KING

一 12

"Charming, eloquent, confident. That's what a king needs to be to win the confidence of the people."

Taeyong watched with careful eyes as Hendery spoke to Jaemin, the said brown haired prince looking rather bored as he sat at the table, trying to eat.

"Leave the child alone." Taeyong said, eliciting an offended gasp from Hendery.

"You know how fickle minded the crowds can be, he needs to understand what he must do-"

"As I'm sure he does." Taeyong interrupted the black haired man, walking forward and standing beside Jaemin.

The prince looked up at him with an irritated expression, which Taeyong acknowledged with a soft pat on his shoulder.

"What Hendery says is right, but you needn't worry so much." Taeyong continued. "You're merely going to do a routine check up on the companies that work in the Neo City."

"And it's his first ever, it is vital he makes a good first impression." Hendery said emphatically, narrowing his eyes at Taeyong, who scowled back. For as long as he had remembered, he and the other had never been on good terms, from the day the King appointed Hendery to be the advisor of his son.

Perhaps it was because he strongly advised against the King's decision to allow a relatively unknown man this much power to influence the prince's thinking, especially in his young, formative years.

Hendery was rather irritating to deal with, a nuisance to both Taeyong and Johnny, but the man was sharp. He was quick on his feet but not as quick to trust, which Taeyong found out rather early on.

That made him like Hendery more. At least someone in the palace wasn't gullible. Perhaps someone he would be willing to tolerate.

Except that never really happened.

"May I please finish dinner without you two breathing down my neck?" Jaemin snapped, staring intensely at the wooden table. The other six chairs were empty, the most prominent one being at the head of the table, where the King used to sit for every meal with his son.

"We're going to be late at this rate," Hendery sighed, breaking eye contact with Taeyong first. "Maybe if you both actually shut up," Jaemin said angrily, standing up and glaring at Hendery, "then I'd be able to actually finish faster."

With that he stormed out, leaving his half eaten breakfast on the plate and a heavy silence in the room, one which neither Hendery nor Taeyong were inclined to break as they both stared after the retreating figure of the boy in shock.

Hendery shot a nasty look at Taeyong before rushing out of the room after the younger boy.

The white haired male heaved a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair stressfully. He was not suited for the palace life at all, he concluded, as he followed suit, making his way out of the room.

Instead of going to Jaemin's room, however, he headed to his own, and his heart lifted slightly at the prospect of possibly leaving tonight and being able to go back home. A few maids bustled by him, stopping to ask him whether he needed anything.

More tolerance, perhaps, or maybe an extra couple of hours of sleep, but those were not material objects that they would able to hand him, so he shook his head dismissively.

He hadn't been working for the King for very long, just about four years. He rose quickly through the ranks, he recalled, pride blossoming in his chest as the feeling of accomplishment came back to him as the memory of Johnny and him being allowed seats in the King's council resurfaced.

After all, to the citizens and residents of the palace and the three cities, he had carved out the name of being Lee Taeyong, the right hand man and the one infamous for having the most blood on his hands for his king.