The pavilion by the lake was buzzing with preparations for the evening meal. Maids set up the table and cushions while eunuchs lit up and hung lanterns. The dark purple hue of the evening sky signalized that the day was almost over and the lake’s surface shined reflecting the sunset’s beautiful color palette. And once the last rays of the sun disappear, the moon with stars would become visible finalizing a lovely picture of the day.
Everything was almost perfect for two people to share a romantic date. But “almost” wasn’t enough for Wonbeom. He wanted everything to be utter perfection which meant he was more cranky than usual. He heard servants whisper he got worse than before after a small improvement in the past. The improvement came from the Queen’s return to Wonbeom’s life. His change in character to the worst happened with her decision to divorce him. Wonbeom still had hope he could win her heart back and maybe the swings in their relationship from worse to good and back would end. For his, and apparently for the palace’s servants’ sake.
“Why it’s so bright?” Wonbeom sharply asked, looking around the pavilion. Lanterns were at every corner and some were hanging under the roof.
“Your Majesty said it’s getting darker and Your Majesty and Her Highness must see each other well,” Sangseon1Sangseon – the Head Eunuch. muttered in confusion. They brought only two lanterns before and Wonbeom ordered more, and now he felt blinded by all the light.
“It must be bright enough for us to see each other but still appear as romantic semidarkness,” Wonbeom said it especially slowly, annoyed he had to explain obvious things. “Remove at least two-thirds of it!”
The Queen would come at any minute and everything still looked out of place. He ordered to prepare snacks and everything for tea instead of heated food because he was afraid it would get cold by the time the Queen would join. Now he doubted this decision and maybe a warm meal would be a better choice considering the chilling weather by the late evening. He also prepared a bouquet of flowers he picked himself in the gardens. Wonbeom yet again chided himself mentally for not knowing which flowers the Queen prefered. As a result, he ended up picking various flowers and the bouquet didn’t look very balanced. He could only hope the Queen would find his efforts cute and reveal what flowers she likes.
Wonbeom sighed, he was hopeless. A damn fool! He wished to start having those dates right away but maybe a one-day delay could give him time to prepare a perfect first date.
“Your Majesty! I see Her Highness procession coming!” Sangseon excitedly informed him.
Wonbeom looked at the road and saw it too, the Queen and her maids were slowly walking towards the pavilion. He noted that for the evening meal the Queen changed her attire to sky blue chima and deep blue dangui which complimented her fair skin. Of course, with mesmerizing beauty like hers, it was no wonder every color looked good on her.
The Queen graciously walked up the steps to the pavilion and appeared before Wonbeom with her head slightly down:
“Jeonha2Jeonha – Your Majesty.,” she greeted him and finally raised her eyes to look at him. “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long…”
Wonbeom hardly heard what she was saying. Her mouth moved and her soft voice felt nice to his ears but he was too distracted by her beauty to make out her words.
“Jeonha?” the Queen stepped closer, looking into his eyes worriedly. “Are you feeling alright? Your face and neck turned red.” She observed him with sincere concern: “Do you have an allergy perhaps?
“What?” Wonbeom blinked hearing an unfamiliar word; that turned his attention back to reality. “There were so many lanterns just a moment ago, it felt heated, Jungjeon3Jungjeon – Queen or My Queen..” He made up an excuse to hide that he simply felt flustered.
He lowered his voice: “What is allergy?”
The Queen froze as if she only now realized the word was out of time she was currently living. Wonbeom didn’t mind, he got used to hearing Bong Hwan dropping so many unfamiliar words that naturally found their way into Wonbeom’s, Hong’s, and Hwa Jin’s vocabulary. The only one who wasn’t fascinated by the future was Yeongpyeong, therefore, he successfully avoided using new words in daily life.
“Allergy… is when your body rejects something it doesn’t like,” she explained after a pause.
Wonbeom nodded, understandingly. The Queen suddenly stepped closer to him, lowering her voice:
“It’s very serious, allergy could kill!” The Queen whispered to him, glancing at the servants. “If someone knows what can cause a reaction, it could be used against you…”
Wonbeom stilled for a moment, not sure how to react to a very serious topic she just raised with such a cute conspiratorial-like whisper. And then he laughed, sincerely, as he didn’t laugh for a long time:
“Queen Dowager should be mindful of what she does and speak. Jungjeon become a dangerous enemy with all new knowledge!”
