After the young king your husband Woojin dies. The young Queen is left alone with her 5 children (00line and Jeongin pls oretend for the sake of the au). She has to rule a country, fight the courts intrigues and take care of her children. Can she manage w the help of her royal advisors Chan Changbin and Minhonor will she fail?
dear lord this got so much longer than i thought it would but it was such an interesting idea!!! tysm for sending it in!! im on mobile so can't add a read more cut, sorry! :(
oh god okay this is such a Wild idea, i love it! first of all, why'd you have to kill woojin :((( i can imagine him to be such a great father and king!! in public, he keeps them in check so they're never too rowdy, but he never restricts their freedom or fun bc they're kids yk, he's not gonna shove all the royal teaching stuff on them at such a young age, he wants them to enjoy their lives. if they do get out of hand -- which is only ever occasionally bc they have great parents! -- he just tilts his head and raises an eyebrow at them and they know they've gone too far. he won't do anything in public except keep them closer, but he doesn't need to do much bc the kids are all pouting that they've upset their dad so they're all rushing to hold onto his hand anyway. he'll speak to them in private afterwards - he never raises his voice at them, he'll have a good conversation. but he's always grinning by the end of it bc the boys are all frowning and pouting, jeongin's in tears and jisung's not far off, and he can't help but just give them all a massive best hugs bc those are his boys and he just loves them so much. he loves spending time with his boys, always trying to hurry up meetings so that he can play with them. he especially enjoys when they all gang up on him for sword fighting training and when he goes down bc obviously he's gonna let them win, he's dragging them all on the ground with him too, and you always come in to see them just laying down on top of woojin like a dog pile (jisung grabs your hand and before you know it, theyre using you as a cushion too!)
when he passes away, they're heartbroken. they never want to go sword fighting or horse riding, they can't even bear walking past the throne room. they have a vague understanding of what's happened - dad's not around anymore, mum's crying to sleep every night, everyone in the kingdom is quiet and sad and weeping. they never leave each other alone. all five of them stick together, and whenever possible, they stay by your side because despite the strong front you put up for them, they can see the red in your eyes and the bags beneath them. you have trouble sleeping in your bedroom - the room you shared with woojin - so they're always trying to make you stay with them when you tuck them into bed. despite having separate rooms, they're all bunking in hyunjin, jisung and felix's shared room bc it's the biggest. they sleep 2 to a bed and on your better days you join with the single boy on the last bed. other days, you know you'll break down when you see them bc they all embody little parts of woojin and it's all too fresh and it breaks your heart bc you love your sons but some days it just hurts too much to see them. on those days you stay in a guest room, getting little sleep -- if any at all -- and you reminisce all the good days, letting your tears soak your pillow.
the royal advisors do everything they can to help you. you take over woojin's role in meetings and making decisions over your country. usually you and woojin would have discussions, but now you're sitting in conversation with chan and minho and changbin. they're great help, each one amazing at their specific job. you bury yourself in work, even if you're falling apart inside, you can't and won't let this kingdom suffer - you're not just doing this for woojin, you're doing this for yourself, your family, your people. days go past quicker when you're surrounded by financial records and daily reports. but this all comes with a cost.
you spend nearly all of your days in the royal office. mostly alone. sometimes chan, minho or changbin will keep you company, going over files over work, but they're mostly keeping an eye on you, bringing in food and drinks because you focus too much on work at times. you eat because you know what theyre doing. your behaviour isn't just affecting you.
the boys are more rowdy now. they barely see you because you're always writing away in your office. they ask you to play and all they get is a "sweetheart, i can't right now, maybe your brothers are free, go find them" or "in a bit honey, come back in an hour, okay?" and when they come back you're going through a new pile, too busy to spend time with them. they get moodier. they love each other, but they're constantly fighting bc that should get your attention right? you always hated when they fought. the maids and servants keep it from you. they dont tell you about your boys' tantrums, they quickly replace whatever's broken, and make sure nothing leaves the castle. it's not fair to you bc you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and it's dragging you down.
it takes seungmin falling from a tree in the garden for the secrecy to break. he's always been the most cool-headed of the boys, mostly bickering to annoy the others, always joining in the fights last - if and when he did join. the others were fighting. again. god knows who started it but soon enough, jisung and hyunjin were wrestling, felix tried pulling jisung back and was elbowed in the nose, someone's legs stuck out and kicked jeongin, and seungmin just couldn't take it. he ran outside, far away and then up the closest tree. he didn't want to be seen or heard and only the nesting birds were witness to the anguish he let out up there. when a servant was calling out for him at dinner time, he was still teary-eyed, his hands weak from all the thrashing and punching and he lost his footing on the way down.
no one could hide that from you. you begged chan to finish off whatever papers you had left, although he was already on it. minho had also taken the liberty to lock your office door and changbin asked your maid to hide your keys bc now more than ever your family, your boys, needed you.
you stayed up with your boys that night. you had dinner in the bedroom since seungmin was bedridden, you fed him food, and snuck in sweet desserts as the others surrounded the bed too. you held each of them close to you, unwilling to not have at least two of them in your arms at any moment. you promised to do better, be better. and you wouldn't -- couldn't -- break that.
hyunjin was a surprisingly great babysitter. the other boys listened to him well, except when he occasionally bossed them around to sneak in sweets or do his chores, but he lead them well at all other occasions. jisung was a natural at horse riding. he kept in close contact with all the workers and the stables became his second home. he taught the other boys as well, and even tended to the animals when he could. he often ventured out of the castle with minho in tow, and he learnt more about his people and the workings of society from minho than anyone could ever think to know. felix was a whiz in the kitchen and, societal norms be damned, he had a great palate and was a huge help in the kitchens. changbin taught him how to take inventory and manage the stock, familiarising himself with the vast food places in the kingdom. they both journeyed out to other kingdoms to introduce new foods to your lands. seungmin was amazing at all things money. numbers came easy to him and he put himself in charge of all financial happenings and no one batted an eyelash. jeongin was still learning, but only from the best advisor in the castle -- chan, of course. he was their little apprentice and was quick to learn anything and everything he could to help out as well.
it wasn't a perfect system, you all had off days and bad moods, but you worked together, as a family, and it was beautiful.
