Jealous Till Jade: A Hwarang Fanfic

Chapter 3: The Answers

I sit out on our porch, scrutinizing my ring. I glance behind me at Grace who has fallen asleep with a thick book in her hands, before I turn back and look out at the empty town that glistens from the night lights. I can't help my curiosity about this ring.

The next morning, right around sunrise, there's a knock at the door. Annoyed, I sit up and slide on my silk robe before checking who's come. I peek out and come face-to-face with the person I least expected: the handsome king, who stands in his silky pitch-black nightwear. It's actually the first time I've seen him in this state, and he still somehow holds a sense of authority and extravagance... As well as sexiness. Wait, what am I saying?

"Your highness," I greet him as I struggle to force my eyes away from his built chest that's revealed through the v-line. I step out and shut the door quietly behind me. "How may I assist you at this hour?" I ask, honestly clueless as to what he's doing here.

"Lets take a walk in the garden. Meet me there in ten minutes. I want to tell you something," he orders. I oblige.

Once he's gone back to his room, I slip off my nightwear and replace it with a simple western dress. I scurry out to the garden and find the king under the little floral arch that introduces the gorgeous garden. He notices my presence and turns his head towards me. Without a word, he examines me from head to toe as I walk to him. He's never seen me in anything but my work clothes before. To break the awkwardness, I start leading the way to a secluded pond deep in the garden where I usually go to be alone.

"What is this place?" He asks.

"You've never been back here?... Your highness?" I reply. He shakes his head and continues to observe the lush scenery. In the glistening pond is the usual family of ducks; the small chicks paddle desperately to keep up with their mother. Surrounding the pond is a line of nicely arranged spherical rocks and some cleanly trimmed normcore plants. You'd think a rich family would have some flowers in their garden. Still, it's a beautiful and soothing place. I come here when I feel stressed and want to be alone. I never thought I'd be sharing the spot with someone else - certainly not with the king.

I sneak a glance up at him as we slowly walk towards nowhere. He notices and sweetly smiles at me. I smile back.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, your majesty?" There's a moment of silence and it seems as though he's forgotten what we're doing here.

After a moment, he says, "oh! Yes. It's- it's about that ring you said you got at the market."

I stop in my tracks, getting tired of this big secret everyone is keeping from me. The king halts and looks at me with a puzzled face. "What about it?" I ask with a frown on my temple.

"You need to take me to the shop you got it tomorrow."

I sigh, tired of being a part of something I don't even know. "Your highness, I don't mean to be rude, but, if you want to know the details of my ring I deserve to know why. So, please tell me. What is this about?"

He sighs, clearly trying to find the right words to use. I examine his expression as if the answer will appear on his face.

Finally, he starts talking; "it's my sister's. Or at least it was."

"The princess? Why was it at the marketplace?"

"I don't know, but that means she must have stopped by there before she left."

"So, is that why you want to go to the marketplace? To ask the shop owner if they know anything?"

"Yeah." We walk in silence for a moment and I try to put the pieces together. However, there's still some information missing in this story.

"Why do you all keep telling me that it's 'bad luck'?" Now I'm looking at him again. Before he responds, he takes a seat on a pretty bench surrounded by all kinds of flowers; bell flowers, white and pink roses, violets, and more. I follow and sit beside him.

"All I'll tell you now is that before my sister it belonged to my mother and before her it belonged to my mother's friend."

I take a moment to contemplate and find I'm still utterly confused. "So-"

"What's important-" He interrupts me. "-Is that it's a special ring that symbolizes this family's past and I want you to keep it safe until my sister comes back. Then you have to give it back to her. As for tomorrow, we'll go back to where you bought it so I can talk to the shop owner."

I pout - not at him - but I know I shouldn't be stubborn about this. The ring clearly means a lot to the both of them. "Okay, I promise to keep it safe until her highness returns. And, we shall go to the marketplace tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." We smile at each other and I'm given the chance to take a better look at his facial features. He's so handsome.

We sit in silence until my curiosity bursts. "So, do you have any idea as to where the princess might be?" He shakes his head and looks down. "Do you still have people searching for her?"

"No, we stopped searching a month ago, except for the prince." No wonder it's been uneventful around here lately.

"How is his highness doing?" Silence. I worry I've crossed the line with my overloading questions, and purse my lips.

But he doesn't seem to mind as he starts talking again. "His top priority has been to find her and he's been at it everyday, day and night. He refuses to return to Baekje even though he probably has a lot of work waiting for him there. We barely see him around because he's always either instructing the guards a new area to search or going with them. We do drink together now and then. But... You know what's odd? Every night, I read over my sister's note she left, and it's very fishy. Just the tone of it - it doesn't sound like her at all." Okay, now things are getting mysterious.

"Are you suggesting she didn't write it?" I search his face that's deep in thought.

"I hope she did," he responds in a whisper.

Shortly later, Grace finds us and takes me back inside for work. "The mood seemed pretty romantic out there," she remarks as she clips her hair in a low ponytail, giving me that look she gives me whenever she sees me with a man.

I can't help but smile too. "He wanted to talk to me about something," I say as casually as possible as I grab my hazel apron and prepare for our flower arrangement class we hold for the trainees every week.

"And what matter would he have to discuss solely with you?" She raises an eyebrow.

"It's not like that," I assure her.

"If you say so," she says as she walks over to the sink to wash her hands.

I love flower arranging and any other artistic activity. The trainees still have a long way to go, but it's watching them grow and improve that makes it all worthwhile. As I work on my own arrangement, I find myself daydreaming about the king and the romantic walk we had in the morning. I shake my head, snapping myself out of it. I can't fall for him; I need to stay focused if I want to be queen.