Hajin stared at the King's grinning face while the royal hand stayed planted on his shoulder like a brand.
For several long seconds, every lesson he ever learned in court etiquette abandoned him without a single trace.
"Pardon my sudden confusion, Your Majesty, but what exactly do you mean when you say the word sponsor tonight?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he blinked.
He failed to find a safer version of the question before his mouth finished asking it across the room.
He was far from the only confused person inside the crowded ballroom, where nobody dared to move a muscle.
He looked past the King and found Didi on the staircase with her head tilted in confusion.
Her expression quietly questioned when her royal father invented this strange, sudden plan for the evening's public banquet.
'She clearly didn't know a single thing about this either, which makes two of us standing here caught by surprise.'
