The Accidental Monarch

Reviving

The powder room of the palace can fit her whole apartment and then some. The fixtures gleam gold as the actress opens the tap and looks up to check her reflection in the mirror. She takes one of the rolled hand towels stacked up beside the sink and dampens it to wipe the smudged mascara under her eyes. She looks and feels like a mess, and she tries not to cry all over again.

The door behind her opens and gives way to the king coming in with a dark blue dress on hand. She may not be familiar with palace protocols, but she does know enough that attendants are usually the ones who help during fashion emergencies. Despite that, Jeong-hyeok stops behind her, meets her eyes in the mirror, and asks in a gentle tone, "Do you need help with the zipper?"

"Yes, please," Seri answers and sweeps all of her hair over one shoulder. He carefully pulls the delicate zipper down her back and turns around to give her some semblance of privacy while changing. It takes her back to the time he took care of her after she got drunk at his aunt's party.

"Thank you," she whispers as he zips up the new dress. It fits her perfectly and looks better than the one she previously wore. "I will have it dry-cleaned and sent back here as soon as possible."

He frowns and shakes his head. "No, it's yours. Keep it. It looks good on you."

The atmosphere feels so stifling that the actress cracks a joke to help alleviate the tension, "I didn't know that the palace gave away million-won dresses for free. Only if I have known earlier."

He exhales a chuckle through his nose, and she considers it a win. "How have you been?"

Where does she even begin with that question? She turns around to face him. On the onset, he looks the same, especially handsome in his suit, but a closer look tells her how he barely sleeps with the bags under his eyes and how often he feels troubled with the new lines on his face.

I miss you, she wants to say.

"I've been better," she tells him instead. "How about you?"

He nods. "I could say the same."

The awkward air between them hurts. She feels drained from the eventful evening and opens her mouth to ask him if she can skip dessert when he adds, "Why are you here with Seung-jun?"

His expression finally reveals the confusion and the hurt he feels that it almost makes her cry with relief. She wants this Jeong-hyeok, not the one she sat through dinner with. "It really was an accident," she answers him. "His bodyguards left him stranded in the middle of the city. It was fortunate that he encountered us or he would have had to ask here for help to get home."

"His bodyguards left him? That's strange," he murmurs with a knot between his eyebrows. "But why is he making you go out of your way to assist him better than calling the palace for help?"

She crosses her arms over her chest. "I think that he does not feel particularly welcomed here."

"Ah, I've gathered as much," he sighs and runs a hand over his tired face. She wants to hug him. "Seung-jun spent most of his life abroad. So, some difficulties in terms of learning our customs and adjusting to life here are inevitable, especially given his sudden position in the succession."

"Sudden?" she repeats with curiosity.

"It should be Aunt Mi-ran before him, but she refused to have anything to do with it," he smiles sardonically. "I told her that I would have to die first before she becomes queen anyway, so it -."

She puts a hand over his mouth. "Don't say that. Don't... Don't ever talk about dying. Please."

His expression softens. The tension between them turns sweeter as his eyes lower down to her lips before going back up again. She puts her hand down and leans back against the counter for support as her knees have weakened from his stare. Her heart leaps up to her throat as he steps closer. Her lashes flutter down and her breath hitches into a gasp as he presses a kiss on her lips.