promise ↜ ljn

♕ eleven

Haneul pried her eyes open, the sunlight shone on her was hurting her eyes. The first thing she saw was the trees, branches growing close to one another, trying to prevent sunlight from shinning inside the forest. It was beautiful.

The next thing she saw was a male sitting next to her, he was looking down on her with a smile. However, she couldn't help to wonder what was he staring at. She almost panic at the thought if some snake was on her head or something. Instantly, her hand travelled to her hair.

Instead of a silky, scale like skin, she felt small flowers instead. Lots of them. Haneul took one out, the flower was yellow in colour, small but attractive to one's eyes. It was only then she realised Jeno must've put them on her hair while she was asleep.

Out of nowhere the two broke into a laugh as she sat up and removed the flowers from her hair. "Should we head back to the castle?" He asked, helping her remove some of the flowers he tucked in her hair.

Haneul simply nodded and the prince got up on his feet as he extended a hand to help her stand. She gladly accepted it and both of them climbed on the horse, ready to leave what happened for the night as a memory. Though she felt some sort of sad, but she didn't dare to say it.

Taking out what seemed to be the last piece of flower from her hair, Haneul placed it on his shirt instead of throwing it away. She then wrapped her arms around his torso from the back, pressing her face on his back. She couldn't help but to feel angry the fact that she couldn't choose someone she loved instead to marry.

However, the princess wasn't good with words. She could only express her feelings with actions as she wasn't train to talk very much. Princesses were meant to follow their king and her father was strict about talking back.

Jeno too was remorse, but there was nothing they could do. He simply put a hand over her hands on his torso. "You'll be fine, Yoon Oh is very courteous." He said, sounding as a reassure to himself instead. "I know that." Haneul replied simply.

"My heart doesn't belong to a kind prince." She referred to his brother. Jeno forced himself not to reply to her comment. Though he got too attached to her, he didn't want the same to happen to her. Instead, Jeno just wanted to see her for once, tell her what he felt for her and then he wanted her to forget him.

And so, they started making their move to the castle. The ride home was much more solemn than the opposite one. However, none of them could stop what awaited them. They have fates that weren't meant for one another. As soon as they arrived, only the servants were seen outside the castle, busy for the wedding.

The royal families seemed to still be having their breakfast. It was a perfect chance for the two to sneak into their chambers without being seen. Sadly, the thought of just pretending to not know one another after they found out they liked each other wasn't to Jeno's liking.

It was possible for them to stay friends, of course the court would allow that. However, Jeno didn't want to pretend that they weren't besotted with one another. As he safely brought her down from the horse, the two found themselves staring at one another in an odd way.

Haneul was the first to look away, she was ready to leave but to her surprise Jeno pulled her lightly and kissed her for the second time. They didn't kiss for long as there were possibilities of getting caught.

"Promise we won't pretend." He said which surprised her. The princess wanted the same thing too, but she thought it was too selfish of herself so didn't dare to ask. She thought about it over and over, trying to care for the hearts of both the princes.

"Promise." She smiled lightly. Only then, did Jeno released his hold on her hand, watching her leave. Though he felt sorry for his brother, but they both know that he loved Haneul from the first time they met. Yoon Oh was allowed to be jealous, but he couldn't lie about that. However, he was certain that his brother shared no feelings for the princess.

〚 王 〛

Haneul was on a lucky strike as she managed to make it as far to the corridors of her room. She was so close to entering without being caught when a question almost made her yelp.

"Why didn't you join breakfast?"

Instantly, a hand went over her heart as she turned around to look at a prince looking back at her. Though he had the usual calm and warm expression, but she couldn't help to notice the different look in his eyes. His eyes were burning, but she couldn't tell out of what.

"I wasn't feeling well." She came up with a lie in a split second. "Do you need the doctor?" He asked, taking a few steps closer to her. Haneul broke into a small smile, "No, I'll be fine." She declined in the most polite way to stop him from inching closer to her. Yoon Oh was smart, he might notice something that would caught her and Jeno red handed.

"If you say so," he said as be brought a hand up. Haneul thought he was going to press the back of his hand on her forehead to check if she was burning, but instead his hand travelled to the top of her head which confused her. "I'll have the maids to send you something to eat." He said as he took out yet another flower from her hair.

She gulped, she was certain of removing every bits of it but she missed one. Yoon Oh stared at the flower for a while, then he looked at her and smiled warmly instead.

"Get some rest." He simply said before walking to the opposite side, leaving her hanging with hesitation.

〚 王 〛
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