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Date: December 17, 2022
Time: 8:00 in the morning
Place: Lee Residences, Gangnam-gu, Seoul South Korea
It was still snowing that day as Naeun gazed outside the window, watching the snow falling slowly on the ground. She didn't really like the cold weather, but she really loved snow days, as she could sit down on the couch, cuddled up under a huge fluffy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa. That sounded like a perfect day.
During snowy days like this as a kid, her eldest brother, Dohyun would bring her and her older brother Taeyong to the park to build up a snowman. Though they never succeeded in doing one properly, it made her smile still as her older brothers would tell her stories about their late father, whom she never got to meet. But more than ever, Naeun would continue to talk to the wind as if her father was listening.
"Appa, it's snowing." She whispered, as she sighed and sat back down on the bed. The classes were cancelled that day due to the expected snow storm that may occur, and her and her friends decided to take a day off from focusing on their school works.
Seulgi told her through their group chat that she would just be sleeping all day and Hyojong would be trying a new recipe to make. Naeun envied her friends, they have time to do such luxuries compared to her, in a matter of two hours.
Secretary Park called a few minutes ago, telling her that he would be picking her up for her learning lessons about the royal family, their traditions and all. Nobody knew except the Royal Family and hers about what is happening, even though she wanted to tell her friends all about it and get their support, she couldn't bear to tell them. Especially since the engagement wasn't announced just yet.
Based on the last update Secretary Park have told her, the engagement would be set on the 31ST of December. Almost a week before the announcement of her engagement to the Crown Prince, and anytime this week, Naeun's identity would be exposed as the prince's fiancée.
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For the past week, Naeun had lessons about basic manners, the royal family history, the code of conduct at royal palaces and many more, that she lost track of how much she head read. And today was no exception, but just like the few days before she was trying to not zone our as she was listening to Secretary Park along the way to the royal palace.
He picked up Naeun from their neighborhood with a regular plate car to make sure no one becomes suspicious. She was afraid that someone would notice it though. Brushing off all the worries, and continued to read the books piled in front of her given by her facilitator, Miss In-ah, who became close to her ever since she had started teaching Naeun about everything she needed to know.
Although at first, Naeun was overwhelmed with the number of books that she had to read and all the things she had to learn, who left-to-right and from right-to-wrong, in the active and practice discussion of Miss In-ah. And thankfully that helped her so much, even though she disliked history during her high school days.
"Okay then, let's start with the politics and the stakeholders management..."
Like the nth time for that day, Naeun swore to God that her head was about to explode anytime soon. She tried to listen to all the things Miss In-ah has explained and focusing her eyes in the book in front of her. She never had to read so much reading materials in one seating and her back hurts, just as much as the materials were boring!
Wars between nations, the monarchs family tree, the evolution of Korean societies and many more.
"Hmph," Naeun pursed her lips as she held back a yawn, one hand covering her mouth. It seems like her head was too exhausted to even realize it.
"Pardon me, Miss Naeun?" Miss In-ah stopped her explaining. "Is there anything you would like to say?"
"Oh! I apologize. It was nothing." Naeun gave her a small smile and let out a relieved breath. "Please continue."
*************
Her mind flew once again as Miss In-ah ended her session and left her there for her personal time to read. There were no classes after tomorrow and that time she would be happy but unfortunately for her, she would be spending her holidays with a pile of books and packed schedules of learning with Miss In-ah.
Beep.
"Huh?" Naeun reached for her bag as she heard the beep of her phone that she forgot to put it on silent earlier. As she took it out, her eyes squinted when she saw the numbers on the screen. A call just came again. From an unknown number?
She picked it up after clearing her throat.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Lee Naeun?"
This voice, Naeun knew very well that familiar deep voice but what surprised her for a second was, how did he get her number? Then went to realize about the thing about the royal family researching about her and that she only knows two people who knows hers, Secretary Park, and her soon to be sister-in-law, Jisoo. "Yes, this is Lee Naeun." She answered without addressing the person across the other line as she doesn't know what to do at all.
"This is Jung Jaehyun."
And she was right. It was the Crowned Prince. "Yes, your Highness?"
