Their night went on a bit longer. Lee Gon enjoyed observing the dynamics between the two people who will soon become his family. The casualness between them is a much welcome contrast to the formality he has known all his life and he is unexplainably giddy about it.

Jeong Do-in is a bit at a loss when it comes to the proper etiquette of having his daughter's boyfriend as overnight guest at his home. He had not thought about such things since said daughter has never had a boyfriend that he knows of anyway. And now not only does she have a boyfriend, the guy sitting across from him is also allegedly royalty – so where is the rule book for the conundrum he finds himself in?

"Will the two of you stay here tonight? I can bring out a yo and an ibul to set up in the dojang for Lee Gon-ssi. Or is that not…"

Tae-eul is just about to object to the idea when Lee Gon beats her to it. "That would be very kind of you, abeonim. I hope it is not too much trouble."

Her eyes widen in disbelief but she decides to go along with it for the time being…

Tae-eul sits in her room waiting till her father has turned in for the night. She has handed Lee Gon his pajamas from her backpack, shown him the bathroom and reluctantly said goodnight to him earlier. But she isn't going to tolerate having him sleep alone on a floor mattress, King or not. She definitely wants him with her in her bed.

Now that the apartment is quiet, she tiptoes outside to the dojang and flicks on the light.

He smiles up at her and pulls her down onto his lap in one swift move, "We are that couple who likes to sneak around to each other's room."

"My dad and Lady Noh would get along. They're both great disruptors." She scowls.

"What are you doing up?"

"You think I can sleep knowing you're 10 metres down the hall? C'mon, let's go to my room."

"Your dad is going to be offended in the morning…"

"Uh, don't worry, he'll get over it. And besides, he has already given you his blessing. He can't take it back."

They make quick work of rolling up the yo and the ibul, and retreat to her room in no time.

At long last, he is back inside her simple bedroom, his favourite place in the Republic. He had desperately prayed, each time he stood waiting in the yard that belonged to a different version of Jeong Tae-eul, that he had found the right one and he would be invited into her room like he did in the erased timeline. And he had been heartbroken too many times, each time more devastating than the previous one.

Lee Gon chokes up vowing he will never let himself live without her ever again. She turns around, sees his tears-filled eyes and immediately reaches up to cradle his face in her palms.

"What is it, silly? I'm right here."

He sniffs a little and places both his hands on her face. "Sorry… I just remember how awful it was standing outside, not knowing if I would ever have the chance to see you or come inside with you again…"

"And I used to look out the window every night hoping to see Maximus, or at least the tall good looking guy that rides it."

"Haha, we're such a mess…" he leans down to kiss her, tugging at her bottom lip and teasing for more.

She lowers her arms and pushes him slightly away. "You'll stay in my room but my dad is right next door… stop kissing me like that." She doesn't understand why she still blushes when she stares at his twinkling eyes and knows what he has in mind.

"That's why we need to soundproof our room at your dad's new place." He lets go of her.

She climbs into bed and pats the space of the mattress beside her. He goes and reaches inside the pocket of his jacket hung up in her closet. When he shuffles next to her, he uncurls her fingers and puts her engagement ring in her hand.

"May I put this back on you now?"

"Let me take a good look at it first… you wouldn't tell me what you paid for it, would you?"

Lee Gon just shakes his head and leans on her shoulder.

She notices for the first time the inscription inside her ring.

"You wrote 시작이자 마지막(The Beginning and The End) inside..." She whispers, moved by how thoughtful he always is.

He sits up straight to face her, "I chose this style instead of a traditional ring not only because it represents zero, but also because it is an infinity band…

Beginning and end, now and forever, it's all you… no one else."

No matter how much she likes to tease him, Tae-eul knows deep down inside how blessed she is to love someone like him. Fighting back tears because she doesn't want to ruin the moment, she nuzzles against him. "I do love this ring, it really IS perfect, just like you. Saranghae… for as long as the earth is round."

She swallows the lump in her throat, "Will you please put this back on me?"

He flashes that boyish smile and gently slips the ring on her finger, then lifts her left hand to his mouth to kiss it.

"I don't have a couple gift for you yet… I wasn't planning for all of this to happen you know." Jeong Tae-eul has wanted, since she offered herself up as present for his last birthday, to come up with an idea for a special gift she can give him. She is having a hard time especially when she can't just search the internet to find gift suggestions for a king who has more money than she can fathom.

"It sounds so cheesy but all I want is you… I swear."

"Okay, here's an idea…" She springs from the bed to grab her kingdom phone and holds it in front of them. "Let's make a selca video as my gift to you!" She pulls him into frame with her.

"I'm going to marry Lee Gon because I love him so much and he is the best looking guy I've met… with beautiful deep set eyes." She plants a smooch on his face and bursts out laughing before turning the camera off. He laughs along with her and genuinely loves his gift.

…

Tea-eul's bed is cozy with the two of them in it. She snickers at how her quilt can barely cover him length wise. He loves how tight she snuggles up next to him and how arousing her body heat is in this warm summer night. He runs his fingertips up and down her back. She stiffens and bites her lower lip, obviously affected by his touch. She is torn between wanting more and not wanting the embarrassment of waking her dad.

"I'll make it up to you when we get back to the palace… but I'd certainly die of embarrassment if my dad hears us." She breathes her words into his ears.

"How is this helping?" He chuckles and rolls onto his back, leaving a tiny gap between them. "But okay, I'll hold you to it… Come here, we can just talk."

