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Everyone in the palace knows of the King’s engagement. The announcement came unprompted one day from a few of the King’s closest aides. King Yoo had finally, after years and years of prompting, wedded an omega—a recessive omega—to be his loyal wife.
As with all the other servants of the Kingdom, Nae Yong, a lowly palace maid, vied with many others to catch a glimpse of this elusive Queen. It was the talk of the palace, pretty much, ever since it had been announced.
Why wouldn’t there be talk, when the most desired alpha bachelor of the Kingdom had finally found his wife? There were some, of course, full of dreams and delusions, who wished to overthrow this new wife of his, taking their spot for themselves. Most of the others were normal about it though, thankfully.
Nae Yong herself had fit into the normal camp. She wanted to see the wife, how she acted. Most importantly, she wanted to see how well they suited each other! This would be the palace romance of the century, noted down in history books and stories alike, and she had firsthand witness to it. Anyone who was in her shoes, in close proximity to the King himself, would wish to see this entire thing play out.
There had been a bet amongst her cohort of maids about the appearance of his wife.
All of them agreed that she had to be beautiful, of course. King Yoo had been strikingly handsome himself, and so only a beauty would suit to stand beside him as he ruled the lands.
However, the exact appearance of his wife was a hotly debated topic. One that Nae Yong herself couldn’t help but get roped into.
“I’m sure that new Queen of his has to be a black-haired beauty!” Cho Seulgi, her fellow maid, exclaimed. “Short-haired, short in stature—maybe even one of his aides!”
She grasped at Nae Yong’s collar, eyes fervent with hope. “It has to be, there’s no other possibility! I’m sure it’s that one aide that was beside him during his coronation speech. Was it… Aide Han? Don’t you agree?”
Cho Seulgi was kind of scaring her here… The intensity in her eyes had only grown in the last few seconds, her grip on her collar strengthening. Nae Yong would have to iron out her uniform as soon as she was allowed to go back to her bedchambers.
“No.” Nae Yong shook her head, eyeing her weirdly. “It’s most likely to be a white-haired beauty. Don’t you remember Duchess Lee? She and the King had dealings for a long time. Isn’t that suspicious?”
She released her grip on her collar, and Nae Yong sighed in relief. Cho Seulgi rubbed her chin in contemplation, eyes unfocused on an area of the wall. “I… I guess you’re right…”
In just a moment, she almost leaped forwards, pointing at Nae Yong. “But! Don’t you remember? Her and King Yoo had dissolved their agreements a long time ago!
Nae Yong nearly jumped straight through the roof, stepping backwards at the display. She rubbed a hand on her forehead, calming herself, before saying, “Yes, that’s true… But isn’t it more likely for him to have a type? Even if he had dissolved his relationship with Duchess Lee, he would seek out something most familiar to him, something that resembled his past lover.”
“No! If they had ended on bad terms, it would make more sense for King Yoo to seek out the opposite of Duchess Lee. I, myself, would hate to be reminded of my past lover every single day. Him seeking out a black-haired beauty would make the most sense!”
Nae Yong pinched her nosebridge, easing out the headache.
If only the other maids were as free as they were. Her and Cho Seulgi were the only ones assigned to this place, right by the garden. She would never get her point across to her at this rate.
Both of them were on the opposite sides of a war—the war of appearance.
Granted, having more maids around wouldn’t do her any good, either. There were other factions around in the castle. Some supposed that the King favored blonde-haired beauties, reporting a certain Lady Croft being seen around in his vicinity. Others had claimed for him to favor more exotic hair colors—blue, purple, even green. Since the rise in magic dyeing of hair had grown, those in such factions claimed that he’d wed a beauty with such colors, as most of them were extremely skilled mages.
Others even claimed that the King had wedded a male omega, but such a faction was one of the smaller ones in the betting arena—condemned by many others who insisted that his wife couldn’t be a man.
Footsteps sounded close by. Nae Yong placed a finger on her lips in a shushing gesture.
Cho Seulgi followed, pursing her own lips. She glared at her, obviously because she didn’t agree with her sentiment at all, but this was no time to argue. If the other palace maids saw them messing around like this, word might even get to the King.
Nae Yong caught a whiff of something. Something floral, chocolatey. The scent of an omega.
She was a recessive omega herself, so she recognized the scent immediately. It wasn’t strong, similar to her own scent. This scent wasn’t similar to any of the ones amongst her. It couldn’t be a palace maid, then. Was it someone else in the Kingdom, a higher-up?
And then, an accompanying scent suffused through the air, the signature scent of an alpha. As soon as she smelled the scent of tea, warm and soothing, she recognized it to be the King’s scent.
She tilted her head, looking out through the open gate. There, she saw a face she didn’t expect to see.
Huh… Aide Kim?
His hair and stature were recognizable from a mile away, his form decked out in royal garb. His outfit had changed since the last time that she’d seen him—during King Yoo’s coronation ceremony.
Most shocking of all, were his arms across King Yoo’s shoulders, wrapped around in an embrace. Their faces, shockingly close, were set in peaceful expressions, a small smile on the King’s face.
In one swift moment, Aide Kim brought both of their faces together, setting themselves in a quick peck.
Nae Yong gasped. Cho Seulgi quickly shut her up, placing her hand in front of her mouth.
The kiss was brief, gone as soon as it had occurred, and Nae Yong had to blink several times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She pinched herself, once and twice on her thigh. Ouch…
She really wasn’t dreaming.
Those who claimed that the King had wed a man… were right…
She took sharp breaths, calming herself. Her brain seemed to short-circuit. Cho Seulgi’s hand was still on her face, damn it!
Aide Kim pointed to the flowers that the palace maids had so gracefully cared for, smiling and laughing. He was telling him a joke, clearly, his hands gesturing crazily.
And again, King Yoo smiled. The King who was said to be the most bloodthirsty in the history of this Kingdom had smiled not once, but twice throughout this entire meeting.
If Cho Seulgi’s hand wasn’t on her damn face, her mouth would’ve been gaping wide-open at the sight, gawking at this… miracle. If someone—a different palace maid—had observed this sight and told her about it, she wouldn’t have believed it at all. But, when faced with the direct evidence of it, she couldn’t deny it.
The sound of departing footsteps came quick though, thankfully. Only then was Nae Yong able to pry her fingers off of her.
“I… I was closer to the actual answer than you were, you know?” Cho Seulgi slapped her on the back, adding insult to injury. “I was very, very close. He—Aide Kim, he is his Aide!”
“Yeah, yeah…” She side-eyed her, giving her the nastiest glare she could muster. “Whatever.”