“Jihoon. I hear you were rather unhospitable to our guest.”

A silence fell upon the room as the spoon on its way to Jihoon’s mouth froze.

“Got her entirely drenched through in the rain. Made her walk without her shoes or hat! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Jihoon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the spoon to continue to his mouth.

“Oh, Queen Dowager, please don’t be upset with Hoonie,” Hayi broke in her own, bubbly way. “It was my idea. I wanted to run in the rain.”

“Oh, nonsense, dear.” The Queen Dowager patted Hayi’s hand condescendingly. “Jihoon should have looked out for you and been more careful. You should never have been out on the lawn for that long. I’m sure he’ll be able to make it up to you someday, won’t you, Jihoon?”

The sharp edge of his mother’s tone almost made him cringe. Almost. “Of course,” he responded coolly.

“In fact, mother,” Joshua intervened, “Jihoon is planning on taking Hayi out tomorrow. To the City zoo.”

“The city zoo?!” The woman’s shrill voice made more than one royal at the dinner table cringe. “She is a Princess! You think you can just take her to some dirty little street and show her some… some… otters?! Jihoon! What do you have to say for yourself!”

The Dark Prince raised his head and turned it to the Queen Dowager, though never looking directly at her. “I would have to say that it was Joshua’s idea first.”

The woman mellowed a little at that. “Joshua, really, a zoo is no place for a Princess.”

“Oh, no, Queen Dowager please!” Hayi’s tone was so precisely desperate that Jihoon almost believed the façade for a moment. “I’d love to go to the zoo. I love animals! I hear you have elephants and tigers and even seals. I’d love to go see them! I only ever went to our Imperial Zoo once when I was very young. Please?”

“Oh, look at you. Aren’t you a darling poppet?”

Hayi preened kindly.

What an excellent actress, Jihoon thought to himself. Absolutely exquisite.

“Jihoon!”

His mother’s sharp tone made him jump, almost causing him to throw his spoon into the bowl with a clang.

“You will be the most gracious host to our beautiful guest tomorrow. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, Joshua, I do worry so about them. You’ll make sure they are properly outfitted?”

“They will have a bodyguard each and a team standing by just in case, of course. The Princess’ safety is most vital.” Joshua gave a bright smile. “And Jeonghan will be their chaperone, of course.”

Jeonghan almost choked on a shrimp. “Sorry?”

“You remember. I asked you.” The look Joshua gave his twin brother was one that was clearly announced his willingness to murder the poor Prince if he dared to contradict. “You said you’d love to.”

Jeonghan swallowed. “Oh. Yes, yes of course. Don’t worry, mother.”

The Queen Dowager harrumphed.

“Oh my God.” Hayi pulled a face of true annoyance, sitting in a chair with no decorum whatsoever. “What is her deal? She’s crazy!”

Jihoon sat down opposite his new Princess. “Tell me about it.”

“Like… . I thought my mom could be a . Holy cow!”

“We used to blame it on post-natal depression,” Jun announced, floating to the drinks cupboard in the room immediately. “Then we called it menopause. Now… who knows?”

“The lady is crazyyyyy,” Jeonghan hissed comically, sliding past the princess to sit in the chair next to her.

Hayi laughed a little.

“Boys.” Joshua shook his head slightly, making way for his Uncle Heechul to enter the drawing room. “Try and be kind. I know she’s not easy to live with, but we have to try and deal with it.”

Uncle Heechul put a heavy hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “You alright?”

The Prince nodded once. “Don’t worry, Uncle Hee. I’m okay.”

“So, the zoo!” Hayi pulled her feet up out of her shoes, tucking them under her body on the chair. “Are we really going?”

“If you like,” Joshua offered.

“I want to! It’ll be fun.”

“I can think of more things that would be fun,” Jeonghan breathed, leaning in to the princess.

“Jeonghan,” everybody in the room chorused.

“Alright, alright.”

Shannon briefly looked up from her mobile phone. “Jeonghan, I was in your room today. I’ve got dirt on you. Don’t annoy my new sister.”

The men in the room froze, turning to the twelve-year-old. Between them, it was no secret what kind of items lay in Jeonghan’s room. They weren’t the kind of things you wanted a young princess learning of.

“Shannon.” Jeonghan was most scared of them all. “…what exactly did you find?”

“Oh, not the stuff in the big black box.” She waved a hand, texting and speaking at the same time. “I already know what’s in there.”

“Shannon!” Joshua hissed.