"Your Majesty!!" yelled out a voice urgently "Please come back to palace, it's almost time to meet the officials of China"
"Your majesty!! Are you even listening to me?!" Park Jinho let out a frustrated sigh as he held onto the reins of the horse tightly.
"Your majesty we are on a rus–" before Jinho could finish his sentence he was cut off by the king's word.
"Don't fret so much Jinho, we will be there in time! Look at this first!" the king's carefree voice was joyful, but Jinho was not amused by this and rolled his eyes which caused a chuckle from the king.
Taking a look at the king as he requested, the king took an arrow from his quiver as he straightened his back and stretched his right arm readying himself to fire the arrow that was in place in the wooden bow that was in his left hand.
S m a c k !
The arrow zoomed through the air as the king let go of the string and sent the arrow flying as it hit an apple hanging from a tree that was in a distance in front of them. The apple fell down to the ground as it rolled around with the arrow still stuck in it.
Grinning, the king looked at his royal guard expecting a compliment but received nothing but a blank stare instead.
"Are you done?" said Jinho in a bored tone.
"You know, I could exile you just because you spoke so informally to me Jinho" smirking at his friend, he tossed his bow to Jinho in which he catched it effortlessly.
"I'm quite aware of that your majesty, but I'm sure you won't since no one else would want to babysit a king with a mindset of a 5 year old" Jinho retorted smugly. "Now, shall we get going then Taejun? The oh-so-great king?"
Taejun let a laugh and held on to his reins "You've always been so up tight Jinho, no wonder no woman wants to be with you"
Jinho snickered at his comment "As a royal guard I do not have ti–"
He was cut off with the sound of Taejun's horse sudden noise as it took off quickly with it's rider yelling out to him "Race you back to the palace!!"
Holding in the urge to curse, Jinho let out a sigh and shook his head in a disapproving manner as he raised his rein to hit his horse, signalling to go after the king that was laughing in the distance.
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Arriving back at the palace, Taejun was rushed by the handmaidens to look presentable and change into suitable clothes to fit a king instead of looking like a sweaty teenager who looked as if he just went on a 100 kilometer run. Dressed in a scarlet Gonryongpo with the golden five-toad dragon at it's back and front to indicate that he is indeed the king, styling his long hair into a bun as the crown ikseonggwan was worn on top of his head.
Now looking presentable to the dear esteemed guest, Taejun strode confidently to where the guests were currently waiting for the arrival of the young king with Jinho by his side. Pushing the door wide open, the guest all stood up and bowed their heads respectfully at the king as he walked in.
"You may raise your head," said Taejun.
Raising their heads slowly, they stood up to greet the king with a little bow.
"Please, introduce yourselves"
The foreign guest looked at each other, confused at what the king said, not understanding the Korean language.
"I don't think they understood what you said your majesty" whispering in Taejun's ears, Jinho tried to hold back a snicker at the king's naivety.
"他說我們應該自我介紹"
A female voice rang out in the entire room as Taejun turned his attention to the direction where the voice came from. Taejun didn't know why his heart seemed to flutter hearing that voice, but the voice was soft and sweet and when she spoke it was as if she was singing a lullaby.
But trying to find a face to match with the voice, Taejun failed to do so as the female guest's face seemed to be covered with the fan they had in their hand as they lined up behind the officials in front of him.
Finally understanding what the king meant, the guest spoke "I am Xun Xiang of China" even though he was speaking in broken Korean, nonetheless Taejun still understood what he meant to say. From the looks of it, Xun Xiang, a man in his thirties seemed to be witful and well respected by his people as he was dressed in fine clothing.
In return, Taejun only nodded at the official in front of him "Well then, shall we talk about the alliance now?" sitting down on the floor he was seated at the end of the table as Xiang and his company followed him suit while Jinho was standing beside Taejun.
Xiang looked behind him to a girl who was standing elegantly behind him, tilting his head to the king then back at her. Taejun stared at the interaction between them with interest when suddenly the girl finally spoke up.
"他想談談我們之間的聯盟"
Xiang nodded as he looked at the king, clearing his throat to finally give the details and plans of their alliance. But yet the king seemed to be distracted.
Hearing the girl speak somehow sent chills down Taejun's spine. Staring at the girl, he noticed she was quite tall for a girl with slender arms as she stood with proper posture as she held the golden colored fan with her right hand. Wearing a scarlet qipao with golden dragons embroidered into it and her hair styled into a high bun with a headpiece to highlight it, even though the other females were wearing almost the exact same dress.
She stood out from the rest as the others looked ordinarily plain but she looked as if she was part of royalty in the king's eyes.
