Chapter Thirty-Five Sunny
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sunny
I run toward the Celestial Palace, Ethan’s impassioned words playing on repeat in my head.
I don’t care who your father is. I understand why you bewitched him.
I want to believe Ethan.
And you’re disappointed in yourself—even if that bastard deserved everything he got—because you’re a good person.
I do believe him—even if the male is a little biased since he’s head over heels in love with me. I huff smugly, but guilt pinches my insides. Am I taking advantage of his love?
I put my head down and run faster, the wind brushing against my coat. Even if I don’t deserve him, I love him too much to let him go. I have to do better to be worthy of his love. I will never stop choosing to do better. For us.
I skid to a stop in front of the main palace gates and shift back to my human form. The two males standing guard jump a foot in the air. I ignore them and take a heaving breath. Then I pretend to buff my nails against my jeogori, just as Ethan reaches the palace, mere seconds after me.
“I was wondering when you’d get here.” I manage a shit-eating grin while pretending not to be out of breath.
“I was right behind you,” he wheezes, with his hands planted on his thighs, and squints up at me. “I could’ve reached out and grabbed one of your tails anytime I wanted.”
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda.” I stick my tongue out at him.
“Brat.” He tugs on my braid in a lightning-fast move and drops a kiss on my lips.
“Ethan.” I hop away from him, glancing over my shoulder at the palace guards. The shinbiins distrust and dislike animal spirits. He won’t garner their trust by kissing a gumiho, and he needs their trust more than ever. “People will talk.”
I haven’t exactly flaunted my gumiho form in front of the shinbiins. When I’ve had no choice but to shift, the shinbiins would shriek and scramble to get away, both scared and disgusted. Whereas when I’m in my human form, they’re just disgusted.
“Since when do you care about what people think?” He crosses his arms over his chest, double grooves forming between his brows.
I never let on that I cared, but it hurt. It always hurt. But this isn’t about me. Why can’t he see that?
“Since my fated love stood at the cusp of his destiny,” I snap, throwing my hands up. I can’t believe I have to explain this to him. But Ethan’s face suddenly goes slack, and my stomach drops. I step close and grab his arms. “What’s wrong . . .”
Shit. I squeeze my eyes shut. Did I really blurt that out like that?
“Your fated love?” Ethan pinches my chin between his fingers, and I open my eyes to meet his. “I thought you didn’t believe in that.”
“I guess we’re having this talk now,” I mutter under my breath, my face heating for some reason.
Tugging him by his shirtsleeve, I drag him behind a tree, a few steps away from the guards.
“Remember how I called for you through the mirror from the Kingdom of Water?” When he nods, I suck in a big breath.
“Only those bound by the threads of fate have a strong enough connection to talk through the mirror of water.”
“I heard you through the mirror. I felt you.” An intense, possessive light enters his eyes. “Because I am your fated love.”
“As I am yours.” My throat tightens with overwhelming love and gratitude. My timing sucks, but I am so happy to be his.
Ethan gathers me in his arms and kisses me so thoroughly that I forget we’re trying to avoid the palace guards’ prying eyes.
Come on, Sunny.
I break off the kiss and push against his chest. He immediately stops and drops his arms but obstinately remains toe-to-toe with me. So I take a step back, trying—and failing—to check my libido. I am embarrassingly out of breath from just one kiss.
“I’m serious, Ethan,” I say in a be reasonable tone. “You can’t . . . we can’t . . .”
“I can, and we will.” A muscle clenches in his jaw even as his chest heaves from our kiss. At least I’m not the only one. “I don’t care what anyone thinks. I will not hide my love for you.”
“Will you stop being so stubborn?” My pulse flutters in my throat at his words, but I double down.
I want what’s best for Ethan. I don’t want to stir up trouble and make things harder for him.
We can still be together, just not out in the open.
“You have to unite the four kingdoms and lead the people of this realm. I’m not saying I can’t be with you, but we don’t need to announce it to the worlds. ”
“I won’t have you hide in the shadows.” Steel lines his words, but his touch is tender as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You belong at my side for all the worlds to see. Either they accept us or they reject us both. I will not—cannot—compromise on this.”
“What would I stand at your side as? Your girlfriend? Or your pet?” I ask bitterly, remembering his father’s scathing words.
He draws back as though I slapped him, and I immediately regret lashing out at him. I open my mouth to apologize.
