The King's Pet

Chapter 18: Silently Gratful

Makita's P.O.V

The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed and well rested. I don't think I'd ever experienced such a peaceful and slumberous sleep. And waking up in Hyunjin's warm embrace made it even better. I cuddled into his warmth and held him softly, reveling in the quiet moment I had to admire him. The look of tranquility on his face put a grateful smile on mine. I couldn't help but quietly thank him for taking me in and treating me so well. I would never thank him out loud because I knew he didn't consider any part of how we came together and how he interacted with me a favour. To him it was the least anyone could do for another person but for me, knowing the full wrath of royals and coming from a background of service, I just naturally felt inclined to thank him for all the kindness he'd shown me.

"It's not nice to stare at people when they sleep my Prince." Hyunjin joked softly making me chuckle shortly. I smiled sweetly and kissed his nose. "I wasn't staring, I was gazing." I replied, feigning a matter-of-factly tone. He returned my smile and cupped my cheek, getting a long and good look at me. "When you put it that way it sounds so romantic." He responded gently before kissing my forehead. "Let's get ready for breakfast" He said, looking at me with tender eyes that melted my heart.

We got up, made the bed together and got ready for the day before walking down to our usual spot to wait for breakfast. As we waited Sara came to deliver a letter. "Good morning my King, my Prince," She started, making me blush at the sound of the honourific directed at me. "Good morning Sara." Hyunjin smiled up at her, prompting me to do the same. "An invitation from the Central Kingdom has arrived for you. I'll return after breakfast to hear your plan of action. Enjoy breakfast." She announced before bowing shortly and leaving.

I watched as Hyunjin opened and read the invitation, his expression plain and unreadable. When he was done he looked up at me and smiled cutely. "Makita, would you like to go to the Central Kingdom with me? I would love to introduce you to my sister and her husband." He asked. "I would love to Hyun. Is your sister having a celebration of some kind?" I questioned. "No no, I've been called to a council meeting. One of the other monarchs has an issue they would like to discuss with everyone so I must attend. It's a long trip and I couldn't imagine being apart from you that long." He explained, making me blush intensely. "Would you really miss me that bad my King?" I teased playfully which made his whole face erupt into smile. "I would miss you worse than any words could describe." He replied, leaning closer to me, cupping my cheek and kissing me softly.

I kissed back and enjoyed the heavenly feeling. I deepened the kiss, wanting more and losing myself to the pleasure of kissing my lover. I could hear and feel as both our breathing became heavy and as I began to feel my body heat up. At that point I forced myself to stop, pulling away from Hyunjin's heavenly kiss with hesitancy. "You're getting really good at that..." He said lowly, trying to recover. I smirked softly and kissed his cheek quickly, straightening myself up just as the chef came to serve us breakfast. With our food in front of us, we thanked the chef and ate in the peaceful silence of the morning.

After breakfast, as she said, Sara returned to discuss the travel plan with Hyunjin. As they did I painted his portrait while tuning into their conversation. "King Bheka would like to host the meeting mid next month and I would like to officially coronate Makita and announce our relationship. That shouldn't take more than three days to organise and two to celebrate...how long is the trip the Central Kingdom's capital again?" He asked. "Two weeks if we make a minimal amount of stops and travel all day, though we can maximise our time by packing the carriages as you plan and hold the coronation this week. This way we'll be able to set off the third week of this month and we'll arrive with some time for you to show Makita around and catch up the King Bheka and Queen Kim Soo-jin." Sara responded thoughtfully.

Just like that, they agreed on their plan of action and continued to speak about all the happenings in the Kingdom. Watching as they discussed various policies and appointments made Hyunjin all the more attractive to me. He was so passionate about the Kingdom he inherited and making sure everyone in it lived well—it was nothing short of amazing. Coming from the same background as the people he was fighting so valiantly to protect and uplift made me appreciate him even more and made my heart warm. I would have loved to have been born in his Kingdom.

Witnessing him in the middle of his kingly work also made him the perfect subject for a portrait and he became the subject of the very first painting I finished. He and Sara spoke for about 3 hours and I, leeching off of their focussed productivity, managed to finish painting his likeness. Happy with the progress, I left the painting to dry before going inside with Hyunjin so I could have my afternoon class with Mrs. Xiuying. Because of the fast progress I was making, I started having short afternoon lessons instead of long school days. And instead of having the lessons at the school, I had them in the castle library. Hyunjin enjoyed sitting in on the classes when he wasn't busy, which Mrs. Xiuying found to improve my learning speed.

With all the strides I'd made in all areas of my life since coming to the North-East Kingdom, it was baffling to think about how I used to be and where I came from. While I could never forget my roots, I felt like I was growing into an entirely new tree—growing new roots but still connected to the old ones. And all that growth, was because of Hyunjin's belief in making me as my own person.

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