Royal Secrets || Gongfourz

Four

×Leehan's pov×

"Mom, I am going to school. We have an important test."

"I promised Queen Fen that you will meet her daughter, princess-"

"I do not wish to meet princess Yumi, thank you, bye."

Leehan stepped out of the palace, the heavy oak doors closing silently behind him.

He strode towards his limousine, the polished black paint gleaming in the morning sun. As he reached the vehicle, the driver, a weathered man with a kind face, greeted him.

"Good morning, Donghyun."

He said, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. Leehan looked at him, smiling gently and kindly.

"Good morning, Joe."

The limousine smoothly glided out of the palace grounds, the familiar city streets blurring past.

Joe, a man who had known Leehan since he was a child, knew the prince's silence wasn't defiance, but a carefully cultivated facade he only shed in the privacy of his room.

As he pulled up to the academy's grand entrance, the scene that unfolded before Leehan was a familiar one - a sea of faces, hushed voices, and the quiet murmur of anticipation.

He could already see them, his five closest friends, gathered near the towering oak tree that served as their unofficial meeting spot. So he stepped out of the car and headed towards the bustling entrance.

"Hey, you're late."

"I know. It's my mother's fault."

"Another lecture about princess Yumi?"

"Yeah, as if school lectures weren't enough. I'm afraid I'll start writing what my mom keeps telling me instead of what we've been taught."

They all quickly got up, with Hao leading the way to the class quickly, as they were already late enough.

Leehan had already endured several attempts by his mother to arrange a marriage with Princess Yumi.

She was beautiful, charming, and everything a good princess should be, but she was also a girl. And Leehan was, quite simply, not interested.

The air in the classroom was thick with nervous energy as Professor Lee, a stern woman with a gaze that could pierce through steel, handed out the examination sheets.

The silence that followed was almost deafening, punctuated only by the occasional rustle of paper and the steady tick-tock of the clock on the wall.

Two hours. That was all they had to answer thirty questions, each one a formidable challenge designed to test their knowledge of the kingdoms' history, politics, and laws.

Leehan skimmed through the questions, his mind already working through the answers

He breezed through the first twenty-nine. The questions were challenging, but he had prepared meticulously, immersing himself in the vast and complex world of the kingdoms.

Every night, under the soft glow of his lamp, he had poured over ancient texts and historical records, memorizing dates, names, and intricate political machinations.

But the final question, a complex analysis of a kingdom's economic policies, threw him off.

His mind raced, searching for the perfect balance of historical context and analytical insight. The clock on the wall seemed to mock him, each tick drawing him closer to the dreaded bell.

With only two minutes left, the answer clicked into place. A rush of adrenaline coursed through him as he wrote down his solution, his hand moving with a speed that surprised even himself.

Just as the bell echoed through the hushed classroom, announcing the end of the exam, he finished the final sentence.

As the students filed out of the classroom, a collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

Leehan, however, remained seated, his heart pounding in his chest. He had aced the exam, but the intense pressure had left him drained.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he saw his friends huddled together, their faces flushed with a mix of relief and exhaustion.

"How did you do?"

Hao asked, his eyes wide with anticipation. Leehan smiled, a genuine smile that finally broke through his usual stoic facade.

"I think I managed to get them all right."

He said, his voice filled with a quiet confidence. He had the perfect grades the best in the academy.

"But, I have a question, off topic. About the prince who died, my mother keeps avoiding my questions. Do you know who it was?"

"There are rumors that it was the prince of Ryukura. But I also heard that it was the prince of Xiangwu. Well, I don't know."

Gyuvin, the one who always had an answer to each of their questions, said, but even he was unsure.

"Yeah, out of context, but what was the answer to question sixteen?"

Ricky was heard asking, and they all looked at him as if he had gone crazy or something similar.

"That was the easiest question. It had the answer on question fifteen."

"Oh. Oh my Gosh, I'm stupid!"

Ricky exclaimed, in a tone like he had realized something big and very important to humanity.

"Yeah, anything new?"

"Shut up, Gyuvin."

They all walked out of the building, taking deep breaths of the fresh air, the city's sounds a comforting contrast to the tense atmosphere of the academy. The topic of the dead prince, however, was not easily dismissed.

"I still think it was the prince of Ryukura. The timing of his disappearance fits with the reports of the prince's illness."

Hanbin talked first, catching Leehan's attention within milliseconds, as he was really curious about that topic.

"But the prince of Xiangwu had a reputation for being reckless, and he was known to travel to dangerous places. It could have been an accident.

"I mean, Ricky is technically right, but, Jiwoong hyung is the duke of Xiangwu, wouldn't he tell us if their prince had died?"

Gyuvin questioned, and the discussion went on, each friend contributing their own theories, their voices rising and falling in a lively debate.

Except for Jiwoong, who remained silent throughout it all. He listened, his gaze distant, his expression unreadable.

"I guess. But, seriously guys, it isn't your business, why don't you just leave it?"

Jiwoong's voice was low, almost a whisper, but it held a sharpness that startled them.

"Jiwoong hyung, come on, we're just trying to figure it out."

Ricky said, attempting to dismiss Jiwoong's outburst, since the elder was the only one who didn't seem interested.

"Yeah, no need to be such a downer."

Gyuvin added, but before Jiwoong could retort, Hanbin and Zhanghao swiftly shushed the younger two, their usual carefree manner replaced with a curious gravity.

Jiwoong, however, didn't say anything again. He simply fell into a quiet step beside Leehan, his silence more pronounced than any words could be.

Leehan noticed. He had always been attuned to the subtle shifts in his friends' behaviour, but Jiwoong's sudden, complete withdrawal was a new phenomenon.

It was as if he was hiding something, a secret so profound that even the casual curiosity of his friends was unwelcome.

As if he knew the truth, and he was determined to keep it hidden. And Leehan, with his keen intellect and sharp observation, felt a prickle of unease, a sense of foreboding that clung to the air like the scent of rain before a storm.