With her face half covered by the fan, the only thing that was visible to him was her eyes but even then he couldn't take a good look at them as she stared at the floor. Jinho coughed lightly to get Taejun's attention but he continued to stare despite the light exaggerated cough he gave as a signal.
Bending down lightly, Jinho leaned in Taejun's ear "Your majesty, we are wasting time" he whispered.
Taejun tore his eyes away from the girl immediately not realizing he was staring at her so open like that. Clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment he motioned his hand to Xiang so that he could finally start what he was about to say.
For what seemed to be hours and hours that passed they were finally finished, they talked about the conditions of their alliance as the kingdom of Seorabeol promises to help China in any way and so did the country of China. Taejun did not speak Chinese and nor did Xiang know how to converse in Korean so it was quite hard for them to communicate well and convey their message to each other but through the girl who seemed to be the only one capable of understanding and speaking Korean they managed to finish up the alliance with a handshake.
But Taejun was thankful for the inconvenience because he got to hear more of the mysterious girl's mellow voice.
As they finished Xiang spoke up loudly as he announced something Taejun could not understand as Xiang motioned his hand to the girl and back to him. Taejun cocked his head to side in confusion but looking at the girl's eyes, he could tell she was as confused as him. She spoke softly in her language as though she was trying to reason with Xiang while remaining polite and respectful but Xiang did not want to deal with her as he snapped at her, making the girl flinch back with a nod.
"Y-your majesty" snapping his head to look at the girl he realized this was the first time he heard her speaking to him directly because even when she was translating, she did not look at him nor address him as she only directly translated what Xiang had said and then remaining silent afterwards.
"I-If you may allow, I am to be left here at the Kingdom of Seorabeol so that both our lands may be able to c-communicate by letters" kneeling down gently and bowing her head to him, it somehow made Taejun uncomfortable "Because i-it seems no one is fluent here in Chinese, it may be hard to understand the message our land may giv–"
"Are you underestimating us?!" yelled out Jinho, taking loud steps towards the bowing girl "Do you not think we can learn your language because we are incapable of doing so?!"
The girl shook her head furiously "N-no! Of course not!! I-It is not my-, our intention of offending you in any way!!"she said defensively.
"Let her speak Jinho" said Taejun with a soft yet commanding tone, Jinho craned his head to look at Taejun and sighed while nodding, doing what the king had wanted.
Taejun eyed the girl before him, if he looked closely he could see that there was quite a tremble on her hands that touched the cold wooden floor "You may continue" he said softly.
The girl breathed in an air of relief as she gathered her courage to continue on "Thank you, your majesty. If you may, I-I've been instructed to stay here so that our lands may communicate smoothly" she replied "I will do whatever it is you want while I stay here and as a citizen of China I will take responsibility for whatever treason my land will make. All I ask is a room I may stay in"
Beside him, Jinho snickered at her reply "You are asking the king for a place to stay in? Let me remind you who you are talking to, girl! You are talking to the king, he does not give in so easi—"
"Very well then"
"Are you out of your mind?!" bewildered, all Jinho could do was question Taejun's sanity.
"Watch your tone Jinho" he said sternly, glaring at his guard who immediately kneeled down and bowed his head in apology.
The girl was still bowing her head and Taejun let the tail of his lips go up as he gazed at her in amusement "One of the handmaidens shall escort you to one of the vacant rooms in the palace, I wish for us to work together to make a strong relationship with each others kingdom"
"Thank you so much" she whispered, still not lifting up her head. Not knowing exactly why Taejun found it so frustrating that he couldn't properly see her face, he turned away in defeat and started walking out the room.
Before he was out of the sight of Xun Xiang and his other companions he stopped and looked back at them "Oh and before I forget, you may go now. My men will be escorting you out the palace"
He could faintly hear the girl translate for them once again and he couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle.
Lifting up her head to see if the king was out of her sight, she turned around to Xun Xiang and tried to persuade him of changing his mind , leaving her behind on this foreign country. When she was forced to come along with them by her father, her staying here was not part of the agreement.
"Please, I'm begging you! You can't just leave me her–"
"SHUT IT" Screaming in front of her face, Xiang ran a hand through his hair in annoyance "How many times do I have to tell you that,this is the final decision!!"
"But my father–"
"I'm sure your father will be happy to hear that his daughter finally became useful when her older brother is risking his life for our home land!!"
"You can't just–"
"I SAID SHUT IT! Or I will hit you so hard that no one would recognize you" he warned. Flinching and taking a step back out of fear, she could feel tears building up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
But Xiang on the other hand just had a grin on his face as he put his hand on her shoulders, gripping them tightly before whispering in her ears.
"確保操縱國王，萬歲中國"
Letting go of her, Xiang walked passed by her with a laugh.With his lackies following behind him, they went out the room and only when he was out of her sight did she finally let the tears fall.