King: of The Forest And The Land (COMPLETED)

The Inevitable Decision

As the night grew darker and the surroundings got quieter, King Julius stepped out of his chamber to check on Roseanne at the open space of the castle. When he saw Sir Anthony in the hallway watching over her, the two men shared a knowing look at each other. It was a sign that Roseanne had calmed down even though she still had not left Jungkook's side on the carriage.

"Have you tried talking to her?", the king asked Sir Anthony who is also his old friend who had been loyal to the royal family since forty years ago.

The other man shook his head, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Roseanne's fragile figure beside the man she seemed to get attached to on the carriage.

"Do you think she will listen to me?", the kingdom ruler asked.

"Do you want an honest answer or a relieving answer from me, Your Majesty?", Sir Anthony replied.

"Just tell me the truth, Anthony."

A nod was given before he answered the king's question, "To be honest, I don't think she will listen to you or me or anyone here in particular." He looked at King Julius' expression before continuing, "You see, I had a talk with Caladrius the day he brought Roseanne back. The boy no- the gentleman was an honest person, Julius. Since he was a stranger, of course I doubted him so I asked him to be honest with me because I didn't believe that he was just here to bring her back and to help us without getting anything in return. I thought that he might have a bad intention with the princess or you or the kingdom as a whole, but his answer was too far from what I guessed."

The king focused on Roseanne's advisor, "Don't tell me you know they were in love, Anthony."

"Don't worry, they haven't started anything like that behind you.", Sir Anthony replied.

"What do you mean?"

"These two...they had been friends for a week in the forest. It's true that he was helping her because he loved her. But he did not mean to ruin her relationship with Mingyu, he knew that her betrothal to Mingyu would not be just about the two of them. It's involving two kingdoms and he had no intention of destroying what would be built from the marriage that would happen. He even promised me that he would never disturb Roseanne after he make sure everything turns back to normal here. Because of his answer, I respected him as a human being no matter how different he was from us.", Sir Anthony revealed.

"If you ask me, I was equally saddened by his death, Anthony. I didn't doubt his kindness and I appreciated what he's done but...he's already- I just don't know how to convince Rosie to let him go.", the king responded, sighing in defeat.

Sir Anthony nodded, he was feeling helpless too, "Caladrius told me why Roseanne didn't want to go back when he found her in the forest. He said that she told him about her desire to be free and she took the chance when she was lost in there."

"If I tell her to stay put and watch him being taken away, she must be going to hate me, right?", King Julius asked, he had thought about the possibility of that thing happening.

"No matter what happens, she's still your daughter, Julius. One day, she will look back and see that what you decide is what's best for her.", that was all that Sir Anthony could say at the moment.

King Julius took a deep breath, "I guess it's time for me to decide what is going to happen, hm?"

Sir Anthony patted his shoulder, showing his support to the king, "You do what you have to do, Your Majesty."

The king nodded, slowly taking his steps closer to the carriage. Once he was close enough to his daughter, he called her name.

"Rosie?"