"What?" They all said in unison.
Completely blown away by the none sense that they were hearing from this Hye Su Lady, who apparently only Yu Jun knows about her existence.
"What marriage?" Yu Jun puzzled. "What crown prince? The king is yet to declare his heir!"
"That is something you should hear from His Majesty, I'm afraid I can't help you, Your Highness," Lady Hye Su said, clearly affected by Yu Jun's scolding a moment ago as she was talking very politely now. "If you will now excuse me," she bowed her head and turned on her heels to be followed by her maid, sharing an eye-contact with Nefertari for a split second making goosebumps find their way all over her body.
"Sheesh," Jin Wo said. "that was one crazy conversation, and Tari what in the world was that!" he raised his head to look at Tari who was silently standing a step ahead of all of them.
Jin Wo's words fell on deaf ears as Tari didn't give him any form of reply which made Joon Wo feel troubled, he took a step forward, slowly placing his hand on Nefertari's shoulder as if she was a scared little kitten. "Hey, are you okay?" Joon Wo said in a small voice that was only heard by her.
She flinched at the sudden touch and turned to look at Joon Wo's worried face. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright!" She exclaimed and turned around to look at her friends who had the same worried expression as Jooni.
"S-Sorry that I've made you see that," She smiled weakly as she moved her index finger hesitantly on her cheek. She hated how she looked like a vicious empress taking advantage of her title.
"What are you sorry for! Come on, you only gave her what she deserved," Ashkan exclaimed. "I don't know she is, but she was acting too disrespectful with us, especially you," he smiled a gently making Tari's heart feel a little better.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" Jin Wo exclaimed, shooting both his hands in the air in excitement. "I never thought that you can act so cool like that Tari, I thought you were that little princess who couldn't hurt a fly!"
"Try to spar with her, and you will take your words back," Ashkan mumbled remembering their little duel a couple of days ago.
"He is right!" Min Jun said smiling brightly and stepping forward holding both her hands – ignorant of the arrows shooting out of you know who… Jooni. He swiftly pulled Tari away from Min Jun's hand without any suspicions. "More importantly, what was that about marriage? Were you hiding your engagement from us all this time?" Joon Wo questioned his brother not bothering to hide the sarcasm behind his words.
Yu Jun turned to look at him with the are-you-serious look after he snapped out of his line of thinking. He had no idea of what he just heard and he certainly didn't forget something as important as this.
Joon Wo realized that his brother was serious now, it is after all a serious issue here. He raised his fist to his mouth to cover a cough as he regained his composure.
"His Majesty didn't give you hints or something? You know how he likes to talk in riddles," Joon Wo said.
Yu Jun shook his head. "I would've definitely noticed something like that," he said sighing. "I'll request an audience with the king immediately." He turned to get what he just said done but an arm stretched out in front of him making him halt in place.
Jae I was stretching her arm in front of her brother stopping him from leveling while looking up at him with eyes filled with determination. "Brother, you will not go anywhere today," she said her voice firm and clear. "We promised that today we will relax together and have fun."
Honestly, not only Yu Jun was stunned but everyone was. You see, Jae I is the type of person who doesn't have the word fun in her dictionary.
"Are my ears playing tricks on me?" Jin Wo puzzled looking back and forth between Min Jun and Ashkan who were standing on either side of him. "Did she just say fun?"
"Yeah, is there a problem?" Ashkan said confused. He was never close with Jae I as he felt that she was too mature for him to talk too, he just felt that she would feel that he is childish.
But, he found her very beautiful. Nefertari looked as if she was out of this world, but Jae I, her simple features complimented her pitch-black hair that fell down fell down smoothly below her back. All of this was a bonus on top of her attractive personality, how she always held her composure under any circumstances yet, she had that soft side too.
"Maybe because you don't know my sister, but she is can be anything but the fun isn't one of them," Jin Wo explained.
Min Jun smiled as he knew his sister's soft side so well.
"She is right," Tari backed her up. "we decided that his going to be a holiday for all of us!"
Yu Jun looked at all of them and felt defeated, he sighed turning the corners of his lips into a smile. "Alright, this can wait," He ruffled his sister's hair forgetting the difference in their age, but Jae I let him do it since it made her feel comforted and loved.
After all, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be loved.
"The food is getting cold," Jae I said straightening her back regaining her composure. "Let's go."
They all gladly followed her and all of them took their seat around the table. Not long after that, they all returned to their former joyful self allowing themselves to take a break from all the worries and issues that lay at every corner in the palace.
They threw their titles away and sat down as seven friends.
~~~~
"Hey!" Tari exclaimed as she remembered something. "I just noticed, where is Azar! My knight is slacking off again without my permission!"