Joohyun barely has time to bow when the king angrily barges into her room before he starts speaking. But still, she doesn’t hasten her movements, the lesson that royalty mustn’t ever hurry engraved into her soul at an inappropriately young age. Next to Joohyun kneels the captain of her personal guard, head still bent in respect. “You need to stop this nonsense immediately,” the king commands before she even finishes her bow. His bellowing voice is authoritative- perfect for court or war councils- but in this small room, it echoes off the walls and is too loud.

    Joohyun restrains herself from flinching at the volume of his voice. “Father?” she inquires softly. “I don’t understand.”

    “Do not undermine me or your brother like this,” the king continues, pointing a finger at her face.

    All lessons on mannerisms and politics are momentarily forgotten when Joohyun blurts out “That boy is not my brother,” with contempt clear in her voice. She immediately berates herself for lack of control but secretly takes pleasure in the way the king’s face reddens. That is until he steps forward threateningly. But Joohyun doesn’t flinch because before the man could even reach her, her guard steps in.

    The guard’s stance is defensive at most, but the king still glowers at her. “Stand down, captain,” he growls. “Do not forget that your loyalty is to the throne.” Joohyun’s guard gazes up at the king silently and unflinchingly, and stands firmly between the man and his daughter.

    “Have you ever considered that maybe it’s not me who is the mastermind behind this conspiracy to usurp the throne?” Joohyun starts lowly. Her voice is calm and level- like a steady ship in a storm, just as she had been trained to do so. “That maybe one of your advisors or one of your nobles are smart enough to understand that your people are unhappy with the fact that you stole the throne from the crown princess-” the king opens his mouth to speak but Joohyun continues to speak, voice still composed despite the anger clawing at “-and gave it to your illegitimate son- who has never stepped foot inside the palace before this year and knows nothing of war and politics- just because you loved his mother more than mine.”

    Joohyun watches as the king’s jaw clenches in anger, yet he doesn’t argue against her. He knows that she’s right. But the man has always been too sentimental to see reason and that’s evident when he emphasizes “The throne belongs to your brother.” And Joohyun wants to scream at him that the throne belongs to her, but the first thing that is taught to women of the court is restraint, and she has practiced that long enough to keep silent despite the anger bubbling in her chest and burning its way up . But then the stubbornness from his face slips off and suddenly he’s just a very tired man. He’s her father. “Joohyun, please,” he says and it’s the softest Joohyun has ever heard him speak to her since she was a child.

    Joohyun’s eyes soften and her shoulders relax. “It’s not me,” she says before looking away with a short, deprecating laugh. “I wouldn’t do this to you,” she looks up and holds his gaze, “father.” And that’s what seals his judgement.

    “I hope not,” he says, straightening up and moving to leave the room. “I wouldn’t want to execute my own daughter for treason,” are the last words he says before the doors close.

    Joohyun stares at the door after he leaves for a moment before collapsing back into her chair. “Seulgi,” she calls out to her guard, head burrowed in her trembling hands. “Do you think he believed me?”

    Seulgi looks at the door before shortly replying “Yes,” and Joohyun believes her. The king may love his bastard son more than he loves her (that will be his downfall, Joohyun promises), but he’s still her father and he loves her enough to give her the benefit of the doubt (that will be his son’s downfall, Joohyun swears.)

    “But what if he doesn’t,” Joohyun says, doubt starting to creep into her mind. Her father may be a sentimental old fool, but he is still a politician- a smart one- and family assassinations aren’t completely unheard of. “The guard- they’re all loyal to me?”

    “Yes,” Seulgi assures, straightening up to her full height and absentmindedly, Joohyun wonders when did she grow taller than her. Seulgi used to be so small when they were young. “And even if they aren’t, they are loyal to me.”

    “And you are loyal to me,” Joohyun finishes with a satisfied smile.

    “And I am in love with you,” Seulgi corrects softly and Joohyun’s smile deepens as something akin to pride swells in her chest. She presses Seulgi’s calloused fingertips to her lips in a sign of thanks.

    “Good.”

A/N: It's a bit short and technically still unfinished but I'm probably never going to finish this (mostly because the plot is probably going to end up super long and I have no motivation to write any longer than 1k at the moment lol) so I decided to post it as is.