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After the murder of the Emperor, Kim Dokja found himself being prepared for his rushed marriage, just a week from the coming-of-age party that overthrew the previous emperor and revealed his crimes of working with dark magic. Many things were different from the novel, and Kim Dokja should have seen it coming, but he had always assumed the love points were those of brotherly love. Not boy love. Who would have guessed the protagonist swung both ways?! Kim Dokja surely didn’t, but he guesses he was a special case.
As a prince whose royal bloodline allowed him to be both genders, he shouldn’t have been shocked that the protagonist might see him as a potential bride, especially when he raised his respect and loyalty points. He really should have been more worried when the love points reached to question marks right after he informed Sung Jinwoo of his upcoming wedding to a foreign prince. His assistant started to act strange when he informed him of this on his eighteenth birthday, the foreign prince being twenty years old. The wedding was meant to happen a month after his coming of age party, his nineteenth birthday and after Sung Jinwoo was informed of that, he suddenly vanished. Sending him letters telling him that he had to fix some things and help some people. It annoyed him that he lost his friend and the protagonist, worried that the protagonist would come back and kill him, but that shouldn’t happen since he never bullied him. Kim Dokja worked hard to improve his reputation, that by the age of fifteen the old rumors were chalked up to childhood tantrums that he grew out of.
Still he was surprised that Sung Jinwoo was able to round up the nobles for a rebellion and save his father from the forest, in the novel he got to his father too late, and he died in the forest. Further, fueling the hatred for the Royal Kim family and their supporters. That’s why Kim Dokja helped him find clues on his father’s whereabouts, allowing him to correctly locate where he was at, so he didn’t spend months in the forest searching for him. Kim Dokja couldn’t help but think that Sung Jinwoo was someone who fell in love easily, as the female lead from the novel only had a few pages of screen time, and suddenly they were married and had kids.
All this time, while Kim Dokja was pondering, he was being held tightly by the protagonist, who was sleeping with his chest pressed to Kim Dokja’s back. After the party, Sung Jinwoo had dragged Kim Dokja to his bedroom and used his bathroom to clean himself off before dragging the prince to the bed to cage him to his chest while he slept. The Prince didn’t just allow himself to be dragged around like a doll, as he attempted to hit him, only to hurt himself with the strong body Sung Jinwoo had built with his hidden training. When he fell asleep, Kim Dokja tried to unravel the protagonist’s arms from his waist, but it was impossible to do. He eventually gave up, but was unable to fall asleep as he wondered how he got himself in this situation.
Should I just roll with it? It’s not like I hate Sung Jinwoo, and it’s better to be with him than the random foreign prince who was never described in the books . Kim Dokja frowned as he thought of the foreign prince he was supposed to marry.
“Yoo Joonghyuk…” He muttered to himself, since he had assumed Sung Jinwoo was asleep. The Prince had assumed wrong as the arms around him tightened, and a growling voice could be heard right next to his ear.
“Why are you saying that bastard's name?” Sung Jinwoo blinked his eyes open, glaring at the back of Kim Dokja’s head before he changed his position, so he was leaning over Kim Dokja who laid on his back. He has the same dark and sinister threat in those eyes, it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. It was the first time Kim Dokja has seen it from Sung Jinwoo, he couldn’t help but wonder if the change was recent or if Sung Jinwoo was that good at hiding the darkness from within.
“Since when have you loved me?” Kim Dokja asked, already knowing the answer. He started seeing the Love points after his sixteenth birthday, while Sung Jinwoo was twenty-two.
“When you seduced me at the lake a few months after your sixteenth birthday. You don’t know how hard it was to keep my hands to myself.” Sung Jinwoo confessed, Kim Dokja felt a shiver go through him when the dark expression on Sung Jinwoo changed to one of fondness.
