them.

Strange, she had never known that they were there before, even though she had known the prince for a long time now.

"Hye ri-ah..." Prince Won breathed out her name in a low whisper and Hye-ri was half convinced that she had imagined him saying her name.

Shaking his head, the prince stepped back as abruptly as he had stepped closer to her and cleared his throat,

"What I want to say is that you can't back out now  Hye-ri."

"I know that but-" she began to protest when he cut her off with a mocking tone and a provocative grin,

"But what? Or are you too scared? Don't tell me, you, the great Kim Hye-ri is reluctant to bend the rules just because you can't bear to think what will happen if you get caught?"

Prince Won goaded, and Hye-ri forgot about what had transpired during the past few seconds when he challenged her like that. After a few seconds of silence made up her mind and gave in to his peer pressure- With a superior toss of her head, she gave him a 'challenge accepted' look and said,

"Of course, I am not. I was merely stunned to hear that so I reacted strongly due to initial shock. I'll do it."

***********************************************

Hye-ri could feel the gazes of the people of Goryeo on her. And she couldn't blame them, she too would have done the same if she saw a woman wearing men's robes walking around in the bustling markets of the capital.

Yes, the audacious task that the cruel and stupid prince had assigned her was this- to accompany him while he went off to explore the city in disguise. Unfortunately, he had insisted that she be his companion on his senseless tour.

"I should do this more often." The prince remarked offhandedly, his eyes filled with wonder as they wandered together in the streets of the capital's marketplace and Hye-ri resisted the burning urge to punch him in the face. Preferably even knock him out cold- she had seen her brothers fight; throw around punches and she was more than wiling to extend the same courtesy to His Highness.

"You do realize everyone is looking at us, don't you?" she arched her eyebrows and asked him. He widened his eyes innocently, being the sneaky prince he was and shrugged,

"Maybe it's because I'm too handsome. No one can resist to tear their eyes away from me."

"As if!" Hye-ri scoffed at his pigheadedness. He truly was nothing like his humble brother.

"Maybe it's because a certain someone forced me to wear men's robes."

"Oh my, are you still sulking because of that trivial thing?! I only asked you to because two young men walking around the market would look better than a young couple walking together unchaperoned."

When he put it that way, Hye-ri couldn't help but reluctantly see his point. Still, it was obvious even in men's clothes that she was a girl and that made them the center of attention; opposite of what the prince claimed he wanted.

"I'm curious though, how did you get Eunuch Bang to agree with this?" Hye-ri asked the prince who gave her a smug smile,

"Who says I told him anything? He thinks I'm still in the Kim manor or else he wouldn't have returned back to the royal palace."

"But he left you just like that? What about the royal bodyguards?" Hye-ri probed.

"They are lurking nearby, disguised as commoners too. I promised the old eunuch that I'd have them close by."

"What exactly does he think will happen to you in our manor, does he think will we kill you or something?" Hye-ri was offended not to mention a bit hurt.

"Who knows? I'm sure you have thought up of plenty of slow and torturous ways to kill me. Correct me if I am wrong." The prince joked lightheartedly and Hye-ri chuckled under her breath. She couldn't deny it. Soon the prince joined her laughter.

His company wasn't always half bad; Hye-ri observed.

***********************************************

"Do you want to die? Speak now or else His Highness will cut off your tongue and then your limbs one by one. You know better than anyone that he doesn't show mercy to turncoats." the person these words were addressed to squirmed in the hold of two burly royal guards who were holding him.

The dark and small alley where they were currently standing in was situated in the market of the capital so the guards who were holding him had shoved a dirty cloth in the mouth of the traitor, they had caught him selling away valuable information about the royal army to the rebel spies.

"I'll give you five seconds before I remove your gag. Don't even think about shouting; we will kill you instantly."

The aforementioned Prince Wang Tae was leaning against the wall of the alley impassively. No one could even begin to guess what was going inside the prince's head.

"Now, tell us all about the leader of the rebels and we will consider  showing a bit leniency, seeing that you were a comrade of ours." The man threatening the traitor had been the one who had informed his master, Prince Tae; about the traitor's deception.

The traitor's gag was removed but instead of begging for mercy, he laughed sardonically, spitting at the shoes of Prince Tae which earned him an angry kick in the gut by the young man who had been threatening and holding him hostage in front of His Highness.

"How dare you, you filthy bastard!" the hostage was kicked in the shins again and yet again by the deeply enraged guards, they couldn't bear to see their prince be insulted by such a trashy lowlife.

"Enough." Prince Wang Tae's clear voice rang out when the traitor was all bloodied and bruised, both his eyes swollen and black and the corners of his mouth dripping with blood.

"Your Highness he deserves to die-"

"I said enough. Step aside, I'll take it from here." The prince's steely expression and cold voice made the others bow and step aside and the traitor slumped against the wall, his expression   suddenly showing a flicker of fear now that Prince Tae would take over; he knew that the hardhearted prince never showed clemency.

***********************************************

A/N

I know, I know this is yet another long chapter, but again a crucial one. Actually this chapter originally didn't end here but it was shaping up to be a pretty long one (around 3000+ words were there) so I decided to put it in two parts. The next chapter is a continuation.

Feedback please! (*inserts cute face*)