Chapter 15
Kim Hae-yoon chuckled and nodded. She took a stool to sit next to her wife's bed as they began to eat. The two chatted about the food as they soon finished, the doctor came in and told the two of them that Cho Shiye can finally be discharged but needed to go next week for a check up.
Cho Shiye chatted with Kang In-eun about her being discharged as Kim Hae-yoon took her to the car after paying. Kim Hae-yoon opened the door for Cho Shiye as she smiled and sat while Kim Hae-yoon took her seats and they soon drove towards the palace.
Kim Hae-yoon's car went straight towards the hidden underground entrance under a penthouse as she noticed that Cho Shiye was still talking with her friend. She smiled and parked the car as they were greeted by the guards and park Cheol-seok.
"Welcome back, your majesty." He greeted as he bowed. "Had I known your royal highness was already discharged, I would've escorted you myself." Kim Hae-yoon waved her hands with a smile.
"It's nothing." She responded as Park Cheol-seok bowed his head and made way for the two of them. Kim Hae-yoon talked with Park Cheol-seok about preparations to accommodate Cho Shiye.
Park Cheol-seok nodded and took note of it as he looked at Kim Hae-yoon, "Would you like to change her royal consort's psychologist to the royal family's personal psychologist?"
Kim Hae-yoon pondered and looked at Cho Shiye, "What do you think? Would you like to change it?" Cho Shiye looked at her and back at Park Cheol-seok as she shook her head.
Kim Hae-yoon looked back at Park Cheol-seok, "You heard the royal consort's orders, now, we will be taking our rest."
Park Cheol-seok bowed as the figure of the two disappeared. He smiled warmly and stood for quite a while before taking his leave to deal with his work.
Kim Hae-yoon took Cho Shiye to rest and after that, they strolled around the garden to get some fresh air. The two were quiet as they held hands, looking around the scenery with a smile.
Feeling tired, they rested at the pavilion and ate some snacks and drank some tea.
"What flowers do you like?" Kim Hae-yoon asked as Cho Shiye looked at her.
"I like daffodils." She replied as she smiled meekly.
"Hmm, I see." Kim Hae-yoon sips her tea with a smile.
"How about you? What's your favorite flower?" Cho Shiye asked as Kim Hae-yoon put down her tea cup.
"I like sunflowers." She replied.
"Why?" Cho Shiye asked after a brief silence.
Kim Hae-yoon pondered, she didn't even know why she liked them.
"I don't know. Maybe, because they're cute?" Kim Hae-yoon chuckled as she took a bite of eclair.
"Well, maybe it's because sunflowers always face the sun and when they can't find it, they'll look at each other." She explained as Cho Shiye listened tentatively.
"It reminds me so much like your smile, if I can't find the warmth of the sun, I would search for it with your smile." She teased as Cho Shiye's expression turned from shock to embarrassment.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Cho Shiye smiled as she shook her head. Kim Hae-yoon smiled cheekily as she took her hand.
"Oh, come on. It's true." The two looked at each other intensely. Their hearts fluttered in synchrony as they became hypnotized by each other's gaze, they didn't know how much time had passed as they stared with each other as Kim Hae-yoon coughed.
"How about you? Why do you like daffodils?" Kim Hae-yoon asked as Cho Shiye woke up from her trance and smiled.
"That would be a secret." She smiled slyly as she pressed her index finger against her cheeks as she tilted her head slightly.
*****
The two of them spent their 2 weeks honeymoon in the palace. Aside from Cho Shiye's visit to her psychiatrist once a week, they spent the time together.
They didn't particularly have any meaningful talk with each other, they just spent the day chatting about the most random topic and didn't touch on the subject of each other's past.
While Kim Hae-yoon knew briefly about Cho Shiye's life before they met, she didn't try to bring it up as she knew that her wife had some psychological scars and they're not too close for Cho Shiye to be open with her.
Cho Shiye didn't ask about Kim Hae-yoon's past either, she never knew anything about Kim Hae-yoon aside from rumors circulating the internet about her ruthless behavior but, from what she've seen, they seem to be false.
The royal family is very secretive about their affairs and Kim Hae-yoon only came out to the public when she was 18 years old which is the year her parents died.
Cho Shiye heard how the empire was in an uproar after she took the throne but since she was studying at the imperial academy, which is away from the capital, she never experienced or seen in person what those brutal acts were.
She felt sympathy towards Kim Hae-yoon, it was hard to lose her parents at such a young age especially when you had bonded with them. Cho Shiye's mother died due to childbirth and her father neglected her so she never knew how it feels like to have a family and lose them before you could even reach adulthood.
Kim Hae-yoon is very sweet and caring towards her which helped her recovery. She's doing quite well in terms of mental and physical but she still relapses from time to time but every time, Kim Hae-yoon was there to help and understand her which she is very grateful about.
'How can I ever repay her someday?'
*****
Kim Hae-yoon looked through the reports that were filed up after her 2 weeks vacation. Park Cheol-seok had helped in arranging and making decisions towards light and easy tasks and issues at hand but she can't believe she has this much work just by taking a leave for 2 weeks.
'Managing an empire sure is tough, especially an empire as big as this one.' She smiled wryly as she got back to work.
Starfall Dominion is a vast kingdom which holds half of the planets, stars, and more that's registered in the Galactica Edritica, a council that's more like a government that keeps every kingdom and empire in check.
'Starfall Dominion holds 1,450 planets, 974 stars, 15,373 space stations, 6,483, portals, etc… Handling this surely is tough and dealing with humanitarian and alien life forms' affairs, equality of all races and gender equality between A/B/O, economic growth and setbacks…' Kim Hae-yoon groaned.
"Your majesty?" A minister asked with a worried expression on his face as he shriveled slightly, Kim Hae-yoon looked at him coldly and waved her hands.
"Continue." She ordered as the man bowed his head.
"Y-yes, yes! Ahem, so…" he continued on with his reports on the status of the planet he holds.
The meeting went on for hours as half of the ministers and delegates presented their reports one by one, Kim Hae-yoon didn't speak a word during the meeting as everyone kept reporting the same thing every single week except for minor issues and disputes which were resolved quickly.
As the sound of a bell rang throughout the palace, everyone sighed a breath of relief. It's already time for lunch and they've been standing inside the inner palace since 6 am for the weekly meeting.
"Everyone must be tired and hungry, you may now leave and eat your fill." Kim Hae-yoon stood up and ordered as everyone bowed.
"Yes, your majesty. May you live a long life!" They all shouted in unison, a sentence that everyone had long accustomed to saying.
Kim Hae-yoon was about to leave along with her servants when she noticed a familiar elderly man who looked at her with a smile.
"Greetings, your majesty. May you live a long life!" He saluted as Kim Hae-yoon smiled.
"Uncle!" Kim Hae-yoon shouted enthusiastically as the man looked back at her and smiled.