Like the First Snow

The guards have the intruder tied up with a cloth sack on his head. They kick him under his knees so that he kneels in front of their King. Wonbeom unsheathes his sword, the metallic sound ringing clearly in the stillness of the night. He points it at the man kneeling before him. This very man may have attacked his Queen and come to finish his agenda or harm the prince as well. Wonbeom’s blood boils through his veins with fury and desperation. He nods to the guards and they pull off the sack from the culprit’s head.

Wonbeom sees the familiar face and exhales loudly in disappointment.

“Spare me, Your Majesty! I beg of you!” The Royal Chef bows with his hands in front of him, face to the ground. He shakes in fear but Wonbeom can only feel irritation.

“Let him go,” he orders the guards. “Let’s go inside,” he says to Man Bok. One of the guards helps the chef get up on his feet while another one hands him the belongings they took away when they found him.

When they return inside, Court Lady Choi’s eyes widen in surprise. How sweet, Wonbeom thinks when she runs towards her husband. Or not…instead of hugging him, the court lady wallops him on his back.

“Do you know how much you startled us? I told you to stay home while I was taking care of Her Highness!” she shouts while beating her poor husband up.

Wonbeom steps away from them, stunned at the sight of their spat. He looks over at Hong Yeon who is blushing and smiling as if she is watching the most romantic thing in the world. Wonbeom assumes this must be a normal interaction for the couple. He finds himself a bit envious that the two are at least communicating. He glances at his father-in-law and catches him watching the couple with an ironic smile.

“I am worried about Her Highness too!” Man Bok tries to defend himself. “The rumors in the palace are horrible.” His tone is gruff as if to hide his concern for the Queen. “Is it that bad?”

An awkward silence falls over the room.

“We don’t know,” Court Lady Choi answers as tears appear in her eyes. “That is the problem. We do not know anything!”

“H-how…how is that possible?” Man Bok asks, bewildered.

“The Queen is missing,” Wonbeom answers. “No one must find out about that.”

They all sit by the round table to have tea while Court Lady Choi and Hong Yeon share the story with Man Bok. Lord Kim lets out a sad sigh and wipes tears from his eyes as they recount the details. They share many theories about what could have happened to the Queen, each one scarier than the other. Wonbeom feels for them, knowing that it must be difficult to be stuck in this villa, waiting for news while being trapped with their own frightening thoughts.

“So that is why you disappeared so suddenly. You barely said anything to me before you left.” Man Bok hugs his wife, trying to calm her down.

Wonbeom feels envious again and puts his teacup down on the table with more force than needed, startling everyone.

“What are you doing here anyways?” he asks curtly.

“My wife disappeared in the middle of the night to take care of the ill Queen and didn’t come home for a week…I worried a lot,” the chef says in an apologetic tone. He suddenly remembers something and pulls out a wooden box, displaying its contents. “I worried about Her Highness as well. I even made her favorite pastries.”

Man Bok places the box in the middle of the table. Inside are round pastries with coconut flakes sprinkled on top. Wonbeom has never tried them as he prefers cookies with his tea. He takes one and looks at it, thinking of his Queen.

“Did she love them before?” he murmurs to himself, not addressing anyone in particular. But Hong Yeon comes to his rescue again.

“Her Highness first tried them in the palace and has loved them ever since.”

“Is that so…” Wonbeom puts the pastry in his mouth. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and the filling is soft and tasty. He takes one more. And then another. Everyone watches him in surprise.

“I thought Your Majesty didn’t like pastries?” Man Bok asks, confused.

“Why do you think so?” Wonbeom mumbles, his mouth full of sweets now.

“You said it harms your teeth,” Man Bok answers.

“I changed my mind,” Wonbeom says nonchalantly, putting another pastry in his mouth, his cheeks puffing up like a squirrel.

At that moment something unexpected happens: everyone bursts into laughter. Even Wonbeom laughs after he manages to swallow everything down. Soyong’s father pats Man Bok on his back, laughing hard as tears appear in the corner of his eyes. After such a tense week, they need to ease some tension and there is no better way than a good laugh.

Wonbeom leaves the royal villa with mixed feelings. He still doesn’t know what has happened to Soyong, but he feels he has become a bit closer to her somehow.

Author’s notes

I hope you like that chapter, please leave comments because it inspires me to write more and faster 😉

Soyong’s cameo is in the next chapter and after that Soyong will be the center of the story, after all, it’s her adventure!

And I totally forgot to introduce the prince in the author’s notes, I deserve death, jeona! Actually no…

Hyun-ki means wise and astute. Before I started this story I made a poll to choose Prince’s name and Hyun-ki won at the last moment, he’s a fighter!