The Royal Duty

CHAPTER TEN

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And there she was again, at the very same seat at the main palace dining room, seated next to the Crown Prince. By this time, Naeun almost felt more comfortable and easier, she had fully learned the table manner, and it was delightful for her to chat with the older family members. They were all so welcoming and warm to her.

"We really enjoy your presence at the party, Naeun. There were so many guests who came to me and congratulated me for having such a wonderful daughter-in-law like you." The King said as he cut his baked turkey meat on his plate.

"Ah," Naeun smiled brightly to the King. "It's my pleasure, Your Majesty. I am also so grateful that the royal family and the guests were being so welcoming of me."

"Did you have fun at the party? Did our Jaehyun help you well enough?" The Queen asked her with a warm smile before giving her youngest son a playful look.

"I had a lot of fun during the private party, Your Highness. He's always been so helpful and kind to me. It's all thanks to him, he helped me a lot." Naeun answered, before turning her head to Jaehyun to return back a smile.

The sight of the young couple brought hearty laughter to them all, especially the Queen Dowager. "Oh! I really can't wait for the wedding day! You two are really a match made in heaven!"

"We will have to wait for the engagement day first, Mother." The King smiled fondly, he looked grateful to see her being so happy like that.

"Ahhh, the engagement day," The Queen Dowager's face lightened up. "It's six more days to go."

That's right. Six more days to the 30th of December. The chosen day for the royal engagement. Suddenly, Naeun had a hard time swallowing her food.

"Since it would be your special day. I have requested the event organizer to talk to both of you, Naeun, Jaehyun." The Queen called them. "You will have to participate on the preparation as well."

"Yes, Mother." Jaehyun answered. "We would gladly help in any way possible."

Naeun nodded in response, "Yes, your Majesty. I'll happily do my best for our engagement day."

Naeun was all smiling and giggling as she went throughout the dinner time with the royal family members. As they finished with the dessert, the King finally invited the family members including Naeun to the living room for the next session.

They were being served with tea and sweets. The Queen Dowager seemed like she was the one who was enjoying it the most, while the King and Queen were focused on enjoying the warm jasmine tea more.

The King, Queen, and Queen Dowager were talking about a lot of things that night, how this year had been for the royal family, about some of the most fun projects they had that year, about some rulers from other countries sending them Christmas gifts and greetings, and how next year would be for the royal family. Also, how their oldest son would be arriving in an hour to celebrate with them. The Crown Prince joined the chat for some times, but he didn't actively engage with the talks.

Naeun and Jaehyun were seated next to each other on one of the sofa inside the living room. Their seat was close to the fireplace that was lit, making her feel comfortably warm, even better when she sipped her sweet jasmine tea.

"Enjoying your tea?"

Naeun almost choked when she caught Jaehyun whispering to her. His mouth was so close to her ears, making her ears felt like it's getting warm and red. He was so close.