***

I will not come, she told herself last night.

I will not succumb to her game, she convinced herself.

She already made her decision before the clock hits 11:55 PM last night, but when morning came, the first thing that greeted her was Park-sangui’s message saying that she’ll have to meet another prospect later tonight at the Grand mall, she thought, ah screw it, I’ll see what this wendy can offer me.

So here she is, standing in front of K-restaurant, a fast food joint.

You think a royal would at least make a grandeur move to impress a woman, right? No, this woman is so stingy. Irene clicks her teeth annoyedly, she’s currently on a fast-food diet and she hasn’t eaten anything since morning because Joy, her lovely business partner, forced her to work so early today. In other words, she’s definitely starving to death right now.

Do you think they have a salad on their menu??

She spots Seulgi easily in front of the restaurant, that woman standing like a sore thumb. Face stoic, devoid of any emotion, with an all-black outfit.

Irene wondered, how old is she? How can she involve herself with this scheming royal?

Seulgi stared down at her as soon as she neared the royal guard, it would be a lot more intimidating if only she didn't look like a fluffy teddy bear trying to act tough, but Irene had no doubt that the latter could throw her back with just a single push. Yeah, she didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m here to meet Wen… taenyeo,” she says, giving the blue origami bird to the young guard.

Seulgi, still sporting her stoic face, unfolded the origami and put it up against the sun to get light shining through it before she tucked it inside her jacket.

“When outside you call her Wendy, now stay still,” she orders as she runs her hands all over Irene’s body.

What the…

“Hey..hey what are you doing?! This is u…”

“Safety protocol,” the other woman says as her hands marvel from Irene’s front jeans to her back pocket.

“Watch your hands!”

“All clear,” Seulgi mutters, not even slightly bothered. “Follow me.”

Irene grumbles in annoyance behind her, this is 2022, they should have modern tools to do the job. Is their monarch so behind in terms of technology?? Or maybe they’re just a bunch of traditional-minded people.

They arrived at a private booth on the 2nd floor. It was surprising that this fast food joint had something like this. Now Irene is convinced that this is not some of your regular fast-food restaurants.

“Wendy, the angry bunny is here” Seulgi knocks on the door and casually calls her boss’s name like what is happening, Irene thought all royals are drunks in formalities??

“Who is this angry bunny?”

Seulgi looks at her with that same disinterested stare “Who else?”

“My name is Irene”

“I know, it’s your code name”

“Change it and why do you guys keep playing spy…”

“Let her in,” comes Wendy's soft voice from inside.

Seulgi opened the door, revealing Wendy who was sitting comfortably behind the round table. A small smile dawned on her face, looking sharp in her on-duty outfit, a royal blue suit. The way she posed herself, you would see that she was indeed a royal, not someone who pretended to be one, she was born with it and embraced her attitude well.

“Do I have to show my respect?” Irene asks her, not showing any move to kneel with her 10-inch stilettos.

Wendy cackled a bit while Seulgi remained unbothered by her rude behavior. Wendy had briefed her that this woman is not like your average noblewoman.

“No need, take a seat,” Wendy points to the seat in front of her, before addressing her guard “Seul, you can take a break, go order anything.”

It brought a faint smile to Seulgi’s stoic face and Irene thought she was not capable of any happy emotions.

“I’ll be waiting downstairs if you need me,” the royal guard closes the door quietly.

“Irene-ssi, you can order whatever you like with that tablet behind you,” Wendy says as she s her suit and puts it on the seat beside her, she rolls her sleeve before taking a sip of her cola. There is a large burger and fries set in front of her.

Now she kinda looks like your regular fast food lover friend, if you ignore that expensive mugunghwa bracelet around her wrist. The symbol of her status.

“I’m not hungry” Irene mutters, there is no way she’ll take a bite of those greasy meals, even their salad looks horrendous to her. So many salad dressings on top of Wendy's bowl. Her face scrunches as she counts the many calories in it.

Wendy looks at her briefly, probably noticing her lack of enthusiasm. Nodding to herself, the young royal walks to the counter, scrolling a variety of dishes on the tablet.

“What are you doing?” Irene asks, the woman already has a lot of food in front of her.

“Do you like Vietnamese spring rolls?”

“I do, with no shrimps or meats,” Irene understood her intention, unnecessary but it’s the thought that counts right?

“I’ve ordered one plate for you,” Wendy continued as she returned the tablet.

“It’s not a good manner to eat alone while having a guest, isn’t it?” she says “and I’m really famished right now, you have to eat with me”

So it’s all about her own well-being after all… the young Bae scoffs irritatedly. Not amused.

“Look, I’m a busy woman, I don’t have all day to entertain you so what do you want from me?”

Wendy studied her like really studied her, she hid her lips behind her fist and just stared at Irene.

“Are you gonna stare at me all day?” the young bae grows uncomfortable under her undecipherable stare, unlike seulgi’s, wendy’s stare holds a lot of meaning behind it.

“Since you’re busy, I’m assessing you right now”

“Assessing for?”

“Whether you’ll fit this role or not”

“What role?”

“To be my betrothed,” Wendy says casually like there’s nothing wrong with her words.

Irene widened her eyes in shock “A what?!,” not being able to decide whether she was more shocked by the choice of her words, who uses betrothed nowadays? Or how casually she mentioned it.

Before she could ask her more, the door opened from behind. Revealing an old wan with a tray in her hand.

“One plate of fresh spring rolls, I assume… for this pretty lady,” the old woman says brightly emphasizing the latter part.

“I thought you’re not working today ajumoni