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The carriage that ran up to the town fair didn’t fail to catch most people’s attention. After all, King Jonghyun followed on horseback, stopping at the entrance and alighting his steed.
Taking advantage of his people’s surprise, he made a beeline for the center plaza where Princess Dongho was happily stomping his feet in a large tub of strawberries. Dongho’s skirts are bunched up around his thighs and his legs are out on display.
“Dongho-yah!” Jonghyun hissed, anxious and scandalized.
The princess turned to look at him, his expression brightening. “Jonghyun-ah! Look, I’m winning!”
Jonghyun looked around at the ongoing strawberry stomping competition, much to the cheer of his townspeople. He couldn’t help but sigh fondly. He gave a reluctant wave and the crowd went wild.
“Your Majesty should join me!” Dongho laughed heartily.
Jonghyun sighed again, a cute pout on his lips. “Forgive me, I’m too tired. How about I hold your hand instead?”
“Yes!”
Expertly rearranging his skirts so he could hold it with one hand, Dongho held the other out for Jonghyun to take. The princess and the king grinned at each other as they held hands, Dongho not missing a single stomp.
The cheering went on and soon Jonghyun was helping Dongho circle the tub so as to not leave a single strawberry uncrushed. The scent filled Jonghyun’s senses with both sweetness and longing that he could not help but make a request.
“Won’t you make us some strawberry milk after this?”
“I was just about to say that!” Dongho said between breaths. “I’ll make all the strawberry milk in the world for you, Jonghyun-ah!” He beamed at his king, who blushed at the ripples of “aww” and “dear me, how sweet they are!” from the crowd.
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At the end of the day, the townspeople bid their beloved now-strawberry-scented royals with much fanfare. Dongho won the competition but the grand prize was his famed strawberry milk (only second to his yogurt creations) that he made for everyone. Jonghyun was only ever glad and relieved that Dongho was back to being properly dressed again.
It was, after all, his duty to protect his ward — Dongho was their only princess. He was almost synonymous with the kingdom that Jonghyun was given to look after when he was crowned king. Princess Dongho became his primary charge even before he became king, when he was naught but a young prince being prepared to take the throne.
Even now as Dongho — and Minki and Minhyun and Aaron-hyung — helped him protect the realm, Jonghyun was still always ever thinking of how he could protect them.
He left his steed to a trusty servant and joined Dongho in the carriage he had prepared to take them back to the castle. They sat together, Dongho waving goodbye to the last of the youngsters trying to run after their carriage until they fell beyond sight.
The princess sat back in his seat and saw the side profile of his king better. “You really are tired,” he said.
“Lengthy discussions with the advisers last night,” Jonghyun explained, yawning as he did so. Dongho’s gown sleeve brushed the side of the king’s face and, just like how Jonghyun’s beloved royal cats would react, Jonghyun leaned against the fabric and rubbed his cheek.
“Ah, you poor adorable thing,” Dongho murmured, placing an arm over Jonghyun and pulling him to his chest. Jonghyun allowed himself to wrap his arms around Dongho’s waist as he settled in his embrace. They sat like that for a while, the princess absently patting his king’s face.
“What did you even discuss with the greybeard council?”
“The usual… My marriage, mostly,” Jonghyun mumbled. “And your marriage, in relation to that.”
“What does your marriage have to do with my marriage?”
“You know how they’ve always thought I should marry you,” Jonghyun said carefully, “and how I’ve always told them I wanted you to marry whomever you wanted.”
“Well, I do want to marry you,” Dongho answered with a laugh. “That is, if I really have to.”
Jonghyun extracted himself from Dongho’s arms. “How would you want to marry me if you have to marry me?”
“Jonghyun-ah, I could marry any of you — you, or Aaron-hyung or Minhyunnie or Minki — for whatever reason the laws come up with and I would still be happy anyway. We’re family. I just haven’t figured out with whom I’d be happiest. Besides,” and Dongho threw Jonghyun a meaningful glance, “it’s not imperative that you marry a princess, is it?”
