cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

eight

Mark and Donghyuck were silent as they walked towards the throne room, barely even looking at each other as they made their way through the winding halls. At Donghyuck's request, all of his staff except Renjun were dismissed, because he had complained about feeling uncomfortable and suffocated with thirty plus people trailing behind him. Mark had allowed it, only because he had a handful of his own staff with him that were prepared to step in and help if needed. When Mark had claimed that it was best to be prepared at all times and to always have staff with him just in case, Donghyuck had rolled his eyes and called him a "spoiled brat".

John was standing outside of the door of the throne room with a few other members of the royal guard when they approached, and the captain looked up and gave them both a warm smile as they walked up to him.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness," he said, addressing each of them before lowering himself into a bow. Mark smiled and nodded his head in return. Donghyuck glanced over at him subtly, and copied his nod of acknowledgment. If he was going to be around the king all the time and would be frequently on the receiving end of this kind of reverence and respect for a while longer, he might as well try to learn how to accept it without making himself seem even more awkward and out of place.

"Hello, John. We have come to look at the throne room," Mark said, holding out his hand and gesturing in Donghyuck's direction, "the queen expressed interest in seeing it, so I thought I might indulge him."

John lifted his head and gave Mark a little smile. "I would think it best that you indulge him more often from now on, if you are truly set on trying to court him."

Donghyuck perked up, turning to look at Mark with a smug grin. In true Donghyuck fashion, the omega had heard John's words and saw an opportunity to rebel, and his next words were coming out of his mouth before he even fully registered them himself.

"Yeah! You heard the man, you should let me do what I want if you wanna fuck me and put a baby in me, alpha," Donghyuck said slyly. John's eyes widened, and Renjun coughed loudly and elbowed Donghyuck in the side in reprimand.

"Your Majesty, I deeply apologize on his behalf for his rude language. I will try to teach him to speak properly from now on," Renjun muttered, bowing his head towards the king.

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long, deep sigh. "It's alright, Renjun. I'm quite used to his foul mouth by now."

Donghyuck beamed, clearly pleased with himself. Renjun eyed him out of the corner of his eyes judgmentally. John cleared his throat, trying to wipe the surprise off of his face as he opened the large wooden doors to allow them to step inside the throne room.

The throne room was large, the floor covered in marble tiles and the ceilings and walls covered in gold accents, small designs that trailed through the seams and all the way up to the ceiling where they met in the middle to form a golden frame for the mural painted in the center. The mural depicted a great big cat—the closer Donghyuck looked, the more it kind of looked like a cheetah—with a crown on its head and a herd of various other strong animals and predators surrounding it, bowing down to it.

Donghyuck let out a low hum in amazement, tearing his gaze from the painting to look down at the two thrones, one large like the ones Donghyuck had seen in movies and one no bigger than a regular chair, perched on a platform at the far back of the room. There were other seats set up in front of the thrones—all probably meant for the king's advisors and any other visitors he might meet with in this room—and even with what must've been more than seventy chairs set out, the room was still spacious enough to freely walk around and even add more seats if needed. The two of them slowly walked together towards the thrones, approaching until they were standing right in front of them.