WHEN THE MARRIAGE COLLAPSE

fourteen - "You trust her more than your wife?"

"The Queen has arrived!" Hanseo yelled, earning the King's attention. Heeseung quickly got up from his seat and ran to the entrance gate, seeing a tired Yeonbyul walking out of the car.

He rushed towards her and held both of her shoulders roughly, "Where have you been?!"

She groaned out of annoyance and tried to push him away but he gripped her tighter, "Answer me!"

Her eyes widened at the tone of his voice. He never raised his voice at her. She looked to her right and saw Haesun watching them from afar. She lowered her gaze in shame, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"If you're not going to answer me then get out of my sight. You're wasting my time."

Her heart dropped at his words. She clenched her fists and looked at Hanseo who was watching them awkwardly. She smiled, "Hanseo, carry my bags to my chamber."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yeonbyul sat on her bed, thinking about what happened earlier. She knew Haesun was trying to hide her smile. She clenched her fists and lied down, exhaling heavily.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't stress over this. His Majesty was just worried about you. He'll come to you and apologise later as usual."

"There was something different, Hanseo. He never raises his voice at me even though he was angry."

"You know what will make you happy?"

"What, " Yeonbyul faced the court lady. Hanseo smiled, "A quiet reading time with tea at the lake. You always love to sit on a boat and read books."

The Queen smiled and nodded, letting the court lady do whatever she wants. She got up and changed into her leisure clothes before grabbing the books she wanted to bring.

The butlers bowed at Yeonbyul as they prepared some snacks and tea on the boat. She was about to hop onto it until a familiar voice called for her, "May I join you, Your Majesty?"

She closed her eyes, cursing at the owner of the voice internally. Haesun lowered her gaze, "It seems like our relationship has many understandings. Please let me join you so we could clear some things up."

Hanseo who was standing next to a tall butler shook her head, signalling no. Yeonbyul sighed, "You have 10 minutes. And then I wish for you to get out of my sight."

They both hopped onto the boat. Haesun was about to reach for the sweets but Yeonbyul hit her hand, "I let you join, not take my snacks. If you want some, ask from your maid."

Haesun scoffed and fixed her posture, "I didn't mean to make the King mad at you. I just told him that you weren't thinking of coming back. But don't worry, I could help him at the palace."

Yeonbyul couldn't believe what she was hearing. She never said that she wasn't coming back. It was Haesun's fault that the King scolded her angrily.

"I suggest you shut your mouth before any misunderstandings happen in the future. It seems to me that you can't stop yourself from creating such nonsense rumours, " Yeonbyul clenched her book.

Haesun wanted to curse at the Queen so badly. She cleared her throat and maintained her smile, "You know how Heeseung loves me very much. Probably more than you. But...we all know that."

"You still haven't learned the manners of calling the royal family by their titles-"

"Enough with the titles, Park Yeonbyul. If you weren't the Queen, we would be on the same level by now."

"But eventually, he chose me to be the Queen Consort. So my level is way higher than yours. Wake up from your dreams."

She drank her tea, smiling at how stupid Haesun could be. She looked at the dock and saw Heeseung passed by. The boat started to shake aggressively. She looked at Haesun who immediately stood up and shook it on purpose before yelling, "Your Majesty, stop it! Heeseung, help!"

The boat turned over and both of us fell into the river. Hanseo's eyes widened, "Your Majesty!"

Heeseung took off his jacket and jumped into the lake. He searched for Haesun and pulled her towards him before swimming back to the land. Haesun coughed continuously before hugging the King, "I'm scared, the Queen tried to drown me."

"I'm here, I'm here. You're going to be fine," he hugged and patted her back gently.

Yeonbyul swam upwards to catch her breath. She inhaled deeply and went to the dock before climbing up. She coughed some water out and looked at Heeseung who stomped towards her. She sighed and got up slowly before feeling a sting on her right cheek.

Heeseung had slapped her hard in the face. She glared at him, "Did you just slap me?"

Haesun sobbed into his chest, crying about how I shook the boat on purpose. Yeonbyul scoffed and wiped her tears, "You trust this woman more than your wife?!"

"I trust someone right."

"What if I'm telling the truth? That I'm right and your mistress is just acting to humiliate me."

"You're so pathetic. Is this why you ran away? Because you planned to kill Haesun?"

Yeonbyul looked at him in disbelief, "What?"

"That's what she told me. You planned to bring her down, weren't you? Enough is enough, Yeonbyul."

The King and his mistress turned around to walk away. Yeonbyul gritted her teeth and took off her shoe before throwing it hard at his back. Heeseung turned around and watched as she walked ahead of them, bumping against his shoulder hard on purpose.

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Yeonbyul buried her face into her pillow, sobbing until her eyes were swollen. Her cheek was still stinging by the slap earlier. Her heart was aching because of the heartbreak. Hanseo looked at her, wanting to comfort her but she knew it would be best to let her cry first.

Yeonbyul faced the ceiling, "It wasn't my fault... Haesun shook the boat and fell off herself."

"And the fact that he saved her and let me drown in the lake. Thank God I know how to swim."

"Your Majesty, I know it's not your fault. You can talk to me if you want, " Hanseo sat at the edge of the bed.

Yeonbyul smiled and closed her eyes before falling into a deep slumber.