The King shot Kris a disapproving look as he barged into the room with Hyesu in his arms. Kris gently put her down and formally bowed to the King before disappearing through the entrance.

“You do know that you’re going to marry a royal someday, don’t you?” The King stated in a firm tone.

“Aww, daddy~ What has this to do with anything?” she cooed and tilted her head like a naïve child would as she hugged her father.

The King couldn’t help but let out a light laugh as he softened, “Wafting you in the public where millions of people are bustling around is a little over for a childhood companion of yours, do we not agree?”

“The palace is a residence; not a public venue…” Hyesu whispered to herself, not wanting to appear rude towards her own elders.

“Of course we do not.” Hyesu pulled herself from the embrace to find her mother gracefully waltzing towards them with a grin on her face. “Kris would make a cute son-in-law.”

 Hyesu could see her mother’s eyes sparkling. “But…”

The Queen held out her hand before her husband could further have his say, “Don’t propose your royal crap, like we haven’t already heard of it for zillions of time. Why I wasn’t even anything near to royalty before we signed that marriage paper!”

The King softly smiled at his wife as he shook his head in defeat, he would give up for now. It wasn’t like his daughter would marry Kris right away because he ended his argument with silence. Moreover, he would definitely not want his daughter elope with Kris solely because he refused to give in. Speaking of which, he was certain that both of them did not see each other that way, or did they? Though his most trusted knight Kris was, he had a better husband candidate for Hyesu in mind.

As Hyesu curled up on her parents’ spacious king-sized bed, thinking that she was going to die from embarrassment from the argument her parents were holding, she shot her head upwards in surprise when she realized that harmony took over.

The Queen lovingly smiled at her princess as she held out her hand towards Hyesu. The latter took it without hesitation and locked her free arm with her father’s. On their way towards the kitchen, the servants felt warm seeing the close bonds between the royals.

The chefs and kitchen staffs called it a day with the Queen’s permission. Hyesu spent a good two hours in the kitchen with her parents. Even though they were preparing dinner, they played around a lot. Without the formalities and royal etiquettes, they were no different from any other blissful families out there.

You should have seen the kitchen when they were finally done, flours were scattered all over and so were cabbages, vegetable leafs… in a nutshell, it was plain messy. They had a peaceful dinner, just the three of them, accompanied by the chatter and hearty laughter which filled the dining room.

The night settled in and silence enveloped the drowsy place. Having tattling for too long, the family quickly put everything away and ensured that the place was spick and span before heading off towards the King and Queen’s quarter.

Hyesu smiled in pleasure as the Queen sat down by her side and gently her hair. Feeling comfortable, Hyesu lowered herself until she was lying flat on her stomach; she remembered liking being treated this way by her mother ever since she was young.

As her eyelids slowly drooped, the Queen pulled the blanket over Hyesu. She felt as warm as a bug in a rug and snuggled into the sheets to make herself even comfortable.

It had been a long time ever since she spent quality time with her parents without the interruption of formalities.  How she wished the moment would last eternally, how she wished dawn would never arrive. Though she was reluctant to sleep; her consciousness decided otherwise…

Deafening explosions and clinking of swords erupted; Hyesu crawled out from under the thick wool blanket to take a look at her surroundings. She immediately shot up from her bed as she caught sight of her father trying to fight off men in armors by the entrance of the room.

Where’s mother? Hyesu felt dizzy as she neared the badly-scratched double doors, she had a bad feeling about what was happening. Before her reached hand could land on her father’s shoulder, she was harshly yanked to the side. She wanted to scream badly, but mere morphs were what came out.

Sabotage! She realized.