♘
"seungcheol, i can assure you that it might not be the most useful option to spend your time on having a grand breakfast." mingyu, king seungcheol's personal servant, had to walk fast to keep up with his pace, ignoring wonwoo and jeonghan who eagerly trailed the two. "there's a whole yule waiting for you to be arranged in a couple of hours. the first guests will arrive by the end of noon."
"and i can assure you, mingyu, that i have more than enough time. the one thing they need me for is to attend all the preparations and to nod my head once or twice. everything else is up to the servants." seungcheol carelessly shrugged, knowing that there would hardly be any difference than previous years.
even when he was the king, changes were hard to make. the preparations almost became a yearly routine at this point. besides showing up once to check up on the progress the servants were making, it was out of his power to take actions. a king wasn't supposed to work with his hands, unfortunately.
"besides, i haven't seen my dear friends in ages. is a king not allowed to have fun sometimes?" seungcheol was stubborn and mingyu was well aware of that. he knew that how much he kept advising him not to, seungcheol wouldn't listen to him in a hundred years.
that's why he shot a glance over his shoulder, rolling his eyes to wonwoo who shrugged as if to say that he had no clue either. midst all that, jeonghan kept trailing seungcheol like a lost puppy, his eyes fixated on the red carpet as he wisely kept his lips sealed.
it was when a hand appeared in his eye-sight when he found the courage to lift his gaze the slightest, meeting seungcheol's home-like dark brown orbs. unlike his rather the defensive tone he spoke in earlier, his face sparked nothing but genuine friendliness, drawing jeonghan in in just a mere second.
"come on, grab my hand." seungcheol gestured his hand a little higher up to jeonghan's face, ignoring mingyu and wonwoo's questioning looks.
"wait.. you know each other?" mingyu asked, recognizing jeonghan as the boy who was brought in as an intruder by the gatekeepers just a few days back. which he found odd, as he also noticed seokmin, the king's younger brother, dragging around the other boy who was hauled inside.
"we do, actually." seungcheol spoke, his tone back to his usual polite self now jeonghan had intertwined their fingers together and walked by his side. "jeonghan and i met back at the first yearly yule in semi's kingdom i was old enough for to attend to. our father's knew each other and were the greatest friends back then, until a year later they got into an argument about something pretty severe, meaning we weren't allowed to visit their kingdom ever again."
"so.. from what you just said i assume jeonghan is the truthful prince of semica?" mingyu said, grabbing a hold of the doorknob that lead to the dining hall for servants. disbelief mixed with wonder was painted over his face as he looked from seungcheol to jeonghan.
"i am." jeonghan said, knowing that seungcheol had made the promise to not speak a word about it with anyone beside him. the prince guessed that it was safe to share the information with the king's loyal servant. "i escaped together with my stable guy. my father has been mistreating me all my life long and has forbidden me from going outside the castle. i wasn't even allowed to set foot in our town inside the kingdom's walls. i couldn't bare living there any day longer, that's why i made my escape."
mingyu's mouth was left agape as he hadn't expected to hear such tragedy from the runaway prince. "but he arrived here and is safe from his horrible father now. i promised him that i would protect him at all cost, and you know i am a man of my word." seungcheol proudly spoke, pushing the door open before mingyu had the chance to. "now how have you and the elvish king his son gotten so close over the span of the last few days? mind sharing that with me as well?"
mingyu could hardly refrain a chuckle from rolling off his lips when his gaze met wonwoo's, grabbing a gentle hold of the elf his wrist to guide him in-between tables. as the king greeted his folk occasionally, he listened attentively to what mingyu was about to say.
"wonwoo and i had no other choice but to spend our time together at first." mingyu recalled their first few rather uncomfortable minutes together, where they still feared for the worst scenario. "though i have to admit, i think there's no other person i'd rather spend all my time with. wonwoo certainly is a pleasant company. don't you think, won?"
"i can't disagree with you." wonwoo answered the king's servant, regaining some confidence by the warm manner mingyu spoke in. "i haven't had this much fun in ages."
"i am more than glad to hear you two have taken a liking to each other. i don't think i have ever seen mingyu being this happy. and believe me, i've known him for a long time." seungcheol laughed graciously, being beyond happy to see his best friend finding happiness within the elf's company.
"seungcheol!" before seungcheol had the chance to comprehend who had called out his name, a boy from around the age of sixteen jumped up and wrapped his arms around the king's neck, tangling his legs around his waist as he clung onto him like a koala.
"chan, my boy! how have you been!" seungcheol slipped his hand from jeonghan's grasp to catch the lively boy in his arms, preventing him from falling down.
even when it had only been about a week, two at most, chan always seemed happy to see him. which seungcheol appreciated more than just a bit. chan was a lovable boy who only differed in age with about seven to eight years from everyone else. "i'm helping junhui and minghao in the kitchen today to prepare the appetizers for tonight!"
"i'm beyond proud of you!" seungcheol put the boy down again and looked at his face which radiated nothing but pure happiness. you could say that chan was their source of hope, joy and euphoria. the one who kept the atmosphere filled with excitement with all his adventurous stories of the things he experienced on a daily basis in the castle.
a boy everyone adored, whether you knew him or not.
"i was actually here to bring all of you good news." seungcheol lifted his gaze, looking upon the eight remaining surprised faces. "i have informed the maids that you will all attend the ball tonight. they will bring you your suits at around two in the afternoon."
"all of us?" junhui asked with a surprised look painted on his face.
"yes, all of you. i really want everyone of you to share this night with me." seungcheol stated, creating joy among the group who became excited to attend the most important occasion in adora's kingdom.
"you hear that! i'm going to wear a suit!" chan chirped happily, jumping up to hug seungcheol once more. the king was more than glad he was able to spend the special night with his friends, who were all beyond excited for what awaited them.
for now.
