𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞!𝐚𝐮) 𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙

CH. 42 ~ Denial

As I walk through the elegant halls of Ocleavear's palace with Chungha and Baekhyun at my side, I can't help but feel a bit anxious as we make our way to the conference room. A day has passed since my Eohithrian friends have arrived and I've spent basically all of my time with them. We've caught up with each other as best we could and now, as I walk with this annoyingly tight and terribly scratchy purple gown, we're going in to discuss the new law Queen Lee wants to pass.

In all honesty, I'm not worried that Chungha and Baekhyun will rub off on King and Queen Kang the wrong way because they've met most of the crew and the palace peoples and they seemed fine. I'm worried that the king and queen won't allow me into the meeting.

"Are you two sure I can join?" I asked them for the hundredth time this morning, but I feel so nervous. "What if we can't convince them to say no?"

"Sun-Mi, you will be fine. And For the last time, stopaskingthatfreakingquestion!" Chungha hisses, already fed up with my incessant inquiry. We finally reach the doors of the conference room and without giving me time to prepare, Baekhyun barges in through the doors followed by Chungha and then me. The room we've entered into is not as large as the throne room but rivals it in size. I think it looks a little bit bigger because of the ample amount of sunlight coming in from the large windows all around the room.

In the center, a large round table, with what seems to be a map of the four main kingdoms spread out in the middle, has multiple chairs around it where everyone who was to attend the meeting sits, waiting for us. I scan the table, starting with the king, and then going down the line and see some people I didn't expect to be here. For sure I wasn't surprised to see Mina and Captain Jung, but I was surprised to see Yeosang and Wooyoung sitting next to their fathers. They also seem a bit surprised to see me here, smiling at me when we make eye contact.

"Good morning, I hope you slept well while you were here, Commander Baekhyun and First-Lady Chungha." King Kang addresses the with that apathetic tone he used on the first day here. The three of us bow respectfully in return to him.

"We absolutely did. Thank you very much," Chungha expresses, putting on a charming smile. She's always had that eye-catching quality which is why I was drawn to her the day we met. Her suave demeanor causes the King to smile, pleased by her delightfulness. I even catch Yeosang staring at her little bit too enticed after recognizing her. He seems almost excited to see her again which is cute.

"Good to hear," Queen Kang interrupts whatever was going on with a little bit of a scowl. "Also, may I ask what she is doing here? I believe this meeting was strictly a need-to-know type thing." Her passive-aggressive undertone sounds so familiar to Yeosang's. I can tell it runs in the family.

"Actually, because she was a princess and is an Eohithrian, we decided to invite her. I was her First-Lady after all," Chungha does all the talking which Baekhyun and I don't mind. "If it's alright with you of course," she adds at the end. The King and Queen seem to think about it for a sec before being interrupted by Mina.

"Mother, I don't think it is wise to let some random person listen in on kingdom affairs."

"Oh, calm down, Mina. You don't want her here because you know she has Seonghwa wrapped around her finger, unlike you. Now sit down and let her join," Yeosang shoots at her bluntly which catches all of us off guard.

"Yeosang! Manners!" His mother chides and he rolls his eyes.

"My bad, but I believe strongly that she should be allowed to stay. After all, she is an enchantress," he informs his parents smoothly. This seems to grab everyone's attention.

"Enchantress?" Queen Kang repeats befuddled, looking at me with a furrowed brow. "How can that be? The last one was killed and from what we know, she didn't have a successor."