The Lion's Queen (Neo/Leon fanfic)

Ch. 25: Disruption to My Day

  Hakyeon

~the kitchen in the palace~

 Biting at my nails, I recounted what happened last night. The lanterns. Him. The warmth. I sighed deeply. The maids milled around me preparing food for everyone in the palace. Absentmindedly, I was in charge of side dishes today so I took out some kimchi from the clay pot under the table and started to cut them. Not noticing that I was cutting it in  various thickness and length. Mai, the head chef, came over and pulled on my ear. "Ow!" I pulled away from her and held the injured ear.

"Get out of my kitchen if you are not going to help," she huffs and observes the mess I made. She glares at me for doing this to the kimchi. 

"Halmeoni, I'm sorry. My mind was elsewhere," I whined and tugged on her arm. She smacks my hands away and tells me to plate all of the side dishes. Moving over to the other side of the table, there was multiple pots filled to the brim with food that served as side dishes. 

~30 minutes later~

~Royal Dining Hall~

 Everyone in the harem was present including the King and I. "Where are the kids," I asked Taemin. Before he could respond, three boys and two girls made their ways inside holding their assigned caretakers' hand. They ran over and greet us. "Greetings to Father and Mother," they chorused and bowed. Minhyuk nods to them and waves his hand. The children scrambled and climbed onto their seats. I smiled at them warmly. Hyunbin (the crown prince and eldest prince) sat to his father's left. Jiyeon, the crown princess, sat on my right. Jae (the second prince) and Minho (the third prince) sat next to their brother. Hana (the second princess) sat in a high chair next to her sister. Everyone began to eat and chatted about how their day was and more. My mind preoccupied itself about thinking what are my feelings for the Royal Commander. Soon,  I snapped out of this trance and decided to busy my hands. So, I pulled Hana onto my lap and feed her porridge. I cooed at her when she manged to feed herself after I let go of the spoon when she tugged on it. "Hakyeon, eat too. Let the maids or the others feed Hana," Minhyuk said. 

"It's ok. It is not everyday that I can see my  children," I replied before setting Hana back into her seat and putting some vegetables into the other kids' bowls.  The boys outright frowned but reluctantly ate them. Minhyuk rolls his eyes at me knowing it was pointless to argue. I laughed awkwardly and subconsciously wondered if he noticed that something was bothering me.