“No, Sunny,” he says, his voice raw. “I want you to stand at my side as my queen.”
I gasp, my blood rushing in my ears. His queen? He can’t mean that. But my eyes trace the lines of his face, open and vulnerable, and I know he means it. Every word.
Doesn’t he understand I’ll only make things harder for him? Panic builds in my chest. The Shinbiin will never accept a gumiho as their queen.
I can’t do this. I’ll ruin everything. I’ll ruin him. I—
“Be my wife, Sunny.” Ethan cups my cheek and holds my gaze.
His wife.
I know nothing about being a queen, but loving Ethan comes as naturally as breathing to me.
I can’t not love him. I will always be his, body and soul.
Isn’t that what being someone’s wife means?
A promise to always stand by their side and love them no matter what happens—to love them even if the worlds end?
The love shining from his eyes silences the last of my insecurities, and everything in me stills with absolute certainty. “I can do that.”
“Yes, you can,” he says huskily. “You can do anything.”
“But that would make you my husband,” I whisper and bite my bottom lip.
Aching tenderness fills his expression, and he traces my cheekbone with unsteady fingers. “Yeah, it would.”
I trap his hand against my cheek and turn my face to kiss his palm. Then I look at him with a tremulous smile. “Weird.”
The corners of his eyes crinkle as laughter rumbles in his chest. Gods, he is so beautiful. And he is all mine. My husband. My family. I won’t be alone anymore. Euphoria, pure and bright, pulses through me.
Home. I am home.
With a squeal of unadulterated joy, I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist, dropping kisses all over his handsome face. He laughs and spins me around.
“Your Majesty,” Jihun rasps.
Oh gods.
I squirm to be put down, but Ethan doesn’t budge for a long second. Then he sets my feet on the ground and drops his arms, but he links his fingers through mine and pulls me close to his side. When I tug on my hand, he tightens his grip, and I stop fighting him.
Jihun is our closest friend, and he deserves our honesty. Besides, if we can’t express our love in front of him, how will we face the people of the Realm of Four Kingdoms as their king and queen?
Their queen . . .
I want to be Ethan’s wife more than anything. But the queen part will take some getting used to . . . for everyone. Will the Shinbiin hate me less as their queen? Or more?
More importantly, can I forget their past wrongs and forgive them? Will I be able to look past their flaws and see the best in them? See their potential to do better?
I sure as hell hope so.
A queen is meant to love her people, and I have to try for Ethan. And no matter what, I will give everything in me to save them from the Amheuk.
“I gather you have good news to share.” Jihun’s gaze drops to our hands, and a melancholy smile curves his lips. “But I’m afraid we can delay no longer. Everyone awaits your presence at the audience hall.”
“Ethan, you should go—” I begin.
“Both of you,” Jihun interrupts. “The Sentinels are also there, since what Minju discovered pertains to all of us.”
“What did she discover?” I ask even as we hurry toward the palace gates.
“It will be best if she explains.” Jihun glances around. “In private.”
When we arrive at the audience hall, Captain Ha stands guard on his own. All the other guards seem to have been sent away.
What the hell did Minju find out?
The captain bows and opens the door for us, and we walk inside in grim silence. The Queen of Sky, the King of Underworld, and the Queen of Water stand near the dais, and the Sentinels huddle near the back of the audience hall.
Hailey catches my eyes and offers me a somber nod. What? No tackle hug? I sigh in resignation. Whatever they’re preparing to tell us must be worse than I imagined.
Ethan, Jihun, and I, along with the rest of the Sentinels, join the monarchs in front of the dais. For a moment, no one says a word, and tension threads through the audience hall. I belatedly remember that the kings and queens of the four kingdoms are not known to get along.
The King of Underworld stands next to the Queen of Water, closer than strictly necessary. The two of them don’t look at each other, but every time one of them shifts, the backs of their hands brush. I bite my cheeks not to smile, but lose the battle when the back of Ethan’s hand brushes mine.
“Hi, I’m Ethan. The, uh, King of Mountains.” He awkwardly sticks his hand out to the rumpled male across from him. “You must be the King of Underworld.”
“Call me Taeyoung,” the King of Underworld mumbles equally awkwardly, shaking Ethan’s hand.
“I’m Bora, the Queen of Water.” She inclines her head at Ethan, who nods back in acknowledgment. “And I think we all know the Queen of Sky already.”