For the next day or so, Kim Dokja wouldn't talk to anyone. Even when his family had offered to take a walk with him, Dokja just refused and lay in his bed all day. Everyone tried giving him space, thinking that he was possibly lethargic from his injuries. But after he kept refusing to eat his meals, all their worries were only exacerbated. He just looked lifeless; all the enthusiasm drained from his person. No one knew what happened, it seemed like something just switched inside him all of a sudden.
It came to a point that the Duchess couldn't take it anymore. It was already nighttime and Dokja had just refused to eat his dinner. She knocked on her son's bedroom door, "Dokja, it's me my dear. Are you okay...?" However, there was no response. "Can I come in?" she asked, but still received no response. With a sigh, she decided to open the door and found her son lying in bed, his blanket concealing his whole body.
Persephone silently padded over to him and took a seat on the edge of the bed, "Dokja..." she breathed out softly.She was at a loss for what to say, but she couldn't just idle by when her child needed her, "Is there something wrong? You haven't come out of your room..."
There was a moment of silence before Kim Dokja decided to speak up, saying, "I'm always in my room, mother..." His voice was muffled as he remained in his spot under the blankets.
The Duchess sighed and placed her hand on what seemed to be her son's back, tenderly running her hands up and down as she tried to soothe him."I know my son, but the servants have been saying that you haven't even touched your meals in the past few days," with a worried voice, she pleaded, "So what's wrong, my child? Please talk to your mother. I'm very worried about you, we all are."
The room went still as the duchess's words lingered in the air. Eventually, Kim Dokja removed the covers from his body and sat up, looking at his mother. The Duchess's eyes widened as she saw the state that her son was in. His eyes were possibly tired, tear tracks emerging from their corners and messily smeared over his cheeks. The rims of his eyes were red and puffy from crying so much. If Persephone looked down, she would've seen wet splotches in the blanket from how much Dokja had been weeping into them. Concerned, Persephone gently placed her hand on his cheek and asked, "My son, what happened to make you cry so much?" She looked deeply into his eyes, searching for answers and hoping to understand the source of his pain.
As Kim Dokja looked at his mother, he didn't provide an immediate answer. Instead, he posed a question of his own."Mother... what does it feel like to fall in love?" This question caught the Duchess off guard. Though she was tempted to ask him where the question came from, Persephone thought it best to answer him honestly first.
"Hmmm, that's, not an easy thing to describe," the duchess went to grab her son's hand squeezing it as she looked away to ponder over it for a moment. "For me, it was a slow realization, spending the passing days with your father made me realize more and more how nice it was to be with him, how happy he made me and how much I wanted to make him happy in return. It all culminated into the idea that I simply didn't want anyone else by my side, and so I never left his." Persephone wore a fond smile as she recalled her younger days, the tender moments she'd spent with her husband.
"Your father on the other hand," The smile only widened as she thought of Hades' side of things, " he told me that the moment that he realized he was in love with me it hit him like a bag of bricks. One moment, he was enjoying my company, the next he couldn't stop blushing whenever he was around me. Even the simplest things made his heart race, whether it was holding my hand or having a conversation," Persephone chuckled as she thought back to it, how oblivious she'd been to her husband's attempts to court her until she'd figured out her own feelings for him. Only after they confessed to each other did she realize what all his actions meant.
Her son remained silent as he listened to her, his arms wrapped around his legs as he listened. He rested his head on his knees, blanket still around his body. Persephone wondered if any of her words were really getting to him, but Dokja's eyes looked like they were lighting up at some of her words, so she continued, "falling in love… it's different for everyone there's no one answer to describe how it feels. But no matter how it happens or how it feels, it results in the same thing. They become the center of your world. Their smiles, their tears, their experiences… you want to share it all with them, no matter what. " As the Duchess continued to describe her own experience, she noticed tears streaming down Kim Dokja's cheeks. She immediately stopped speaking, her concern for her son growing even stronger. She reached out to gently wipe away his tears, her voice filled with compassion as she said,
"My dear child, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm here for you and you can share your feelings with me when you're ready."
As Kim Dokja tried to wipe away his tears and shook his head, "I don't know...I don't know...." he sputtered out, greatly distressed. Understanding that his emotions were overwhelming him, Persephone instinctively embraced her son, pulling him into a warm and reassuring hug. She held him tightly, offering solace in her presence.
