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Joy slowly took the King's teacup from the table and exchanged it for a new one. She glances at the King. Since morning, she had been accompanying the King in his quarters, and he had been staring into space for quite some time. His cup of hot tea remained untouched, slowly turning cold. Joy knows that the King had been going a lot recently, especially with the death of Queen Dowager.

The funeral of the Queen Dowager went by in the blink of an eye. With everything prepared at its utmost best, they bid the Queen Dowager goodbye. Now that the Queen Dowager is gone, everything went back to normal. The King still had to fulfil his duties and attend the royal court every day. Though he had acted as though nothing had happened, and had hidden away his pain, Joy noticed that he spaced out a lot recently. He had also turned quieter than usual. 

Seeing the King like this, Joy felt pain in her heart. She knows he misses Queen Dowager a lot, but he just didn't want to admit it.

"She is gone...just like that." The King said softly suddenly. It sounded almost like a whisper.

From his voice, Joy heard sorrow, misery and regret. It is really painful to watch the King like this. Joy held her cup of tea, feeling the warmth in her palms. "I'm sure she had gone to a better place now." Joy replied softly.

She may not have known the Queen Dowager for long, but she does still care for the Queen Dowager. Queen Dowager is like a motherly figure to her. Because of the Queen Dowager, Joy felt motherly love for the first time. It's miserable for Joy to let go of someone that cares a lot about her too.

Looking at the King like this, Joy regretted not learning her history properly. If only she had been more diligent and had conducted more research on the different characters in her blockbuster drama. If she did, she could have prevented all these...

"I thought I will be happy with her gone now." The King said softly. "You know, she was never a good mother. From the moment I was born, I'm not a son to her. I'm more of a puppet--A puppet that she controls." 

Joy stayed quiet. She knows that what the King wants is not her reply. He needs her listening ear at this very moment. As she listened, Joy is reminded of herself. When she was young, she used to think that she is her foster mother's puppet too. She dares not voice out her opinion at all because she is scared that if she did, her foster parents may return her back to the orphanage again.

"Do you know, since young, I felt like I'm alone in this entire world. Even though I have a mother, I felt just like an orphan." The King continued. "I remembered how when I was ten-years-old, I thought about how I would be better off if I'm an orphan." He hung his head, his right hand covering his face. "A really bad thought, right?" He whispered. 

Joy shook her head slowly. "I have that thought sometimes too." She gave him a slight smile.

It's true, she used to think about how it would have been better if she were to remain as an orphan; if she had not been adopted by celebrity-couple. Because of all the fame and wealth that her celebrity foster parents had, people envied her. Soon, that envy turned into jealousy...Joy quickly stop that thought. She does not want to remember those pain that she went through again.

"And now, with her really gone, I can't believe I'm really all alone in this entire world." The King whispered softly and slowly. His eyes turning red, which soon turned teary. "I'm such a bad son, aren't I? I didn't even know that she is sick."