The Lonely Prince (BTS Jungkook)

The Ingredients of Love

Three Rocks picked from Molten Lava

Five Frozen Tears

One Midnight Mushroom

Sap from the Loverot

A Ray of Sunlight in its Purest Form

Pieces from the Elhorn Coral

Grains of Spirit Sand

Long ago, the First Prince married a beautiful goddess. His father later passed, leaving all seven of the kingdoms to him. His wife bore seven handsome sons. When they all had finally turned sixteen, their father, the king, gave them each a kingdom to rule. Fire, Ice, Ocean, Shadow, Light, Spirit, and Forest. This caused turmoil in the lands, each brother arguing over what kingdom to rule. The youngest of the sons, by default, gained the least wanted kingdom: the Forest.

"The rest is faded." I end the reading, finally looking up at Jungkook. His face holds a blank expression, and I feel sorry for him for once. "I take it you're the youngest. Since we're in the Forest Kingdom?"

"Shit." He runs a hand through his hair, loosening it from the bun in the back. His face is now filled with an emotion I can't pinpoint. Sadness? Anger? His typical annoyance? "Wasn't really looking forward to having a family reunion so soon."

"Yeah..." I can't stop my questioning. "What the heck happened to you guys? I get that the king divided the lands up for each of you to have a piece, but why all the bad blood?"

The air is still around us in the warm library. The logs in the fireplace never ceasing to go out, despite the many hours we've now been here. Only the candles on the table and the oil lamps hanging from the shelves light the space around us, giving it a comforting semi-darkness.

"Different personalities, I guess." He answers, shaking his head and straightening his back from leaning over the table with me. "Some of us just don't get along."

"Right..."

Breaking the once again awkward silence, he speaks up. "I suggest we leave in the morning. Sap from the Loverot sounds like something in my kingdom. A rare tree maybe."

"Yeah-"My growling stomach interrupts our conversation, and I'm about to feel embarrassed when I hear someone else's low intestine growl.

For the first time, Jungkook looks almost sheepish, turning to hide his face from me as I hold back a snicker. We have been in here for a while, and I haven't eaten since breakfast.

"How about we, uh, eat something first?"

"That sounds nice."

Once again, I find myself brushing shoulders with the tall man beside me as we wander the palace halls looking for the kitchen. I sure hope Jungkook knows where he's going because I don't. No, my mind is racing with thoughts of something else.

The seven princes. Its hard to imagine that in a short while I'll be on a journey to meet all seven of them. Or, at least, take an ingredient from the each of them. My eyes glance up to the handsome prince beside me. That's one prince down, six to go.

I wonder what the others will be like? Are they all so easily annoyed like the one next to me? And are they all as handsome as the one next to- Nevermind. I didn't mean to think that.

"In here." He pushes a wooden door open, it leading to a small dining room. The table in the center is wooden and worn, with six matching chairs placed around it. "This is actually where the servants eat, but I don't think they'll mind if we crash for a second."

I take a seat at one of the empty chairs, it slowly creaking underneath me. "I'll go find us something to eat." He says as he exits the room by a different door I hadn't noticed before.

I sit and fidget with my hands as I wait on him. My hat gets strewn on the table, and I find myself picking at the loose threads that line the brim.

"Here," I hear him soon say, and he carries in two trays. Each one has a sandwich of sorts on it, along with a glass of what looks like water. "Its not much but it's all I could find on such short notice."

"What is it?" I ask as he places my tray down in front of me.

"Peanut butter and jelly." He states and I can't stop my laugh.

"Ah, yes, the preferred food of Princes and Rulers." I take a bite, grinning at him as he takes a seat opposite of me.

"Shut up, it's all I had." He grins back, me just now noticing his cute bunny shaped teeth in the front. "So, you've asked me about why I want the potion. Why do you want the potion?"

I swallow and take a sip of the water, not expecting that question.

"Well..." I start. "I was kinda lonely, so I made a potion one day by using my mom's old notes. It didn't work. The only thing I got was a pissed off lumberjack." I laugh.

"But then, it made me mad that I had all these notes about the potion, and none of them worked. So, I started combining random things together, kind of like a trial and error. Then, I started dusting almost everyone that came into the woods. It was mainly hunters. I guess the village caught onto that and started calling me the Love Witch."

"So, you need it to prove a point?" He asks, and I end up replying in a solemn nod. "What about your flying broom? Obviously you have some magic somewhere."

"Of course I do." I take another bite. "I'm a witch. Just not a Love Witch."

He nods, seemingly interested in the conversation.

"The broom was a flying spell." I swallow. "I also have cooking spells, healing spells, sewing spells, basically anything. Except for a love potion, of course."

I don't know how much longer the prince and I carried on our idle conversation, but I know it must have been well past midnight when I finally find myself leaving the castle walls. Jungkook informed me that he would be stopping by my cottage in the morning to pick me up for our trip.

The night market in the Castle Town was in full swing, vendors pulling out decorative lanterns to illuminate their stalls. The full moon was shining overhead, lighting up the stalls even further. The jade bracelet I had my eyes on turned out to be out of my price range, so I settled for a couple of the muffins that caught my attention at the beginning of the town.

People were still dancing, the swing of the music not slowing down once since I had been here.

Does anyone in this place ever rest?

I munch on the muffin as I tread back home, wiping my soiled hands on my overalls. I take the path that goes around the village, and it's not long before I'm finally home and on the comfort of my couch.

Out of curiosity, I shuffle through the books on the shelf once more. I find the page that has the worn and dusty photograph of the angel. Its identical to the one in the Royal Library, and I find myself grinning to myself.

Mom was right. The potion does exist, after all.

I look back at the cauldron in the kitchen, the contents of the inside being burned to black ash. Whoops. Guess I forgot to put the fire out when Jungkook dragged me away.

It takes me a solid thirty minutes to scrub the inside clean, and I throw handfuls of spices and ingredients into the pot when I get it situated back on the newly stoked fire.

"A road trip with the prince? Definitely gonna need some spells." I chuckle to myself as I pack a wicker basket with some apples and other fruit. "May need a spell to make him shut up if he gets on my nerves." 

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