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“Head Lady Noh,” Gon greets, sliding into a chair across from her. He sees the way her face changes, and it’s clear she’s already figured he’s up to something. He winces at being found out so easily, but clasps his hands in front of him and smiles pleasantly nonetheless. “I’m going to try and change the law.”
She gives him a withering look, “And what law would that be, your Majesty?”
That is the question. He’s been going through the documents as quickly as possible, trying to find the ones that specify marriage is between two people. Of course, Yeong already is his, theirs , in every way that counts. But he wants him to be his consort in the same way that Tae-eul is, wants the whole country to know how much he loves him.
He leans forward in his chair, “I don’t suppose you know which law says you can only be married to one person?”
“This is too much!” Noh says almost immediately, shaking her head at his impassioned plea. “To know that you are… involved with both of them is bad enough! The whole palace knows it! You want the whole country… the whole world to know it as well?”
Why does she sound so shocked?
“Well… yes?”
He leaves with no more answers than he had when he came in, and for a short while (after an impassioned plea from Yeong, who - it seems - had endured something of a lecture after their discussion) he lets the subject drop.
Not for long, though. Or… well. Not for too long. When Aera is three, Tae-eul falls pregnant again, and the timing for this child matches up with when he was in Europe. While most people won’t notice the timing, Gon knows that some of his more… passionate fans (who aren’t awfully pleased he’s married, anyway) will take notice. And so, he pulls out the law books again.
“Daddy?”
He looks up when he hears that little voice, and he sees Aera a short way away. Her hair is in pigtails, twin braids either side of her face, and her head is tilted to the side with an expression identical to her mother’s gracing her features.
He gives her his best impression of an innocent smile and opens his arms for her, letting her climb up onto his lap. She frowns. “That’s a big book.”
“Yes, it is rather. Sometimes I have to read big books.”
“What kind of book is it? Is it like King Arthur?” she bounces slightly on his knee, and he holds her just a little tighter to keep her from slipping off.
He grimaces, “Not quite . It’s a book of laws.”
“Are you trying to figure out how to be married to mommy and papa?” she asks, and he almost chokes. How in the world does she…?
She grins innocently at him, and he strokes a hair through her braids and closes the book, smiling at her instead. “Why don’t you tell me about your day, hm? Mommy said she and papa took you on a walk.”
At that, she launches into a description of her day, and Gon decides that it’s very unlikely he’ll finish reading over the laws today. Eventually, he lifts her up and takes her to her room to put her to sleep, and it’s not until she’s lying in bed, teddy under her chin, that she solemnly meets his gaze and thins her lips.
“I’ve not forgotten that you didn’t tell me about the law-book, daddy,” she tells him, with a yawn. That innocent face, hiding someone so full of mischief. Yeong says she’s like him, but he doesn’t see it. “People will love you even if they know you love mommy and papa both . It’s good to love lots of people. I love everyone in the palace, and everyone loves you and mommy and papa. Nobody’ll be angry.”
She falls asleep after that, and he watches her, lips half-twitched. If only it was that simple .
In the end, they don’t give a due date for the baby. The public don’t question it too much - Gon has kept Tae-eul out of the spotlight as much as possible anyway , to avoid anyone noticing her uncanny resemblance to Luna. Most people assume she’s just shy - though, of course, there are always those who question whether or not she’s even real.
He’s sneaked off to the stables, figuring that’s the best place to hide from his family. He doesn’t want to try and answer more questions from Aera, and so he sits and reads over the book in the corner of a stall.
“Maximus. Stop judging me, please,” he scolds from his place in the corner. He is sitting in a very Kingly pose atop a bale of hay, but his horse keeps giving him the side eye. In response, he gets a whinny and the horse returns to eating. He sighs. “It never specifically states that it’s a union of two people. It just says that it legally recognises people as ‘partners in a personal relationship’. We are all partners in a personal relationship, and so there shouldn’t really be any barriers…”
He’s not entirely certain that explanation will hold up, of course. The people love him and Yeong, of course, but there are some other countries where a liberal interpretation of the law won’t hold up. He has to make sure it’s set in stone, that it can’t be seen as him bending the rules to get what he wants.