Unconsciously, the girl sat up straight and fixed her posture as if he was right there in front of her. "I heard you're at the palace?"
How did he know...? Never mind, he would know anything he would want to know, but why did he ask about her?
"Yes, I am currently at the royal private library. At the reading room, just finished a lesson with Miss In-ah for today and waiting for Secretary Park..."
Just then, the reading room door was pushed open, and the Crown Prince entered the room calmly. One of his hand held his phone close to his left ear, and Naeun could still hear his calm voice closely through the phone speaker when he said, "Oh, found you."
There he was, the Crown Prince standing tall in front of her. The man was wearing a set of gray blazer and trousers. He looked the way he usually looks like at college minus the suit.
"Your... Highness?" Naeun zoned out once more, her lips opened slightly. She didn't expect the Crown Prince would come meeting her that day.
The Crown Prince removed his phone from his ear and disconnected the call before putting it back inside his pocket.
She didn't realize that she still had hers and quickly stood up to bow to him. Once she stood up straight and faced the Crown Prince, the latter moved inside the room, approaching her reading desk where Naeun was seated. There were piles of books seen, and more on the trolley nest to the table.
"May I sit here?" Across Naeun, there was an available seat and Naeun nods her head. Even though she wanted to tell him that every single corner of the room was his. He sat down and looked outside before focusing back on her.
The desk was near the window, Naeun oftenly stared outside that day at the royal pavilion which was covered with snow. It was such a beautiful view, however she needed to focus more on the books Miss In-ah assigned for her to read.
The Crown Prince looked calm but she on the other hand was nervous. She didn't know what to say, so might as well silence had filled the room.
"So, how was the session?" Jaehyun asked her once again, as he saw her lost in her train of thoughts, but up until now, he couldn't read. "I believe Miss In-ah had explained everything about everything? I hope you're fine with all the materials. It could be exhausting..." His eyes wandered around the piles of books.
Though Naeun wanted to complain, she couldn't, could she? She had to appear like she's ready for this. "It's alright. I'll do my best to finish these books by this week."
"I see. Take your time then."
The silence came back, and the atmosphere became slightly awkward. Naeun bet the Crown Prince could feel it too. The man was staring outside once again this time. She heard him clear his throat. "Secretary Park was called by Prime Minister Min Hyuk a couple of minutes ago before I came. I believe he wouldn't be able to escort you for some times." The man explained.
Upon hearing this, Naeun could only nod and say, "I see... okay then, I will wait for him."
"Are you going to visit the palace every day until the engagement day?"
Naeun nods her head slowly before answering the question, "Yes, your Highness." She took a pause before continuing her statement. "There will be learning sessions each day up until a few days until the engagement day comes... even after that. Miss In-ah had prepared another lesson for me as well." The girl peeked on the books around her, slightly grimaced.
The thoughts of having to finish all of these books in a week was haunting her.
"Let me know if you need any help."
"Pardon?" Naeun raised her head; her rounded eyes met the Crown Prince's who were gazing at her.
Seeing the girl's response, the Crown Prince added, "I have been living here for my whole life. I might be able to help if you need or find anything confusing... you have my number." He nodded his head towards Naeun's phone on the table.
"Th—Thank you..." Naeun awkwardly said. "But I'll try my best before reaching out to you--"
"No," the Crown Prince cut her in the middle. "Please don't hesitate. Even if it's not something big, just let me know. I will help you."
Oh? Naeun was taken aback at his words.
"You will be... my partner soon. And I really hope you will feel safe and comfortable with me. Life inside the royal palace is... hard. You can't just trust anyone here. I just wanted to... I hope you can have a sense of trust towards me."
"I understand, Your Highness. Thank you for being so considerate." Naeun moved her head down, smiling.
"As I was saying... make yourself comfortable around me." Naeun lifted her head, meeting the man's sight. Again, she has a slightly confused expression on her face, and Jaehyun noticed it and bit back a chuckle.
"You don't have to call me Your Highness." He started as Naeun looked at him confusingly. "Call me Jaehyun."
Oh.
The Crown Prince, famous for being quite cold and reserved at their university. Anyone would turn their head at him wherever he goes. However, only selected people could approach him and befriended him. Naeun knew some of those people, of course. It was his team mates in the collaborative cultural festival. As far as she knew, they are the only ones at the campus who called him by his name.
