It was precisely eight o’clock in the evening. Snow was falling thickly once more outside whilst you stood in the warmth of your flat, watching as the proclaimed King, Kim Jonghyun and his trusted adviser, Kim Dohyun examined every inch of your flat, curious and excited at the foreign objects they had discovered. You had debated calling the police, but they seemed harmless, lost more than anything. Rather than staying outside in the cold, you had decided it would be best to return to the warmth of your flat. What was the worst that could happen?

            “You have an interesting home,” the King stated as his eyes ran over each of the items upon your book shelf. He reached out, pulled down one of your manga novels and flicked through the pages, his eyes lighting up in a way you’d not seen before; it was clear to see that his eyes betrayed all his emotions even if his expression was unreadable.  There was something about this King which was different to how you expected a King to be. In fairy tales, Kings were always portrayed as being much older and wiser, unlike the young and innocent boy who stood by your book shelf, flicking through your manga, whilst his older adviser stood in your kitchen, examining your collection of cute mugs. There was something very bizarre about the entire situation. It was almost laughable, almost…
           “So…not to sound rude, but, you guys still haven’t explained what exactly is going on,” you leant back against the kitchen work top, glancing from one man to the other, waiting for one of them to respond.
“Should I answer my lady, Your Highness?” Dohyun asked, glancing towards the King.
“I shall answer,” he reluctantly replaced the manga on the book shelf before walking back into the kitchen.
           You took a moment to take in his attire; the long, glorious fur coat which signified his stature alongside the thick fur boots, which were tied around his feet with what looked like green vines. He wore a long robe underneath the coat from what you could make out, the ivory colour of it matching his boots with a green tunic, embroidered with silver and golden threads which were woven into leaves and flowers along the edges and up the centre. Whether he really was royalty or not, he sure did dress like he was a King. It took you a moment longer though to realise that the more you watched him and examined his attire, the greater the effect it was having on you. There was a funny feeling within you growing and festering. It was alien to you and you weren’t entirely sure if you liked it or not.

           “My lady?” You were shaken back into reality rather suddenly and looked up to find the so-called King stood right in front of you. Your stomach lurched and the funny feeling continued to manifest within you. His eyes were watching you with such concern and so much…affection? Whatever it was, it was almost too much to bear.
“Please, I’d rather you just called me by my name,” you told him gently, trying to slide past him to find room to breathe.
“But of course,” he stepped back, noticing your discomfort. He smiled before sweetly saying your name. The way his voice sounded as he said it made your stomach lurch once more and you instantly regretted telling him to address you in this way.
“Should I address you as ‘Your Highness’, like Dohyun does?” You asked him as you edged away, finding a chair to sit upon.
“That is entirely up to you,” he told you, finding another chair and sitting directly opposite you from the small breakfast table. “You can address me as ‘Your Highness’, Jonghyun or…” he looked away bashfully for a moment before looking back at you, a glint in his eyes. “Or you can call me JR.” You took a deep breath, trying to stay composed.
“JR?” You remembered him saying it before. “You said people call you that affectionately. Does it have a meaning?” You asked.
“Junior Royal. It was a name bestowed upon me when I was a young child in order to differentiate between my father and I. No one calls me JR anymore though, not since…” his expression clouded over and his eyes filled with a pain which instantly shattered your heart.
“What?” You glanced from the King, JR, to Dohyun, who was sat on the floor by the fridge, something you hadn’t noticed until now, and upon his face was also the same saddened expression. It seemed like something sorrowful had taken place at some point in time. You were both curious and hesitant to discover what the story was behind the pain which was clearly reflected in their green eyes. It wasn’t long until you were told.

