♜
silence.
complete silence was the only thing audible in the enormous ballroom where the group of royalties was gathered. despite their frightened expressions, everyone was able to restrain their surprised gasps upon the sudden entrance of a highly unwanted presence. even seungcheol, adora's faithful king, was not able to speak the slightest, simply dumbfounded to say the least.
never had he expected for his first hosted annual yule to be entirely ruined within a mere second. his high hopes for a wonderful night with the man of his dreams pressed up against his body, dancing through the magical hall for hours, faded with the undesired appearance.
gasps were heard when the feared man walked towards seungcheol on a slow pace, using his power to scare the remaining visitors who didn't dare to speak nor move in the direction of the exit. until he made his stop directly in front of adora's king, stopping his - assumable - guards who trailed him up until the centre of the room.
"king seungcheol, what a pleasure to meet you on this wonderful night." the middle-aged man bowed, showing his gratitude to the still shocked seungcheol, who had a tight grip onto jeonghan's wrist to protect him from what might happen.
"king yoon, i can not remember i sent out an invitation to the kingdom of semica." seungcheol was quick to hide the quiver in his voice, puffing his chest to show that he was the one and only true leader on his own faithful grounds. he would do anything for the sake of his own kingdom and its delightful villagers. no king nor traitor would he allow to ruin the peaceful atmosphere in adora.
"i am aware of that. just as i am aware that it is not in my position to pay a visit to your kingdom without any form of announcement." the man said, wiping some non-existing dust off his pitch black robe. an evil grin spread across his teeth, averting his gaze to the person finding shelter behind seungcheol's broad posture. "i came to get back what belongs to me."
"i certainly think it is out of your power to decide that." seungcheol said, flinching when one of semica king's men jumped up front. a crooked knife was pulled from his cloak, his face not visible as he was huddled in all black. yet with the sharp object placed right against his throat, seungcheol could tell that what was happening was more serious that he initially expected it to be.
"oh, is it?" king yoon smirked, being visibly proud of the chaos he had caused. "i think as an actual grown up king who has been a successful ruler of his own kingdom for years, i should be able to make my own decisions over my belongings, don't you think?"
just as mingyu was about to draw his sword, seungcheol gestured for him to put it down, not wanting to create a fight in front of his already frightened guests. "then what is it you came here for? a negotiation?"
"to bring you a threat."
seungcheol's heart dropped all the way to his feet. ever since he was a child, when his parents still ruled over adora, his life had been peaceful. beside the occasional executions down the village, something rarely ever happened in their kingdom. however, being threatened could hardly mean something good would follow.
"a threat of what kind?" seungcheol questioned, desperately wanting to know what he had to prepare him and his kin for.
"let me put it simple for you, king." purposely, he mocked the word king, raising seungcheol's level of both anger and fear. "at this point i assume you have already guessed what the purpose behind my visit here is. you can not tell me you forgot who i am. from what i said earlier, i am here to get back what belongs to me."
"there is no way i am giving jeonghan to you that easily." seungcheol growled, gently squeezing the wrist of the man behind him as if to let him know that no matter what, he was not going to let go of him. even with the sharp blade of a knife pressed up against his throat, ready to slit through his flesh, seungcheol refused to give the love of his life up so easily. the fact that his life depend on it left him unbothered.
"it is out of your position to simply barge into our kingdom, so i would friendly request you to allow me to escort you to the exit before i give my final sign to the soldiers who are waiting to attack you outside. i'm only a hand gesture away to protect my king and our visitors." mingyu, the brave knight spoke, his voice sparking danger. even seungcheol swore he felt a shiver going down his spine on his servant's bravery.
"that is not necessary, i will talk about my intentions now to not let anything escalate.." semica's king threw a sly glance at seungcheol. "..yet."
for merely a moment the unwanted king remained silent, turning around to see the fear he created, dripping down the visitor's faces. his chuckle of malice echoed through the silent hall, as he fed himself with everyone's fright. until his eyes landed on adora's king again, a singular droplet of sweat running down the side of his head, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. oh how king yoon loved to see a person he despised so much in that position.
"i want you to bring jeonghan back home to me, nothing more or less." the tone is his voice was too gentle and friendly to seungcheol's liking. something more had to be there.
"or else?" seungcheol challenged the king, not giving up as easy as the man expected him to.
"well, to me it is pretty simple." there is was again, that laugh that made everyone shrink a little. "i have always despised your father with all my heart. now seeing that his son became exactly the same and he is not there to teach you manners anymore, i will take that responsibility on myself."
"if you will not return what belongs to me before dawn, the walls of your precious kingdom will fall and we will not retreat until every single villager of adora is dead." the presumed kindness in his voice was entirely vanished as he spoke his wish so emotionless. "i have an army of dangerous knights and men waiting just a few miles away behind the hills of this valley. if you decide to surrender before sunrise, we will retreat and you will never hear from us again. peace will return to adora and none of this will be remembered. that is my wish, please make the right decision."
with a simple hand gesture of the king, the knife was pulled back from his position on seungcheol's throat, only making a mere scratch in the process. and without speaking more, the unwanted king turned around and slowly vanished from the room.
"we will attack when the first rays of sunlight reach the top of the hills, i will leave the rest up to you."
