Black Swan By The Moon

1

Isn't it scary what a desire for power can do to a man?

Friendships are ruined, families are torn apart, innocent people are affected... but worst of all, betrayal is inevitable.

Only those who aim high make it out alive, they say, while those who simply turn a blind eye to the harsh reality will suffer.

Coronation day － an important ceremony where a crown is placed on a monarch's head.

The kingdom people clapped for the seconds-to-be prince. He stepped forth on the velvet carpet, making his way to the center of the throne room.

Jaebeom's coronation was one of the biggest events in kingdom history, as he was the first prince ever to be crowned that wasn't the oldest son of the king.

His older brother and five younger brothers stood on the side as they watched the ceremony.

The oldest was Mark, followed by Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Bambam and finally the youngest, Yugyeom.

Jaebeom swore the coronation oath on January 16th 1:15 pm, this marked the beginning of how the kingdom was doomed to collapse.

"Jaebeom! Stop messing around!" his father raised his voice at the young prince who was laughing at a joke between him and his brothers.

The laughter from moments ago was immediately replaced with silence as the brothers stood there in their fixed positions, frowns visibly evident on their faces. Jaebeom simply smiled apologetically at them, before going back to looking ahead of him and keeping an expressionless face.

"If you mess around one more time, it will be the end for you, son," his father warned.

"Yes, father."

Time went on and Jaebeom had to undergo severe training to reach the standard royal etiquette. If he did one thing wrong, there would be penalties that increasingly got worse and worse if he didn't get his act straight.

"You're sleeping in the cellar tonight."

"No, father! Give me one more chance!! I swear I'll get it right this time!!" Jaebeom pleaded.

"One more chance. Do it," his father stood there with crossed arms, monitoring how Jaebeom progressed in his sword fighting skills. Unfortunately for him, he lost another round.

Jaebeom's brothers saw him less and less, he was either in the throne room which they were now banned from entering during royal assemblies in fear of 'causing a disturbance', or he was at training. The only time they'd see him was during meal times, but even then he was cold and reserved, head always immersed in a book and away from reality.

"Jaebeom! Let's go to the play that will be in town! Jinyoung's acting in it!" Yugyeom exclaimed from outside the room.

There was no reply.

"Jaebeom?"

Once again, nothing.

"What did he say?" Bambam asked, putting his jacket on in a rush.

"Nothing. He... didn't reply, at all."

"What do you mean he didn't reply??? Move, this is a job for Double B," he pushed his brother aside and started aggressively knocking on the door. "JAEBEOM!!! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!!"

Silence.

"JAEBEOM!!"

"Shut up."

...............

The two brothers looked at each other in disbelief.

"You're not gonna come to Jinyoung's play?" Bambam asked.

No reply.

"The audacity of this guy, man."

Mark walked into the corridor and spotted them. "What's taking you guys so long? The carriage is here already."

"Yeah, well, Jaebeom over here doesn't wanna come, he even told us to shut up, and last time I checked that's one of the banned words he can't say," Bambam said.

Mark looked at the door, before sighing.

"Let's just go without him."

"WHAT?" the two younger brothers stared at the eldest like he was a maniac.

"He must have his own stuff to do, leave it," Mark pushed the two out of the corridor and down to the carriage. No words of complaint were spoken.

"Where's Jaebeom?" Youngjae asked.

"Gone, not responding," Bambam replied, which earned him a slap on the shoulder from Yugyeom.

"He's busy," Yugyeom rephrased.

"As usual," Youngjae sighed. "I miss him."

"We all miss him," Mark said. "But... agh, nevermind, let's just go support Jinyoung."

"He's closest with Jinyoung and he's missing out?? Seriously?" Jackson said. "That's messed up."

The brothers nodded in unison but they still made their way to the theater.

After the show, the five of them came up to Jinyoung and congratulated him, but he scanned the room and frowned.

"He's not here."

They nodded in reply.

"...it's okay."

"But is it though??? I mean, you worked so hard, and he doesn't show up, when he used to always be shouting the loudest in the front row, and now-"

"Jackson," Mark glared at him and he silenced.

"He's right though. Jaebeom just suddenly became a ghost, it's like he's not even here with us," Yugyeom said. "I miss joking around with him and sneaking breadsticks to our room late at night."

"That was you?!?" Bambam exclaimed.

"Umm... yeah?" Yugyeom shyly chuckled.

"Dude, you could've at least given us some," Jackson said. "But that's not the point, continue."

"Can we go home and talk about this?" Jinyoung said and they all agreed.

Nobody said anything during the ride home, and by the time they arrived it was dinner so they couldn't talk amongst themselves since that was now banned as well.

"Everyone, I have an announcement," their father stated after chugging a whole glass of alcohol.

They all shared glances with each other before they turned towards him.

"Next month, we will be expanding our territory into the south, as this pathetic little kingdom has been gaining colonies, and they say that The Black Swan is helping them."

Everyone sitting at the table was frozen in shock, even Jaebeom who was previously flipping away at the pages of his book.

The Black Swan － an ancient being which has either cursed or blessed a kingdom based on how it finds suit. Multiple monarchs have tried searching for it as they believe it may bring them power and prosperity, but so far only two monarchs in history have even caught a glimpse of it. It thrives in secluded areas and just the force of it unfolding its wings can send an army of men stumbling backwards.

Aside from this, nothing else has been discovered about it. Nobody knows if it's been lurking around among regular people or if it just passed away without notice, but the search still continues on till this very day.

"Jaebeom, I want you to go undercover and find it."