Chapter #21:

            The Majestic.

“Can you please stand up for a bit?” Haejin who was busy nervously staring down at her shoes for the past hour, tipped her head up immediately to gaze at one of the castle stylists that have been called there to help her get ready for the big ceremony later. The light, little moment that she had in the morning with her husband and the bubbling giddiness that came with it was soon to dissipate into the thin air, as soon as she stepped out of the room to find Baekhyun already gone. She didn’t know whether she was happy about that fact or sad; since the embarrassment came crashing down on her with an extremely increased intensity once she was alone in the vicinity of the washroom along with her thoughts. Later on, she had managed to find out that her husband was busy completing the work that he had left behind the previous day to go out with her. She felt bad about it, but Xiumin was quick to console her by saying that he had already completed half of the Baekhyun’s work before they came back that day. Still, she was a little bit worried because her husband was supposed to present that work in one of the important meetings before the ceremony; now that she thinks about it- all his meetings are important.

The life of a King, ugh…

Hours passed by since then and Haejin was extremely gleeful to admit that all of her concerns were futile. Baekhyun probably aced that meeting like he always does, leaving behind all those old people in shock with his witty tongue and brain; at least she hopes he did that. Oh- who was she kidding? She was sure he did just that.

“What?”

“Umm…can you stand up, please?” The stylist repeated herself politely, but Haejin can sense the underlying irritation in her voice. That was the thing with people over here, especially the female population. They pretended to be so respectful towards her, but in reality, they all seemed to hate her for one reason or another. The poor girl was not going to fool herself because she may or may not have an inkling idea about what the whole deal was about. They were jealous of her. They were jealous of her because she had Baekhyun; the young, hot, witty King. She gets them, though. What else could a girl ask for?

Only if they knew about his nonexistent knowledge on romance they would think twice before hating me.

Haejin snapped her head towards the other side of the room when she heard a mischievous snicker. Of course, her husband would be there to see her embarrassing herself to no end. What was new? No. He hadn’t just arrived at the crime scene if that’s what you guys are thinking. He had been in the room ever since the meeting ended about half an hour ago. She threw him a scathing glare- which of course, he failed to catch- before sending a fake, sweet smile towards the stylist; who was busy ogling her husband down.

What’s so good about him?

The obviously jealous queen thought to herself in defiance and glared at her husband once again; who was looking extremely delectable while lying on the bed like that. He was already ready for the ceremony; the royal blue coat with a belt in the middle that he had adorned along with the silver sash that was seated along with his chest in a crisscross manner screamed power and authority; his piercings, messy gelled raven locks, and kohl-rimmed eyes only added to the effect. The only thing that was missing was his crown that was sitting on the dressing table still in its glass safe.

Jeez! Can’t she just stop staring at him?

Her husband was doing nothing. Really! But that fact alone made her seethe with anger even more because damn the standing in front of her won’t stop staring at him. Pushing down her irritation, she stood up from the stool she was sitting on and tapped the stylist’s shoulder to bring her back to the real world.

“Uh- uhm! Y-Yeah. Please, face the mirror so I can fix your dress properly…My Queen.” The stylist awkwardly cleared and started fumbling with her dress with shaking hands. Haejin had a hunch that the honorific added at the end of the sentence was more of an afterthought than an honor which pissed her off further if possible. Instead of giving her an answer (Haejin was sure she would have thrown curses at the stylist otherwise) Haejin once again threw the stylist a discreet glare and indignantly faced the mirror as she was instructed.

She is so lucky that I didn’t smack her in the face.

The pissed of queen thought to herself in anger and shifted her gaze up to fume at her husband once again through the mirror. However, all the anger in her body was quickly replaced by embarrassment as soon as she caught him staring right back at her with his slanted eyes and lips tipped up in a cocky smirk. He knew it. He knew that she was getting jealous and that arrogant bastard was clearly enjoying it.

Damn him!

Haejin knew she was the ultimate definition of flustered at the moment if the way her stylist was giving her a weird out expression was to prove anything. Ignoring the stylist completely, the young queen decided to follow her husband’s movements with her eyes. It’s not like she could do anything else. She was totally captivated by his alluring gaze; she could not escape it even if she wanted to. It was scary; the way her husband always seems to have a strong affect on her with his small actions, the way he could make her feel jealous so easily, the way he could hold her captive even without moving his finger. It was scary and she hated to admit that she liked it. She liked the rush, the anticipation and the adrenaline that came with it; she was addicted to it by now.

Ughh! I hate him.

Haejin did not miss the way Baekhyun purposely tipped his head back slightly to bare his gorgeous neckline for her feasting eyes and she clearly did not miss the way his provocative gaze (which was anything, but modest) skimmed her body up and down; making her feel hot and self-conscious. It was not like she was not confident with her looks. No. She was pretty confident. Call her narcissist, but she knew she was looking beautiful. The reflection in the mirror in front of her just proved her point further. It was just the fact that it seems to be the first time, her husband looks smitten away with the way she was looking. She could practically feel his raw desire and hunger for herself from his immodest gaze alone. She assures you that the shiver that went up her spine was totally involuntary.

What the hell?