The Queen looked less amused with his loud laughter: “It’s a serious matter, Jeonha. I spent a lot of my time in the future discovering rare medical conditions and how to treat them…”
She suddenly seemed uncomfortable, awkwardly stepping away from him and shifting her gaze to the lake’s surface.
“There was a lot more I could learn but my mind got interested in this topic. People in the future won’t treat all diseases with needles. And I wanted to know what I might recognize as a disease and how can I help…”
It seemed this was very important to her and Wonbeom bushed himself for treating her words so lightly. He didn’t mean to make fun of her and her knowledge, on the contrary, he thought very highly of her.
“My apologies, Jungjeon, I was just teasing you but now I see it could seem inappropriate,” Wonbeom took a bouquet of flowers he prepared and nodded to the servants to leave them alone. “Can we start over?”
“There’s no need for apology…” as the Queen turned to face him, Wonbeom reached out flowers to her face, making her stop halfway through her sentence.
“I picked them on my way here,” Wonbeom tried to sound smooth, hiding his nervousness.
He usually never had problems communicating with women. But most of the time women got interested in him first while with the Queen things were always different. She liked him first like other women did but gave up by now. He never wooed his way into women’s hearts before. It was hard for him to read the Queen’s emotions especially when lightning was so poor, he couldn’t say if her cheeks had a hint of blush or not.
“You don’t like it?” Wonbeom quietly asked at last. “I wasn’t sure which flowers you like and pick a bit of everything from our gardens.”
“That’s not it, Jeonha,” she finally raised her eyes to him, smiling shyly. “I saw you handing over flowers to someone else so many times, I never expected my turn would come one day. Thank you, I will cherish them.”
Wonbeom ignored the first part that reminded him he courted another woman before her and was boosted with confidence hearing the second part.
“Shall we?” he made a gesture with a hand inviting her to the table. “I prepared sweets and tea for us tonight. It’s a special jasmine tea I always drink to sleep better. I figured after an exhausting day like today you would need some too.”
“That’s very considerate of you, Jeonha,” she followed him to the table and sat opposite him.
“Was there anything else in the future Jungjeon liked? An unusual food maybe?” Wonbeom curiously asked as he put tea leaves in the pot. He was happy all servants were gone and he could make a tea for the Queen himself.
“There’s a restaurant where unhealthy food is done quickly but it’s so delicious, it’s called McDonald-du,” the Queen was so excited talking about it that she even moved above the table closer to Wonbeom. “I will miss a good burger and cola with ice.”
She sighed and the corners of her lips lowered expressing melancholy:
“I miss cheesecake,” she continued dreamingly, looking somewhere up. “And beer, can we at least have a beer in Joseon?” she pleaded as she shifted her gaze back to him as if on his will alone everything she wished for could appear before them.
“I never heard of beer, Jungjeon, is it some sort of cake?” Wonbeom blinked in confusion. “I will order the royal chef to prepare it for you tomorrow!”
“Beer is a drink, Jeonha,” she explained with a light laugh. “It has bubbles and foam, you drink it and eat dried seafood like octopuses or fish.”
“Sounds very unusual,” Wonbeom smiled loving seeing her enthusiasm. “I wish I could try it too. We here got only what Chef Jang could make with his knowledge. Did your preferences in food change? Didn’t you miss food from home?”
The Queen paused for a moment to think before answering with a soft smile: “My home appeared in my dreams a lot. I would sit in our gazebo with a wonderful night view of the river and trees. My father and orabeoni4Orabeoni – how the sister refers to her brother in the family. would listen to my play on gayageum5Gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument.…”
Wonbeom continued to smile and hoped the Queen wouldn’t notice a hint of sadness in his gaze. She described her natal home. Of course she did. And people close to her were there. Everyone but him.
“Choi Sanggung6Choi Sanggung – sanggung is the 5th senior rank court lady, Choi is her last name. Sanggung is the highest rank attainable by a court lady. was there too,” the Queen looked at the servants waiting for them outside the pavilion. She smiled at her friend even though she couldn’t hear her words.
“The palace has the best sweets,” she suddenly changed the subject back to food. “I will miss this,” she picked a white round handmade candy showing it to Wonbeom before eating it.