And now, he wanted her to call him by his name?
The girl tried out calling him, "Jaehyun... sunbaemin?"
God, it feels weird.
Jaehyun, the man who was sitting in front of her chuckle. That was the first time for her to hear him almost laughing.
"You don't have to call me sunbaemin? I'm your senior at the college but here..." he shrugged. "We're equals."
Naeun bit her lower lip as she could feel her cheeks getting warm. She only hoped that Jaehyun didn't notice her cheeks flushed and hoped her blushes were unnoticeable.
"Then, Jaehyun sshi?"
This time, the Crown Prince responded with a small smile on his face. And that was enough for Naeun. She took it as an approval from him. "Jaehyun sshi, it is."
"Right," the man nodded. "I think that's okay. Just call me by my name."
"Okay..." Naeun muttered, then trying to say it again to her silently. "Jaehyun sshi."
The room turned quiet once more. That time, the silence was quite longer than before. Even the Crown Prince took a book and tried reading it himself. Naeun didn't want to read another word from the books anymore that evening. She would save it later for that night at home.
A question appeared on her head. It was actually something that she wanted to ask the Crown Prince since the lunch with the royal family.
I mean... marrying the Crown Prince? A commoner like her? What can she give him?
After countless times of rephrasing her question inside her mind, Naeun finally shot her question right away to the Crown Prince, making him move his attention away from the thick book he was holding. "Jaehyun sshi," she called. "May I ask you? Are you... really willing to get engaged, and married... like this?"
With the question asked, Jaehyun's face turned expressionless. He was taken aback with Naeun's question, and suddenly the weight on his shoulders came creeping back.
Inside his mind, he was trying to find the correct answer to her question, and to respond to her. They were both not the ones who initiated this agreement. One of them was trying to honor her family and the other one was just following his duty.
His marriage.
The man coughed, "It's... my duty. You're also agreeing to this because you want to honor your family, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well, then we're in the same page." Jaehyun stood up and let out a long exhale before looking at her. "To leave your normal life, and become a part of the royal family. You must have... a lot to sacrifice."
"It's fine... You know, there will always be a way for me to regain the things I have sacrificed. There will always be... a way." She uttered trying to sound cheery enough to mask what she was really feeling.
They exchanged glances, without any words they both knew that they were trying to give sense of comfort for each other. And for Naeun, seeing the usual cold looking price smiling at her like that, helped calming her nerves.
"Oh—" Jaehyun slightly felt his phone buzzed from his jacket's pocket. "I think I have to go now," he fetched it and closed the phone after looking at it for a good second, then fixed his coat. "You're coming here again tomorrow, right? May I know at what time?"
Naeun followed the man, standing up from her sear. She was preparing to bid him goodbye. "Yes, your High—Jaehyun sshi," somehow feeling strange calling the Crown Prince by his own name. "I will be here at 3 in the afternoon until the evening."
Jaehyun was nodding his head, trying to memorize her answer. "Okay, then. That's good." He smiled revealing his dimples. "I hope... at least you're having good times here. I'll try to meet you tomorrow as well when I'm back. Save my number, in case you want to reach me out."
"Okay... thank you." Naeun answered, with a soft smile on her face. She felt thankful she could get to know the Crown Prince better.
After they exchanged goodbyes. The Crown Prince left the room.
The skies turned darker as the night time came. Naeun spent another 10 minutes at the reading room until Secretary Park came picking her up. As promised, he would be taking her home.
Before they left the reading room, Secretary Park asked Naeun, "Do you have anything else to ask before we leave, Miss Naeun?"
Naeun hummed, starring at the books that were now all placed on the book trolley. "I actually gave one, Secretary Park..."
"And that is, Miss Naeun?"
"Do you guys have these books in PDF?"
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Date: December 21, 2022
Time: 7:00 PM (KST)
Place: The Royal Private Library, Seoul, South Korea
The following days have been a blur for her it was four days after that happened and she had been reading all the PDF files that she requested plus the lessons with Miss In-ah in the palace. And just like other days, she was still there reading all the books about the royal family and their succession.
