Spoiler Alert! The Crown Prince, named Lee Heon (Kim YoungDae), strongly suspects that his former wife Ahn JaYeon (Kim MinJu), who was assumed to have taken her own life, was actually murdered and that the court officials had something to do with the same. Filled with regret at not being able to protect his love, Lee Heon, who has now ascended to the throne of the King, is completely incapable of opening up his heart to someone new, and this, in turn, has landed the nation in deep trouble. The King’s subjects hold grudges against him for not being able to get married, and as such, marriage fraud is rampant across the country. One such con artist who takes advantage of the situation is SoRang (Park JuHyun). We soon find out that SoRang was originally the daughter of a noble family who was believed to have died after her father’s concubine had her attacked. However, she survived and was saved by GwaengYi (Choi DukMoon), with whom she runs Aedaldang. When SoRang gets caught red-handed, she meets Officer Lee ShinWon (Kim WooSeok) and pretends to be an exorcist who can communicate with the late Crown Princess’ spirit lurking in the palace. The King immediately brings her in, and the two grow more and more fond of each other, first through SoRang pretending to relay the Crown Princess’ messages to the King and then, simply by virtue of SoRang’s endearing personality, which adds some much-needed levity to the King’s dreadful existence. This doesn’t sit well with Officer Lee ShinWon, the King’s trusted friend, who is in charge of guarding SoRang. The more he spends time with her, the more he becomes certain that she is the woman he had been looking for all this while - his betrothed. In episode 4 of “The Forbidden Marriage”, we see glimpses of Lee Heon starting to acknowledge his romantic feelings towards SoRang, albeit with much internal conflict. At the same time, Lee ShinWon’s feelings have grown stronger than ever, and the thought of losing the love of his life to the King is unbearable to him. Once he finds out that Eunuch Jang (Lee HyunGeol) and Head Court Lady (Hwang JungMin) plan on making the King and SoRang spend the night together, he is visibly distressed. However, what no one expected was to see him take her away from right in front of His Highness’ door. Lee Heon, on the other hand, who was equally anxious and excited, is furious at the sight of SoRang being stolen away from him, even more so because it is Lee ShinWon who committed the grave mistake. Moreover, the preview for episode 5 revealed that the Crown Princess came back to life just when Lee Heon was starting to affirm his feelings for SoRang. This created quite the stir online, with many fans exclaiming that they could not wait for the next episode. Now, as “The Forbidden Marriage” is a webtoon-based drama, it is always worth going back to the original source material for hints on what could happen next. However, as “The Forbidden Marriage” does not have an official English translation, many international fans are unable to read it. If you’re one of them, fret not! Here’s a quick rundown of what can happen in episode 5 of “The Forbidden Marriage”, based on the original Korean webtoon! Note: This article is based on speculation made from the corresponding chapters in the webtoon. The K-Drama might not follow the webtoon’s storyline entirely. To start with, we must note the difference in the characterization of ShinWon in the webtoon versus the drama because this difference shapes the narrative significantly. In the webtoon, when ShinWon meets with Lee Heon to find out more about his true feelings and whether his heart lies with SoRang, he advises him to be unafraid of jumping right into the wild rushing waters when it comes to love. He assures him that he does not have to be afraid of change because the present will most likely not be identical to the past. The person he is now is different from the one he was, and the person he will love will also be different. As such, instead of fighting his feelings, he should accept them. His words help the King snap back into reality and give him a renewed sense of determination. In doing so, Lee ShinWon doesn’t just prioritize his friendship with the King over SoRang but instead simply leaves her decision up to her. On the other hand, in the drama, Lee ShinWon warns the King that he is changing and must not let it show. The King retorts by saying that he hasn’t changed but is only confused. As soon as his confusion is solved, he will not hesitate to put things back where they belong. Lee Heon is resolute and makes it clear that he will not be moved by ShinWon’s feelings towards SoRang, as is evident from the butterfly metaphor. There’s a clear riff between the two, as opposed to their warm camaraderie in the webtoon. Next, in the webtoon, as ShinWon receives GwaengYi’s letter to keep SoRang away from Aedaldang, he whisks her away with an air of fancy, never letting it show that there’s something wrong. The two spend some sweet quality time together and he confesses to her before they are ambushed by goons trying to kill SoRang. Later, when they return to the palace, the Head Court Lady decides to move along with the royal conjugal night sooner than planned because she suspects something going on between ShinWon and SoRang. Eunuch Jang informs the King that SoRang is preparing to spend the night with him, which makes his heart skip a beat. Once she arrives, he promises to protect her this time around and confesses his love for her. However, SoRang quickly refuses his advances out of guilt for having deceived him. Nonetheless, Lee Heon remains composed and reassures her that he is not angry and will wait for her to be ready to accept his heart. He picks up on the fact that she’s afraid - something that ShinWon has to be told about by GwaengYi and comforts her gently. To lighten the mood, he gifts her with a norigae that he made with the knot she taught him earlier. He adds that it is a sign that he will be waiting, and SoRang makes up her mind to stay strong and confess her own feelings to the King one day. Elsewhere, Lee ShinWon is perplexed about the bandits who came after SoRang, and his anxiety is obvious to his subordinates. He prepares to report the incident to His Majesty without touching on SoRang’s secret, as per GwaengYi’s advice, and is about to retire for the evening before he is stopped by a subordinate who informs him of the rumors about the marriage ban ending soon. In the midst of his haze, he finds out that Lee Heon and SoRang are going to spend the night together. Court Lady Won Nyeo prevents him from interrupting the two, reminding him of his duty as a loyal subject of the King. ShinWon objects immediately, asserting that he is holding himself back only because of SoRang and not the King. Now, the K-Drama is set to have only 12 episodes, and we’re a third of the way through. This must mean that the drama is adopting a faster pace than the webtoon. As the screenplay for the drama is written by the original author of the webtoon, Chun JiHye, we can expect a perfect condensation of the more elaborate original work. In conclusion, unless the K-Drama wishes to exercise creative freedom with respect to the webtoon, you can rest assured that neither has the Crown Princess returned nor did ShinWon actually walk away with SoRang. Both cases are most probably nothing more than imagination! You can read the webtoon in Korean here. Are you watching “The Forbidden Marriage”? What do you think will happen next? Tell us in the comments section down below!
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