chasing lights

1 | moon child

"Your majesty!"

The sound of the highest ranked official in the castle almost echoes through the walls from how loud and clear it is. The king is looking up at him immediately, hand still holding onto his wife's while the stunning woman weakly glances around the room. His frown dissipates almost immediately after locking eyes with his close friend and most loyal guard, Jack Bang.

The old friends lock eyes once Jack is standing in the door and king Jaebeom's frown dissipates just the slightest bit before he nods at his old friend, then turns back towards his wife, the love of his life and the absolute most stunning woman he has ever seen in all his life, once so radiant and full of life and now just barely holding on while trying all she can to stay strong, stay alive at least until their child is born.

He lifts up her hand just the slightest bit, leans down simultaneously to meet himself halfway, then presses his lips right against the back of her hand and affectionately glides his thumb over the area afterwards. She gives him the weakest smile in return and he knows that she has already mentally prepared herself to die either during or right after childbirth, considering how she knows she simply has to make it through until then. Not for herself, but for her child's sake. What he is totally unaware of though is that she has already spoken to her close friend, the wife of their highest guard, Jessica, making sure she would help raise the baby along with her own after the queen fails to survive long enough to see her child still and raise them herself.

But while she lets her husband go and leave the room to talk to Jack, all she can do afterwards is to close her eyes and take a deep breath to hold back her tears once again. She has already cried too many times after all. Instead, she decides to smile as best as she can and puts her hand on her belly, telling her unborn child all sorts of stories of better times, ones in which she was still fully healthy.

"Did you...", the king starts quietly once they have stepped outside the room, eyes quickly scanning over his close friend's face trying to read him properly.

"Yes.", Jack interrupts, watches how the king's eyes widen instantly in return. "There is someone waiting for you in your study. She claims to know about a remedy. What she said sounds strange but- I think it makes sense, Jaebeom. I think we can save Hyesoo and the baby, get them through the pregnancy and maybe beyond that too."

They tend to drop formalities whenever it is just them. They grew up together after all and the king is known to be one of the sweetest in the history of the kingdom. The minute word got out that the queen was pregnant, the kingdom celebrated for what felt like an eternity. Yet the first time she collapsed during a public appearance of the royal couple, everyone immediately helped to the best of their abilities, all of them just honestly and genuinely worried for the queen they all love.

They do not deserve all this sadness during such a supposedly joyful time. Any woman's first pregnancy is overwhelming, yet so magical in all possible non magical ways. But to have all this worry and sadness as well along the way with no immediate hope, just a promise from a loving husband to try everything in his power to fix everything, is not what is supposed to happen at all. No one deserves to go through this and the entire kingdom would agree that the king and queen are far too good to be having to endure all this as well.

But right now, king Jaebeom, in all of his overwhelmed state of pure hope, crashing into him with the mere mention of someone claiming to have an actual remedy even Jack Bang thinks of as somewhat believable, standing in his study in this very moment, has him running, almost, to get to said place. The young man has gotten this immense boost of energy he has been missing for so long and his friend is quick to follow him until the doors to the king's study are being opened and closed again right behind them, an equally young woman with the most flawless features and ebony skin, big and long coily black hair, is facing them instantly. As if she was expecting them this very moment.