Kingdom

63. Laws of Magic (2)

Mira stands in front of her breakfast. She has been staring at the food for an hour now, yet she didn't feel the time passing. After Jungkook kissed her and disappeared she drank 3 cups of tea to calm down. The excessive amount of sedative herbs made her faint into a restless sleep for a few hours but she woke up more confused than before. Her handmaiden insisted that Mira should eat something and got her late breakfast; yet the Lady feels no desire to eat.

"I know how to seduce the King." Princess Nori declares marching into the room.

Mira blinks a few times, her mind forced back into reality. "You do?"

"Yes but I need you to help me meet Jimin."

"Who?"

Nori plants herself on the cushion in front of Mira, her eyes sparkling with something between madness and enthusiasm. She is weirdly dressed, the colours of her hanbok not matching at all, her upper garment torn over her shoulder, her hair done way too simply.

"Park Jimin, a famous dancer from Busan." the Princess says."He came to the wedding. He said he will be in Daegu for some time. We need to find him."

Mira rubs her forehead, trying to concentrate on whatever the Princess is saying. "Okay, calm down. First you need to tell me all that happened last night."

Nori's face goes blank. "Last night..." She looks down at her hands. "Many things happened..."

A small bruise spreads over the Princess's neck - a love bite. Mira's curiosity reaches new peaks. She forgets about her own worries in an instance, way too invested in whatever the Princess has to say.

"I could have sealed the marriage..." Nori traces a finger along the corner of the little food table."...but I chose not to."

"WHAT?" Mira jumps in place, both excited and disappointed."What do you mean you chose not to?"

Nori rubs the back of her neck, eyes glued to the floor. "You said it yourself - sleeping with him won't be enough to earn his approval."

"But it will be a good start..."

"Yes, it has to happen eventually..." Nori takes a deep breath. "But in a few days, after we spend more time together. I wish us to get more familiar with one another."

"You will have all the time to get familiar with one another after the marriage is sealed." Mira says, grabbing a piece of kimbap and eating it in one go. She needs to chew on something out of pure frustration.

The Lady vaguely remembers that her handmaiden told her a rumor about the King spending all night in the Princess room. Could it be true and what exactly happened? Earlier Mira was too drugged by the tea to be excited by this news but now her brain might explode from impatience to know every detail. But the Princess just stares at the table, opening and closing her mouth as if unsure what to say.

"Nori, please, let me know what happened."

The Princess swallows slowly, finally gathering the courage to speak. "To be honest I had the longest and most intense night of my life. I am not sure I acted in the best way. I know you might not understand me but ..." She pauses, grabs her left hand with her right and starts rubbing her thumb over palm."Before I seal this marriage, I have to take into consideration a lot of things. A lot of things..." Her voice trembles, she looks pale and scared, as a bunny who might run away any second now.

"Hei, it's okay. I am not here to pressure you, I am here to help you." Mira says with a soft voice. She pours some water and offers it to the Princess."Drink this, you look like you need some refreshments."

Nori takes the cup and drinks it all in one go, with the thirst of a person who has been in the desert for days.

"I know that any reasonable person would have sealed the marriage by now but I....," She leaves the cup on the table. "I am not reasonable..."