“I’m glad not everything in the palace Jungjeon resents,” Wonbeom let out a chuckle.
She looked strangely at him: “There are a lot of things I do not resent here, Jeonha.”
The time seemed stopped and the lighting of lanterns twinkled in the Queen’s eyes. Wonbeom remembered their first night together. The warmth of her gaze with a hint of sadness. He was too clouded by his own feelings to notice her sorrowful look. He sees it now, without a doubt. There are feelings buried deep in her heart, Wonbeom was sure of it. She mourns those feelings. But Wonbeom wasn’t ready to let go. If there’s this melancholy, if her feelings for him are there somewhere behind her sad eyes then he can bring everything back.
“Your jasmine tea is ready, Jeonha,” the Queen whispered shifting on her seat awkwardly.
It was those moments where they were drawn into each other’s eyes and apparent shyness from them both that made Wonbeom believe in them more. And he was ready to make a move.
“There’s something I heard about the future,” he poured tea in two cups. “Jungjeon, would you share this cup of tea with me in 21st-century style?”
The Queen looked confused, raising her brows in silent question.
“I guess this is something you didn’t have a chance to discover in your adventure,” Wonbeom smirked.
He slid his cushion around the table and appeared right before her. She looked at him in shock when he intertwined their arms and their faces became inches away, they could breathe each other’s air.
“I never saw anyone drinking like that,” the Queen whispered, peering into his eyes. With them being so close, Wonbeom finally could spot her blushing.
“It’s a tradition saved for a special occasion,” Wonbeom lowered his voice, making it hoarse, the exact way he believed it sounded the most appealing.
Without leaving each other’s eyes, they lifted their cups and drank their tea. They lowered the cups but didn’t move away, getting lost in the moment. The Queen’s lips appeared wet from the drink. Almost irresistible for Wonbeom. He wanted to kiss them so badly. He knew it would be too early. If he makes a mistake tonight she will never agree to another date again.
“Today is our first day,” Wonbeom whispered instead.
“What?” The Queen shuddered as if she had come out of a trance. “The first day?”
“Yes,” Wonbeom blinked in confusion, was he wrong? It was the first day of the dates she agreed on. “Today is our first day, is it not?”
“Don’t say that!” She untangled their arms and moved away. “You know what it really means, don’t you?”
Wonbeom was beyond confused by her sudden reaction: “I assume it means exactly what I said, what other definition could those words have?”
The Queen squinted her eyes, observing him, probably deciding if he was telling the truth or not.
“You play dumb so well, sometimes it’s hard to tell,” she said, putting the cup down on the table. “I think it’s enough for one day, Jeonha, have a good night.”
She raised to her feet and bowed before going away. It happened so fast that Wonbeom had barely a chance to react, as he still was lost in his thoughts about what he did wrong to spook her that way.
“Wait!” He jumped on his feet and rushed after her, catching the Queen right before the stairs leading outside the pavilion. “This is not all I prepared today, could you please stay for longer?”
She sighed and looked at him: “It was a long exhausting day, Jeonha.”
“You won’t have to do anything, Jungjeon,” Wonbeom assured her. “I’ve set up a boat ride across the lake. Would you join me?”
“I really don’t think we should have something so romantic,” she made another step to the stairs and Wonbeom quickly moved to stand right before her. “Jeonha!”
“I already prepared a boat and would look ridiculous if I didn’t go as planned,” Wonbeom rambled fast, making up a reason on the spot. “And if I go all alone, I would look even weirder!” The Queen didn’t look convinced, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Please save me!” He desperately shouted and for some reason, it worked. The Queen’s strict expression softened. “Save me from an awkward situation,” Wonbeom repeated more calmly.
“Jeonha had no problem appearing as a fool before,” the Queen muttered but Wonbeom could tell by her face that she’d given up to his reasoning.
“Just a refreshing activity before going to bed,” Wonbeom assured her, leading her away from the pavilion to the lake’s shore where the boat was prepared.
Wonbeom climbed onto the boat first and then gallantly offered his hand to assist the Queen in safely stepping aboard as well. She reluctantly accepted his hand and lifted her skirts with her other hand as she carefully stepped onto the boat.
“Don’t you think the mist will appear over the lake soon, Jeonha?” The Queen asked, observing the lake’s expanse. The temperature of water and air was vastly different in Autumn, and a hint of fog started to appear above the waters.