            “Not long ago, the lands of Aranthi were ruled by my father, Kim Jonghyun the second,” JR started, his hands clasped in front of him, head bowed as he told his story. “He ruled in the best interest of his citizens, trying his hardest to be fair whilst also ensuring those who broke the law were punished. Unfortunately, there was one particular clan who had been refusing to co-operate for decades now and they decided enough was enough. They broke all the laws, reigned terror upon our peaceful lands, murdering and manipulating innocent people and it was not long before my father ordered a complete exile. Those who returned from the clan would be given an immediate death sentence. Many thought the punishment was harsh as not all from the clan had behaved in this manner, but he did what he believed to be the right course of action. However, the leader of the clan was bitter and vengeful and with the aid of witchcraft, struck my father down when he was most vulnerable…” JR’s voice trailed off and the room fell silent for some time.

You watched him as his hands balled up into fists, tightly clenched, desperately trying to keep his emotions at bay. In that moment, you wanted very much to hold him, to tell him everything would be alright, that everything would work out, but even you didn’t have enough courage to do something like that for a complete stranger. Instead you sat there and waited for him to continue.

            “This-creature who is leader of this clan, he continues hurting my family and terrorising my lands, but unfortunately, now that the time of the Legend is upon us-”
“Your Highness,” Dohyun looked up towards JR, shaking his head quickly, indicating to JR that he shouldn’t continue.
“Legend?” You looked from JR to Dohyun and then back again. “What Legend?” JR shook his head.
“The Legend…” JR looked up towards you, his eyes filled with a longing which made your stomach churn once more. “The Legend involves you, which is why your life is in danger now.”

            You took a moment to digest all the information which had just been disclosed to you. From what you could deduce, some horrible creature had been exiled and then returned to kill JR’s father, but now, this creature was after…you? You frowned.
            “But-I can’t be part of a Legend. I don’t think you’ve got the right person.”
“But you answered when I spoke your name,” JR stated before then reeling off your full name and your date of birth.
“How do you know all those details about me?” You asked, twitching your mouth to one side with a confused expression as you looked away from JR’s longing glances.
“The ambush from last night-if that is not further proof to you that your life is in danger then I do not know what is,” JR told you rather sternly, whilst reaching over and taking your hand into his. “You need protecting.”
“The ambush?” Your eyes widened, recalling the previous night’s events suddenly. “You-you were there!” You looked back towards him and watched as he stared at you like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
“I-I was. I saved you,” he told you before bashfully glancing away.
“You did…” you trailed off, raising an eyebrow and once again questioning the nature of this so-called King. “Is that why you’re here?” You asked him as he slowly raised his gaze back towards you, making you feel a little nauseous. “You’re here to protect me?”
“Yes,” Dohyun interjected before JR could respond. “We’re here to protect you.” 
            You took a moment to piece things together before suddenly remembering something.
            “Earlier, when we were outside, you said ‘You are destined to be mine’. What did you mean by that exactly?” In an instant, JR had risen from his chair and walked around the table to you. He knelt down on one knee beside you and took your hands into his own again, forcing you to turn and face him as he bowed his head to you, ignoring Dohyun’s calls to him to stop.

            “In order to be a true King of Aranthi, the King must have a Queen,” he looked up towards you, the longing, alluring desire clearly portrayed in his beautiful eyes. “Your destiny was written by the Arethan spirits long ago in the tapestries of time.” A lump formed in your throat. “Your destiny…and my destiny…both are intertwined. Do you understand?” He gently asked. When you didn’t respond, he decided to make it clearer to you: “You are destined to become my Queen.”
“Oh…” you could feel your heart pounding hard against your chest, as hard as your head was beginning to pound against your skull, trying to digest all this information so suddenly.

           “You-never really explained what kind of King you are,” you stated, trying to digress away from what had just been revealed to you whilst you tried to let the magnitude of the situation sink in. You watched as a smile crossed JR’s face, that same beautiful smile from earlier which captured your attention once more. He cupped your face gently with one hand before tilting his head to one side and saying, “Is it not obvious? Were you so captivated by my eyes that you failed to notice the shape of my ears?” You tore your glance away from his eyes and smile and looked towards his ears. You felt your stomach somersault inside of you. He had pointed ears. They were not round like your own. They were pointed. You gasped and with his hand cupping your face, he brushed his thumb across your cheek gently before saying, “How do you feel about becoming my Elf Queen?”