Summary

Alternative Timeline starting mid episode 18 after So marries Yeon Hwa. This time, rather than turning from Soo's closed door, the door is open and everything changes.

As always, thanks to Sandy for all her help with the edits. ;)

"Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant. "Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking)

The Ordinary Instant

So reached for the door but his hand stopped short, fingers trembling. How could he face her when he had just married another woman? Knowing Hae Soo like he did, knowing she hated the very idea of multiple marriages. Soo had understood it when it meant saving Mu's daughter, but now…

His hand dropped and he began to turn away. But before he finished the motion, the door of her room opened and there she was, the ruler of his heart.

.

Crying with Chae Ryung had been oddly cathartic. It hadallowed Hae Soo to let go for the worst of her anxious feelings. She really wasn't a person who dwelled on the bad and Soo knew where So's heart laid. She knew he would come to her; and so she waited for him...but as the minutes passed, a bit of the anxiety and fear began to crawl back.

But then, Soo heard footsteps outside her room and threw the door open.

"Pyeha," Soo said, glad to see him. She was ready to throw her arms around him but hesitated for a second.

So hated seeing that hesitation and he closed the space between them, wrapping her in his embrace. "I'm sorry. Soo-yah, I'm so sorry."

Soo burrowed deeper into his arms. "You are here now, that's all that matters."

They stayed like that for a moment before Soo pulled him inside. "Have you eaten, Pyeha?"

"Don't call me that, Soo-yah. When it's the two of us, please just say my name."

"So-yah." She smiled up at him. "Have you eaten?"

Soo shook his head. "Not hungry. Can I stay with you tonight? They put her in my room. I didn't touch her," he rushed to explain. "I won't go near her, you have to belie-"

Soo brushed a kiss against his cheek, halting his speech. "If you are not hungry, let's sleep." She said.

Soo helped him remove the outer layers of his clothes and folded them neatly. Then she took down his headpiece so he could rest better and even wiped his face clean – every little action so mundanely intimate that it made him want to laugh and weep at the same time. Instead, they settled into her small bed and he curled his body around hers.

Sometimes, Soo had to admit, he crowded her a bit, but tonight she was glad for the way So held onto her so fiercely.

Lulled by his even breaths and cuddled against his heart, Soo fell asleep in minutes. So stayed awake a little longer, sending a prayer of thanks to the heavens for her understanding and worrying about the following days.

They would try to take her away. He knew that. They would make it about her safety or his; they would question her place in his life. And all he knew was that he would not allow it.

.

In the darkest part of night, they reached for each other. For a moment, Soo almost wondered if she was dreaming. But So was solid and real under her fingers, his kisses insistent and his movements a little frantic until they were joined. Then he slowed down, reverently caressing and kissing each part of her he could reach. They made love leisurely and languorously well into the small hours of the night.

"We are going to be fine, Soo-yah. I'll find a way."

Sated and warm, Soo nodded and drifted back to sleep. She smiled as he intertwined their fingers.

-00-

All too soon dawn broke and Soo got up to make him some tea and help him back into his heavy robes.

"I want you to be the in charge of my household." So said suddenly as Soo applied the concealer to his scar and arranged his headpiece.

"What?"

"I don't know how I didn't think of this before!" He went on excitedly. "You would be in charge of the servants in my residence and oversee how Cheondeokjeon is run. Kind of what you did as head lady of Damiwon, but for my household within the Palace. And you could live with me."

"Is it a real job?"

So smiled at her suspicion. "It is. It usually falls to a Eunuch, but you are more pretty to look at."

"I am also very smart, Your Majesty."

"I know and I know you can do this."

Soo hadn't been so sure at first, but later that day Head Eunuch Kim handed her the royal decree and there was no turning back.

—00—

People tried to say that the decree was just a ruse from King Gwangjong to keep his mistress by his side. After all, His Majesty had already released Hae Soo from service; she was no longer a court lady.

But two things happened very quickly following the decree. First, they learned how much it displeased Gwangjong when they referred to Soo as his mistress, and what displeasing the new king entailed – let's just say it was a rather bloody affair, which he oversaw personally.

Second, Hae Soo proved to be very capable. She took her job seriously and kept track of everything within the King's household and the palace: which supplies were needed, which foods to prepare, where to allocate servants. So encouraged her to make whatever changes she deemed necessary.

"You know the protocol," He told her, the third or fourth time she had tried to explain her reasons behind a measure. "You probably know it better than I do. Just do what you think is best."

.

They had snidely called her The King's Lady when she had been appointed. But Soo was smart, intuitive, and effective at her job. She was very strict but also kind and compassionate. Soon, the servants under her direct charge followed her around like ducklings asking her for advice and input on various household matters.

