Epilogue
PromiseIt was a long and cold winter, Jaehwan's leg healing slowly but surely. Whatever had been in Sohee's poultice worked well, and when he was finally able to walk fully on the mended leg again, it was without lingering pain. He tried to express his gratefulness to her in words, but the Magician only laughed at him, leaving him feeling like a fool for trying.
She still carried a sadness about her, though, one that did not leave with the coming of spring. Jessica and Krystal carried that sadness as well, though the Crown Princess had it worse. At the very least, she had her husband back. Yunho had recovered but he was badly scarred, as warned: Jaehwan could guess that he had been a handsome man before, but that man was no longer visible in the ruined crisscrosses of scars over his form. He liked to laugh, though, and that more than anything else made Jaehwan like the Prince.
King Sukjin had managed to put off Changmin's sentencing as long as he could, but when Yunho recovered the ability to speak, it was over for the Shim's. There was no way to deny the truth of his testimony when there were two Norian magicians confirming his words through their connections to elementals. Both Shims were sentenced to death, and it was carried out less than a week later. Jaehwan felt bad for the child they left behind, but he knew that Sukjin would love and spoil little Jisoo so that the void left by his parents wouldn't be such a large wound. He almost wished he could send him to his own father to raise and love, but he knew that King Sukjin would never agree to that.
Krystal had come to visit Jaehwan every day after bringing the letter, and they grew much closer as the winter passed. By the time the snow melted and the seas were beginning to grow calm enough for sailing, he could admit that he had fallen in love with her. Neither of them had said it, but he was pretty sure, from the looks that she gave him and the passion in the kisses they exchanged, that she felt the same way.
The Lion Heart was being readied for sail, intending to head back to R
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