JiMina Collection

More Than Gold ~ Part 25

     Jimin could say, without a doubt, that his time with Mina had been the happiest in his life.

     It was more or less the same routine each day. And yet, everything still felt so new and exhilarating. 

     Jimin would wake every morning as early as he could to sneak out and spend time with Mina before his lessons. Even as he left her side to study, his tutors were, by now, more or less used to his spaced out behaviour and far-out, glassy-eyed look. Jimin sat obediently in his seat, but his mind was far away, floating around a certain girl who never seemed to leave his thoughts. 

     His lessons ran throughout the day, only stopping to make way for meals with his father and the rest of the prospective women in line for the throne. As usual, Jimin's vision was almost entirely blocked off by the many intruding, eager faces around him at the dining table. He could not catch even a mere glimpse of Mina. In a way, he was grateful for this.

     Jimin's father could take one look at his face and realize what was going on. Initially, Jimin thought that it would be as simple as picking a girl, telling his father, and letting the rest of his life play out. However, Jimin suspected something was off from the start. 

     How is it that, out of everyone allowed to compete for the throne, Mina was the only one of non-noble upbringing?

     Over the past few weeks with Mina, Jimin began to unravel all the lies he had been told as a child. Before Mina, Jimin had never been made aware of the poverty in his kingdom. His father seemed not to care whatsoever about these people; whether they lived or died did not matter at all. Worst of all, his father wished to hide this heinous treatment from him. Jimin doubted his father would allow a peasant such as Mina to have leeway into royalty.

      In conclusion, there must have been some kind of... Mistake.

     Jimin didn't feel ready to risk the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. And so he kept silent. Besides, there was no point if she didn't want to marry him anyways.

     He sighed, appetite lost. Jimin knew how Mina felt about the prospect of forced marriage. He had no wish to trap her into a life with him. She was a free, independent spirit. So full of life. So full of hopes for the future. The castle had a knack for sapping that life away from people. Jimin himself was wary of marriage, but he knew he had no choice in the matter. What they had was as precarious as ever: barely balanced scales, ready to tip and fall at the slightest push. 

     Jimin wondered what would come to be by the end of this whole ordeal. Would she just leave him? Live her life to the fullest and return to her old village? She wouldn't stay here. She couldn't. Meanwhile, Jimin would be forced to marry a woman of his father's choosing. The King would be furious to learn that Jimin had no bride, even after several weeks with choices laid out all around him. There was no doubt in his mind that this father would simply remove his option to choose altogether. 

     So then, what was even the point of being with Mina? Jimin sighed, knowing this was a battle already lost. She made him happy, like no one had ever done. But the King wouldn't care.

      He was snapped out of his reverie by the very same booming voice that haunted his every move.

"Dinner is adjourned." The King announced.

     Jimin leapt to his feet, ready to make haste and leave, just as he always did. His heart beat in his throat at the thought of spending another evening in Mina's company. The shrill good-nights and good-evenings of the other girls flew far above his head as all thirty-two people at the table stood and bid each other goodbye. He paid no mind to them, for his eyes were zeroed in on the flash of Mina's long hair.