The King's Pet

Chapter 4: A Realisation

Makita's P.O.V

The weekend came by faster than I had expected it to and I found myself feeling nervous about the upcoming dinner with Hyunjin and his parents. Being in the presence of royals wasn't anything new to me, after all I had been in a position of subservience every day for nineteen of my twenty-five years alive, but I was nervous.

I was nervous like it was my first time going to a dinner where I was surrounded by royals, which it wasn't. Even though I was actually going to be included and not just the entertainment, it wasn't my first dinner so I really couldn't understand why I was shaking as the hours passed by me. It just didn't make sense, but I didn't have time to think about it as lunch time rolled around quite fast.

Like clockwork Hyunjin found me so we could walk to the garden together. I found it endearing how he basically never forgot about me. Even after basically a week he was still keeping me company, definitely not as I expected. I imagined he'd soon become busy again and I would be left to my own devices but he was just as involved with me then as when we first met.

"So, Kita, what do you think about starting school?" He asked as we sat down at our usual place. "I think it could be nice for me, my King." I responded which made him scoff softly and lean closer to me. "Do you really think that though, or are you just saying that for my benefit?" He asked with a tone I could only assume as flirtatious, though at the time I didn't know the word for it.

"I do my King!" I exclaimed, embarrassed by his suggestive tone. He chuckled softly before sitting back again, which made me relax again. "It's good that you want to start, I'll get a  great tutor for you and you'll start next week. It'll be great." Hyunjin smiled happily. I smiled in return glad that he was pleased and convinced. In all honesty I didn't think very hard about the school thing, I was too busy being anxious at the thought of his parents not liking me after the dinner.

"Um, my King, is my dinner wear ready for me to try on?" I asked, reminding him that the fitting had yet to happen. "Oh yes, perhaps we'll have to do it now and miss lunch...guess we'll have a large supper." He responded thoughtfully. "Let's go get it and you can try it on for the tailor." He continued, getting up and extending his hand to me.

I was confused for a second before it clicked in my head. He wanted me to hold his hand.

I extended my own hand to his, feeling as his large fingers basically engulfed my smaller ones–leaving me to blush to myself. I stood up and we proceeded to the tailor's shop in the town, walking side by side.

Once we got to the tailor I immediately went to try the eveningwear on. We were led to the back of the small establishment where there were there was a little room for me to change in. Hyunjin said he'd wait for me to finish so he could see how it looked on me. I went in and began to undress myself.

It had been a while since I'd seen myself completely naked. While faint, I could pick up on several scarred over wounds from the lashings I received when I was younger. It was surreal to see them healed properly, the last time I saw the same marks was in a servant doctor's office right after the lashing...and at that time they were fresh open whip wounds and I was covered in my blood.

"Makita, are you alright in there?" Hyunjin asked, snapping me from my memory. "Uh-ye, yes my King, I've just never seen this fabric before." I responded as I hastily picked up the pants. "Oh it's from the Center Kingdom, my sister sent it as a gift but it didn't fit me even all those years ago." He shared fondly. "Were you very small back then, my King?" I asked as I put the pants on.

"I was just smaller than you," Hyunjin started, chuckling reminiscently. "I find that difficult to believe, my King." I replied, chuckling softly at the thought of his wide shoulders and lean stature once never being a part of him. "Me too, I should show you some pictures later. How is the shirt? I remember it being kind of a hassle to fasten at the back." He asked, right on time with me struggling with the shirt.

"It's quite tricky, my King..." I answered. "Would you like some help Makita?" He offered gently. I swallowed my nerves down and accepted. I watched in the mirror as his reflection came from behind the curtain. He looked so handsome under the warm orange lighting of the candles. I felt as his hands traveled up my back, his hands caressing the parts of my skin uncovered by the shirt.

I blushed at the small movement, looking away from the mirror and using my hair to shield me. "Makita..." Hyunjin uttered carefully. My breath hitched as I felt him gently run his hands along the remnants of my punishment. I could hear in his voice that he was shocked and for reasons I didn't understand at that moment I was ashamed. I felt faulty, like I didn't deserve to be his pet. Almost as if the state of damage I was in made me unworthy to even be in his kingdom. I theorised this was the same thing that got me given away by Queen Kassandra.

I shrunk away from Hyunjin's touch and turned my back to the mirror, still not looking at him. "Makita who did that to you?" He questioned, unfruitfully trying to disguise his anger—which, at the time, felt misplaced to me. Because, in my indoctrinated mind, there was no reason for him to be upset that I fell for Jian's trick. "Makita, please tell me..." He requested. "King Jian." I responded shortly, not wanting to say more. He let go of a devastated breath. He didn't say anything as he pulled me into him. I gasped shorty at the movement, feeling as his arms wrapped around me to reach the clasps and fastenings of the shirt.

I gave some of the weight of my body up to him as he partly engulfed me. Even now I remember how warm he was and how cold I felt when he finished and pulled back from me. I wanted to be in his arms forever, where it was safe and homey.

I slowly returned from my romance and found the courage to look up at him. He looked down at me with a look I could only describe as heartfelt. The kind of look a trapped innocence would have when saved by it's knight after hundreds of years capture. It was in that moment of sheer romantic tension that I realised my feelings for Hyunjin. I also figured out that those feelings were the reason I was so nervous about the dinner. I didn't want to disappoint his parents or him because I fancied him and I wanted him to feel the same.

----