His highness, Min Yunki, is currently occupied by his own thoughts while sitting on his throne.
With the sudden appearance of Juno Kim, he can't help but think about her. She was an interesting woman.
Was she sent by the gods to kill him? Is she a threat?
"If you truly think that she's a threat, why did you spare her life?" he thought.
He's confused, but his gut tells him that he made the right decision to let her live.
Yunki called out the palace maids, who immediately went in front of him, waiting for his command.
"Fetch the girl for me," he ordered. "Prepare food for the two of us."
"As you wish, your highness," one of them responded. They bowed their heads before leaving.
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Juno was awoken by a loud knock on the door.
"There's my mom waking me up for dinner," she thought while stretching her body, her eyes still closed.
"Wake up, m'lady! Your highness requests your presence!"
"Wait, did my mom just call me 'm'lady?'" she thought and opened her eyes. There, she realized that she had fallen asleep inside the king's guest room and that it was now nighttime.
"I wish I was dead," she muttered and yawned before getting up.
"Please forgive us for being rude, m'lady, but we are going in! We can't let his highness wait for too long!"
"Oh shoot, I forgot about them!" she thought before telling the maids to come inside.
The door opened, and a few maids came in. With them are accessories and a lovely traditional dress.
"M'lady, you need to be prepared as the king requests your presence," one of them said. "Please take off your clothes."
Juno's eyes widened in shock at the maid's directness.
"Right here, right now?" she asked, and they all nodded.
"Uh, can I at least take a bath?"
"No, m'lady! We don't have enough time to take a bath! His highness hates waiting, and we already took long enough to wake you up," the maid who's holding the dress said.
Juno yelled when the maids ganged up on her and started stripping her clothes off. They quickly put on the dress, styled her hair, and retouched her face with make-up.
"Hey ladies, no need to be formal on me. My name is Juno," she said, but none of them replied and continued making her look presentable.
After they were satisfied with the way she looked, they took her to the room where the king was.
"Your highness, Lady Juno, is already here," one of them announced after knocking on the door.
"Let her in."
They opened the door and gently pushed her inside before closing it. Juno was greeted with the sight of the handsome king and a table full of food.
Yunki admired how beautiful she looked. His face remained stoic while he complimented her.
"Thank you, your highness," Juno replied, feeling flattered.
"Eat," the king ordered, so she quickly sat down in front of him. She picked up the chopsticks and started eating.
The dinner proceeded in silence. None of them talked and just ate their food in peace.
After swallowing the most delicious bowl of noodles she'd ever had in her life, Juno broke the silence.
"Your highness, you haven't told me your name yet," she said, looking at the king.
"Does that even matter?" he asked, which made her mouth shut.
"I shouldn't have said that," she thought to herself and looked down in embarrassment.
Yunki eyed her curiously before saying something. "It's Yunki Min."
Juno lifted her head and looked at his highness. Yunki sensed that she wanted to say something but was too nervous to say it.
"Do you have something to tell me?" he asked.
"It's a stupid thought," she replied.
"Go on. I don't appreciate keeping secrets from me," he said in a commanding tone.
Juno had no choice but to tell him.
"I was thinking of calling you Yunki, but that would be disrespectful of me."
Yunki's eyebrow quirked up. That was the first time someone asked if they could call him by his first name.
"Go on. You have my permission."
And for some reason, he agreed to it.
Juno let out a sigh of relief before smiling.
"Okay, then," she said. "Yunki."
The dinner once again continued in complete silence, but it was comforting.