promise ↜ ljn

♕two

Days went by and her family was getting closer to the day where they would return to their kingdom. Each day passed by slowly for Jeno especially. Every time they had a formal meal, He was always seated across her and all those times he would caught her giving him a look. Mocking him about their little secret.

Jeno found himself rolling his eyes a lot more often that he ever did after for the past 18 years of his life. He wanted to slap himself for even got wooed by her when he first landed his eyes on her. Beauty is only skin deep, it was so far true for him.

He wasn't so sure of her true intentions but Jeno could tell the princess was trying to play with him. At first she seemed pathetic, but then it was also testing his patience. It felt as if she was bullying him, it sounded ridiculous but that was the tension at the moment. It got much more worst when both fathers started mentioning about the times they used to fight the wars together.

Every time she had a chance to talk, she would glance at him and then mentioned something about coward, weak, losing. It was as if she was pointing it to him. Jeno would just sneer every time she looked back to check his reaction. His parents however, were very fond of how knowledgeable she was in tactics and wars.

He wouldn't bother lying, he too was impressed of how she knew so much. However, the attitude of hers blinded every magnificent there was about her. Jeno was just not interested anymore.

"She's such a bright girl, won't you marry her off?" Jeno's father commented over breakfast which tensed up the atmosphere. Jeno glanced at her, although her face wasn't showing any signs of shock or denial, her eyes explained everything. He was very familiar with that look as Jaehyun had it most of the time whenever someone was trying to match him up.

The princess' father stifled into a short laugh. "We have a lot in queue, but no one seemed to interest her." He said, motioning to his daughter as she pulled her lips into a thin line, almost smiling. "Why so?" The other king questioned.

"She finds them weak."

At the mention of it, Jeno almost choked on his drink. "None of them defeated her yet, such a shame." Her father added. "Oh, father. They probably went easy for a girl like me." She added, another inside joke between her and Jeno. The male rolled his eyes again as they locked eyes. So, she was a fighter. It was something uncommon among the royal daughters.

Everyone excused themselves after breakfast as the kings were finishing off their deal. Tomorrow would be their last day of stay and Jeno wished it would pass by faster. He wanted to forget everything that ever happened between them. He had never felt so suffocated around a princess before. Maybe this was how Yoon Oh felt before.

〚 王 〛

Tea was the only time Jeno managed to escape. He resumed to the practice room, training to forget the mock he received for the whole week. He picked up three daggers and started to throw them at a target, aiming for the middle.

Three out of three managed to hit it accurately. A smug formed on his lips, he was proud of himself now. However, he needed to train much more in order to be much more skilled so he could actually win over the princess. Maybe then, would he have himself betrothed to her— No.

Jeno shook his head, he kept reminding himself that she was the last person he ever wanted to spend his whole life with. Having an arrogant damsel with him would be a downright disgrace to bear.

He picked up five daggers this time, throwing two at a time to see if he managed to hit the target. As swift as he threw, it landed perfectly on the target. Again, he felt proud but he knew it wasn't enough. This time, he felt frustrated. He didn't know why a comment from a snobbish princess was bothering him so much.

Jeno aimed for a single dagger this time and as he was about to throw it, the sound of door opened brought him back to when he met the princess. His body reacted before his mind could decide and he released the dagger, only to have it land on a target. And it hit right above the heart, the place he once aimed to own.

The prince locked eyes with the beauty for a while. He couldn't believe what he had done and as she dropped on the floor, Jeno threw the remaining dagger on the floor and rushed to her side. As he got to her side, he could see the dagger stuck excellently above her heart, below her collarbone. He panicked, unsure of what to do.

"I'll call the—"
"Don't."

She grabbed on his wrist before he could even leave which caught him by surprise. "We broke the rules, we weren't supposed to be alo—" she started and Jeno instantly cut her off. "Ignore that, you're injured!" He exclaimed and was yet to leave but she stopped him. "Princesses are not to have scars on their bodies, we are forbid to marry if so, and would be sent away." She said, squeezing on his wrist, pleading.

Jeno stared at her for a while, thinking what was the best to do. He sighed, frustrated as he knew he couldn't risk having her sent away because of his carelessness. He was afraid to touch her at first, however, with his handkerchief, he pressed it on the injury as he pulled the dagger out.

A small part of her dress was already stained in red colour. He had to press on the wound directly to stop it from bleeding. Jeno cleared his throat as he was about to do something that wasn't common in his daily life. "I have to cut off the collar of your dress to examine the wound." He said and looked away instantly.

The princess was silent for a while, the dagger landed just below her collarbone, ultimately close to her breast. Of course it was a hassle. She had never showed so much skin to anyone before her whole life, moreover to a male.

Eventually, she ripped the collar of her dress, allowing her to pull it down until it reached the injury. Surprisingly, the princess was far stronger than he thought. She didn't scream at all, barely moaning out of pain. Jeno knew she was enduring it,    but still, he was amazed.

Jeno took her hand and placed it on top of the handkerchief, he didn't want to fluster her as it was better for her to hold it instead. The princess however, still couldn't look at him in the eyes. The atmosphere was filled with awkwardness and embarrassment.

"I'm deeply sorry." Jeno said, his eyes everywhere but on her. "I should've knocked, I guess." The princess replied but still both of them were dumbfounded such situation could happen. "You can't tell anyone about this, I can't risk myself being sent away." She said although there wasn't much emotions in her voice, Jeno knew it was every princesses' nightmare to be sent out of country.

"Your secret is safe with me." He said. It meant as a sincere reply but then both of them caught the sarcasm. Spontaneously, a grin escaped from his lips as both of them broke into a small chuckle. They both knew each other's secrets and all that left was to keep it, they had to vow.

"Promise?" She asked.
"Promise." He replied.

〚 王 〛
🐾this would be a really short story btw