Though I suppose even me asking for a change might be interpreted as an abuse of my position , he thinks to himself. Well. I am the King. Surely I can use my position for my own gain occasionally .
The stable door opens, and he closes the book and stands up to try and disguise the fact he was, in fact, sitting on a hay bale.
Luckily, his visitor is just Yeong. Yeong, who is looking at him disapprovingly.
“Were you just trying to find a way to bend the rules again?” he asks, and Gon raises an eyebrow.
“You would ask that question of the King? I could have you beheaded for that.”
Yeong’s lips twitch up, but he still has an expression that states he’s not awfully amused by the fact Gon hasn’t given up on his goal. Regardless, there’s clearly something far more important going on, because he drops it much quicker than he usually does.
“We need to go to the Republic,” he says, with a sigh.
Gon frowns, “Why?”
“Tae-eul says that she wants fried chicken,” he replies. “And she insists that the chicken here doesn’t taste the same.”
Her cravings weren’t nearly as bad last time. Gon is absolutely convinced that this is all down to the presence of Yeong’s DNA. Something picky has made its way into their child, and the only variable in this pregnancy is the fact the child is biologically Yeong’s.
Regardless, he’s never been the type to look a gift horse in the mouth. The universe has given him an out. He intends to take it.
“Well, we shouldn’t keep our Queen waiting.”
Yeong grabs him by the elbow when he attempts to get past him, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the book,” he mutters, leaning in to steal a quick kiss. “And don’t think I won’t be telling her about it.”
As he goes to collect the Manpashikjeok, he wonders if it’s possible Yeong has rubbed off on Aera. He truly doesn’t know where she gets her inquisitive nature from.
In the end, he asks the Prime Minister.
“I want to make polyamorous marriages legal,” he tells her, calmly. After a moment’s pause with the papers, she looks up from them.
“You want your bond with the Queen and with Captain Jo to be made public, then?”
He’s not surprised she knows. While all knowledge of it in the general public is limited to rumour and ‘shipping’ (a term he found while scrolling through the Instagram he’s apparently had for years and known nothing about), those who know him are more or less aware of the fact the three of them are involved. ‘The worst kept secret in the Kingdom’, Tae-eul had called it. As with many things, she’s entirely right.
He gives a swift nod, and gets a sigh in return.
“Well. I’ll try and get it put through in some manner,” she sighs. “If nothing else, I might be able to make it sound incredibly progressive.”
Four months later, the world is taken by storm when it is announced that the first polyamorous marriage in the Kingdom of Corea will be between the King, the Queen and the Captain of the royal guard.
“Well. We finally did it,” Tae-eul states on their wedding night. It’s technically their second wedding night, but this time, Yeong is officially their husband. There is an extra ring on the fingers of their right hands, and both his husband and his wife seem unsurprised that he managed it. Honestly, he’d been a little offended when he told them he’d managed to change the law - as a matter of fact, they’d just exchanged a look, rolled their eyes, and shifted to make room for him in bed.
There’s a knock at the door, and the children come in, ready for bed. Just as well, really - Aera had almost been asleep on her feet, and Jun-seo had been reluctant to wake up even for the photographs. Regardless, he gets hugs from his daughter, and kisses his son goodnight, and then they’re alone. He turns to face the two of them, and kisses Yeong, and then Tae-eul, lips curved against theirs.
“I did it,” he says, proudly. “You two wanted me to give up.”
Yeong laughs slightly, “Yes, well. It was our mistake to think we could talk you out of anything,” he says, ducking out of the way when Tae-eul reaches up to brush a lock of hair out of his face. “I’m happy, regardless.”
“As am I,” Tae-eul says, a smile bright on her face. “It does feel nice to know the whole world is aware of how lucky Gon is.”
He almost tackles her to the bed for that comment, but instead, his grin just widens.
“Yes, well. I do think I deserve a reward for my hard work, with which you were no help,” he gestures to the bed. “Shall we?”