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Joy smiled to herself before glancing up to see Little Choi staring at her. "Why are you staring at me like that?" She quickly fixed her expression and asked Little Choi.

"Then why did you keep smiling to yourself like that?" Little Choi smirked, as she prepares Joy's outfit for the day.

"Whe-when did I smile to myself?" Joy stammered. "Your eyes must be playing tricks on you." She talked as Little Choi dresses her up. 

"No, you are the one tricking me." Little Choi laughed.

Joy ignored Little Choi, as she stood in front of the mirror and fix a strand of hair that has fallen out of place. Little Choi appeared behind Joy, her reflection appearing in the mirror.

"By the way, Eunuch Kim just relayed a message. His Majesty invites you to have breakfast with him." she said.

"What?" Joy exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" 

She looked at herself more closely in the mirror. Perfect! Joy then rushed out of her quarters without another word. Caught off guard, Little Choi turned around and immediately pursuit after Joy. She wanted to stop her from running before Han sang-gung saw. If Han sang-gung were to see Joy running in the palace again, they would have to have another mini-lecture from her. 

That Little Choi! Would it kill if she relays the message earlier? I would have more time to prepare myself if she did. 

Joy ran in the direction of the King's quarters. While running, she could hear Little Choi from behind, calling her to stop running. She briefly recalled Han sang-gung's lectures and could vividly remember her reciting all the palace rules when she first entered the palace. One of the palace rules is no running, as they deemed it as inelegant. Still, this time she is going to ignore it. If Han sang-gung is going to give me another lecture, so be it, she thought.

Without noticing her surrounding, she ran straight into---

"I didn't expect you to come to me like this." 

That voice. She knew that voice. His hand...Joy glanced down and saw that he had held her waist to prevent her from falling. They were so close to each other that she could smell his scent. Joy looked up as the King signalled to Eunuch Kim, who nodded in response. Eunuch Kim gestured to all attendants. They stopped fidgeting and quickly turned sideways so that their view of the young royals are blocked.

"Missed me?" The King put his attention on his Queen once again.

Taken aback by his sudden sweetness, Joy's only reaction is to stare. The words slowly sank in and she blushed. Shyly, she nodded.

"Well, I could see that," the King teased. "Judging by how you just run straight into my arms."

Joy quickly separated herself from him. "That's not my intention! That was an accidental fall!" She exclaimed in embarrassment. Her cheeks blushing hard.

"Right, a fall," the King laughed. "on me." 

Joy stared at the King in disgust. How could he make such a pun without feeling embarrassed? Why am I feeling second-hand embarrassment for him? 

"Is that your way of expressing that you have fallen for me?" The King added.

Too much embarrassment for Joy to take. "Can we just leave already?" She said, and quickly walked away.

"We are having our breakfast at the Royal Garden pavilion, you do know that right?" Joy heard the King called out and realized that she is walking in the wrong direction. She stopped and mentally blamed Little Choi for not telling her where the breakfast will be held. Since she didn't mention, Joy assumed it will be at the King's quarter.