No arms appeared to hold her, no voice was heard to ensure her of his feelings and so she closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Until a pull on her sleeve made her wipe her cheeks and slowly she turned halfway back to him.

"Your Majesty," he whispered.

A bolt of lightning hit her when she realized it was the first time Jae-sung used that title to address her and all of a sudden she knew what was wrong.

With glistening rims in the lower lid of her eyes, she looked up to him and asked: "Will you never call me by my name again?"

"I can't, Your Majesty," he whispered with remorse.

"But there's no one who would know but us."

"You are my queen, how could I ever be so disrespectful?"

"Not even in private?"

Jae-sung swallowed. His gaze flitted to her lips and back and a little hoarse he asked: "How could we be anywhere private? Your Majesty?"

Iseul searched his eyes, decided to be brave and placed a hand on his cheek. "Can you not think of any way we could be alone together?"

His mouth opened, but there came no sound and Iseul smiled before moving in to kiss him. "I love you too," she breathed against his lips.

🌸

Iseul reduced the number of council meetings so that they only came together when there was actually something to discuss. She kept her relationship with Jae-sung a secret for the time being. There was no need to renew any of the old prejudices before all the ministers were convinced she could rule perfectly well on her own. For that purpose she spend every morning a few hours in lessons with several learned scholars.

She and Jae-sung met in the garden as Nari stood watch, and no one wondered why young minister Go walked home from the palace so late from time to time.

In the days that her time wasn't filled with official business, the queen was often found at Bongyo, where she honed her archery skills under the strict supervision of Silla's finest archer.

She would watch matches between the new Hwarang captain, Chul-yeo, and anyone who dared to take up his sword against him. Sometimes the match would be public and many young girls would come to watch. Iseul knew her friend Binna suffered the same predicament in having to keep her relationship a secret. She wondered if she should share her concern with Jae-sung, or if that would have the opposite effect. Seeing how the two young men interacted, however, gave her hope Jae-sung would not object to the used-to-be commoner to one day become his brother-in-law.

For a used-to-be commoner to become related to the queen was perhaps a bit more problematic, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it. For now she knew they had to focus on getting Chul-yeo as many responsibilities and opportunities to climb up in rank as possible.

Because she was now queen, she could make sure Do-yun's family did not get punished for the wrongdoings of their relatives. She found a possibility to use the law to strip the deceased minister Bae of his rank, title and family name, thus enabling Do-yun's family to officially distance themselves from the traitors.

The men in that family were forever banned from taking a seat in the council, but that didn't stop them from becoming loyal followers to the young queen.

🌸

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and everyone settled in an easy routine.

At he end of a particularly long day, in which Iseul had tried to convince her council that education should also be possible for the lower class commoners, she waited in the garden until a familiar rustling near the farthest wall announced the presence of Jae-sung. She threw herself in his embrace and instantly felt better the moment his arms closed around her. "I've missed you," she whispered.

His soft laugh reverberated through her chest. "We've been together for hours," he chided.

With a pout Iseul leaned back to look at him. "We might as well have been in different countries. You hardly look at me when we have a meeting."

His hand caressed her cheek and he softly said: "You know why. We have to be careful."

"I don't want to be careful anymore," she sighed and turned away from him. "I hate the fact that I have to hide my smile whenever I see you. I hate it that I can't call Binna sister, out in the open." She balled her hands into fists. "And most of all I hate the fact that I can't hold your hand when I'm walking anywhere else but here."

Jae-sung's hand covered one of her fists and as he lifted her hand to his lips, he loosened her fingers. He kissed the back of her hand and asked with a frown: "Are you ready for the upheaval it will bring?"

She turned to look at him. "Are you?"

Jae-sung smiled. "As long as you are with me, I can bear anything. But are you sure? It has been so nice and quiet these past months."

With a grim expression she hit his chest. "Don't get too comfortable. The status of your whole family will change when we go public, I'm not sure your family will thank me for it."

Shaking his head, Jae-sung also took her other hand in his. "They won't mind one bit. I think my father will be elated. He missed out on having a son on the throne, but his grandson will."

"Or daughter," Iseul warned, at which Jae-sung nodded resigned.

She pursed her lips and then nervously said: "You won't be king."

A little surprised Jae-sung tilted his head. "I know. I knew from the moment you told me you didn't want to marry me that you would never need me to be anything other than your lover."

Iseul felt her cheeks ignite. Looking in his dark brown eyes she realized that the little word was barely enough to describe what Jae-sung meant to her. Friend, helper, protector. She knew she could manage being queen on her own, but the truth was, she didn't want to. She wanted others around her to rely on, she wanted his hand to hold in difficult times. And most of all she wanted his love. Knowing she had it, made her heart soar.

"So ..." He moved in and whispered close to her ear: "What shall we do now, my queen?"

With butterflies whirling inside her and a tingly sensation all over her skin, Iseul softly kissed his chin. Then she let go of one of his hands and took a step back so she stood beside him. "Now ... we show the world what an amazing kingdom ours is."

Smiling Jae-sung nodded. "Because it has an amazing queen."

The end

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If you liked this story, make sure to read my other original K-drama sageuk: Fix Me (https://www.wattpad.com/story/303173407-fix-me-k-drama)