Among Royalty

XXI

"- and so, the Kings and the childhood friends tied their families with a beautiful b-"

"- live from the palace. We are trying to get in contact with the roya-"

"- can see the images of their beautiful rings on thei-"

Aldrich turned the tv off. Standing up, he peeked outside the balcony to find the media trying to swarm in the palace.

He had received a lot of calls ever since the reveal, all from various friends.

He did receive a call from his ministers too, questioning why they haven't been informed about the engagement beforehand. They also did question him why he went for Zion, but Aldrich didn't find that relevant to answer.

I don't give a fuck that they're not happy with Zion being my fiancé..

Fiancé.....
Zion is my fiancé..

Smiling with that thought on his head, he headed downstairs.

With all the time he had for thinking all this while, he realised he didn't even care if he hadn't planned, or even thought about getting married at this age. Because he was getting married to Zion now.

Zion, who had ruled his mind ever since he reached the age of maturity, would be able to rule by his side now.

Cheesy much?..

In spite of being how happy he was, he had a feeling of guilt somewhere deep in his heart. Guilt of what, you might ask?

He knew Zion liked Adrian, and even though he showed and told him how happy he was with Aldrich, deep down he would still want to be with Adrian. And Aldrich knew this, and felt extremely guilty because he did not want to steal that happiness from Zion.

Getting himself a glass of water, he knew that no matter how sensitive that topic is, it was something to be discussed between the two.

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Zion looked up from his phone when he heard Aldrich walking in. Aldrich took a seat nearby and the two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds.

Fuck this-

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Aldrich broke the ice, making Zion keep his phone aside and give him his full attention.

"I've wanted to talk to you about this and clear it out, but with everything going on... I didn't know how to do this." Zion nodded, a bit confused.

"What exactly do you feel about Adrian, Zion?" Aldrich asked truthfully.

Zion paused, a bit shocked with the sudden question. It would be a lie if he said he hadn't expected the conversation. And he knew it was important so it was best if he was honest about his feelings.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Al. I do like Adrian.... Very much. I wanted to get somewhere with him..." Zion paused, peeking through his dark eyelashes to look at Aldrich's reaction, just to find him staring back with a blank, understanding face.

"I don't want to be between you both. Fuck, we should have talked about this before...
I don't want you being with me just because we are forced t-"

"Who said we are being forced?" Zion's voice cut Aldrich's rambling.

"I like you too, Aldrich. I didn't get to say this the day you confessed your feelings but... This is what confuses me. I'm really glad our parents gave us this option. I..." Zion paused, suddenly blushing.

"I'd love to spend my time with you...
But then... there's Adrian too. I like him, Al. Really. But now..." Zion paused, trying to think clearly about what he was going to say.

"But now, I'm so confused that I didn't even read his messages from a few days because I don't have the heart to. I can't even think about how he might have felt when he heard the news. And I know I should stop this... I should stop these feelings for him." Zion said in a tone that could melt a stone.

"There's nothing wrong with liking people, Zion." Aldrich said.

"But... But we're engaged n-"

"There's nothing wrong. And this is all I wanted you to know. I've known you all my life, and I've seen how you let so many small things affect your heart." Adrian explained.

"Although, I also wanted to let you know that....
That I can back off." Aldrich said with complete seriousness.

"What do you think about Adrian?" Zion suddenly asked, looking deep and straight into Aldrich's stormy grey eyes.

"I've seen the way you were with him, Al. You don't get along with a lot of people, especially the people you just meet. And don't even think I didn't see how you looked at him during that dinner." Zion exclaimed.

Aldrich was very surprised with the sudden question. And it was very new to him too, something he didn't even think about.

Yes?
What do I even feel about the little boy?
Why was I even acting that open around him?

Zion's sudden question made a million thoughts swarm his head. He had a very tough façade, but Adrian was able to break it and see a very open version of him.

Hell, he even managed to make it into Jae Hyun's good books! And that was a very huge thing.

He was very cute, adorable. And Aldrich was sure he couldn't harm a single fly.

That still wasn't able to give him the answer to all his questions, though.

He.... He's just too soft, with his adorable red cheeks and white hair. And that makes me want to protect him.

Yeah!! That's it!!
Is it?

Looking at his confused state, Zion left a chuckle. It was enough to snap Aldrich from his daze, looking at Zion questioningly.

Zion just smiled, knowing exactly what was going on. He got up, getting an idea on how to leave the other king even more confused for a few more days.

He walked towards Aldrich, bending to get to his eye level, knowing the effect this was causing Aldrich.

Tilting his head with a small smile, he looked deep into Aldrich's eyes, sucking all his attention towards his beautiful green ones.

"Take some time and think about it, love. Why did you do it? Why couldn't you get a single answer for all the questions in your head? And why can't you feel jealous over the fact that I just confessed my feelings for him.... Even though we are engaged..."

Zion let out a satisfied smile when he saw Aldrich's eyes widen in realisation, and then continued his way out of the room.

And Aldrich was stuck there, with a million new questions.

Yes?!
Why was I not jealous?!!

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