“Do not worry, Jungjeon,” Wonbeom smugly said. “The boat is in good hands and a little bit of mist won’t interrupt our journey.”
He sat across her, his lips forming a smirk as he slowly started rolling his sleeves up. His bright red Gonryongpo7Gonryongpo – the scarlet dragon robe. had wide sleeves, the ones Wonbeom used to hide letters sometimes, and he easily rolled them up to his elbow. He planned to show off his arms as he would use paddles. And he heard women enjoy the sight of nice trained arms with veins tensing with effort. But a little bit too late, Wonbeom realized the fatal flaw in his plan: he had an undershirt with tighter sleeves. Without dropping a smile, he tried to roll them up as well, and he spectacularly failed in it. He wondered if his failure to impress her was a payment for his previous sins before the Queen.
“Is everything alright, Jeonha?” The Queen’s look was half amused half curious as she observed his silly attempts to release his arms from sleeves.
Wonbeom tried a bit more but it was hopeless, the more he moved, the more silk of his Gonryongpo slid back as he worked on his undershirt sleeve. It was pointless. He needed a completely different hanbok8Hanbok – a general word for clothes. for his plan but he didn’t think this through today, focusing only on working out to make his arms look more appealing.
“Everything is alright, I just wanted to row more comfortably but, apparently, I chose the wrong attire for a boat ride,” he joked, trying to act as unbothered by his failure as possible.
The Queen, luckily, didn’t push this conversation further but her minor smile didn’t escape Wonbeom’s attention. At least she’s amused, he tried to calm himself. He’s ready to be her fool if it works.
Paddles were raised and dived into the water smoothly as Wonbeom rowed the boat far away from the shore. He wanted them to have at least one moment completely alone without servants curiously watching them interact. The Queen lowered her one hand to the water and her thin fingers slid on the surface as the boat sailed. Wonbeom admired her beautiful profile as she observed the water lilies and her smile was his biggest reward for the night.
“Jeonha was right, it is refreshing,” she turned to look at him. “And the scenery is very beautiful as well.”
“And Jungjeon was right about the mist,” Wonbeom noted, the mist was getting thicker, and soon no scenery would be seen.
“It’s just giving a journey a mysterious touch, don’t you read romance novels at all?” She teased him giggling.
“As the King I must reach excellence at everything and I will definitely read some novels to catch up,” he agreed jokingly. His response was followed by the Queen’s sincere laugh ringing across the lake.
After the lossy start of the date, the boat ride seemed to improve evening significantly. The Queen looked relaxed as she lay on the stern of the boat and reached out her hand to caress the passing lilies or glide her fingers across the water.
Their conversation went smoothly and naturally as if they had hundreds of dates. Wonbeom still wanted to know everything about her; all those simple facts like favorite flowers or time of the day. But despite lacking knowledge about her favorite things, Wonbeom felt like he actually knew her for a long time. He felt it on a non-material level. His soul knew her. And his soul told him she was the one.
“What are you thinking Jeonha?” The Queen curiously asked. She sat straight now observing him attentively. Looked like the Queen noticed his attention wandered a bit from their conversation.
“I…” He paused, can he really say what was in his mind just a moment ago? He was afraid his words would spook her and she wouldn’t agree to another meeting ever again.
Wonbeom cleared his throat awkwardly: “I think we need to go back.”
He maneuvered the boat around when the sudden pain in his right shoulder made him audibly gasp. He felt sore for some time but thought it was nothing serious until that moment.
“Jeonha?” The Queen worriedly moved forward on her seat. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, yes,” Wonbeom quickly assured her. But it was a lie. Every move of his shoulder caused so much pain.
“You doesn’t look good,” the Queen wasn’t fooled. “Were Jeonha injured when you saved me from those men from a couple of days ago?”
Wonbeom shook his head at first but froze for a moment, considering an idea.
“Could be,” Wonbeom agreed. It wasn’t true. He was dumb enough to overwork himself today to appear in a better light before her. He was simply tired and his muscles were in pain because of the unusual workload. But her worried eyes and voice made him want to be injured after he bravely saved her. It’s a much better story.
“I don’t remember your injury though,” the Queen frowned.