Unknown to her, a man entered holding a cup of coffee. "Lee Naeun," he called her name making the latter look up from what she was reading.
The Crown Prince came up to her and handed her the other cup before taking a sip of his own coffee.
"Oh, Thank you." God, she really need some caffeine in her system. Naeun reached out to take the cup and Jaehyun made sure her fingers touched the cup sleeve so she won't feel the burn of the coffee.
The Crown Prince was wearing a formal-looking attire that day. Black suits, black silk tie, and there were brooches or lapel pins on his suit. Naeun noticed those pins related to military and degrees of royal position. However, he looked charming in that suit, as it was the first time in four days Naeun saw him again.
"How are you?"
Naeun was lost for a moment before she replied. "Ah. I'm doing good, thank you. How about you, Jaehyun sshi?"
"It was great... we had a longer meeting than expected but other than that, all is well." Jaehyun smiled as he saw the opened books on the table and beside it was her iPad and her pen, he saw how she had a PDF version of the same book and she was writing done notes for her to easily understand it. He was focused on gazing outside when he took a sip of his coffee and across him was Naeun back in her book again.
"I thought you would have lack of sleep in the past nights since Secretary Park said you have been buried in the books these days and exhausted after the learning lessons. So, I brought you coffee. I hope you like it." Jaehyun said out of the blue, then beamed as he saw Naeun giving him a thumbs up without looking up from what she was reading.
"Plus, I want to say sorry for not being able to help you with all of these. I haven't come back since so..."
Naeun stopped and looked at him, before it hit her... "It's fine Jaehyun sshi, you're busy as well. I understand." She smiled at him before returning back to reading and taking down notes.
"Oh, Naeun."
Naeun's eyes caught the Crown Prince's gaze. "Yes, Jaehyun sshi?"
"I guess you haven't heard from Secretary Park since this information just came out." He started. "The Royal PR Team will expose our royal engagement news to the public soon. Either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think you should be prepared."
"Oh... Okay. Thank you for letting me know." Naeun nodded understandingly.
Ahh, that's right. So, their engagement will be known soon... and everyone in the entire nation—scratch that the entire world, would know about Naeun.
Jaehyun as a Crown Prince wasn't only known in South Korea, he's even famous in other countries especially in Asia. Some people even have fan accounts and fan cafés for him. He had his own fandom, she just hoped that the public would give positive reaction to the news, and tomorrow, their neighbors wouldn't come and make a crowd.
Jaehyun spent some seconds to learn the girl's reaction, and he added, "Let's see the response tomorrow. If anything goes wrong, you might need to stay inside the palace for a while until the engagement day. Just to make sure you'll stay safe."
For a weird reason, Jaehyun couldn't read Naeun's expression, which was really funny because knowing that Naeun is an acting and music major, the girl could hide emotions well.
"I understand..."
"Also," Jaehyun continued as the latter placed her pen down to look at him, as he wasn't done with the news. "Tomorrow, the royal family stylists including Jieun will come for a fitting. They're picking some outfits for our engagement day, and make preparations for the wedding day." He paused, and at the same time Naeun also gulped as she heard the word wedding. "Jieun had customized some dresses for you to wear on the engagement day. We will see tomorrow how they will look like when you wear it."
"Ah..." Naeun rubbed her elbow awkwardly. "I rarely wear dresses... I might look awkward." She added. She just wanted to let him know and gave him a disclaimer, should Naeun be looking awkward when she wears a dress the next day, he wouldn't be surprised.
However, the man shook his head in response to her. "You will look good, believe me." He countered her, making sure she felt comfortable with herself. He saw Naeun wearing a simple dress on the lunch with the Queen Dowager, and she looked good.
He also remembered the first time he saw her in campus, during their meeting. She was wearing jeans and a simple top matched with her shoes. And even with that she looked gorgeous.
Damn... those butterflies again. Naeun cursed deep inside her heart, trying her best to look calm, but she could only manage a small smile after she heard what the Crown Prince told her.
"And lastly," Jaehyun coughed, making Naeun who was enjoying her coffee turn his focus to the Crown Prince once again.
Pretty.
"Hm?"
"My father wanted you to join our dinner tomorrow."
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