A Royal Mess || Taejin

Chapter 1

Seokjin could feel the tension in the throne room as his mother and father waited for the girls to arrive. His sisters had gone to the huge festive carnival that the villagers had organised in the honour of Princess Rose's 24th birthday. Rose had initially planned to go by herself to show her gratitude towards her people but the others tagged along at the last minute. They wanted Seokjin to join them but he politely declined the offer as he was afraid he might anger his father by leaving the castle grounds.

"That useless errand boy! He must have taken a detour!" The king boomed in frustration, blaming the princesses' absence on Hoseok.

"My King, surely the child is giving his all to locate our daughters. The carnival is spread over miles and a thousand villagers are there! You must consider-"

The King cut off his wife and continued, "I should have known he was just a lazy oaf! It is best if I dismiss him off his duties and demote him to some other position. Perhaps a stable boy would suit him better with that horse face he has. Honestly Jung Hoseok's father was a much better. . ."

The king kept complaining, like usual, while the Queen just shrugged it off and fixed her eyes on Seokjin.

"Son, why didn't you join your sisters?" She asked.

Seokjin shrugged as if he wasn't interested the tiniest bit in stepping out of the castle, which was a complete lie. He hated being jailed in here, a place he was supposed to call home. But the kingdom will see the Royal family in a dark light if the Prince set foot out of the kingdom, or so he was told. . . .

An hour had passed by then and the King was getting more and more irritated. He slammed his big fists angrily on the rests of his platinum throne, splashing water onto the floor. The king tended to lose control over his power when excited.

Everyone was born with a power, a certain control over an element; Gyeongsong was the only kingdom whose inhabitants possessed such a surreal trait. Their bloodline were blessed with the ability to control water. The power was passed onto each and every offspring of their family, except Seokjin.

Seokjin never felt the need to belittle himself for not having the blessing from his ancestors but, ofcourse, the society wouldn't have the same reaction. A member of the royal family, the only son of the rulers, with no magic within him would throw such a thought at the people that they would not accept the Prince as the next successor.

In the ancient days, the punishment for not displaying any form of magical inheritance, not taking into account what position the person held, was death. The man would be given two options; getting beheaded or burnt by fire, both of which would be open to for the public to spectate. The penalty was given in order to prevent disruption in the pure bloodline.

Fortunately, such activities were no longer in practice. The powerless being would just be hidden inside the house to avoid being shamed.

Seokjin often found himself lost deep inside the contents of the old books which guided one to unravel their powers. The Prince had tried multiple techniques and forced himself to withstand a lot of life threatening situations, as the books say one's true powers show when they are on the verge to die, like blind folding himself and wandering around on a mountain top. He almost fell but someone caught him right before he plummeted off a cliff. Seokjin still remembered how the boy refused to take off Seokjin's blinds until he went away. Seokjin, being overwhelmed by the act of kindness, spilled his little secret, breaking into tears as his saviour patted him gently. The boy told him how he was no different than anyone in the world even without powers. He told him he was special just the way he was and he should be content with whatever he had. It was from that day Seokjin started to accept himself just the way he was, all thanks to that one stranger. Seokjin started to believe he was unique rather than peculiar. Instead of wasting his time in trying to control water, he devoted himself in learning other things like fencing and horse riding. He was also grateful to his sisters who had helped him overcome his insecurities.