Betrothed To The Prince...

Returning

The next morning, Ae woke up to the room being illuminated with the bright light as sun rays slowly crawled in through the window. He blinked his eyes few times taking into the surroundings before his gaze landed upon the face of the cute person lying on his chest with mouth slightly open as if pouting. He couldn't resist the smile that immediately curled up on his lips as his loving gaze starred at that beautiful face. This was a dream come true.

He brought his hand up, gently stroking the cheeks which made the sleeping beauty to scrunch his nose and blink his eyes few times before opening them. Ae could feel the little rustling as the boy moved to get up. Pete yawned a little while looking at his surrounding and then he felt soft touch on his cheek. He looked up to meet the tender gaze of his husband.

Pete smiled looking at Ae and snuggled closer to him while burying his face into Ae's chest and mumbling something. "Are you still sleepy?" Ae inquired to which the other just shook his head. Ae then realized that the person was probably shy. Pete was someone different and Ae could feel it every time they were together.

"Love, we should get fresh... We are supposed to leave for home today." Ae reminded. Sighing a little and then gathering all the courage, Pete finally moved to sit up followed by Ae. Pete turned his head to look at Ae, who was now leaning against the headboard.

"I will be missing everyone over here." Pete said while frowning. "Do you want to stay here for some more time? I can arrange for it. I'll have a message sent to mae." Ae offered when he saw how sad Pete looked at the mention of leaving. "No khrab... That's completely fine. I knew that I will have to leave soon. I didn't expect it to be this soon." Pete replied in a low tone.

"Love, if you want to stay, we can stay. No need to hurry. I can let mae know that you wish to spend some more time here. Also, I don't want you to leave this place while feeling low." Ae said. "It's fine khrab Ae. I am always like this when I have to leave. It's just that I have spent my whole life here and this place is so familiar to me that I feel sad while leaving it. It's like I am leaving a piece of me behind." Pete explained.

"Then... I'll try to make sure that you feel more comfortable at the palace after you return." Ae said. "Hmmm...." Pete said as he moved closer and leaned onto Ae's shoulder, the actions now occurring naturally. Pete wasn't feeling hesitant being himself around Ae.

Ae wrapped his arm around Pete's waist pulling him closer. "I have prepared a surprise for you. When we are back, I will let you have a look at it. And I am more than sure that you are gonna love it." Ae said. "What is it?" Pete asked with curiosity. "It's a secret love. You will see it when we get back." Ae replied.

They moved to get fresh and then headed to the dining hall for the breakfast. When they arrived, the breakfast was ready and the parents were waiting for them. "I hope you had a nice sleep Prince Ae." the queen said. "Yes... I slept well." Ae assured. "Mae, we will be leaving after breakfast." Pete informed. "I know my son. Prince Ae had already informed us." The queen replied.

"Mae, please stop calling me prince Ae. Just call me Ae." Ae said. "Dear, you being the crown prince doesn't look nice to be addressed informally." The king said. "Por, I am your son in law. We can be informal with each other. Beside, you don't call Pete as Prince Pete, then why should it make a difference now?" Ae questioned.

"Very well said Ae. It's nice to hear that. Let's proceed to have the breakfast. It's a long journey and you need to start as early as possible." The king reminded and everyone began to have their meal.

Finally, it was time to take everyone's leave. Lord Franklin had been a bit grumpy when he saw Pete all dressed up ready to leave. "Franklin, I'll see you soon." Pete said while gently patting his head. The little creature just meowed while looking at Pete with doe eyes. One could even melt with that look.