Palace revels in the soft flutter of first snow, in the return of normalcy, in the health of its emperor and the proven innocence of its queen and her princes. By dusk celebrations had reached a crescendo and moved to more intimate inner halls of palace that Seol finds herself secluded outside, where new untouched flakes are hastily covering well trodden snow from earlier that day. She finds Seo at the astronomy tower, the highest point of the imperial palace. Slumped in the shadows of the observation terrace, his back resting against the railing and windswept hair obscuring his face.
It was gratitude and relief that had brought her here, she tells herself in the pause that she takes to consider her actions. Or perhaps she had wanted to confirm for herself, that by her fear fueled whimsical actions she has not ruined something beautiful forever. Or it was selfishness, that she was unwilling to let that quicksilver dream of a future with him go just yet.