“Seduced?! I fell into the lake by accident, I swear!” Kim Dokja lied. It wasn’t by accident, since he got a mission to get rescued by the Protagonist for hidden points. He was greedy for whatever points he could get to ensure his survival, so he tossed himself into the water. When he got the love points, he was somewhat disappointed but decided that it was better than nothing, assuming he was being loved like a careless little brother. Turns out the redness on Sung Jinwoo’s face wasn’t from the heat.
“Seeing you in those wet clothing helped me figure out I was falling for you. Before that, I always saw you as a respectable future ruler. I worried about whom you would marry, since you have the royal bloodline and were leaning towards beautiful rather than handsome in appearances. Since the lake, I decided I was the only one who would be your husband.” Sung Jinwoo explained, his teeth grinding when he paused. Most likely thinking about the proposal the Emperor finally accepted, and it was from a foreign prince and not the Sung Duchy.
“I got reports about Yoo Joonghyuk, and he’s ruthless. He isn’t right for you like I am.” Sung Jinwoo lied. The reports stated he was ruthless, but it was only to those who deserve it. It didn’t matter, since even if he wasn’t ruthless, he wasn’t about to hand his Kim Dokja over to anyone.
“Is he that scary?” Kim Dokja hadn’t thought to get a report on Yoo Joonghyuk, deciding to roll with the flow. Thank God, Sung Jinwoo looked into him. Kim Dokja thought, berating himself for neglecting to do that. It was just… Something about Yoo Joonghyuk made Kim Dokja at ease, and he just trusted his gut feeling. He felt a kiss on his cheek, the same place his father’s blood had been splattered on before he took a bath to wash it off.
“Don’t worry, we already sent a letter canceling the marriage. By the time it gets there, they can’t refute it, since we’ll already be married.” That was why the marriage was being rushed, so they could have their first night together. As much as he wanted Kim Dokja, Sung Jinwoo didn’t want to ruin his reputation, as it was a custom of Dream Empire to display a white sheet showing the blood stain of the first night from the bride. It worked differently for the Royal bloodline, as Kim Dokja would swear an oath to the God’s that he maintained his virtue, the wedding bouquet would glow white if he speaks the truth.
“Ok, I guess you’re right.” Kim Dokja’s shoulder dropped, deciding he’ll allow the Protagonist to be his husband. Better him than the supposed ruthless prince from another Kingdom.
A couple of years later, Kim Dokja found himself being a parent at the age of 22 as he stared down at his newborn daughter. Well, he was actually mentally 40, but he ignored that as something was far more important. Imperial Crown Princess Biyoo, it was a name that kept sticking to him, so he couldn’t help but name his daughter that. She woke up and noticed he was staring down at her, causing her to giggle and raise her arm, wanting to be picked up. Already knowing he’ll spoil his daughter in the future, Kim Dokja reached into the crib and picked her up.
The Sun Kingdom did fight back on the sudden cancellation of the marriage due to the fact it was part of a deal between Dream Empire and Sun Kingdom. Sung Jinwoo managed to bargain a new deal with their daughter and the Son of Yoo Joonghyuk, who got married to a Count from his Kingdom. It seemed that the other prince was in love with someone else, so he was thankful Sung Jinwoo’s reckless actions saved him from a loveless marriage.
“Isn’t she just the cutest?” Sung Jinwoo asked, wrapping his arms around Kim Dokja waist and peering down at their daughter, who cooed back at them.
“Yes she is, I believe she takes after me” Kim Dokja said smugly, reaching out and poking their daughter’s nose to watch her squirm.
“You’re right. Both of you are the cutest.” Sung Jinwoo rubbed his head against Kim Dokja’s neck like a child needing attention. Kim Dokja wisely ignored being called cute since it was his fault by saying she looked like him. It still pained his 40-year-old self by being called cute, but he never voiced a refusal.
“Let’s have another one,” Sung Jinwoo suddenly suggested.
“In your dreams.” Kim Dokja retorted back. He had a sinking feeling that Sung Jinwoo would have his wishes granted due to the luck of being a protagonist.
Kim Dokja will just need to roll with it like he’s been doing, it’s turned out well in the long run.