The court-officials and nobles didn't like her—and what her presence signified for the Queen they had chosen—but they couldn't deny her efficiency or her place within the palace.

Eventually the tone in which they said: "The King's Lady" changed from scorn to begrudging respect.

Wang So for his part was happy showing off the jewel that his Hae Soo was. He particularly enjoyed the face on the Royal treasurer when he saw that Soo had cut down the operating costs for the palace by almost a third, freeing badly needed funds in the wake of the previous king's depletion of the royal coffers.

But the best part for So was how ingrained Soo was in his daily life. So could start each day seeing her face as soon as he opened his eyes, have tea with her, and take her on walks around their lake almost every day. Once the first tumultuous months of his reign had passed, he even took her out on his boat quite often. And at the end of long days holding court, he would rest in the haven she had created in his rooms: the foods he liked best, good conversation and his favorite person in the world.

-0-0-

They had their ups and downs, of course.

So had exiled Jung to his hometown and that didn't sit well with Soo, though she understood once he explained his reasoning. So had resented that Soo had sent for Jung when it became clear Queen Yoo was dying, but allowed him to see their mother and remain for the funeral. Oddly enough, his allowing Jung to see her prompted the only kind word his mother ever spoke to him, a wheezed out "thank you" before she succumbed to another fit of coughs.

Soo had held him after the funeral as he wept for the mother he had never had, just as he had held her as she wept for the woman she considered her little sister, and let her lash out at him when he told her that Chae Ryung would be executed for treason.

"I need justice for my brothers, Soo." He had said once she grew quiet and still in his arms.

"I understand." She said so low he almost didn't hear. "I feel it's my fault because I asked you to let her stay."

"It's not your fault. Her choices just caught up with her, that's all."

Baek Ah then offered to take her to his hometown for a while, so she didn't have to witness Chae Ryung's fate. A trip Soo cut short to return to So's side to tell him she carried his child.

—

They had agreed to keep Soo's pregnancy as secret as possible. They had told Baek Ah and Woo Hee—who had recently gotten married—and the Royal Physician, who attended to Soo. Their closest servants realized too, but kept their mistress' secret and looked after her.

There were rumors, but nothing anyone could prove.

Until, months later, when Soo's assistant, Court Lady Ji, rushed into the throne room and interrupted the assembly to inform his majesty that Lady Soo was in labor.

The current 1st Princess of Goryeo was born at sunset on midwinter day as snow fell outside. The king himself cut the cord, and held both the newborn princess and her mother, whispering over and over how much he loved them.

At long last, he had a family of his own.

Queen Daemok never stood a chance.

Looking back, Yeon Hwa could see the signs right from the start. She remembered smiling when she had been crowned, feeling triumphant when she had waited for him in his chambers for the consummation of their marriage.

But that was the beginning of the end. The King had unveiled her, told her to focus on being queen, and to leave him alone. Then he turned and left… to spend the night in that bitch's arms.

Still, Yeon Hwa had tried to save face by affirming that the marriage had been consummated.

That had been her first mistake.

The King hadn't agreed nor disagreed with her claims. He simply named Hae Soo as the head of his household and installed her in his private rooms - which the Queen was not allowed to visit - and began to openly live with her.

Gwangjong was smart, though, and he would still visit the Queen's rooms about once a month. He wouldn't eat or drink any of the foods and wine she set out for him - almost as if he knew she had tampered with them to make it easier for her to seduce him - and left without even looking at her 30 minutes later.

His visits quieted the court's tongues and her own lie only helped him. She couldn't even rub these visits in Hae Soo's face as the former court lady was well aware where the King had spent his wedding night, and every night since; and had no reason to believe anything Yeon Hwa told her, if she had ever gotten close enough to talk to her.

And now, that sickly, insignificant woman had given Gwangjong his first child—a tiny princess the King delighted in and dotted on.

Princess Wang Seol of Goryeo.

He had even given her his own clan's name, rather than making her take her mother's less illustrious one, something their father had never done for any of his daughters.

Queen Daemok had tried to get rid of the child early on, but mother and daughter proved impossible to reach. The one time she had managed to get close was when the royal baby was in the care of her nurse. The Queen found herself surrounded by the King's guards before she could reach the child. Gwangjong himself had had left court to come press his sword to her throat and warn her that anyone who tried to touch his daughter or her mother would be executed on the spot.

Yeon Hwa quickly began to lose allies after that. Even her own mother had called her foolish and reckless.