“I… I wasn’t cut but many injuries could appear deeper without showing outside,” Wonbeom had to continue with this story.
“Can you move your arm?” She asked then, touching his shoulder.
Wonbeom dramatically sighed: “I don’t think I can, Jungjeon.”
That was true on his part. If he really overworked that hard, his arm would be in pain for a day at least before recovering. He looked behind the Queen, to where the shore was supposed to be but because of the mist, he saw nothing. They were too far away.
That thought probably appeared in Queen’s mind as well. Her eyes widened as she looked at him and Wonbeom nodded confirming it. All of sudden she jumped on her feet, startling Wonbeom and rocking the boat dangerously.
“Choi Sanggung!” The Queen yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to sound louder.
“Careful, Jungjeon,” Wonbeom moved forward to hold her despite the pain in his arm. He wanted to secure her but hesitated to actually touch her. Would it be alright to hold her waist? Or shoulders?
“Choi Sanggung! Yeon-ah!” The Queen desperately shouted completely ignoring him and his attempts to hold her.
“We are too far away,” Wonbeom calmly tried to explain. “Even if they hear us, they don’t see where we are because of the mist.”
The Queen tried a few more times and finally gave up, sitting back and rocking the boat again.
“What do we do now?” She looked hopeless and distressed. “Wait until the morning? No, no, no, I didn’t agree to that!” Her despair quickly transformed into anger.
She glanced sharply at him and Wonbeom felt like two daggers cut him right in his head. If the look could hurt, it was the one. He never saw her being actually angry. It was a powerful and fascinating look and Wonbeom hated it was turned to him. He would prefer to watch it from a side when others experience it.
“We can do only one thing,” she shook her head. “Move, Jeonha.”
At first, he thought she was suggesting for him to swim back in the cold water despite the pain, but soon he understood that she didn’t mean for him to go overboard from the boat. He sighed in relief when he realized she just wanted to switch places.
“Looks like it’s my turn to roll up my sleeves,” the Queen sarcastically noted. Unlike Wonbeom she did it fast and easily.
“Jungjeon, you don’t have to, just give me a bit more time to rest,” Wonbeom felt so embarrassed. He wished for one smooth date but got another instance of mood swings. And it all was his fault. He planned everything poorly from the start.
“Are you ready to spend the night on the boat to save your dignity?” The Queen raised a brow. “Or would you let me take care of both of us?”
Wonbeom gave up, leaving his place so she could sit by paddles.
“I guess, my reputation of a fool will remain for longer,” Wonbeom mumbled, shifting awkwardly on his new seat at the boat’s bow.
Meanwhile, the Queen confidently took paddles and started rowing. Wonbeom pretended he ignored her cursing under her breath, it was obvious she was taking her steam out as the boat slid across the lake. He felt uneasy, not sure how to behave and what to do. The guilt and humiliation were eating him alive through the whole ride back. He looked to the shore and could already tell where the lanterns were, their warm yellow light was already seen. The servants’ figures on the other hand still appeared as outlines. But the closer they got to the shore, the more Wonbeom recognized them.
“Tell me… is the shore… near?” she breathed out between her teeth. Her cheeks were red from rowing for so long and Wonbeom was sure her hands and chest would hurt a lot tomorrow.
“We almost there,” Wonbeom assured her. “I can recognize the head eunuch and your maids already.”
She mumbled something close to “good” or maybe another curse, Wonbeom wasn’t sure anymore.
“I must apologize,” Wonbeom started, he wanted to tell her that before their concerned servants started buzzing around them once the boat approached the shore. “This is not what I planned. I will send you a royal physician right away!”
To his surprise, the Queen laughed: “I read so many silly plots in romance novels, they always appeared ridiculous and unbelievable. Now I know there is some truth in them!”
“Still, I am sorry. I will plan better next time,” he promised.
He felt like the boat hit the shore and heard servants rushing to them. Now when they came back, he felt sad because they had to part ways. He hadn’t had a chance to ask all of his questions to know her better. And to his disappointment, the Queen didn’t ask about anything related to him.
“You must take better care of your health,” was the only thing the Queen said leaving paddles loose.
“You’re burying me too early,” Wonbeom tried to make an awkward joke. But apparently, it was an awful joke. The Queen’s face changed suddenly, and a horrified expression was easy to read on her. “It was just a joke, Jungjeon.”
