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Meaningless Without You

Summary:

He has decided to be king and she has no choice but to help him fulfill his destiny, but how can she help him and remain by his side. She has to protect him and she has to stay with him, but how?

or Hae Soo uses her brains and becomes Wang So's only Queen.

Notes:

Tbh, as much as I love Hae Soo, I felt like had she used her brain a bit more, then she need not have watched as Yeon Hwa became Queen. I hated the show's sad ending, so here's how I wish things turned out.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: I.The Hae in Hae Soo

Chapter Text

Chapter One

 

Hae Soo could not sleep, what So had said constantly ringing in her mind. ‘He has finally chosen to be king’ she thought, while she was initially upset at that, she did want to leave the palace with him after all. She had to support him; it was his destiny to be King of Goryeo. Besides, she would rather stay by his side and in the palace than without him and outside the palace. Which lead to her thinking of how to help him out with his endeavor to become king, or rather how to secure her position in his life. While her So would never push her aside for someone else, she knew that when he became king, he’d have to marry someone from a powerful background to consolidate his position, and she could not give him that power, she was only a court lady after all.

Seeing the sunrise in the sky, the court lady got up to take care of her daily duties at Damiwon. She went outside and prepared herself a cup of loose-leaf tea and sat down on stairs in the Damiwon, waiting for the rest of the court ladies to wake up.

It was only after she finished assigning everyone their chores for the day did her mind go back to the 4th Prince. She did not understand what she could do, how she could provide him support. Princess Yeon Hwa’s words rang in her head once more, ‘I will make you regret this, let’s see who gets the 4th Prince, you or I’

It was practically a challenge; Soo did not understand Yeon Hwa’s ‘love’ for the 4th Prince but that did not mean she did not know what the princess was capable of doing. The 8th Prince and the Hwangbo clan wanted the throne, that much was obvious, if Wook does not become king then…. would the clan offer Yeon Hwa as Queen? She would not be surprised if they did.

‘Wasn’t Queen Daemok Gwangjong’s half-sister?’ She wondered, confused as to who married the 4th Prince in her world, these were the times she wished she paid more attention in school during history classes.

“My lady, are you well?” it was Chae Ryung’s voice that brought her back to earth, as she blinked her eyes, confused as to what was going on, standing next to Chae Ryung, was the royal astrologer, Choi Ji Mong.

She stood up and bowed to the older man before saying, “My apologies, I was lost in thought. What brings you here Ji Mong?”   

Ji Mong smiled and replied, “I wish to speak to you in private, Lady Soo.”

The man had never approached her on his own, so she was curious as to what brought him here, she smiled at the astrologer and motioned towards a tearoom, “Then follow me, Chae Ryung, have chamomile tea sent.” She ordered and walked towards the tearoom, Choi Ji Mong following behind her.

Once they were seated in the tearoom and tea was brought by Chae Ryung, Hae Soo turned to the royal astrologer, “What brings you to the Damiwon Ji Mong?” she asked while pouring tea for him and herself.

“I’m sure Prince So has informed you of his plans” Ji Mong whispered, she nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“He will need to marry a woman who can be a Queen to Goryeo, who can provide him the support of a powerful family. While I do believe you possess the ability to be a good queen, it is the family background that I am worried about.” He admitted, looking at the court lady before continuing,

“No one in court will allow you, a mere, disinherited court lady, to become queen, my lady.” He continued, confirming all of Soo’s fears.

“Ji Mong…who…. who is Queen Daemok? Is she…is she Princess Yeon Hwa...?” she stuttered, afraid of the answer to her question.

Ji Mong nodded and it felt as though someone had stabbed her through her heart, pushing back the tears she felt in her eyes at the thought of So marrying Yeon Hwa, she looked at the astrologer, “What must I do? Have you come here to tell me to back off from the 4th Prince’s affections?” she asked fearfully.

Choi Ji Mong smiled and replied, “Not at all Lady Hae Soo, I am only giving you a warning as to what is to come, so you can prepare yourself. You have the star of a queen, my lady, but only you can fulfill your destiny.” He said as he finished his tea and got up, bowing to the highest court lady of Damiwon and leaving the tearoom.

She sat frozen on the seat, her mind racing at what he said, ‘disinherited court lady’ that is all she was, Hae Soo was only that in this world. She got up to continue with her duties, ‘disinherited….’ The Hae clan, it was one of the stronger clans in Goryeo, it must have been powerful as it did help the 8th Prince and his family return back to Songak.

She left the tearoom with a plan formulating in her mind, she called the court lady standing the closest to her and ordered, “Ask Gyobang’s head court lady Woo Hee to visit me along with the 13th Prince later today evening.” The court lady bowed and left to complete her order, and Soo spent the rest of the time completing her work in a daze.

 


 

“What happened Soo-ya?” The 13th Prince asked as he sipped his tea alongside Woo Hee,

“Are there any Hae clan members in Songak?” She asked him, Baek ah looked confused at her question but hesitantly replied, “Hong Ha Jin Hae’s second son is in Songak, he has been representing the Hae clan at court ever since his father passed away.”

“I would like to meet him, at the soonest, could you arrange a way for us to meet outside the palace?” she asked, she knew it was a bit too much considering the fact that it had been only a week when she had left the palace in secret to meet So and take care of him.

Woo Hee and Baek ah shared a look, not understanding why Hae Soo would want to meet with the Hae clan, “Why do you want to meet with the Hae clan, Soo-ya?” Woo Hee questioned the Damiwon court lady,

Hae Soo sighed before replying, “If I am not wrong, only the Shinju Kang clan and the Park clan are supporting the 4th Prince’s bid for the throne. He will need the backing of another strong clan to secure his position as king and….if the Hae clan helps him out then there won’t be any protest by the other clans in him marrying me…I do not care for all matters of court, I just need a way to ensure that the 4th Prince will be able to marry me without facing any repercussions.” She looked up from her monologue to see the couple in front of her stunned at what she had said.

Woo Hee was the first to recover from her shock and smiled proudly at Hae Soo as she said, “You speak like a true queen Soo-ya, Baek ah-nim will help you, wouldn’t you?” she turned to her lover, who said, “Of course I will, I’ll arrange a meeting between you and Lord Hae Jeon Hin.”

"It will be really good to have the Hae clan on hyungnim's side, in the recent years, the Hae clan has helped a lot of clans with Khitan, should the Hae clan put forth a marriage proposal, I do not think any clan would oppose it." Baek ah said, smiling brightly at Soo.

Hae Soo smiled at her friends and thanked them for their support, the conversation went ahead for a couple more hours before they left. She slept peacefully that night.