"What kind of present do you think she would like?" 

So had spent every free moment of the last month deliberating over what to get Seol for  her upcoming seventh birthday. He had only met her a handful of times and though he would like to think that he knew her well enough, he couldn't think of a little gift that would be enough for his little girl, especially since it would be his first time celebrating Seol's birthday. It had only been a couple of months since he had found out about her existence and now he was tasked with what seemed like the impossible

"I'm sure Seol aghassi will like whatever you give her but more than something luxurious, I think she'll cherish something from the heart, your majesty." 

"Something from the heart... UGH. What does that even mean. I've scoured the nation looking for a present and nothing is right. What did I do? Her birthday is in two days." So said as he buried his face in his hands. 

Jimong could not help but smile at the king's state of distress. It had been a long time since So had truly cared about anything in his own life. When Soo had died, Wang So too, had died and in his place, only Gwangjong remained. Jimong could only watch as the friend that he had known since the day he was born become a shell of the person he once was. There was nothing he could do to help alleviate his pain but when he met his daughter, he could see life begin to return to Wang So. 

"No, this won't do. We have to leave the palace and go to the market. Grab Baekah, I'm going to go change and meet you by the west gate." So said, suddenly standing up. 

"Alright, your majesty. I'll call the guards and-" 

"No. No guards, no court ladies, just you, me, and Baekah. Go put on some normal clothes. For the purpose of the this trip, we are just commoners." So said, and with that, he left in a flurry. 

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"This is what you call normal?" So said incredulously. So had put on a set of robes that he had wore back when he was free to leave the palace whenever he wanted and Baekah, who was no stranger to public outings, was in his everyday clothes but Jimong, well Jimong was decked out his finest robes. An extremely eclectic outfit choice by any standards. The outfit was long and swept the floor and covered ever colour on the spectrum. 

"Well, you have to live it up while you can, So, ya. Who knows when the next time I'll be able to just roam around?"

"So.. YA? Just because I haven't wielded a sword in a while doesn't mean I forgot to use it." 

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