The humiliations wouldn't stop. It was Hae Soo who acted as The King's hostess whenever envoys from Later Jin, Song Dynasty or the other provinces arrived. For the festivals and rituals that the King and Queen were supposed to preside together, Gwangjong would arrive with Hae Soo, perform what was required of him and then leave with Soo and their child to enjoy the festivals or return home, leaving the Queen behind.

There was also the ring the King started to wear and never took off. It bore the character for "Soo" carved into the thick gold band. Hae Soo herself carried a matching ring, hers engraved with his majesty's personal name.

Still, Yeon Hwa would lie if she said she saw it coming when in the fifth year of his reign, Gwangjong called her to court and announced his intentions to both depose her and divorce her.

"She is barren," The King declared flatly. "What use is she to me as such."

"Pyeha," Yeon Hwa protested under his unforgiving gaze. She was trapped and they both knew it. In five years, she had never told anyone their marriage was unconsummated. If she claimed it now, no one would believe her. It was either admit to lying, or admit she was barren. Either way, she would lose everything.

Even now, Hae Soo carried the King's second child – they hadn't felt the need to hide the fact now – and the court readily believed that Queen Daemok was the one at fault.

Before she could form a coherent argument, the ministers had agreed to the divorce: her titles were stripped, and the assembly was adjourned. Not even her clan had protested. Not that it would have made much difference, as Gwangjong had made it his mission to erode whatever power Wook and the Hwagnbos had managed to acquire during Yo's reign.

"How could you do this? You promised I would be queen."

"And you were… just a deficient one"

"You- you know-"

Wang So laughed rather cruelly at her, reminding her he was still the feared Wolf-Dog of Goryeo. "Did you really think you could push me like that without retaliation? That you would keep me from marrying the woman I love without my doing anything about it?"

"You were planning all of this from the start," she accused him.

"Maybe not right from the start, but I am a patient man." Gwangjong said, raising to leave the throne room and return to his family.

"You- you were not supposed to be like this…."

"Stop spewing nonsense, and cut your losses, Sister. Maybe some aging noble will take you as fourth or fifth wife, you never know."

Less than a week after the former Queen Daemok left the palace, Wang So married his Lady Hae Soo in a small, private ceremony with only Seol, Baek Ah, Woo Hee and Jung in attendance. Hae Soo had asked him to make peace with Jung when Seol had been born and he had been unable to deny her; but So would be the first one to admit that welcoming Jung back had been a smart move. The Yoo Clan felt grateful, and Jung was an accomplished general who served Goryeo well.

Some protested the wedding, but Soo had long since made a place for herself at court. She easily had twice as many supporters than detractors. And no one really wanted to see what the King would do if his choice for wife was denied a second time. Still, some warned Gwangjong that he may have married Soo but that he couldn't make her queen. The King, however, just bid his time.

Three months later, Soo gave birth to a healthy boy, Crown Prince Wang Ju, and all arguments were over. Even if Gwangjong didn't crown her now, she would one day be Queen Mother. Resisting was useless.

.0.

"Soo-yah?" The king called, as he entered their quarters. He had refused to move her to the Queen's quarters that both Queen Yoo and Queen Daemok had once occupied. "Are you…" the 'ready' that would have completed his sentence died in his lips as his eyes found his one and only queen sitting on a rug in the middle of their room playing with their children.

"And this is Pegasus!" Soo told Seol while drawing a picture of a winged horse for the little girl.

"Pesus!" the tiny princess babbled, clapping her hands excitedly.

"You are your father's daughter, there is no denying that." Queen Soo sighed.

"Of course she is mine. She has my nose." So said, coming closer and looking at her drawing. "That looks nothing like the stars you showed me."

"That is because you have no imagination, Pyeha." She smiled as he kissed her forehead before kneeling next to her to hug Seol and rub Ju's stomach, making the baby kick his legs and offer them a gummy grin. "Is it time for our walk?"

So nodded, "Unless you are too tired…" He added worriedly.

"I'm fine, husband." She said reassuringly. She had known since Seol's birth that her heart was not the healthiest, but it had only been after Ju that she told him. Now So worried over it though the Royal Physician had told them she has holding up as well as one could hope.

Most days she felt perfectly healthy, and today was one of those.

So didn't seem too convinced until Soo distracted him with a kiss, wrapping her arms around him. "I have years left with you, my love. I promised I wouldn't leave you and I keep my promises."

…

The end.

AN: Thanks for reading!

I'm not sure if they had "heads of household" in Goryeo, but since most major monarchic systems and large households did at various points in history, I'm going with it.

Oh, and the rings aren't supposed to represent wedding bands, but something closer to couple rings, which Soo would be more familiar with. They just want to wear something that matches and signify they are a couple.

I hope you guys liked it!