Decisions

Repercussions

Soo plastered on a smile as the guards announced her arrival and walked through the doors with Seol in her arms as she met the faces of the surprised me in the throne room. Walking up near the throne, she gave a bow and smiled to the King.

"Greetings from Hae Soo, wife of the 4th Prince, and Princess Seol, daughter of the 4th Prince. I apologize for not being able to give a proper bow to you, your highness."

The King chuckled and Soo stood up straight again, smiling at his reaction.

"You know you do not have to be so formal with me, Hae Soo."

"You have told me many times, but I must give respect where it is due. Besides, I know you have not seen Seol in a while, so I thought I would bring her to visit you. I apologize if I was interrupting anything of importance."

"We were just finishing up, so you came at a perfect time. Now, please allow me to hold my niece for a bit."

Soo walked up to the throne and carefully handed Seol off to the King, before stepping back to stand with her husband, who smiled at her warmly and reached out to grasp her hand affectionately.

"It is a good thing that Hae Soo came to visit us. I think his majesty and the 4th Prince were about to go mad with the events in court today," Ji Mong said half-jokingly.

"Is it quite bad? Perhaps there is something I can to relieve your burdens?"

"Your presence here with Seol has already done wonders, Hae Soo. Please do not worry about us," King Hye Jong reassured.

Soo smiled and nodded, playing along though she knew that they were worried about something; however, they weren't telling her because they didn't want to worry her.

After a little while, King Hye Jong declared that he felt ready to retire to his chambers for the night, and Soo and So bid him a good night as he left the throne room, followed by Ji Mong. Soo didn't miss the look that the So and Ji Mong shared before King Hye Jong left the room, and her curiosity grew.

When the couple had returned to their chambers and Seol was tucked in bed, Soo and So sat down to dinner. There was a silence in the air, with only the clinking of plates against the table as dinner was served, until a clatter rang out through the air. Soo and So, who were both staring at each other intently were surprised and turned around to see one of the Court ladies had accidentally dropped the tray she had been carrying.

"My deepest apologies your highness!"

She gave a bow before kneeling quickly clean up the spilled contents, which thankfully was not much. Soo saw how her hands were shaking and got up from her chair to kneel down next to the Court lady, reaching out to hold her hand.

"Please do not be nervous. We all make mistakes, and you will not be punished for this."

The Court lady was surprised at Soo's kindness, and bowed her head before finishing up her clean up and walked out with the rest of the ladies. It was only after that she left that Soo noticed she was a new hire, but did not think much of it before going back to take her seat.

"Your compassion is something to be admired, Soo ya."

"Others might say that I am too soft-hearted, certainly not a beneficial attribute of royalty."

So wrinkled his brows at her words.

"Since when have you cared how others thought of you?"

Soo tried to play nonchalant but failed miserably. She knew that So would see right through her guise even before she tried. She looked down towards her lap and played with the loose thread that come apart on her robes. She heard the chair scrape against the floor as So moved closer to her, and looked up as he came near. He reached out to grasp her hands in his before looking up at her.