Kingdom

121. Nightfall (7)

"Nori, do you want to sleep more or do you want to come to dinner?" Mira asks.

Nori opens her eyes, wondering for a moment if she is awake or not. It's hard to tell what time it is, and how long she was asleep. Mira is sitting by the side of the bed, smiling at her.

"Where is the King?" Nori asks, rising herself up on her elbows.

"He and the other boys are in the kitchen." Mira says. "Yoongi told me not to wake you up but I thought you might feel bad if you miss the cooking show. Namjoon is peeling potatoes. It's so funny."

Nori sits up so abruptly as if someone doused her with cold water."Why did you give him a knife?"

Mira grins. "He insisted on helping."

Nori leans her forehead on her palm, dizzy from her sudden movement. "How long did I sleep?"

"A couple of hours; I hope you are rested."

"Kind of..."

"You should put on a pretty dress and come with me." Mira takes Nori's hand and helps her stand up. Her eyes fall on the cuts in her clothes. "What happened to you?"

Nori smiles innocently "Me and the King went for a walk in the forest."

"I went for a walk too, but my clothes do not look like that."

"I fell. I stumbled on a rock and fell over a bush."

Mira chuckles. "Okaaay. I won't ask if the bush has Royal blood."

"Really, I just cut my clothes on some thorns."

"Sure, sure... I don't doubt it. But we should clean you up and get you ready for dinner."

Mira opens one of the large chests by the wall, searching for appropriate clothes for the Princess. The Lady herself has chosen an elegant green dress and has added flower pins in her hair. She looks even prettier than usual. And smiles even wilder. The Lady's walk in the forest must have been a very pleasant one. With no sharp thorns to ruin her mood.

"This is perfect," Mira says, pulling out a pair of blue skirt and a light pink top.

Nori's focus of attention is far from the clothes.

"Yoongi said that he knows about you and Jungkook." she says. "Yet, he was weirdly okay with it. Do you think he will really allow you to keep seeing Kook?"

"Yes, it's alright." Mira leaves the dress on the top of the chest, and opens a large jewelry box, placed on the table beside it. "Yoongi is worried about me, but he is supportive. He is not going to put any obstacles between us, but..." Her smile faltered. "The situation is getting more difficult than I thought..."

"What do you mean?"

"There is so much I want to do with Jungkook but I can't." Mira takes a golden hair pin from the box and plays with it, passing it between her fingers. Her eyes turn unnaturally sad."I wish Jungkook could have dinner with us. I want to introduce him to Hobi. I want to brag about him to the whole world. But I can't." She attempts to smile but fails."I should not be greedy. I should be happy he likes me. That's enough."

Led by a sudden instinct, Nori steps forward and hugs her. The Princess is not used to initiating physical contact with less familiar people, yet she feels close to Mira now, relating to her struggles. Even if Nori was officially engaged, she was not allowed to do so many things with her fiance - not to touch him in public, not to kiss him, not to stay all night talking to you.

Mira might be free to enjoy the comfort of Jungkook's presence at night, yet during the day they have to hide in the shadows and pretend nothing is happening. It must be difficult indeed.