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Jinyoung decided to change into his evening attire: a light crimson red robe that hopefully would draw attention away from his bandaged bleeding hand.

His parents often desired to dine together at least once a week, and though Jinyoung didn't feel up to it at this point, he was required to appear. He was fine with eating by himself while the King and Queen took care of royal kingdom business, but this was his father's way of 'including' Jinyoung-- which honestly he could live without.

He descended from his room down to the dining hall, the door opening for him as servants stood at attention and on standby. Though Jinyoung would describe his parents as 'nice' people, they were still royalty and acted as such. Therefore their mere presence had many on edge, trying their best not to make even the slightest mistake. Jinyoung noticed it happen around himself too whenever he entered a common establishment, and he wished everyone would just relax, but such carefulness comes with the royal territory and there was not much he could do about it.

His father sat at the head of the long marble table in the middle of the huge hall already coated from end to end with food, his mother beside him at his right hand. The seat on the other side was always reserved for Jinyoung, and hovering behind it pouring his father a drink was Youngjae, who merely paid him a passing glance before rushing off to take care of his other duties.

"You're late, my son! I hear you've been busy nowadays!" His father bellowed, demanding Jinyoung's attention.

The prince nodded, a forced smile spreading across his lips as he sat down. "I've been... taking trips into the towns often. You know I always love visiting the people."

"Yes, but it is dangerous. Make sure you have a guard or two with you to ensure nothing happens to my one and only heir." The king let out a chuckle as he leaned over and gave Jinyoung a few rough pats on the back. "Now, how about I teach my son about the ins and outs of ruling the kingdom? You will sit in my seat one day, you should start learning soon!"

"Dear, we've been through this plenty of times already." His mother gently reminded him.

"Yes, but there is much for him to learn!" His father insisted. "And Jinyoung loves hearing about it, don't you son?"

He, in fact, did not. But the apologetic glance he shared with his mother silently told him to just go along with it, as usual, to make his father happy. He let out a soft sigh, the smile on his face slightly harder to keep on. "...of course I do, father."

"See!?" The king exclaimed. He cleared his throat, preparing his lecture. "So, let's start with the economy. All the money that circulates through the kingdom eventually goes through..."

Almost in an instant, Jinyoung had already tuned his father out, nodding his head occasionally as if he were listening. He focused more on serving himself some food, but even the dozens of dishes presented before them didn't keep his interest.

Ultimately, he ended up drifting into his own thoughts. He wondered what Jackson must be doing right now. He did say he'd be occupied, maybe he spends a lot of time hunting and was afraid the prince would be bored. The opposite was true, actually; Jinyoung would love to see how a vampire hunts.

Honestly, he would much rather be in Jackson's humble home than his own grand palace. It was a cozy, homey place; he found himself easily comfortable. The time he spent sitting beside Jackson in the serenity of those wooden walls and the secluded setting was his best moment there so far. Plus the view he was able to have of the vampire's physique-- but that was neither here nor there.

"Are you paying attention, honey?" The Queen interrupted, startling Jinyoung out of his thoughts. "You're sitting there smiling, are you really that interested?"

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