mea rosa aurea || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter 4 : The Golden Dragon

Like a murder of crows, the young prince was surrounded by dark feathers that blocked out the warming sunlight.

There was a certain presence to it, one that the prince would describe as like no other. It was a heavy presence, one that not even his father could compete with. Dark, but not in the mysterious and intriguing way, no the presence was that of an unsettling deity that loomed over a child as they slept and infused themselves into their harmless dreams and turned them dark.

Much like how a murder of crows would sit in a tree and wait for its prey to fall dead in the open meadow before it could feast upon the meat of a deer, Seonghwa knew that he had become the target of such aggression that would only come from words. The body that circled his was tall and broad, practically covered in large dark feathers that gave away the true intentions that laid behind the deceitful mind that could convince even the strongest of minds of whatever they wanted.

Unlike the King's majestic deep, red robes that stretched on for miles with the finest of needlework the land had to offer- the clothes the man before the young prince wore were dark black, the cloak he wore was covered with the feathers of many plucked crows. It was majestic in its own way, but to those who knew what it meant, then the magic behind the presentation diminish and the only thing left behind was the truth of the act.

The young prince stood tall and still, his arms plastered to his sides as he only looked forward instead of at the circling beast. Much like a dragon, fierce as it spun coils around its victim, the man who looked him up and down had a smile just like the ancient dragons who were painted in the history books.

But the man stopped right in front of the prince, his feathered cloak spinning around him as it too settled around his feet. He was taller, not all that much, but enough that his eyes had to shift down to regard the young prince. His eyes were just as dark as his hair and clothes, but not even Seonghwa could see his reflection in them, it was just a void of nothingness.

"Long time no see," he spoke, his voice much deeper than the prince remembered. It was unsettling, just like the character of the man in front of him, though in the prince's defense, he hadn't seen the man for at least thirteen years if not longer. "Little brother."

"Is this how you greet people? Stalking them like a snake ready to strangle a field mouse?" The prince fought back, somehow not finding his brother's threatening presence to be suppressing. "I know you've grown up in a barn, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised you've learned your manners from the animals."

The taller didn't take the bait, instead he took a step back to laugh loudly enough that it echoed throughout the walls of the castle.

"My, my, it's good to see my little brother can hold his own finally. I was worried when I heard you were such a pushover when we were younger, so weak-minded and frail."

"A lot has changed since then," the young prince's nose flared a little, but he kept his composure.

"Clearly," his brother replied, his lips curling up into a challenging smile. "You've grown up it seems, father seems ready to hand the crown over to you. You must be ecstatic, having that much power drip through your fingertips every day."

The prince's eyes narrowed a little, his eyebrows furrowing as well as he zeroed in on his brother before him.

"If you think that then you don't know me at all," Seonghwa answered, his fingers weaving between the fabrics of his own brighter colored clothes.

"Know you? How could I know you when I was sent to live far away when we were so young? Sure you are my little brother but I do not know a single thing about the man you've grown up to be besides the gossip that whistles throughout the town."