Betrothed To The Prince...

Making things right

When Ae woke up the next morning, he was alone in bed. Though it was the same place where he had been sleeping from last few days, things had now changed. He sat and leaned against the headboard while letting out a deep exhale. Why does things have to come to this point? Wasn't there any other way? How he wished that he could find Pete sleeping beside him right now. That beautiful face that would make him feel like he was blessed with something really precious.

Ae sighed thinking about everything. All he could think about over and over again was how he had hurt Pete and how he had ended up torturing him. If he had held back even a little, things would have been much better. At least, Pete would have been with him.

Ae couldn't take it anymore so he moved to leave the bed. But rather than walking towards the window, he thought of exploring the place. He walked in through the other door which let him to adjacent room where Pete usually spent his times. Ae was curious about what Pete did here so he moved closer to see the stuff placed around and all he could see was beauty. There were various portraits painted by Pete which reflected beauty just like him.

Ae smiled when he saw that Pete had drawn his portrait. It had Ae standing outside with a proud face and surveying some work. One would have called it a masterpiece because Pete had acutally paid attention to small small details.

Then Ae's gaze travelled to another portrait where he could see a cage. There were beautiful flowers and creepers and it was most probably a gazebo. A person in white sat on the steps with the cage placed beside him which contained a dove. And there was another figure standing next to the cage with sword in his hand. One side of the picture showed love while the other hatred. It didn't take long for Ae to sort out the hidden meaning behind the painting. He then began to observe each and every painting closely only to find out that they all held some or the other message.

"You have been leaving clues for me... How naïve I would have been to not know what you were trying to say? I have hurt you so badly." Ae whispered. Tears began to roll down his cheeks when he saw the potraits, his heart was breaking each passing second. Not able to take it anymore, he moved to leave when his eyes fell on another portrait. It was covered with cloth and the slight wind blowing had pushed the cloth aside.

Ae stepped closer and pushed the cloth aside to have a close view only to see something that he had never expected. It was as if Pete had already given away his answer to Ae. It was a portrait of Ae and Pete, Ae was holding Pete's hand as they looked at each other. All that Pete wanted and expected from Ae could be seen in this portrait. A tender and loving gaze, a sweet gesture and a promise to be together forever.

Ae was now aware about what he had to do to make things right and he was going to begin today itself. With a lifted spirit and high confidence, he marched out of the room. He got out the way he had done earlier before proceeding to his chamber. All this while, he was planning his strategy.

Ae got fresh and moved to have breakfast. He was going to attend the court and had few things to be discussed. After the breakfast, Ae hurried to the courtroom where everyone were already present. He bowed to his parents, greeting them with respect before moving to occupy his place.

The proceedings began and Ae was attentive throughout. There wasn't anything much since the people have come with small issues but in the end, Lord Runrot moved to do some announcement.

"Your majesty... the concubines have requested to give them some more time. They need to do the packing." Lord Runrot informed. "How much more time do they need?? The announcement was already made yesterday for them to leave the palace grounds. Then why are they still here?" Ae asked.

"Your highness, some of the concubines have already left. Only few are there who need help with packing and arrangements." Lord Runrot explained. "Fine... I will have people send to help them but I want them to leave today itself. No more changes and no further deadlines." Ae ordered in a firm tone. Lord Runrot felt chills all over his body.