“Choi Sanggung!” the Queen called for her maid as she abruptly raised to her feet. She jumped out of the boat with such elegance her skirts didn’t get wet or dirty by shore mud as he landed perfectly on the grass.
Wonbeom didn’t have a chance to even wish her a good night. All he could do was watch her walking away in the entourage of her maids. He heard her whining cutely to Choi Sanggung about her arms hurting.
“Are you alright, Your Majesty,” the head eunuch asked Wonbeom.
Wonbeom smiled: “I think I am.”
Maybe it wasn’t the best date. Maybe he didn’t learn as much as he wished to. But still, any time spent with the Queen made him happy.
“You always make a fool out of me…” he whispered as he saw the Queen briefly looking back at him. A fleeting smirk appeared on Wonbeom’s face as he accepted his fate to be the Queen’s fool.
==== POST CREDIT SCENE ===
Hong’s office was always a place where Wonbeom could freely do anything he liked without the pressure of being watched all the time. He could read military books in their original covers or work out as much as he liked and no worries troubled him. It was his quiet place of freedom.
Now it wasn’t that quiet.
Today, Wonbeom gave in to Chef Jang’s whining and allowed him to tag along with them. Yeongpyeong of course opposed that idea but between Bong Hwan’s threat to visit Oktajeong9Oktajeong is a kisaeng house. and Yeongpyeong’s displeasure Wonbeom chose to tolerate his brother’s annoyance.
Chef Jang really knew how to convince people.
At first, Chef Jang just boasted about his muscles then almost cried that he missed them so much. His ramblings weren’t that distracting. Dul Il showed empathy he was capable of, nodding and saying comforting words. That allowed Wonbeom and his brother to focus on the military book in peace.
But once they started arguing on the old and outdated tactics the office just became too noisy. Because the biggest-walking-disturbance decided to visit them: Kim Hwan, one of the countless Queen’s cousins. And when he met with Bong Hwan in Queen’s form, not recognizing his cousin in a male hanbok, conversations in the office became too loud.
“I told you we shouldn’t have let him come with us,” Yeongpyeong shook his head, watching Bong Hwan chatting with both Kim Hwan and Dul Il. One person who talked without a filter was alright but two, that was too much.
Wonbeom and Yeongpyeong decided to continue their discussion despite Kim Hwan’s presence. The young master from the Kim clan wasn’t very bright and couldn’t even recognize the Queen and King. Besides, he was too invested in whatever Bong Hwan was bubbling about.
“Just because the book was written centuries ago doesn’t mean the fighting tactics are outdated. On the contrary, they have been proven time and time again on the battlefield,” Yeongpyeong came back to their argument.
“But Hyeong-nim10Hyeong-nim – a male addressing to the brother., the progress the world got in just recent few decades was huge. When this book was written the firearms weren’t invented yet!” Wonbeom retorted. “Look how the author positions every group, it’s an easy target!”
As they had their heated debate, on another side of the office the rest of the men were having a completely different topic for discussion: women.
“… flowers work every time. Just give her a bouquet with some common pick-up line and she’ll melt,” Bong Hwan shared his wisdom in wooing women. “I picked them up on my way here,” he leaned across the table handing imaginary flowers to Kim Hwan.
“Brilliant! I’m sure it’ll work!” Kim Hwan clapped enthusiastically.
“Ridiculous,” Yeongpyeong snorted rolling his eyes. Their argument died down as the other conversation was too distracting.
“But women these days have higher expectations, would the flowers be enough?” Dul Il was sitting with an inked brush and piece of paper where he wrote down everything.
“Of course not! You must prove your worth later on but first, you must impress her,” Bong Hwan explained. “You must invite her and do something cool, otherwise you have zero chances.”
“What could that be?” Hong prepared to make more notes listening attentively.
Without knowing, Wonbeom shifted forward on his seat as if it could help him to hear better. His brother who sat across from him also showed some interest in that information, turning his head slightly.
Meanwhile, Bong Hwan scratched his chin as he mumbled to himself: “… there’s no cars… or amusement park… hmmmm… what can they do in Joseon?”
The Chef seemed to think thoroughly about his answer. His, or rather the Queen’s, brows moved into deep frowns. Everyone in the room halted their breaths waiting for him to finally give them an ultimate solution on how to impress women.
