"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?"
Taeyong gave a small bow as the queen looked up from her seat and smiled at him. She offered for him to join her little breakfast.
It was silent at first, the queen was taking her moment, gesturing how influential she was that even Taeyong had no power to rush her. "I've been wanting to see you ever since the wedding." She said and it was as expected by the prince. Sooner or later, the queen would want to discuss him on a matter he would never agree to.
Nonetheless, the prince smiled softly. "Ah, my apologies. I should've come sooner." He replied but the woman simply didn't even bat an eyelash at him. "The king's conditioned has worsened as I was told and I do not think he would stay for long." She said.
He had heard a lot about the queen's arrogant and straightforward attitude from Seora before, but he didn't know she would be this ruthless.
"Yes, I was informed and I had a new physician to help him." He said. "How thoughtful." The queen commented but they both knew how much it lacked of emotions.
"Need I to say the kingdom must have a new king."
There it is, Taeyong thought. He knew this talk would come. He was supposed to return back to his kingdom last week but he managed to stay, he used Seora's father as an excuse that he would have to manage here. He planned to do so until he could find her.
However, from her letter, he had his suspicions on certain people but he had no evidence. The queen however, was pushing him in for a marriage, with her daughter of course.
Luckily, Taeyong's father had returned, he would've fall for the queen's scheme if not. Taeyong didn't want a marriage, not until he finds Seora, only then would he marry her himself.
He didn't bother the fact that the country needed a king at the moment, their current king is still alive after all. "That won't be necessary, Your Majesty." Taeyong tried to contain his smile. "The king is capable, he is a strong man. Before, and even now." He added.
The queen replied his smile with an insincere one as well. She knew well that Taeyong and Seora were both smart, they wouldn't easily fall for any of people's words until they find the truth themselves. Which was the sole reason why the queen had to get rid of her.
A princess and a prince that outsmarts were a threat to her. She needed people to listen and obey, not act on their own.
"Yes, of course." The queen's voice trailed off somehow, knowing that the prince wouldn't listen. She could always get rid of him if she wanted to, but he was valuable, he was needed for her own selfish reasons.
She looked away for a while, her mind racing with other things to say to him. "Won't there be a funeral?" She asked. Taeyong's heart beat too fast as he heard it. Just the thought of death being associated with Seora was hard for him to bear.
However, he couldn't show any signs that he was aware of something no one else was. "I decided not to." He replied short and smiled. "I cannot risk to worry the people, they'd think that the palace is vulnerable." He tried to reason, to mask any clue that he knew of her.
"And it's also for my own reasons, I cannot move on so easily just yet." He threw a thin smile to the queen in which she replied with a raised eyebrow, she was obviously amused with his reply.
The queen scoffed small, "To love just shows your vulnerability." She said, her tone was serious and cynical. She was mocking him in a way Taeyong couldn't understand. "It never works out in the end, better off to sacrifice the so called happiness, for something more." She added.
"A king has to sacrifice a lot, even if it meant his heart." She kept on. "On the brighter side, power and wealth could always make it up." She smiled, a smile that sent shivers down his spine. The queen was greedy and she wasn't afraid to show it.
《—♡ 》
"What's wrong?"
Seora glanced to her left as Yuta took a seat next to her by the verandah. "I'm glad that Uncle made his way back safely, but he kept on worrying about his job." She said.
As soon as they reached home, they found the old man seated so exhausted outside the house. Apparently, he was having trouble breathing and he was almost lost. He was already weak, as he aged.
"Where does he work?" Yuta asked out of curiosity. "He's a librarian at town." Seora replied. "Sometimes, he helped others to carry logs back to the village in winter. He worked too much at that age." She said and somehow, she thought of her father who was also sick.
Seora missed him, she never failed to see him every night before bed back in the palace, but she had to set that aside now. She had to leave so no harm would come to her father in any way.
"That's easy, I can help."
Yuta's suggestion sounded absurd to her. She wanted to take over his job, Yuta was out of the picture. Besides, they only met. "No, it's not your duty." She said and became silent. She was speaking in royalty again, something she couldn't help at times.
However, the male took it as a joke. "Your Highness, I can assure you my fine doing. Please, allow me to help." He mimicked her, yet he put on a smile which seemed to brighten up the mood.
"We barely know each other, this is too much." Seora said. "I consider this as an opportunity to grow closer with you." Again, he smiled. Seora couldn't bare to stare at him for long, she felt her heart skipped a beat just by his smile.
"Nonsense." She scoffed but couldn't help to grin. "I'm doing this." Seora said and stood up. Yuta got up as well, "You can't stop me either, I'll do it with you." He said. He didn't lie when he wanted to grow closer to her, because he was indeed attracted to her.
For the first time, Yuta might've found love in the longest time of his life. He just didn't know how to tell her yet, he wasn't a professional in that area.
《—♡ 》
🐾 late but, Happy New Years everyone!
sorry for the late update,
but im very very busy this year so bear with me.
ps, WAYV IS OH MY GOD
so many things are happening
and its only the first week of 2019
anyways, stay tuned and thanks for reading!