A\N: I was only going to write a one-shot about Seol meeting her dad for the first time, but then it became another multichapter story... This will be rather short, and instead of following the kid for a long period, there will be only moments of her and So together over the course of years.

Hope you all enjoy reading! :D

The King was not what she had expected.

Of course, she hadn't known exactly what to expect of him, since her father had always told her that they could never visit her eldest uncle. Because of that constant distance, his appearance had always been the last thing she ever bothered to imagine, as well as the palace he lived.

But still, every time someone would mention the most powerful man of Goryeo she would think of a stern and old man, sitting threateningly on a golden and huge throne, where no one would dare to touch him. He would also be surrounded by an army and a few advisor as well as servants and court ladies, who would follow him wherever he went to. Her mother would tell her that the King wasn't that old, and that he had been taking good care of his people so far, and no there weren't that many court ladies and eunuchs following him around, but she just couldn't believe that. If he was King, then he should have gray hair, cold eyes, mean heart, and also much wealth and many servants, because that's what most Kings were like in the stories.

All of that, added to the fact that he forbade his younger brother to ever visit him, preferring to be alone inside the palace, contributed to Seol's image of a dispassionate monarch as the emperor Gwangjong.

So that would explain why she never thought that the man who smiled, kneeled in front at her and caressed her face, was the very King who wouldn't allow his brother to visit him.

.

.

.

.

"Your father didn't happen to tell me your name," the King said after bending down to a knee, her father a few steps behind, watching them silently. She hadn't noticed they had stopped talking until their walk was interrupted and the man came closer to her.

On the corner of her eye, she sees her father observing her, but before he tells her to answer the man before her, she does what her mother had taught her what to do.

"It's Seol. Pyeha." She places her hands on her belly button and bows deeply, because that's how you greet the King.

He's your uncle, but you have to always call him Pyeha.

Why can't he be Uncle?

Why can't I be Munhye?

Because being my mother is more important than being Munhye.

Your father's brother is the ruler of the entire nation, which includes you. And being a king is more important than being Uncle.

When she straightens her body, she sees the smile on the King's lips and the relief in her father's eyes and she knows she got their approval.

"That's a lovely name," the man before her says and she fidgets with her feet, still not sure of what to say or what to do when people compliment her, "Are you enjoying the visit to the palace, Seol-ah?"

She nods eagerly and relaxes a little bit, gaining confidence. She's good at answering questions and she's good at describing things she likes.

"It's beautiful. And it's huge too!" She turns around and points to the direction she believes to be the most correct, "Abeoji and I walked through that forest and I ran really close to the lake, but I didn't fall. But I didn't see any fish today because it's too cold for them to come out. And then I saw a butterfly flying over there to play with her friends, but Abeoji didn't know her name, so I couldn't call her," she says it all before she forgets the things she wants to say, and then she recalls what she was doing with her father before the King came to see them, "Ah! Then I went to see the flowers before they withered, I like flowers and gardens very much."

After she's finished she turns back to the King, who's still smiling to her. Then she smiles back at him, because he also must like flowers and gardens if he had so many of them in his house.

"Since you like them so much, I'll make sure the garden is bigger next time you come," the King says to her and she feels her smile grow even bigger just by imagining a bigger garden, one that she would take the entire day to cross, but before she can voice her expectations the King asks her another question, "Which flowers do you like the most?"

The question is easy, as she had just spent the last moments of her walk deciding which flowers were her favorite. So she points to another general direction, but this time with more confidence, as she sees her reference point, and tells him, "The yellow ones, near that big stone over there. We don't have flowers like that in my home."

"Really? Take a few of them with you, then."

"Can I?" Her eyes bulge in surprise and delight, and she remembers her mother had told you to always say thank you whenever people gave her something. Then she also remembered that she should always call the King by his title and quickly bowed, "Pyeha."

The King laughs and she knows he's not offended by her forgetting to call him properly before and she straightens her body once again.

"Of course you can," the Kings says softly, "But know that they will wither eventually."

"It's okay. Then I'll just to come and pick up some more." She shrugs, as her mother had taught her how flowers work already and even taught her a little trick to make them live longer after taking them from the dirt. But then something starts to bother her, and even though her father had told her not to importune the King, she can't help but ask, "Well, I can come back, right? Abeoji used to say he couldn't come to the palace, but we are here, so he can come and visit you, right?"

"Yes, he can," the man says and Seol sighs in relief, "So make sure to always come with him to pick up flowers."

"Thank you, Pyeha," she remembers to say it, and to bow properly, "I'm sure Eomonim will like them a lot. She also likes the peonies we have at home."

"Peonies?"

"Yes, like this one." Afraid that he doesn't know about peonies, she shows a small one that she's carrying in her hands and proceeds to explain, "Abeoji planted them in the garden before he got married to Eomonim, but she likes them too. She's really beautiful and nice, and she knows everything about everything, not like Abeoji who only knows things about fighting."

For a second she sees the King's eyes turning away from her and going to her father. They have a secret and silent conversation that adults seem to always have when they don't want her to know what's happening and she fears she did something she shouldn't.

But then the King looks at her again and she knows everything is alright.

"I'd like to meet her someday," he says and she decides to comply with one of his wishes, since he's already doing a lot for her.

"I'll ask Abeoji to bring her with us next time!"

"Please, do that," the King smiles more and she's glad she offered it, "And I'll make sure I'll have more peonies in the gardens too, by then."

She's happy to hear that, and if the King was her father or only her uncle she would have hugged him of joy. But her Uncle was the King and she knew what she had to do.

Her bow lasts a little longer than all the previous ones and she continues to smile after it, and even after the King stands up and says goodbye. She sees her father bowing as well next to her, but she still smiles.

The King leaves through a flowery garden and she continued to smile. Any other previous impression she ever had of him, or the impressions other people had, didn't matter, as she had just testified that the King was, in fact, a good person.