ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ, Sookai

005

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SOOBIN

Fate seems to be in my favour and I suspect it's because of my reason for being here. Putting an end to Hueningkai's cruel reign would be good for people, even the ecosystem, that's why I've lasted this long. The universes are lining up to protect me, pleased with my embark for retribution and helping me achieve what I am.

I find a helmet, and armour more fitted to my unusually tall stature (for people who grew up malnourished), changing into it before a few guards walk into the room. I freeze, staring, waiting for them to act first.

"...The King's eaten, guards are free to have their meals now," the one in the middle states, face unreadable from the helmet that covers it.

I clear my throat and adjust my helmet to sit more comfortably. "Right... Yes, I-"

"It's about time, I'm famished." The guard on the left chuckles, turning on his heels before I have a chance to reply. The other two follow close behind.

I trail after the guards, heavy armour clanging with every step I take, unsure of where to go without them.

•◦༻ʚɞ༺◦•

The food is quite possibly the best I've ever had. Half the stuff presented on the long, wooden table I'm sitting at I haven't heard of, and the flavours are unimaginable.

Guards even have the luxury of tender meats and perfectly cooked breads and soups (which they call a starter instead of a meal), and they take their time. Free from the type of starvation that claws at our stomachs and has us wolfing down the food.

I try to replicate their behaviour despite my stomach's agonising scream as soon as the salts and spices hit my nose, slowly lifting a piece of cheese to my lips and nibbling on it, testing out the waters before I delve in further.

The cheese glazes over my tongue with a creamy finish, the harmonious sweet and buttery flavour pouring into each of my tastebuds like a warm caress warding off the bitter cold. The cold in this case being the hunger that slashes at my stomach, its outstretched claw swiping from behind the bars that cage it now appeased by the wave of satisfaction sedation allows me.

I glance down at the food in front of me, picking up a piece of tender meat and holding it up before me. It would be heaven-sent for my family to ever try such meat, or any other family in the area I live, underfed and barely surviving. Yet here I sit-among those who have probably never struggled to pay for their comfort or feared every meal was their last-eating like royalty (or in this case, what royalty feeds their security).

Overwhelmed by heavy emotions, my eyes water and my nose runs. I have to swipe the tears away with my thumb before they can fall and sniffle loudly to clear my nose, blaming the noise on the warm food causing my nose to run instead of the hearty meal in front of me.

I'll have to find a way to sneak out whatever leftovers I can, then I'll find a way to pack it and deliver it to the people in my village. Then they can eat decently and stave off the maw of starvation for another day, maybe two with how used to eating nothing they've become.

"Son!" A voice rips through my daze and rings in my ears.

My head snaps up, eyes wide and alert. The only other times I've heard a call as urgent as that was when my father couldn't pay his debt and the men he owed money to were done waiting. With them arriving late at night to trash the house and steal anything of little value, my father had to rush me and my mother out the house so they wouldn't get hurt.