⤷ the great hall

@♡ lee kiyong ᵏᶦⁿᵍ Young Princess Wonyoung, cherished and beloved by the people of Geonova for her kindness and unmatched beauty. She gracefully sauntered down the opulent halls of the castle, her eyes filled with wonder and curiosity as she wondered what her older siblings were up to on this particular day. Well, not that there /was/ much to wonder really, with the current tensions and turmoil between all four nations, it kept her eldest sister the Queen and eldest brother the King busy with politics and negotiations. Suddenly, her gaze lands upon her eldest brother, the esteemed King Kiyong of Geonova. Her heart leaps with joy, and a radiant smile graces her lips.

Unable to contain her excitement, the young Princess' steps quicken, and she rushes towards her beloved older brother. Her maids, trailing behind her, call out, reminding her not to run in the halls.
“Your Highness, please slow down!” The head lady presses on.

Ignoring their pleas, much to their dismay, she approaches the King with a gleeful expression, her eyes shining with adoration as she holds her dress and finally lets it fall and gently smoothes out any wrinkles, prim and proper now.

"Brother!" she exclaims, her voice filled with warmth. "Uh- I mean, Your Majesty!” she bows, “I have missed your presence dearly, I suppose you've forgotten about your favorite little sister!” She jests, not minding that the King's servants are also in their presence and they merely glare at her for /jokingly/ scolding the King himself.

Princess Wonyoung's face lights up, and she clasps her hands together, her excitement palpable. "I hope the days have been treating you well, rumor has it you've taken my older sisters for their family date," she replies, lower lip jutting out with a small pout. "Are you terribly busy today Your Majesty? May we spend the day together? I've already finished all my lessons for the day! Oh please, please, please!” She pleads with twinkling eyes.

@♡ min sunye ᵈᵘᶜʰᵉˢˢ kiyong's intense gaze remained fixed on the woman before him, unyielding even as he sensed her scrutiny turning judgmental. with a composed demeanor, he cleared his throat before responding to her inquiry. "do i require a specific pretext to seek an audience with my betrothed?" his tone was chilly, betraying none of the emotions that churned beneath the surface.

as he gestured subtly to his guards, silently requesting their departure, a faint smirk graced his lips. settling back into his seat, he regarded lady min with a mixture of weariness and calculated indifference. "were it not for the incessant demands of the council, i would not have burdened you with my presence," he confessed with a hint of resignation. "but alas, the politics of our realm dictate otherwise. rest assured, my motivations are driven solely by the welfare of our people, regardless of the personal sacrifices involved."

leaning back slightly, kiyong regarded lady min with a discerning gaze, his expression betraying a trace of curiosity. "is there anything of significance about you that i should be made aware of?" his words were measured, tinged with a subtle note of suspicion. he couldn't help but notice the penetrating scrutiny she directed his way, a scrutiny that prickled at his pride. "and may i suggest, lady min, that you temper your gaze? i am no stranger to judgment, but i prefer to reserve that prerogative for myself."

@♡ lee kiyong ᵏᶦⁿᵍ "should i break this ground so you'll confidently look up at your future husband's face?" the words that were spoken and the way they were spoken with made Sunye look up rather quickly, the challenging glance in her eyes was hard to hide or mask. She had to say, he had surprised her with his words. Though after a couple of seconds later, she looked down again, giving herself a moment to mask her feelings and looked up again, hiding what she really was feeling and just keeping a serene look. "My apologize, your highness, I was merely trying to show my respect" the words felt like a lodge on and they were hard to get past her lips, but she did, then still keeping her eyes on him, looking straight into his orbs while she introduced herself. "My name Sunye your highness, widow of the late duke Min" she chose to introduce herself with her late husband's name, not that she had any particular like to that, though she wanted the man before her to know she was used, she was someone else' before. She could already see that the meek look didn't impress, or work, maybe if she kept staring him in the eyes and didn't cower, maybe it will turn him off, of her.

Still keeping her gaze at him, she tilted her head slightly to the side, a not very respectful gesture, and very contradicting gesture to her words. It was as if she was sending some signals, as if she was assessing, assessing the man, and not the crown he head on his head. "excuse me your highness for my directness, but what is the purpose of this visit, and why am I here? you could have easily sent your orders, and I'm sure my father would have fulfilled them to his best ability" She let a small shrug, "I just don't see any reason for my being here"

@♡ min sunye ᵈᵘᶜʰᵉˢˢ kiyong heaved. right after his engagement with the queen from aerion got cancelled due to the war and pressures from his council, there's nothing much he can do besides accept this new proposal from his council for his marriage. he knows as a king, a ruler of geonova, he is nothing without his people, hence he's willing to sacrifice his own feelings towards the queen of aerion for his people. they are supposed to live happily ever after, but all of their dreams shattered because of the war that happened. sure, he hates it, but as a king, kiyong knows well to differentiate his personal matters and his official business; hence, he never looks back after the announcement of his engagement being broken off.

a soft voice interrupted his deep thoughts as he turned and looked up at the owner of the voice. he noticed the way the woman kept looking down at the floor, and he stood up from his seat, clearly unimpressed. he knows how to differentiate respects, but her body language seemed to say otherwise. "should i break this ground so you'll confidently look up at your future husband's face?" he asked, sounding distant and cold. yet, even as the words left his lips, he couldn't help but wonder about the woman who stood before him, her presence an enigma waiting to be unravelled. "never mind that," he continued, his voice softening ever so slightly. "introduce yourself."

@♡ lee kiyong ᵏᶦⁿᵍ Just when she though finally she had her fate in her own hand, that she made her own decision, Sunye was yet once again under the pressure of her father's will, and this time with the help of the royal advisor, so no going back and no chance to fight it. Once again, she was watching her life being steered by her father. It wasn't enough for him to force her at such young age to marry a man she would have called grandpa -just to get a title-, now that she was done with him, she was forced into another engagement and another marriage. Though she had to give it to her father, this time the aim was a lot higher and much more prestigious, well, no one would have thought her father could secure the king himself for her. After all she was a widow, not a pure young nothingness this time. And if she had learned anything from her first experience, she would not give it easily this time, a king or no, she wasn't going to be lead like a sacrifice again.

Arriving at the great hall, Sunye nodded at the guard to announce her arrival at the appointed time, and a small grimace-like smile filtered her lips, to think that even though she was the female and that she should be the one who her suitor seeked her, she was at his presence, revealing herself, in the hope that he took a liking to her, like she was seeking his approval. The audacity of the situation almost kept her grounded, but with the guard telling her to enter, she forced her body, or rather her legs to move forward, and her head to look at the ground.
That she liked, looking at the ground, it almost looked like she was showing her respect to the king, but in truth she was hiding her face, letting her hair shade her face, because she knew, one look at her eyes and the distates, antipathy and grudgeness will show, the hard line on her lips will show her unwillingness, and the set of her features will be the picture of rejection.
Once stepping inside, she kept her steps slow and small, but no matter how slow they were, after a few minutes she was close to where the man she came to meet was sitting. "Your highness" she kept her voice low and let a bit of huskiness into her voice, as she curtised to him and kept her gaze low.