The Accidental Monarch

Intriguing

Perching her sunglasses up on the top of her head, Seri stops her scrolling and goes to her mobile browser. It takes less than ten seconds before the results of her search appears. She enlarges the picture of the prince in formal attire, biting back a smile at how stiff he looks, before shifting to another set of pictures of him in his natural element: the outdoors.

There are pictures of him in a motocross competition, a polo match, a tennis tournament, and a dragon boat race. All of them showing off his athletic prowess, toned body, and tanned skin. She cannot find one bad photograph; even during the most candid moments, he manages to look like a Greek hero sculpted by the gods themselves.

There are even fan pages made for him, and she cannot resist lurking through the comments. She lands on one post with a video attached where he took the time to talk to a child with a disability. The caption describes how the conversation took longer than what was expected and how touched everyone was about his thoughtfulness. The praise makes her heart clench.

She misses him. He sent her a text before she woke up that morning to tell her that he will have limited access to his smartphone from that point forward. And so, she holds onto the previous messages and the memories attached to them. When that was not enough, she does the thing that they both swore not to do: search about each other on the internet.

Her smartphone ringing incessantly snaps her out of her daydream. When she goes to check the messages that were flooding in, a tight knot of worry forms inside her as she reads the questions and exclamations being sent to her by close friends, former costars, and industry acquaintances.

"Is it true? Oh, how romantic!"

"Are you two getting married soon?"

"Daebak. This is better than any movie!"

"Seri, are you okay? Have you seen the news?"

"That producer is vile! His career is definitely over now."

"What is he like in person, Seri? Oh, I am so jealous!"

Cold dread overwhelms her when she finally sees the video that was gaining hundreds of views and comments by the second. The clip shows the encounter she had with the producer and the prince in front of the former's house. It contains not only the threats the producer made towards the both of them but also the defense of the prince who stood up to the older man on her behalf.

"Oh, no," the actress panics before turning to the driver. "How close are we to the restaurant?"

"We are five minutes away, Ms. Yoon."

Sang-ah's message comes in. There is a lawyer here with me who says you invited him for lunch. What is going on? Did you know about the video before it was released?

-x-

The Michelin star restaurant boasts not only of their world-class Japanese menu but also of their private suites reserved for government officials, high-profile personalities, and anyone who can afford the luxury. Seri sits across from her manager and the lawyer who came from the palace, hating how the usually delicious sashimi tastes bland because of her heightened emotions.

"A lawsuit?" Sang-ah echoes in disbelief after she dropped the bomb. "Seri, this is a film industry legend we are talking about. You will ruin your career if you proceed with this nonsense."

The actress has a tight fist curled around her napkin. "Did you not hear what I just said?" she asks through clenched teeth. "He tried to rape me, and he threatened to ruin me because I fought back. I will not take this sitting down."

"We already have the whole world watching him threaten you through that video going around. Why don't we just end the matter at that?" Sang-ah tries to reason, clearly not seeing the other woman's point. "I am afraid of what the repercussions of a lawsuit might do to your reputation."