Every step was heavy and painful, but Jinyoung had to keep walking. He marched straight to the Lord Chamberlain's office, knowing he had to ask for an arranged marriage before he could change his mind. This was his intention after all. He knew he'd come back to this point, just as he knew Jackson would destroy him. He'd known it all along and he let it happened anyway.

He was a fool.

But it didn't matter, because he was back on track. Wooyoung would find him a perfectly suitable spouse, probably today if he wanted, and Jinyoung would marry and become king. Jackson would become a distant memory in a year, two years, five years, ten years. The "after Jackson" period had begun. In fact, the "after Jackson" period wasn't a period as much as it was just his life now. Life, after Jackson.

He'd raised his hand to knock on Wooyoung's door when Father's voice on the other side made him froze.

"Do you think he's asking Jackson to marry him today?"

Jinyoung grimaced. It seemed like he was going to disappoint Father either way.

"I don't know, your majesty," came Wooyoung's reply, "but I still think you should come clean."

"I will, after they announce the engagement."

"It isn't fair to him. To either of them, rushing into marriage when they have no reason to. They're so young."

"I may not be dying anytime soon, but I'm still stepping down, Wooyoung-ah. Jinyoungie needs to marry so he can take my place."

Whatever Wooyoung was going to say next was interrupted by Jinyoung throwing the door open.

"Jinyoung-ah," Father said, standing up.

"Your highness," Wooyoung said, following suit. Jinyoung ignored him, seeing his father with clarify for the first time in months. Suddenly it all made sense. The mysterious, undiagnosed illness. The complicit doctors and nurses and aides who kept everything vague. The inconsistent symptoms. The evasive behavior. The lies, the lies, the lies.

His father wasn't dying.

Jinyoung was beyond angry, but a part of him was so relieved that he could barely think for a moment, only feel. Everything he'd gone through since that fateful night after coming back from Australia—all the good moments and bad ones—was mired by his preemptive feeling of loss. The loss of another parent. The loss of life as he knew it. The loss of a powerful, unconditional love. For months, it was his grief, his motivation, his reason for doing everything, and now that he knew it wasn't real, he felt . . .

Free.

Behind him, he heard Wooyoung close the door on his way out. Jinyoung took a deep breath. "You lied to me," he said, once he was alone with the king.

"I exaggerated an illness," Father admitted.

"You lied. You're not dying."

"I will one day." At Jinyoung's sharp look, Father said sheepishly, "No, I'm not dying. Not right now."

"Why?" Jinyoung asked desperately. "Why would you do this to me?"

"I did it for you, Jinyoung-ah. So you can take my place. Become the king you were always meant to be."

"You couldn't have done that without faking a fatal disease? What is wrong with you?"

"Okay, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea—"

"You think?"

"—but you hadn't been with anyone for so long, Jinyoung-ah. You were lonely, you were bored, and I wanted something better for you. I thought I was killing two birds with one stone. I wanted to step down, so you can step up, and you have. You've done so well over the past few months, and I know you're going to be a great king."

"That doesn't justify what you did."

Father sighed, sitting down again. "I know, Jinyoung-ah. I know. I'm sorry."

Jinyoung sat down too, running a hand over his face. He felt like he'd aged ten years in just the past hour or so. He wasn't sure if he could accept Father's apology and forgive him just like that, but . . . "I'm glad you're not dying," he said stiffly.

"Me too," said the king. They sat in silence for a while, then he said, "Hey, one other good thing came out of this elaborate scheme, right? You met Jackson."

Jackson. Ouch, that would hurt for a while.

"I think we broke up," Jinyoung said. "Christ, I think we broke up over nothing."

"What?" Father said, grabbing Jinyoung's arm. "What happened?"

"No," Jinyoung sighed, "it wasn't nothing. He didn't want to marry me out of obligation, and he was right. I wouldn't want that for him either, or for us."

A few moments passed in silence. Then Father asked, delicately, "Do you love him?"

Jinyoung nodded. "More than perhaps anyone else."

"Does he love you?"

Jinyoung nodded again, feeling his eyes water. He missed Jackson already, missed him so much.

"Then you wouldn't be marrying out of obligation," Father said. "If you love him, and he loves you . . . wouldn't you be marrying for love?"

Jinyoung wiped his cheek. "I guess. I don't know. He didn't see it that way. It's a matter of timing. And having to do it at all, because of the marriage law."

"Ah."

"He said it was barbaric," Jinyoung told Father, laughing. "I think he hates our law. I hate it too."

"Well . . . the law is the law."

Jinyoung remembered his early conversation with Jackson about the same matter. "Yes," he said slowly, "but who made it?"

"Must have been one of our ancestors," Father said, scratching his head. "Grandfather? Great-grandfather? Great-great?"

