- The Bull -

Late at night, when most of the knights had already gone to bed, Soomi and Baekhyun stood on the mansion's balcony and enjoyed the night's silence. The sea was dark, illuminated only by the light of the moon. Soomi raised her chin, admiring the sky. She observed the stars, noting that some of them glimmered brighter than others. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Baekhyun’s gaze resting on her.

“Do you see it?” he asked, prompting her to look at him.

“See what?”

He chuckled, moving closer to her and pointing up at the sky. She followed his stretched-out finger and spotted a few exceptionally bright stars that seemed to form a pattern.

“What do you mean? The stars?”

“It’s the constellation Orion,” he hummed. “I’ve never seen it this clearly.”

Soomi was surprised he could recognize a constellation just like that, and she hadn’t expected him to be interested in astronomy either. Then again, he hadn’t revealed much about himself so far. The only hobby she knew of was music and maybe horse riding if that even counted.

Soomi found a wondrous sparkle in his eyes. He looked genuinely happy about his discovery and didn’t take his eyes off the stars. His lips parted in awe, and she mirrored his expression for an entirely different reason.

“Can you show me? I’m afraid I don’t see it,” she said.

“It’s not that hard if you know what you’re looking for. Orion’s shape appears like an hourglass when you connect all of the stars belonging to it,” he explained. She was enveloped by the warmth of his body when he bent down a bit so that their heads were at the same height. He pointed at a bright star far above them, making sure she found it before he showed her the next one.

“The blue-white one is called Rigel. It’s one of the brightest stars in the sky. The red one is Betelgeuse, the second brightest star of Orion,” he explained, but Soomi couldn’t concentrate on his words, too distracted by his proximity. His chin hovered over her shoulder, and his taut chest brushed her back while he put his hand on her waist, touching the thin fabric of her nightgown. He showed her the other stars, and she followed the tip of his finger with her eyes, spotting them with some difficulty. She found it fascinating that he had spotted Orion without effort. It was just a cluster of glowing lights to Soomi—while she enjoyed looking at stars, they didn’t mean anything to her. On the other hand, he was mesmerized by the heavenly bodies above them.

It was rare to see Baekhyun showing so much interest in something. She listened intently to his explanation, his silky voice music to her ears. “Above Orion, you’ll find Gemini and Taurus,” he added, which sounded familiar to her.

“Oh, the zodiac signs?”

“Yes,” he answered. “Mine is Taurus, it’s visible tonight.”

“Maybe that’s a good omen,” she whispered, tilting her head to meet his gaze.

“Maybe it is,” he breathed.

She took in his warm smile, entranced by the kindness it radiated. “Can you show me?”

The corners of his lips twitched. “Of course, my princess,” he whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder as he glanced up at the sky. His arm enveloped her stomach to keep her close to him. She tried not to get flustered by his actions, but it was easier said than done. Luckily for her, he didn’t see the red flush on her cheeks.

“Taurus is located northeast of Orion. If you look closely, you should see its brightest star; it has an orange hue and forms the middle of the constellation.”

“I… I think I found it,” she stuttered, taking a shaky breath when he laughed.

“It takes some practice; don’t be discouraged if you’re unsure,” he teased.

“How did you learn all this? I’m sure it’s not required for a crown prince to study astronomy, right?”

“It’s not. My mother showed me when I was a child… She studied astronomy when she was younger and spent much time reading books about it. Eventually, she passed her knowledge on to me.”

Soomi imagined a younger version of Baekhyun listening to the Queen’s explanations, his eyes wide and filled with childlike curiosity. The picture in her mind prompted her to smile. “So you’re sharing this passion with the Queen. Will you show me more constellations in the future?”

“Did I pique your interest? Of course I will, whenever you want. We have a telescope in the castle. Stars are easier to spot with it.”

“Oh, that’s great! I’ve never used one before,” she said excitedly, wanting to learn more about him and his interests. Astronomy had always fascinated her, but she had never gotten the opportunity to study it—and since he wanted to teach her, she couldn’t be happier.

“Maybe we’ll find your zodiac sign too,” he said.

“It’s Pisces.”

“That’s ironic,” he chuckled, and she raised her eyebrows, not understanding what he meant.

“Your zodiac sign is Pisces, but you can’t swim, and you haven’t ever seen the ocean until yesterday. I’d say we do something about that.”

“H-Huh?”

“Should I teach you how to swim?” he asked, leaning in and flustering her unintentionally. “You know, it could end badly if you ever fall into a body of water without being able to swim. It would make me feel better if you learned it.”

Did he… care for her that much? He seemed concerned, and the profound warmth in his eyes made her heart swell. Soomi didn’t understand why he was so kind to her all of a sudden. Had something between them changed? She couldn’t think of anything, though.

Since the start of their honeymoon, her husband had been more caring and even shared some of his worries with her. He no longer shut her out, and maybe, just maybe, she was earning his trust. Even though he had initially treated her badly, he wasn’t evil at heart; he just didn’t have it easy.

“If you want to teach me… I’d be happy to learn it.” She shyly lowered her head as she realized they would get very close to each other in the process. Why hadn’t she thought of this earlier?

“Great, then that’s our plan for tomorrow. I suppose the weather will be warm again,” Baekhyun answered.

“Maybe we should go to sleep soon. I’m tired and want to be well-rested tomorrow.”

“Yes, let’s go inside,” he said, leaving the balcony with her to retreat into their chambers. Soomi closed the door behind them and walked over to the bed, lying down while she waited for Baekhyun to put out the candles. He joined her eventually, sliding underneath the cover and turning on his side. His brown eyes were gleaming in the moonlight, reflecting its silver hue. Even though he looked tired, he seemed restless, and Soomi was bothered by the hint of sadness swirling through his gaze.

“Is something wrong?” she asked carefully.

“I was thinking about something, but it’s not important,” he said without elaborating, leaving her wondering what he could have meant. The blanket shifted when she moved her arm and took his hand, his cool skin warming up under her touch. He seemed surprised at the gesture yet didn’t move his hand away, instead intertwining their fingers.

“What was it?” she asked, holding eye contact.

“I was… thinking about where we would be now if we hadn’t married. If the war hadn’t been stopped.”

A soft sigh left , and she slid closer to him, wanting to offer comfort. The sadness in his eyes didn’t sit right with her; she had seen his beautiful smile so often today and wished for it to return.

“You went through a lot during the war,” she concluded. “Do you want to talk about it? Sharing it with someone would surely alleviate the pain it caused. I’d gladly listen to you.”

He exhaled and hesitated for a while before he reached a decision. “This isn’t something you should hear, my princess. It really isn’t.”

“I want to help you.”

“And I appreciate that, but I don’t want to share this burden with you,” he replied sternly, though his tone softened when her face fell. “Don’t worry about me. Thanks to the union we forged together, I could leave that time and all the horrors it brought behind. You’ve already helped me more than enough.”