long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ -1 ♕

it was undeniably a beautiful day. sun shining brightly, birds chirping happily...

but as beautiful as the day may be, nature couldn't put a smile on the faces of the royals of the kingdom of aes. and actually, it seemed like it couldn't put one on those of the inhabitants of its lands either.

"people of aes, it is with immense pain and regret that we announce you the death of his majesty the king of aes."

for the nth time that day, the royal guards repeated those heavy words, still perched on their horses as they looked at the surprised faces of the peasants in front of which they were.

it was almost midday already, and they still had so many villages to visit in order to spread the unfortunate news across the whole kingdom.

"her majesty the queen and his highness the prince will be holding a ceremony tonight as a final goodbye to his majesty the king who left us today. people of aes, please come and gather to the royal square. show mercy and compassion to your royal saviours."

and that being said, the royal guards watched the peasants bow at them in respect before turning around to head to the next village, leaving once again behind them a mourning people.

a few kilometres away from that, on top of the small hill on which had been constructed the royal palace, two people were side by side dressed fully in black as they held themselves from breaking down again.

the mother and the son, both with royal blood running through their veins, mourned together the death of their beloved, sitting together on one of the larges sofas of the royal salon, where they had spent one of their last moments together with the king before he had that terrible dinner that caused his loss.

"your majesty." one of the servants approached the two silent royals, bowing.

"yes?" the queen answered, her voice trembling slightly.

"here is the speech you requested for the public announcement tonight." the servant handed the queen a piece of parchment on which had been scribbled a speech that would inform the people of what would happen now that they lost their king. the queen could have written it herself, but after losing her husband, she didn't have the heart nor the strength to.

"thank you. you may leave." the woman stated once she had grabbed the piece of paper.

with a last bow, the servant walked away, leaving the queen and the prince alone again.

mark swallowed for the nth time the lump that had formed in his throat, using the back of his hand to wipe a stray tear that had escaped his eye once again as he leaned further into his mother's side, still not believing that he would be living the rest of his life without a father.

the queen sighed, wrapping her arm around her little boy to console both him and herself as her eyes travelled the speech that had been written, making sure to familiarise herself with it before actually speaking it out in front of the whole kingdom.

"m-mother...?" the prince stuttered, voice weak and raspy.

"yes, my little gem?" the queen looked down at her son, smiling the best she could despite the pain. and seeing the broken state her son was in definitely didn't help her feel better.

"a-am i really the king now...?" mark asked barely above a whisper, somehow not wanting to accept those words despite having heard the guards and servants addressing him as so ever since his father was found dead.