This was not right. What the hell was he trying to do? There was a freaking stranger in their room (one who has been ogling him for the past half an hour if she must add). How could he possibly be pulling out such a stunt? Flustered, Haejin quickly averted her gaze away from the mirror and fixed it on the small crack that was barely visible on the surface of the wooden dressing table that was placed in front of her. Suddenly everything in the room seemed to be way more interesting than her husband and the poor girl blamed it on the embarrassment that she was feeling at that moment.

“You can sit back down. I need to set the tiara on your head.” Haejin snapped her head towards the stylist in panic as soon as she heard that. All the nervousness and anxiety that she was going through earlier came back with a new found intensity. In her earlier thrift with Baekhyun, she had totally forgotten about the real reason that why she was so nervous. She was scared; a lot. It was the first time that she was ever going to be crowned. She was afraid of all the responsibilities that would be laid down on her shoulders once the tiara was on her head; once she will walk out of this room in front of so many people. People might think it was just a piece of metal embedded with jewels, but it was not. It was a burden; a huge burden that made her responsible for the well-being of the people of two large Kingdoms. She was scared that she wasn’t good enough, that she was not the one for the job. She was scared to mess things up. The thought of it alone terrified her to the bones and she was sure it was all clearly written on her face.

“You can leave.” Baekhyun’s sudden command that rang loud and clear in the otherwise silent room snapped her out of her thoughts. Unsurprisingly, her husband didn’t fail to notice her discomfort and fear. It would explain why he had told the stylist to step out of the room. Haejin gaze unconsciously traveled towards her husband again who was still lying on the bed in the same position that she had left him in before; the only difference being the way his slender fingers were skillfully playing with the expensive ring that he has endowed his finger with.

“But, I have-” The stylist started to protest- clearly not happy with the way she was being sent out by the subject of her affection- before she was firmly cut off by Baekhyun.

“Do I have to repeat myself?” The young queen was fast to notice the way the poor stylist gulped at the stern tone that her husband has used. The scared girl shook her head in denial immediately and scampered around the room to collect her things as quickly as she could.

“Now!” The way Baekhyun spat out the command even shocked his wife. To say that, she was bewildered to hear her husband speaking like that won’t be a lie; because she was. She had never heard him talking like that to anyone; most certainly not herself but then again he was the King. The way he spoke to his wife was definitely supposed to be different from the other people out there and it was the first time Haejin was seeing that difference in such a raw form; it was actually the very first time she was even noticing it. The way Baekhyun spoke now with so much finality and firmness in his voice was the way a King should speak to get his point across the other person’s mind in his first attempt. If not, he was supposed to show the people in front of him their real place. No matter, how rude or bad it sounded it was what his role as a ruler demanded from him and it was certainly what her role as a queen demanded from her too. Haejin knew she can never be that way. She can never be rude to people, she can never get her point across them. It was actually contrary. She was weak and she was afraid that people will somehow manage to harm her husband due to her incapability.

“Y-Yes.” Haejin followed the stylist’s figure with her eyes, as she dropped all the things back on their places and made a beeline for the room’s door without a single glance in their direction. It was then when the door of the room was slammed shut once again, did she notice her husband; who was walking in her direction already.

“Sit.”

“Huh?”

“Why is everyone making me repeat my words today? I said sit.” He claimed with the roll of his eyes and instructed her to sit while pointing towards the stool she was sitting on a while ago. Haejin wanted to retort back something snappy, but in the end decided to keep shut and did what he say because she didn’t want to be the subject of his wrath like the stylist earlier was.

 He looked scary.

“You looked really nervous just now.” Her husband claimed off-handedly and carefully fetched out the tiara from the glass safe that was placed right next to his crown. Haejin knew what he was going to do next. He was going to bring the tiara to her and talk her into wearing it claiming that it won’t make a big difference, but it would. She knew it would and she was not going to let him talk his way through this all.

“I don’t-” She started when he started making his way back towards her, but was immediately cut off by her husband.

“Haejin I know what’s going throw that pretty little head of yours and I know that I’m not the only one in this room who thinks that it’s utterly stupid.” There it was- out in the open. Yes, she knew it was stupid. She knew that there was no use of thinking and feeling all of these things since she was already married to Baekhyun. There was nothing that could be done. No one else could take her place now. It was rightfully hers. It was her fate. It was what world has decided for her the moment she was born. It didn’t matter whether she married Baekhyun or not; she was the crown princess of the Moonlight. She was ought to take this responsibility no matter what. Haejin lowered her head in silence when she found herself at the loss of words and watched through her peripheral vision as her husband carefully settled himself down on the dressing table in front of her; effectively blocking her from seeing her reflection in the mirror. It was oddly comforting; his presence it soothed her nerves, but she was not going to admit that to him anytime soon. Silence blanketed the sphere around them as both parties refused to utter another word.

“This tiara- it belonged to my mother,” It was Baekhyun who finally relented with a sigh and spoke up first. Haejin hesitantly tipped her head up to stare at her husband. He was carefully tracing out the delicate patterns on the tiara as if applying a slight amount of pressure would ruin its beauty. The care with which he was handling it told her that it was not because of the expensive metal or jewels that were used to make it. It was something else, the reason why it was so important to him; something way deeper than that.

“My birth mother.” He continued and finally lifted his gaze up from the tiara to stare at her face. His eyes at that moment were so alive, so beautiful, so captivating. In