His face finally shined with excitement: “Eureka!” He clicked his fingers and smiled brightly: “A boat ride! Especially during the evening. It’s romantic, intimate and the view is great.”
“Ohhhh, good one,” Kim Hwan agreed while Director Hong wrote down every word.
“That’s not all,” Bong Hwan continued. “You can’t just show a good view, any man can do that. You must show why you’re better than everyone else.” Bong Hwan reached out one hand and elegantly shifted the sleeve up, baring thin wrists: “Good-trained arms would drive any lady mad.”
Wonbeom slowly moved the sleeve on his right hand up to check his own arm. He nodded to himself, pleased with the view. In the corner of his eyes, he noticed Yeongpyeong trying to do the same as discreetly as possible. But once his eyes met Wonbeom’s, his brother cleared his throat and straightened his sleeve.
“That’s a bit shallow, ladies don’t follow lustful desires,” Yeongpyeong rolled his eyes.
“That’s not true!” Bong Hwan argued standing up. “Women are people too, they have ambitions and desires, maybe even more than us because they are supposed to hide it!”
Wonbeom gave it a thought for a moment. Kim Soyong was definitely an ambitious woman. When the whisper through the palace started that the Queen didn’t deserve her title and someone else should be in that position instead, it hurt her greatly. On the night she drowned herself in the lake, she talked about it to Wonbeom. He thought she was just an arrogant girl who expected everyone to fall on their knees before her but he was mistaken. Looking back, he understood how important the Queen’s position was for her. He again felt regret for treating her poorly.
“Many ambitious women entered the palace through the centuries,” Yeongpyeong suddenly agreed, he knew history very well. “However, lustful desires?” He shook his head completely dismissing an idea.
“Wait until you read some of Hwa Jin’s writing,” Bong Hwan whispered to Director Hong moving his brows suggestively.
Wonbeom though completely ignored the rest of the conversation. He was still stuck in his memories of his last conversation with the Queen and her last words. She asked him to love her, desperately, on the brink of tears. Her voice vibrated with emotions. Her last words echoed in his head over and over again.
Why, oh why, he couldn’t give her a chance?
They could have saved each other from the hardships of the palace’s life. If her love could save him he could’ve done the same for her.
After all… Deep down… Somewhere in the corner of Wonbeom’s cold heart. His affection for her started blooming.
Author’s notes:
Thank you all for reading and patiently waiting for the update! Every view, like or kudos on AO3 means a lot to me <3
- Those dates between the King and Queen weren’t planned but I wanted to give this fic a bit of comedy because some parts of the fic will be pretty dark in my view. But there’s a long way to the angsty part. And of course, their first date couldn’t go smoothly lol
The King unable to move his hands because he worked out too much was inspired by my fave musical show “Galavant” where Galavant, who didn’t work out for a long time, had to prepare himself for the tournament and ended up unable to move at all because he worked too hard lmao I love this comedy show, I need to rewacth XD - If I were BH, I would clear my browser history once back home XD Information of allergy and medicine was found with searches like “how to murder the King discreetly”.
- I figured, BH doesn’t like pick up lines when it’s used on him but would definitely use it on someone else, therefore, it’s here as his advise. As I was writing it, I realized it’s a bit OOC for him to share knowledge like that. After all, he shared his recipes only because Man-bok’s life was at stake. But shhhhh, let’s ignore it, it was too fun to write. BH also very proud man, if someone complements him, he might spill all his knowledge just to boast.
Such a sweet, funny, embarrassing, but heartbreaking date! Low-key interested in watching that Galavant show now (if only I had all the time but would add it my to to-watch list).
Boyyy, I can’t wait for SY’s POV. I wonder if she is going to be a surgeon or something lolol…either that or the royal physician will lose his job.
I did think it was Director Hong that was giving WB advice…but I should’ve known better!
And stoopp—YP was sooo cute there at the end 🤭.
They are so adorable in their cringy dates lmao CJ is like Chendler from freinds: is hopeless, awkward and desperate for love!
Galavant is fun musical comedy, 2 seasons, overall 18 eps, ~20 mins long, so it won’t take too much time to watch it all. I just rewatched it and it was as fun as it was when it aired! If you do watch it, let me know how it was for you 😉
And as always, thank you for the feedback! <3