royal blood

10 | the last moment i saw you.

"     to miss. park sooyoung,

    we, the royal family representatives, are thrilled to announce you that you are invited to the yearly ball of hlorrendin. the ball will take place on september 13th. we expect you to come and meet the crown prince himself, his holy majesty doyoung, and wish him an amazing future coronation.
   the king has invited all of his guests starting seven in the evening. we are waiting to see you amongst the guests that will shine during the ball.

   with our respect,
   hong kang-hyun, the royal family representant.    "

—

sooyoung put her earring on, as she finally got up from the chair. it was close to eight o'clock, and sooyoung was clearly running late. she took her purse, put on her heels and ran out of her house. she waited for her carriage to arrive, before realising that it was clearly pouring outside.

winter was slowly approaching. sooyoung did not receive any new offers for shows, and she was worried that she might not have a source of income for the rest of the winter. she let out a sigh, before she widened her eyes.

yuta had let her know that he was not able to come and take her to the palace. she decided to walk to the palace, thing that would take a long time. however, sooyoung needed to go and see doyoung. she promised him that she was going to come and spend time with him.

sooyoung and doyoung wished to become public with their relationship. as the days went by, doyoung was unsure if they were going to be accepted by the rest of the people, but he promised sooyoung she'd be the one he was going to marry, even if his family wouldn't allow it.

sooyoung didn't notice how fast she managed to reach the palace. she bowed towards the guards, showing them the invitation she received from the palace. she continued walking, until another guard opened the doors for the her.

sooyoung walked into the main ballroom. men of all ages, from counts and businessmen to simple palace workers looked at them, but sooyoung was trying to find where doyoung could be. she let out a sigh, as a man approached her.

" miss. park sooyoung, what a beautiful woman i have infront of me. " the man let out a laugh, as he tried to touch her face. sooyoung took a step back, as the man continued looking at her. " i am sure you are not seeing anyone, are you ? i must ask you out for a private dinner .. "

" count han, i doubt i have seen you in this wonderful night. " sooyoung turned around, seeing that doyoung was standing with his arms behind his back. " i must greet you properly. " he brought his right arm, shaking who sooyoung realised was count han.

" no worries, your majesty. " count han bowed towards doyoung, who was fixing his badge. he turned to sooyoung, as she bowed towards him. " i was talking to this young lady right here. do you know her ? she's quite the famous actress. " he smiled back to sooyoung, as sooyoung tried looking away.

doyoung let out a small laugh. he looked at sooyoung, who was quite uncomfortable being around count han. " i have seen her around. would you allow me to get to know her ? she must be confused around the palace, and, as the crown prince, i should be the one to help. " he said, as count han nodded.

" you two might get to do more than wander around the hallways of the palace. who am i to stop you from doing so ? " count han let out a sigh, before he slowly walked away. doyoung and sooyoung looked at eachother, trying to hide the smiles they wanted to show eachother.

" i shall take you to the place i found for us. " doyoung said, as they started walking down the hallways. as they lost the sight of other people, doyoung held sooyoung's hand. " i am sorry for count han. he is always extremely .. strange around beautiful women like you. " doyoung smiled towards sooyoung, who placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

" i have to thank you for saving me once again. you always happen to be there when i need you. " sooyoung said, as she wrapped her arm around doyoung's. " i wonder where you are going to take me. you usually know very beautiful places. " sooyoung told doyoung, remembering the amount of places doyoung would mention in his letters.

" i like exploring. it has always been a passion of mine — a passion that has always been ignored by my whole family. i am glad you awknowledge my love for hidden places. they make me feel calm, a place where no one can find me. " doyoung explained to sooyoung, before he walked up to a wooden door.

he slowly opened it, allowing sooyoung to enter the small room. doyoung walked behind her, closing the door. sooyoung looked around the room. it was clearly doyoung's room. a few books were thrown around the room, the bed was unmade and a small window was hiding behind grey curtains.

" please, take a sit. i apologize for not making my bed, but i am still figuring out how to do it. " doyoung let out a laugh, as sooyoung widened her eyes. " yes, sooyoung, i do not know how to make my own bed. i was born into such privellege. " he sat down, as he took off his blazer.

a few of his badges fell to the ground. doyoung looked at them for a moment, before looking back up. sooyoung rested her head on doyoung's shoulder, slowly closing her eyes. she felt doyoung's hand on her back, patting her.

it had been a hard time for both doyoung and sooyoung. both were struggling with their own demons, with people who were trying to take them down and destroy their lives. sooyoung was thankful that she managed to be with doyoung, to remind the two how much love they had for eachother.

dating a crown prince was quite the different experience than what sooyoung imagined. when she was first approached by doyoung after one of her shows, sooyoung was scared to answer to him and his letters. as time went by, sooyoung started seeing doyoung show up to her shows more and more, leading to her deciding to start writing letters to him.

" i tried telling my mother about us today, but she chose to ignore me and worry about the fact that the pelerian royals are coming tonight. " doyoung told sooyoung, who closed her eyes. " i feel ignored all of the time, and i truly don't understand why i am not noticed in this family. "

" don't worry. " sooyoung pat doyoung's arm, as he smiled to her. " i will listen to you for the rest of my life. i will love you for the rest of my life. other people's opinions do not matter to me, especially since the love we have for eachother is never-ending. " she said, as doyoung nodded.

" i wish to be able to marry you, but i will figure it out somehow. " doyoung said, as the two slowly laid down on the bed. sooyoung opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. " i don't understand the reasoning my family has for marrying their cousins, but denying pure love between two people. " he scoffed, as sooyoung agreed with him.

was their love ever going to be accepted ? was the question that ran through sooyoung's mind as she was lying down with doyoung. what she never thought about was the fact that this was the last time she was going to see doyoung outside his grave full of flowers.

this was the last time she felt the warmth of his arms.

—

wendy was wondering what park sooyoung could tell her that would matter so much. she looked around the place where they were supposed to meet, before finally seeing sooyoung. she was wearing all black, covering her face with a hat.

" miss. park sooyoung, we were supposed to meet. " wendy said, as she approached sooyoung. she got up, bowing towards wendy. " please, do not do such thing. i do not like when people bow towards me. it makes me feel weird. " she let out a laugh, as sooyoung nodded. " why have i been invited here ? "

" your majesty, it has been so hard for me to hide this, but i think it is best for the whole world to know this. " sooyoung said, before taking out a bunch of letters from her purse. wendy widened her eyes, curious to know what sooyoung actually meant. " me and your brother wanted to get married. "

wendy froze on the spot. she looked around, trying to figure out what to do with the information she was told. sooyoung got up, as she tried to get closer to wendy. the two looked at eachother in silence, realising the importance of sooyoung's reveal.

wendy let out a sigh, before she opened her arms. she pulled sooyoung into a hug, as tears could be heard from both women.

—