The keepers bow again as a family comes into the room, dressed in formal clothes, a man, a woman and a girl by their side.  My mother and I stand up to welcome their arrival, and we sit back down when they reach the foot of the throne, the same time the keepers stand up straight again. 

“Greetings, my Queen,” The man says, kneeling along with his family.  “And my Prince,”

“Welcome, Son Heejun-ssi, you have come a long way,” My mother speaks, her words flowing smoothly.  “And I welcome you, Son Eunbi-ssi, Son Yookyung-ssi, as Son Heejun-ssi’s wife and daughter, respectively,” She smiles, continuing.  “Will you please state the purpose of your visit, Heejun-ssi?”

“We’re here for a negotiation, Your Highness,” He says simply.

My mother nods in approval.  “Shall we move on to the dining hall, then? We’ll speak when our hunger disappear,”

At the clap of her hands, the keepers flow out of the room in a line and I find myself unable to tear my eyes away from the back of the retreating Hana.  She didn’t even glance my way once. 

Come on, come on, look at me a little, over here, ove—

The door closes and she doesn’t look at me, even the least bit.

“, huh?” Kai whispers.

I hold back my urge to punch him in the face and stand up to walk beside my mother, who was walking beside the Son Nobles. 

A pair of keepers walked behind us, leading us to the dining hall.  We are seated quickly, me on my mother’s right side, who was sitting at the head of the table and the rest of the Son family across from me.

“How is the city doing, Heejun-ssi?” My mother asks, out of formality, as the food is served on the table in silver platters.  We all know that she keeps track of the condition of all 22 cities in the country, both small and large.

“Very well, Your Highness,” The man answers.  “The cabinet and the foundations are all progressing in an orderly pace, thanks to you,” He dips his head.  He was referring to the solution my mother had given him for a huge trouble his city had suffered 3 years ago.

“You were the one who went through with it, Heejun-ssi,” My mother replies.  “And how are you, my dear?” She looks at the man’s wife. 

“I am fine, Your Highness,” The wife smiles, referring to the cure the castle doctors had personally brewed for her terrible sickness.  “Healthy as a horse,”

We all chuckle and my mother smiles at the daughter.  “And you, my dear? Have you had any men to swoon over you? Surely there must be quite a lot, you have your mother’s looks,”

When I pay attention to the family, they are a charming one indeed.  The father had a charismatic tilt to his eyebrows, his eyes sharp but gentle, with all the wrinkles that were starting to form at the corners.  The mother was a woman with a sharp jawline, beautiful with a smile on her face and stunning without one.  The daughter, though, bear a slight resemblance towards someone I’ve seen before, but I can’t put my finger on it.  She had a little nose and big eyes, something she got from her father.  Her hair was short, stopping mid-neck.  Judging from her face, she looked like she was two years younger than me.

As pretty as she was, I have another person occupying that description in my head.

“I—“ She chuckles at my mothers playful tilt of her eyebrows.  “Yes, Your Highness.  Quite a lot has met me on various set-ups and even came to the mansion on their own account,”

“And?” My mother pushes, making the family chuckle.

“And no, I have let none taken my hand,” She smiles.

“Ah, a pity,” My mother shakes her head, glancing at me. 

The lunch ends and my mother, Heejun and his wife moves into a room across the dining hall, where they are to make negotiations.  When Yookyung and I approach the door, my mother stops us.

“Why don’t you take Yookyung out on a walk, Kyungsoo?” She grins, and without waiting for an answer, makes the guards close the doors in our face.

I glance at Yookyung, who was standing beside me, mild surprise registering on her face.  “Do you mind?” I ask, sending her an apologetic smile.

“Not at all, my prince, it’s an honor.  Please, lead the way,” She says.

I take her out the castle building and turn towards the place that I suggested would delight her; the green house.

“How did you know I liked flowers?” She looks around the place in wonder, happily going through the tidy array of plants.

“You have a green thumb,” I joke and she laughs, looking at her thumbs.  “No, I notice you have that charm bracelet around your wrist and, well, suggested this,”

She lifts her wrist and looks at the bracelet I mentioned.  It was golden, the charms shaped like various types of flowers.  “You’re very observant,” Her hand goes to to politely cover her lips as she laughs.  “And your mother, she’s quite the pleasant character,”

I laugh along with her, fully agreeing.  “Yes, she does that to me and our guests; particularly the young, female ones,” I fix a pot as I continue, “And if my observing skills do not fail me, this won’t be the time where my supposed date fall for me,”

I turn to look at Yookyung and she has this  smile on her face that said both the fact that I was right and that she was sorry.  “I wish to marry at a much later age,” She says.  “I want to leave the country and study about plants a lot more,” Her hands reach out to feel the surface of a plant’s leaf.  “And I don’t deserve to be in this position, so I don’t want to be married as I am,” Her voice quiets down into nothing.

I eye her face and melancholy passes over it, quickly replaced by her gentle gaze upon the plants once more.  I could tell that she did not mean for her last sentence to slip out, so all I say was; “Don’t forget to send me flowers, then,”

We both chuckle and I smile at her when gratitude flashes in her eyes.  A murmur outside the green house distracts us, notifying us that our parents are done with their negotiations.

“We need your herbs and we’re exchanging it with our dairy product,” Yookyung says as I hold the door open for her.  “Ah, t-thank you,” She dips her head in a little bow.

“Oh, I see,” I reply to her bow and smile at her as we walk side by side.  “The negotiation probably had a lot of chit chat rather than business talk.  My mother never hesitates to share,”

“She is loved by all,” Yookyung nods.  “Except by you, for her particular habit,”

I laugh along with her and help her up her carriage, letting her hold on to my hand and politely letting go when she’s properly seated.  “I love her,” I tilt my head in my mother’s direction, smiling back at Yookyung from her carriage’s window.  “Until we meet again, Yookyung-ssi.  Good luck with your studies,”

She waves as the carriage takes her away, replying to my words.  “I’ll definitely send you those flowers,”

We part then, the dust from her carriage trailing behind her and her parents as she disappears down the hill.

“You love her?!” My mother gasps, covering with her hands.  “Oh dear me, Kyungsoo, that was fast!”

I roll my eyes and glance at her guards, chuckling along with them.  “You heard what I said, right?” I ask them and they nod.  “I’m really looking forward to her flowers, though, she looks like she’ll be good at making carnations or bouquets and handling all those greens,”

I walk away, leaving my mother confused.  “Tell her what I meant when I’m gone, guys!” I yell back before jogging into the castle, laughing.

You see how my dates always end?

Yeah, I know you do.