"It's okay my son, let it all out. I'll be right here when you're ready" she softly cooed out to him, running her hands up and down his back. The duchess started rock her body side to side, lovingly humming to both of them just as she did when he was just a baby. Back then, it was the only way to calm him down. Even as a baby, her son hadn't been one to shriek and scream out, like other children. His sadness was much more of a somber affair, silently crying to himself as if he were afraid of disturbing the people around him.
After a minute of muffled sniffling and the wet patch of Persephone's should growing steadily, Kim Dokja withdrew from the hug and gazed at his mother. In a vulnerable moment, he posed a poignant question.
"Mother, do you think I deserve to fall in love?"
The Duchess met Kim Dokja's gaze with a tender expression. With conviction in her voice, she affirmed him,saying; "Of course, everyone deserves to fall in love, I can't think of anyone else more deserving of it, my son."
Her son bit his lip, not sure if he could bring himself to believe her. He continued to share his anguish, "What if,what I don't deserve to have him? He is going to marry someone else, the Northern Princess...she'll be a better match for him, won't she? I've heard she's beautiful, intelligent, graceful…much more than anything I could offer" qnother sob escapes his lips before he could swallow it down. He roughly wiped his face before continuing, "I want him to love me, mother...but I can't just force him to..."
Persephone would've said that the crown price was an ungrateful bastard for being on the receiving end of her precious son's genuine love and having the gall to go off and marry some other chick, but she withheld her thoughts.
What her son needed was her assurance, not her rage. That would come later, and be aimed exclusively at the prince himself. So instead, she gave her son her honest words.
"My dear, your worthiness of love is not determined by someone else's qualities. It's decided entirely by you, by your own willingness to accept love from others and yourself. Only when you truly believe you are capable of love, of giving and receiving it freely from those you care about, will you be able to be worthy" She moved to brush a stray strand of hair behind his ears.
"I think you need to have a long conversation with Yoo Joonghyuk, there are clearly things on your mind you need to get out to him. Express your feelings and concerns and listen to his perspective as well. Honest communication and understanding will allow the both of you to get to the core of this."
The Duchess also reminded Kim Dokja to approach the conversation with an open mind and without expectations."Remember, the outcome of the conversation may not necessarily be what you hope for, but it can provide you with the closure and understanding you need to move forward."
Soaking in his mother's words he knew that that the duchess is right. He was a coward, the minute he heard that Joonghyuk may have been entering a new relationship, he ran away, not letting Joonghyuk say anything else and kicking him out of his room. He'd jumped to the worst conclusions and stewed over them for days, not even considering Joonghyuk's side of things. This time around, even if he was scared of what Joonghyuk would say, he would talk to him properly. If the situation is truly what he suspects it to be, then it will bring him the closure he needs to move on. Dokja nodded and wiped the tears from his cheeks as he said "I will try to talk to him, tomorrow..."
The duchess sighed in relief at his response. "That's good," she said, supportive of Dokja's choice. It would be a positive step forward, for the both of them. After the conversation, Dokja expressed his desire to be alone to further contemplate the situation. The duchess, understanding his need for solitude, agreed and hugged him once more before leaving and closing the door.
Upon closing the door, the duchess encountered her husband, who was pacing back and forth a little ways away from his son's bedroom door. Only at the sound of the door closing did he look up and notice his wife coming out.With a worried expression on his face, he approached Persephone.
"Is he fine now?" Hades quietly whispered to her, not wanting his son to know he'd been right outside the room, worried sick. The duchess gazed at her husband, letting out a sigh before responding, "I hope so, but he's terribly hurt by what he discovered."
The duke furrowed his brow and asked, "What do you mean?"
"His Highness, the crown prince, told him he was to marry the northern princess."
The duke's eyes darkened upon hearing this information. Wordlessly, he turned around and started walking to go fetch his cape and sword. Hades had already had it with the man so casually flirting with his son and holding him all the time. But now that bastard dared to break his son's heart, that that was the last straw. He would no longer stand to let his son be used by that foul man. But before Hades could even take a step, his wife grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
She shook her head at him, " I already told Dokja to talk it out with the boy, it'll give him some closure," but after saying that she leaned in closer to her husband, wrapping her arms around his, "Though, if he dares to break our son's heart any more than he already has, you have my express permission to go on with your little rampage, my love," Persephone flashed him a wicked grin, promising nothing but pain if the prince even thought about messing up this second chance she had granted him.
"As you say, my love," Hades grunted to her in return. Both of them made their way back to their own bedchambers,Persephone filling in her husband about the conversation with Dokja as Hades held her tenderly by his side.