"How great could they have been, to come up with such a stupid law?" Jinyoung shook his head. Jackson had been right, about everything. "Well, if someone made it, then someone can change it. I am going to change it."

"You are?"

"Yes," Jinyoung said, standing up. He faced his father with steely determination. "I will forgive you for deceiving me, Father. Maybe not right away, but I will forgive you, and I will take your place as king—on my terms."

Jinyoung spent the next few days drafting and preparing his motion for Parliament. He still missed Jackson a lot, constantly, but Jinyoung didn't let himself call him or text him or reach out to him at all, in case his plan didn't work. He was gambling everything on this move, but if it failed then he wanted Jackson to be free. Jinyoung might have a duty to the crown and country, but Jackson didn't, and it wouldn't be fair to saddle him with such obligations. He deserved better than that.

At last came the day and time when Jinyoung stood in front of members of the Parliament to make his speech. Father stood behind him on one side, Wooyoung on the other. Jinyoung knew that Yugyeom and Bambam were somewhere out there in the crowd, which was also open to the public and the press.

"Welcome," Jinyoung said. "Up until a few days ago, I'd been planning to get married in order to succeed my father and become king. But I realized—in fact, I was shown . . . by someone who means a lot to me . . . who made this all possible—that the only reason I was getting married was because of an archaic law, and that didn't seem like a good enough reason.

"My father has ruled without a queen by his side for quite some time, and I think . . . I think he's done an incredible job as leader of this country. Beyond that, he's done an incredible job raising me . . . as a single father. And I am so grateful for everything he's done. Our family, small as it may be, share the same values as yours.

"Whatever family you're a part of . . . whether you have two parents, or one, or none. Whether you have a dad and a mom, or just dads, or just moms. Whether you were raised by grandparents, or aunts and uncles. Or strangers, who became your family. Or friends, who became your family. Whatever family means to you, we share the same values, and the same hope for our future.

"I hope that the relationship between the royal family, the government, and our people won't be that the people carry us on their backs but that we can put our arms around each other and improve ourselves. That is my vision for our nation, and I believe I will be a great king. With or without a spouse.

"I feel in my heart and soul that I can rule South Korea, a land I am so proud to call my home. It is with this pride, instilled in me since birth, that I move to abolish the marriage law, as it applies to present and future rulers of our country.

"Will anyone second my motion?"

Jinyoung looked each member of Parliament in the eyes, one after another, as a quiet murmuring spread across the venue. He was serious and earnest, and he needed this to work. When he caught Lord Ok Taecyeon's proud gaze, he knew he would be successful.

"I second the motion," said Taecyeon.

"All those in favor of abolishing the marriage law say, 'Aye,'" called Prime Minister Kim Yubin.

"Aye!"

"The ayes have it," Yubin told Jinyoung. "Congratulations, your highness."

"Thank you," Jinyoung said, suddenly wishing Jackson was there to hold his hand in this moment. "Thank you all."

"Congratulations, hyung!" Bambam said when he and Yugyeom found Jinyoung afterward.

"You did it!" Yugyeom cheered, giving Jinyoung a hug. "I knew you could."

"Thanks, guys." Jinyoung grinned. "Sorry I wasted your time going through Purpl and those guys and all that mess. Turns out it wasn't needed after all, huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it was a complete waste," Yugyeom said. He was smiling, nodding at something over Jinyoung's shoulder. "Turn around."

As with everything else when it came to Jackson, Jinyoung knew he would be there, could feel his presence and his heat as soon as Yugyeom said it. It was still somehow unexpected to see him standing before Jinyoung, perhaps because he hadn't set eyes on the other man in days. Hadn't even told him Jinyoung planned to abolish—not just change—the marriage law, hadn't invited him to come.

And yet, Jackson was here. And he was all Jinyoung could see.

"You were amazing," Jackson said hoarsely. He looked tired, subdued, but still so, so handsome. And so proud. "What you said up there . . . you were incredible. You are incredible. You’re a star."

"It's all because of you," Jinyoung confessed, inching nearer. "You inspired me. You gave me courage. You made me change—for the better. I'm a better person, because of you."

"Shut up," Jackson said, closing the distance between them. "If you get any better than you are now, then I'm a trash."

"What does that mean?" Jinyoung asked, half-dazed. Jackson was holding him now. Jackson, warm and solid and his.

"It means," Jackson said, connecting their mouths. "I love you." Kiss. "I want to marry you." Kiss. "But not now." Kiss. "Because you are a strong, independent ruler who don't need no man." Kiss. "But tough, because you have one anyway." Kiss. "And I'll be here, waiting." Kiss. "Until the time I can make you mine." A kiss to end all kisses.

"I am," Jinyoung said fondly, after. "Yours."

Jackson nudged his forehead against Jinyoung's. "I know, your highness."