Sefina Hale wants one thing and one thing only - to save her parents' dying sugar plantation. She doesn't care about her friend Elia's plight to win the king's heart, she doesn't care about the healing tensions of the war between Mavacuria and its n...
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When he was younger and still believed his father was a good king, Jimin had asked what it was like to rule the empire. "Hurry up and wait," his father had responded. He had then called for another round of ale at dinner.
While Jimin hadn't understood his father's response as a child, he knew the weight of those words all too well now.
He had to hurry up to the throne room and wait for the civilians to hurl complaints at him. Namjoon rushed him to the Platinum Council room, only to sit idly while he was given report after report of the nation's disrepair. Jimin was sped through palace hallways and Mikido's streets alike, his guards claiming it was unsafe to loiter anywhere unprotected. And once he did arrive at his destination, he never even got the change to do anything. It was all endless councils, diplomatic meetings, garment fittings.
So much urgency, and yet so little progress. Jimin had half a mind to hurl the crown away from him when it was presented to him tomorrow at the coronation.
"Jimin."
He started at Kai's voice. They were in his brother's bedroom, engaged in a brutally long match of chess. They usually played on Wednesday nights, but Jimin's schedule had been turned upside down in preparation for the coronation. He had barely convinced Namjoon to whittle out an hour of free time to see Kai tonight. It was Jimin's last night as a prince, and he wanted it spent in the calmness of Kai's presence.
"I'm sorry." Jimin tried to focus on the chess board once more, then frowned. Kai was whooping his ass. "When did you take my second knight?"
"Two moves ago," Kai said. "Right before you zoned out for another five minutes."
He flicked his remaining rook forward in a careless move. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired."
"We don't have to play, if you'd rather just relax."
"No, you like chess."
But Kai was already standing and clearing the board in the careful, practiced manner he did everything. Kai once said he never took any ability for granted, not after it took two years for him to walk again. He held each chess piece delicately, placing it in the felt-lined game box as if it were made from glass. No one lived in the moment with such care and precision like Kai.
Jimin needed to be more like Kai.
"Are you purposefully staring at me or just zoning out again?" Kai asked. He finished packing up the game and slid the chess box into the storage chest beside his bed.
"When did you get taller than me?" Jimin asked.
"About the same time you got shorter than everyone else."
Jimin smiled. The panic in his chest somehow lessened and tightened as he looked at Kai, who had moved on to straighten his history books. Five years ago, he had struggled to reach the top shelf. Now, it was nearly eye level.
