viii.
Kingdom ComeA/N:
AH. I'm sorry. I'll just be honest, I'm really really busy, and not in the right headspace most of the time. I will definitely finish this story but it's just gonna be really slow updates. I wanted to put this chapter out because I felt really bad about leaving this for so long, so I apologise if there's mistakes, I haven't had much time to edit. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.
p.s. thank you so much to the amazing @revelfestival_ who was kind enough to make me a cover art for Kingdom Come <3<3
It’s not like Sakura could just refuse.
She had a secret assignment; to keep an eye on the Princess and report it back to Eunbi. It was what her Queen commanded. It did not matter that Sakura had a special relationship with the Izland monarch, it doesn’t mean she can outright decline her this simple request. Not only because it was her duty to her queen, but also because Sakura is loyal to her adopted sister, and she respects Eunbi too much to not do this for her, even if she had to betray Chaeyeon’s confidence.
So she keeps a close eye on the princess, and she tells her every step to the queen.
By the time the next month rolls around, Sakura notices that Princess Chaeyeon has practically given up trying to ask for her wife. Sakura was perceptive from the beginning, but it was also very obvious that there was a change in the princess. Chaeyeon had stopped enquiring about the Queen’s schedule, from her or any of the other palace attendants. Sakura was also perceptive to the fact that the princess had stopped her quick glances to the corners of hallways just to get a glimpse of her wife. Chaeyeon had stopped making longer detours, and has stopped loitering outside the council room or the Queen’s study altogether.
Chaeyeon wasn’t exactly the most subtle about her disappointment too––the heavy sigh, the longing looks––it was partly why Sakura could figure out the Princess so easily.
Chaeyeon is clearly miserable.
Sakura tries to make her feel less so in her own way. She would accompany the princess as she ate in the sitting room, as she read books in the library, as she walked around in the gardens. At the very least the princess now has a few more people to talk to. Sakura had assigned three more lady’s maids, the Ladies Hyewon, Minju, and Yuri, all of them who came from noble houses in Izland. They made Chaeyeon laugh occasionally, gossiping about the lords and ladies that filtered in and out of the castle, and they also taught Chaeyeon Izland customs that Sakura too didn’t know much about either. It was one of the rare times Chaeyeon smiled unconditionally.
Still, more than anything, Princess Chaeyeon spends most of her spare time in the library, reading books after books like her life depended on it. Sakura was always there waiting on the princess, keeping her company and making sure her cup is always filled with warm tea. It continued on for the longest time.
Though recently there was an interesting turn of events.
“She reads.”
Eunbi nods in acknowledgement.
“She likes horses.”
That finally got Eunbi’s full attention. The queen looks up from the stack of paper on her study’s desk, her quill stopping abruptly mid-. “Horses?” She asks, her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Yes, it’s those animals you ride on to charge into battle,” Sakura sasses.
Eunbi rolls her eyes. “Don’t be funny with me, Sakura. What do you mean by she likes horses?”
Sakura shrugs, feeling unsure as to how she can answer. “Recently, she’s gone to the stables. She doesn’t ride them, only feeds them and brushes them. The princess would stay there, watching them gallop in the fields. And then she comes back inside.”
There was a sound of a hum coming from Eunbi. Sakura hadn’t known what that meant. “That’s…” the queen trails off, her eyes distant in thought.
“...Odd?” Sakura supplies.
Instead, Eunbi settles with, “Interesting.”
Sakura may not always know what Eunbi is thinking; the Queen is notorious for being stoic and hiding her thoughts. It was how she was raised in order to survive. She’s had to be very good at it over the course of her life. And it usually took Sakura a few tries to gauge what Eunbi is actually thinking, and even then Eunbi does not always break under much of Sakura’s prodding.
But this time, Sakura could read Eunbi clearly. The queen was intrigued, and Sakura felt the need to push forward, “Maybe if you talk to her, you’d better understand her.”
There was a short pause, where Eunbi clenched her jaw as if she was fighting her own thoughts, denying whatever emotions she must have been feeling. In the end, she admits, “Perhaps.”
––––––––––––––––––
Eunbi truly had perfected the art of avoiding her own wife.
It took quite the effort to do so, especially when they live under the same roof, and their bedchambers were just next door from each other. The Queen had to wake up before dawn every day just so she could avoid having breakfast with the princess. After, her routine consists of working in her study for the whole day until night comes. And even then, Eunbi wouldn’t leave the study until her guards have informed her that the princess has retired to bed.
Comments