Runaway Prince |Choi Beomgyu|

36

Sandy stood next to Luna as they stood outside of the huge double doors of the bigger dining hall.

Unlike the one that was used for family dinners, this one had golden knobs and intricate designs on the doorframe. The doors almost reached the ceiling, making Luna nervously look up.

She could hear chatter in the room, they were all women, and somehow that was even more terrifying.

She started questioning why she had said yes to this invitation and thought of different excuses she could come up with to not go inside.

I have a stomachache... My head hurts... I broke a toe... My cat died....

But she didn't have the time to choose one before Sandy pushed the doors open.

The chatter in the room immediately got quiet as they all stared at Luna. Women of all ages sat around an even bigger table than the yard table, in their fancy corseted dresses, some with lace covered fans in their hands.

She felt like dying inside.

It was different when it was in the bar. All the attention wasn't on her, but when it was it didn't feel weird or out of place. A lot of the time it was because she was the owner, so she felt confident in her own skin, in her own territory.

But this territory wasn't hers. She wasn't the queen in this one, she was the prey.

Luna followed Sandy as she led her to a chair next to an empty one, right at the center of the table.

She remembered Beomgyu's words of advice before he left in the morning to some meeting. Greet them politely and bow, my mother will most likely introduce you. Just sit comfortably and don't worry about it, you'll be out of there in no time...

Luna hesitated before bowing at the people to both of her sides. "Good afternoon."

Some of them replied, whilst some of them stared in confusion, not knowing who she was.

Sandy pulled out the chair for her and Luna sat down, before watching Sandy walk to the other side of the room. She stared at her desperately and the maid noticed her look, giving her a small apologetic smile.

"Good afternoon." The queen's voice resonated through the room as she greeted Luna. "This is Luna. She will be joining us for our luncheon tonight."

She did introduce me.

Luna bowed again as she gave them a small polite smile.

The women at the table give each other looks, including Beomgyu's sister, who looked at the seat next to Luna for a couple of seconds before standing up and walking around the table.

Everyone watched her in wonder as she took the empty seat next to Luna, giving her a small smile to which Luna responded with her own small smile.

"Well, Luna, who's your family?" One of the women a few seats from her questioned and Luna looked around as if the question wasn't for her.

Luna was sure they would be expecting some grand answer like her father owns three hundred thousand homes and she lives in a castle in the woods with twelve floors.

"My parents were from the village."

"Really? My grandparents live in the village too. They live near the castle though, just a few yards from the main gates." Another one spoke excitedly, and Luna gave her a smile that was more like a grimace.

That girl didn't get the memo. The only land Luna could think of that was near the castle gates was Mr. Tran's, and he was known to be the father of the person who owns the biggest dairy farm in the kingdom.