[2 Months Later]

King Seokjin sat at the head table of the Old Court room, where he was presented daily with new legislation and problems from across the country. It was up to him to decide how to sort it out. 

Yet again, Queen Jisoo had failed to turn up for court that morning.

Jin was finding decision making more difficult than he ever imagined. With twenty civil servants and a handful of advisors at his disposal, the rest of the space filled with representatives from their region within the Northern Territory, the pressure of all those eyes waiting for a ruling from their King was beginning to feel a bit overwhelming. Where the hell was Jisoo when he needed her? Why wasn't she helping?

That's right.

He told her to take it easy.

Jin cursed himself for not demanding that Jisoo accompany him to morning sessions. Really, how could she not be interested in what was going on? That was what she was most concerned about when she was with Namjoon. Was that it? Was she spending all her time with his cousin? They, as husband and wife, had started having rather intimate together a few times a week. Even by his standards, it was really damn good.

Was she still going after Namjoon?

He shouldn't have been so lenient on her, he ought to have put his foot down.

He knew those two had something physical going on, either before or currently. He wasn't dumb, he knew they liked each other a lot and-

"Your Highness?"

Jin blinked.

"Your Highness, you said you would have a ruling prepared for the western region of Reeth by today." his closest advisor, Min Yoongi, explained, giving a discreet glance at the pile of documents on Jin's left side.

"Ah, yes. Reeth. Excuse me for a moment, I haven't rested well recently so my mind isn't as sharp as it should be." Jin replied, nodding to the representative from Reeth.

Jin had never been there before, but from what he understood it was a load of marshland and foggy weather. He searched through his documents and found the one addressing the current problem. A very controversial figure - the previous representative of the region - was found to be supporting underage labour. This was his effort to increase the money flow in the region by having older children spend half of their school day working in agriculture and menial jobs and it was working - the region had experienced a boost in the local economy.

Jin couldn't really see what the big deal was over this guy. He was generating more money flow, wasn't that a good thing?

Apparently it wasn't so straightforward, as Yoongi had explained to him earlier. The moral argument was, of course, that underage labour was totally wrong and children should focus on their studies and leisure, not be out working in fields. The people of Reeth, however, did enjoy the wealth that came attached to such immoral practices. So the choices were: abolish underage labour and exile the former representative. But this would mean raising taxes to make up for the loss of income through abolishing underage labour and that might cause an even bigger furore. Or, keep the system as it was and lose popularity for being perceived as a heartless King. He didn't want that either.

Wasn't there some way to help the kids and keep the citizens happy, too?

Jin's expression remained stern as he glanced at the paper before him with lots of writing that ultimately didn't say anything at all.

"I will have to delay the ruling on this issue." Jin said finally. "I need some more time to consider it."

"Your Highness, it has already been too long!" the representative of the region of Reeth complained.

"Are you impatient with me, Mr. Lim?"

"No, your Highness! Forgive me."

Jin watched as Jisoo sat by her vanity table, running a comb made of pure jade stone through her long, dark hair, preparing to go to bed. How nice for her, spending her days doing god only knows what, making herself look pretty. For who? Namjoon? Maybe one day she would care enough to take a look at him, too. Jin let out a laugh at his own thought, catching his wife's attention. She caught his gaze in the mirror and Jin looked away, scratching his neck, he sighed, shifting himself to lie down in bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. Join me to sleep."

"Liar. Tell me."

"I said it's nothing."

"I can't fix whatever it is I've done wrong if you don't tell me. I'm not a mind reader, your highness."

"I've heard otherwise." Jin retorted.

Jisoo pierced his gaze in the mirror.

Silence.

Tossing the jade comb down she rose up, strolling across the room towards the door.

"I'll let you cool off by yourself and tomorrow you can talk to me like an adult." she said.

"Don't!" Jin's voice stopped her.

She looked back t