Jonghyun dropped his gaze and coughed. “It’s not.”
“You could always marry a prince if you wanted.”
“I could.”
“And we’re still missing a certain prince.”
“We are.”
“Your Majesty sounds like you’d be happiest with a certain prince.”
Jonghyun could only make strangled sounds in response. Dongho’s sunny laughter filled the carriage all the way back to Rabudeul castle.
Nearing the grounds, Dongho then said softly, “You know you didn’t have to run after me today, didn’t you?”
“I don’t mind.”
“I appreciate it but you are king now, Jonghyun-ah, and not my chaperon any longer.”
“I don’t mind being your chaperone; it’s—”
“It’s not like old times any more,” Dongho cut in firmly. “If you lose me, you’ve lost a princess. If we lose you, we’ve lost a king.”
“Any one of you four can be king after me,” Jonghyun countered. “You, on the other hand, are irreplaceable.”
“It won’t be the same without you.”
“It won’t be the same without you, too!”
Jonghyun’s voice had risen, his expression lined with worry. He looked angry, even.
“I’m not more important than any of you,” he said. “And if I lose any one of you, it wouldn’t be the same to me .” I’m not above anyone else and if I lose any more of my family, it will break me.”
Dongho gulped, biting back the answer at the tip of his tongue. All too suddenly, he understood what Jonghyun was saying, where he was coming from. These were not King Jonghyunʼs worries — these were young Jonghyunnieʼs fears. And they were Donghoʼs as well.
“You haven’t lost anyone, Jonghyun-ah,” he said gently, taking his hand. “You definitely won’t lose me, nor Minki, nor Hyung. And Minhyunnie, he’ll be back soon. ”
Jonghyun regretted his outburst. He was usually composed even if Minhyun had to be away from them, knowing the prince would come home as soon as his mission was over. There were times, however, that Jonghyun worried and regretted old things — he didn’t want to let his old fears creep up to him but he couldn’t help it either.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, trying to smile and lighten the mood.
“It’s all right, Your Majesty, you really must be tired,” Dongho said simply. He knew Jonghyun carried burdens since he had been crowned at sixteen; he had seen it and understood. The princess normally spoke his thoughts without hesitation but right then was not one of those times.
“Since you’ve been so kind to escort me back to the castle, I’ll return the favor and be your bedfellow tonight. What do you think? It’ll be just like old times,” he added cheerfully.
Jonghyun visibly brightened up at the idea. Just as Dongho was about to think he might actually be the happiest when he’s with Jonghyun—
“Oh, I don’t know, Dongho-yah,” Jonghyun’s face crumpled in distress even as his eyes shone with mischief. “Now that I’ve found out that you do want to marry me, I’m not sure you could restrain yourself in your desire for me tonight.” And Jonghyun placed demure hands on his cheeks to cover a very convincing blush.
By the time the carriage pulled up to the path leading up to the castle, Dongho’s expression had darkened.
“Perhaps it would be best for all of us if I just kill you right here, right n— King Jonghyun!”
Jonghyun bolted out of the carriage even before the footman could step off his ledge and open the door for them. “Catch me if you can, my dearest Princess Dongho!” he yelled happily as he ran.
“Your Highness, please!” the footman begged Dongho but he had already unsheathed his sword and was running after Jonghyun in a flurry of skirts. “Ah, they are at it again,” the servant muttered hopelessly.
The servants watched on as Jonghyun ran until he got caught, weaseled his way out of Dongho’s grasp, and laughingly pulled out his sword to parry Dongho’s strike. When earlier the princess and the king were picturesquely crushing strawberries together at the town fair, they were now in an impromptu sparring session on the castle grounds, with the princess threatening to crush the king’s windpipe with his bare hands.
“They might actually end up killing each other one day,” the coach commented with a chuckle.
“Goodness, man, don’t say that!”
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