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Yun tripped into the king’s chambers.  She was ten minutes late at least by now.

“Yun!” Taehyung’s sharp voice snapped. “You knew you had to be here by seven.  Why are you late?”

“S-sorry, Your Majesty.” She dropped to her knees in front of him, bowing down on the ground. “I wasn’t feeling well this morning.”

Taehyung could tell that now, having seen her flushed cheeks when she had entered.  He sighed. “Go back to bed.  I’ll have Jimin get me ready.  And get up off the ground.”

Yun rose to her feet, her head still bowed, before shuffling out.

——————–

Yun spent the day rolling around in bed.  She had read a book for a bit and taken a short nap in hopes that it would help her pounding headache subside.  It hadn’t done much.

Now she heard a gentle knock at her door.  She knew it was Jungkook.  Jimin didn’t knock.  She trudged over to the door and opened it.  As she had expected, she was greeted by a smiling Jungkook on the other side.

“I brought you some soup.” He said, holding a small pot of it out to her. “A little birdie told me you weren’t feeling well.”

She stepped aside, motioning him to come in. “Let me guess, Jimin?”

“No, actually.  Someone sent me note.  By bird.  So, when I said it was a little birdie, that wasn’t a joke.” He grinned.

Yun just raised her eyebrow. “It may just be because I’m sick, but that sounds absolutely ridiculous.”

Jungkook shrugged. “No matter.  Are you going to eat?”

“Yes, definitely.”

——————–

“Your Majesty, now that you’ve been crowned king, we need to find you a wife.  You need someone who can give you an heir.”

Taehyung sighed as his royal adviser droned on.  He didn’t want a wife.  He was fine ruling this kingdom by himself.

“There are many princesses who would suit you.  Many of them are still in town from the coronation yesterday.  You should meet a few of them while they’re still here.”

Taehyung sighed. “All right.  Choose your favorite three of them.  I’ll meet them.  But only those three.”

——————–

Taehyung had met with the first two girls.  They had been rude and kept telling him he had to choose them.  There was no way he was marrying either of them.  Why had his royal adviser thought highly of either of them?  He was meeting the princess of Chaeseo next.  He hoped she was all right.  He didn’t want to meet with anymore princesses.

Ahseong stepped into the throne room.  Taehyung had been expecting her to arrive in royal robes and in heavy makeup.  She hadn’t.  Sure, her purple hanbok was still pretty fancy, but it wasn’t the heavy royal robes the other two girls had shown up in.  And on top of it not being very fancy, it had pants instead of the usual flowing skirt.  The only other girl he’d ever seen wear pants was Yun.

Ahseong bowed lowly to Taehyung. “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.  I am Ahseong, the second princess of Chaeseo.”

“Hello,” Taehyung replied, his deep voice striking her core. “I trust you know why you’re here?”

“I do, Your Majesty.  But I have little hope of gaining what I’ve come for.”

“Oh?  I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Ahseong looked up at him hesitantly. “I-I’m sorry?”

“You seem to be a good fit for what I’m looking for.”

“I do?”

“Yes.” He looked her up and down.

Ahseong just stared at him.  This wasn’t what she had expected.  But she supposed it worked in her favor.  She’d liked him for a long while, and her father had been trying to marry her off for months now.  Maybe she’d finally found the guy she’d stick with.