long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ 29 ♕

d-day of the execution

kneeling on the wooden stage in front of countless people, the new king of aes – and his lover – standing behind with a sword in hand, donghyuck held his breath.

he knew that this was all for show and that it would be all over in a few minutes, but still, he couldn't imagine what he'd do if mark decided to betray him and not let go of the blade, or if he just missed his shot and ended up touching donghyuck with the blade.

the whole thing they had planned was spectacular and supposed to slap the crowd in the face, and to show them the new bases on which mark wanted to build the new kingdom. once again, it was all for show, but still, donghyuck couldn't fully erase from his thoughts the slim chance that this wouldn't be his last day on this planet. mark, mujin and him were the only one aware of this mascarade, and even though the royal guard was standing a few feet away from donghyuck, it wouldn't be too hard for mark to get rid of both of them if he wanted to.

with all these thoughts bubbling inside his mind, donghyuck couldn't feel more relieved when the silence was broken by the sound of mark's sword falling to the ground. in the end, the royal hadn't missed his shot or chosen to get rid of donghyuck. he had been true to his word and let the sword fall to the floor before it could harm his lover.

when the palm of a hand appeared in donghyuck's peripheral vision, the tanned male understood that it was time for him to stand up by mark's side. the peasant, despite having his arms tied together, tried reaching for mark's hand, allowing the royal to wrap his fingers around his lover's bicep and help him up.

"y-your marjetsy...?" one of the guards surrounding donghyuck stuttered out.

"untie him." the royal simply replied.

the guard could only blink in shock, not daring to move. seeing this, mujin approached donghyuck and was the one to set his hands free in an instant.

in the meantime, chatter had started erupting across the crowd, people asking themselves what was happening and wondering what to do next.

"my people..." mark spoke loud and clear, causing the crowd to stop chattering and to focus on the royal. "as i previously said, today marks a new beginning for our kingdom. and this new beginning goes with the cease of all those repressive practices that my ancestors have set in place and encouraged."

the new king of aes was met with a deafening silence at those words. the whole crowd looked at him with wide eyes, the guards frozen on their spots as their eyes diverted between the royal and the peasant who was supposed to be assassinated.

"i want my kingdom to be a place that everybody can call a home. a place where they feel free and do not fear to be reprimanded for what they might do. a place where they can be themselves without risking to be put in a box with a discriminative label." the royal continued speaking, captivating all of the attention of the audience. "from now on, aes will be a land of freedom, and inhabitants of our land will be proud to say they are from here."

the king marked a paused, eyes travelling across his people. they all seemed completely lost, most likely not knowing whether to rejoice themselves at mark's words, or to start thinking about running away before being locked in aes forever.