The Untouchable Prince | A Norenmin FanFiction

六十八

Sixty Eight
Updated: April 11, 2022

Since the beginning of the ceremony, three seats were empty though plates of delicious foods were covering the tabletops. Even the wolf-dog's bowl was filled with raw meat, despite her being left at the Palace of Longlife Purity.

Donghyuck was still asleep since the day Renjun was taken—it's been five days—and his body was still unreactive. Doctor Xu had said he was going to wake up in a few days, but it's been past that, and now many are worried Donghyuck wasn't ever going to wake up again.

Then, Minhyung... well... no one knew where he was.

Well, they did, but no one could locate him, not even Xiao Yue, whose sense of smell was elite compared to the guard dogs that belonged to the City. The oldest prince of Lee was gone, almost as if he never even existed in the first place. All of his belongings from his room in the Palace of Sky and Heaven were gone, not a single sheet of paper, a ripped piece of cloth, or a coin was left. All that was left was the wooden furniture and wooden frames.

And... for Renjun...

...

...

Jaemin's head tilted up from his kowtow, glancing at the empty table behind his table and beside Jeno's. It was empty. Not a single form of life sat at it, yet, Jaemin could almost see a figure there. A ghostly figure dressed in beautiful purple and gold robes with a sweet smile on his face as he took a sip from a cup. He then placed the cup down and picked up his chopsticks, not a sound made, gracefully pulling his sleeve back and reaching for a dish in front of him.

"H-Hyung..." His eyes dilated with a slim moment of happiness.

Then, when Jaemin blinked, the figure disappeared, and his heart dropped, his breath getting caught in his throat.

In that short moment, no one noticed anything strange. No one even heard the word he had muttered, and so the ceremony continued as it was. The servant who displayed the gift promptly went to his position behind the prince.

But, when Jaemin dropped his head downward, making a loud thump sound on the ground, everyone was alarmed. His body loosened suddenly and shook with every breath. Soft cries sounded from him, but he bit his lip, holding in a loud sob.

"Highness!" The familiar old servant rushed over from the side, kneeling by the crown prince, a hand gingerly trying to pull him back up. "Highness." This second call was quieter and more gentle. "Highness, what happened? Is your arm...?" When the servant pulled the arm out and examined it, he didn't see anything wrong, no blood seemed to seep through the expensive clothes.

"Jeowon-"

Just as the Na Emperor was about to call the servant, the crown prince pushed the servant's hand off of him. "I-I- I'm fine," he choked out, sucking in his sorrows, remembering what his servant said to him... it's Highness's aging ceremony, so many will try to be happy for Highness. In turn, Highness should try to be happy too.

But, not once did Jaemin's head leave the floor, even the hat on his head was a little crooked.

Even though everyone heard Jaemin, no one believed him.

Because they all knew.

They all knew that he wasn't fine and that it was because the Huang Crown Prince was... was...

Sucking in a breath, Jaemin sat back up, wiping his tears with his sleeves and carefully adjusting the hat on his head. "Apologies, please... please continue." His gaze avoided the empty table, staring at the ground.