As if they save up all their chit-chats during the week for the weekend, they have been in the habit of lively conversations in bed whenever they are together before one of them succumbs to sleep. She puts her head on his chest and lets out a happy sigh.

"Are you cooking for my dad tomorrow night?"

"Planning to… mhmm what kind of food does he like?"

"He isn't picky. We eat a lot of eggs... because he accepts them as tuition."

"That's admirable, making sure his students have means to get their lessons. I remember he was really good with the kids."

"Are you for real? Ah, only a king who owns rare earth elements worth trillions of wons can agree taking eggs is a good idea. You don't know how frustrating it was to help him keep the centre afloat."

"You should know, since you also own the rare earth elements now, that they are both the Royal family's best assets but also the greatest source of danger." Tae-eul can tell he is no longer bantering.

Lee Gon has been educating her about the Kingdom whenever they were together – nothing formal, mostly just him sharing with her things he dealt with during the week that covered a variety of topics. She has been paying attention and taking everything to heart – Tae-eul can be a good student when she wants to.

"Greatest source of danger? Why?" She asks, in her detective voice.

He finds that amusing – how his woman can be the cutest baby one minute and tough as nails the next. "Because they are in such high demand worldwide, the export quota for each country is a big political ploy. The industrial conglomerates are always angling for influence over the quotas – they've tried many different tactics to control the Royal Court."

"That's why so many chaebol heiresses throw themselves at you, and why Lady Kim doesn't like them. I get it now."

He chuckles. "Most women simply like the idea of becoming Queen. Fancy clothes, jewelry, the spotlight… I don't think they care too much about advancing their family's business.

You are the only woman I know who didn't jump at the chance to be Queen, despite being asked repeatedly."

"I told you I didn't grow up reading fairy tales. Ironic how the most clueless girl in the world ended up with the king. Those women must hate me so much."

"You don't want them as friends anyway, so who cares? If they hate you, that's only because they are jealous of you."

"Are you going to tell me who they are?

It doesn't matter, I will look them up as soon as I get back to the Kingdom tomorrow…" Tae-eul huffs.

…

Wednesday, June 15 | Republic of Korea

6 a.m.

Jeong Do-In is an early riser. The extraordinary, as well as unexpected, news he heard from his daughter the night before still fresh in his mind.

In the span of one hour, he was basically asked to disregard everything he thought he knew about the world around him, and to allow his only daughter to marry a man with only a name and no identity.

He wonders if he was sober last night… and if today is really the day he would visit a kingdom in a parallel universe. The idea sounds even more absurd now that he has slept on it.

He wanders habitually into the dojang and remembers he shouldn't disturb his visitor this early. Then he realizes the mattress and the quilt have been neatly folded and Lee Gon is no longer there.

Did they leave?

He looks around and notices Tae-eul's door isn't shut tight. He gets closer and couldn't resist the urge to peek inside.

Then he quietly walks away, lightly pulling the door close behind him.

He nods to himself… he will go visit the kingdom. Crazy as it may sound, he will always root for his daughter's happiness.

And he just saw happiness.

Through the narrowly cracked open door, he saw the two of them huddled in her single bed. With his daughter tugged safely beneath her future husband, they look content in their blissful slumber.

The little girl who kept him company and raised herself in many ways in the last twenty somewhat years has finally found someone who thoroughly protects and cherishes her.

"Her mother would have been so pleased…" is all Jeong Do-in can think of.

…

7 a.m.

Jeong Tae-eul opens her eyes and blinks several times before she remembers where she is.

In her bed, with him. She smiles.

He is still fast asleep and she dares not move a muscle.

She has learned that his job as King is not all glitz and glamour. It is actually rather stressful and not many outsiders recognize the long hours the King dutifully puts in every day. He has as well told her how he sleeps much better when she is with him. So she likes to let him sleep as much as possible.

In silence, she runs through her day in her head. She is going to mentally prepare for all the important goodbyes she has to say today.

Her police squad.

Na-ri. And Eun-sup. Two of her oldest and closest friends. And the thought of having to leave them does not hurt any less even if she has their carbon copies to hang out with in the Kingdom.

Life can never be perfect, but it can still be beautiful.

And Tae-eul knows she has made up her mind long ago about what she must do to make it so. She is now more convinced than ever that she is headed where she is meant to be.

She needs to remind herself that before emotions get the better of her later.

"Why are you holding your breath?" He has been awake long enough to notice.

She hasn't realized. "Just thinking about what I need to do today."

"Mhmm, it's not going to be an easy day for you." He looks at her bleary-eyed. "Anything I can do to make it better?"

"Just don't think I have any regrets about moving to the Kingdom, even if I'm going to be sad later. I don't."

"I know. But I also hate to see you sad." He pulls her in tighter.

"Try as you may but you can't protect me from everything, neither here nor in the Kingdom.

But you can hold me after…" He will always be enough for her. "Now let's get going so I won't be late for my last day."

Notes:

*Sorry I haven't been able to keep up posting here on as quickly as I did on AO3. I will try to have the next couple chapters posted soon after this one.

This chapter is special to me because it contains a few important events of my head canon:

- LG & JTE to spend a night in her bed and bedroom

- The inscription inside Tae-eul's ring

[Disclaimer: I tried my best with my limited resources to have the correct Korean writing of the phrase, which also needs to be short enough to realistically fit inside the ring. If any of my readers who know Korean and can correct me, I'll be more than happy to revise.]