JiMina Collection

More Than Gold ~ Part 12

"What?" 

     The prince did not seem to have registered any word of what she'd just said.

"I was saying that we have to stop meeting like this. Except this time my blanket was not here to save you from that fall. Are you alright, your highness?"

     He simply continued staring warily at her. Was he afraid? Nervous? Of her? Mina began to bite at her lip. She racked her brains trying to think of a way to fill the awkward silence. It was proving to be quite difficult, as Mina was never very social. "I promise I won't bite." Mina chuckled quietly. He seemed to snap out of his trance-like state.

"S-Sorry. I mean- I do apologize, my lady. I was in quite the rush to escape. Er- I mean... Get a breath of fresh air?"

    Mina was not convinced. She raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I'm pretty sure there is far more dust than actual air here. If you don't mind me asking, what was all the rush about?"

     Momentarily, the prince dropped his royal facade. "They just keep getting all up in my face - I. Oh. What I meant was - I, uh... I lost something?"

    Mina snorted. The prince was probably not supposed to talk badly about those women. And yet, he was doing a horrible job at pretending to at least tolerate them. "Let me guess," Mina grinned. "It was all the fancy girls asking how much money your left sock is worth."

    That comment elicited a laugh out of the poor guy. "Yeah. It was a bit much, so I panicked and ran away. I guess I'm not so great with people. Especially those kinds of people."

"Neither am I. Why else do you think I'm holed up in here?" Mina smiled. 

"I would love to do that. But, if my father found out, I'd be dead." The prince sighed. "This would be so much easier if they were better at understanding the concept of personal space."

"Not like you're that great at it either. I've been nearly flattened twice in the span of a few days."

     The prince stared at her. Mina froze as she realized what had just happened. She, a commoner, had basically just directly accused the prince, a member of the royal family, and mocked him about it. All though her intentions were playful, she doubted he had ever received that kind of reaction.

"I apologize for my mistakes. I'll be leaving if you so desire." The prince began to get up off the floor.

     Mina quickly backtracked. "No, I should be the one apologizing. It was quite rude of me to do so."

"Oh no," He sat back down. "I didn't think it was rude. I just thought... Do you like me?"

     Mina quirked an eyebrow up. At her expression, the prince seemed to realize what that sounded like.

"N-No I didn't mean it in that way. I was just thinking... All the other girls are always swarming me wherever I go. Except you. I thought maybe you hated my guts or something."

     Mina thought about what he said for a moment. A lot of new and surprising information on the prince was flitting through her head. First of all, she appeared to have snapped him out of his royal stature, as he would suddenly begin talking informally with her. She didn't think it was something that someone who valued royal upbringing would do. Although in front of everyone else he was stone-faced and cold, he seemed to have a less serious side to him. Mina doubted any other person of great upbringing would dare use the term 'hated my guts'. Second, he cared about what she thought of him. Mina assumed that, just like any other nobleman, he wouldn't care less about people of her class. He had twenty-nine other girls to flood him with compliments and attention, yet he was bothered enough by her absence to ask her about it. Thirdly, he confirmed her suspicions that he didn't like all the attention from these girls. This was yet another puzzling trait. Hundreds of men would jump at the chance to marry these high-class women. And yet, the prince was desperate enough to barrel into an abandoned, dusty old room to be rid of them. 

    So to answer his question, did she hate him? Admittedly at first, Mina did not think very pleasant things of the higher class. She assumed that all of them were gold-digging, rude, and rather selfish. For the most part, this description rang true; just look at the swarms of women who were probably scouring the castle, looking for the prince. But now, here was someone who wasn't exhibiting these patterns. The prince seemed like a decent guy. 

"No, I don't dislike you." Mina sighed and looked into his eyes, trying to convince him of her sincerity. "I'm just... Not interested. No offense, your highness. One day, I suddenly received notice that I was supposed to come to the palace to try and throw myself at a prince in hopes of marriage. But I didn't want to come. I never really saw marriage as something that would happen to me. There's so much I want to do."

"I get it. Kind of." He mumbled. "My mother left us when I was a child and my father doesn't seem to care that I'm his son anymore. He doesn't understand that I just don't want marriage. Especially after all I've seen. And here I am now. Pretty miserable."

     It became silent after that. Not awkwardly so, yet it wasn't completely comfortable. After a while, the prince reinitiated the conversation. "So, what do you plan on doing when you're out of here?"

     Mina's eyes lit up like stars. "I'm going to keep hopping from village to village. I'll try to make the world just a bit better." She ended with a sigh. "If I ever earn enough to do it."

"You're... You're not a noblewoman, aren't you?" The prince's eyes widened. "I've never left the castle walls. I can see the wealthy neighbourhoods from the castle windows, but I've always wanted a chance to see what it's like out there. I'll bet it's amazing."

     Half of Mina's brain vaguely wondered if she should break it to him; The villages for commoners were neglected and disgusting. The other half was beginning to let go of any blame she had slandered on him. One of the main reasons Mina didn't like the wealthy in this kingdom was the fact that they let commoners like her suffer. Although the prince was nice and all, Mina still had those thoughts running in the back of her mind. If he was really so nice, why didn't he actually care for the less fortunate people living in his kingdom? Now, Mina saw that it wasn't his fault. The prince genuinely didn't know what was going on.

"Maybe one day you will." Mina offered a reassuring smile. To her surprise, the prince looked downcastedly at the floor.

"Not likely. By the end of this month, I'll be married and left to live a life of misery."

"Sucks to be you." Mina snorted. Both of their eyes widened once more. "I did it again, didn't I?" Mina whispered. Astonishingly, the prince simply chuckled.

"It's alright. To be honest, I think I quite like being teased. It's like having a friend."

     Mina's heart shattered right then and there. The prince had been so lonely all his life. Even if she was only here for a month, Mina dutifully remembered her promise to make things a little brighter around here. She smiled and held out her hand to him. "I'll be your friend."

    The prince looked at her as if she was an alien. "You- You will?"

"Of course. It's a win-win scenario. I won't be bored, and you won't get in trouble with the King."

"I won't?"

"You said he would get angry if he knew you were trying to run away from the girls. Technically, I am one of the selected girls. You would be doing your job. Just think, you can show me around the castle, and I can show you so many other things I like to do. It can be fun. That is, if you're up for it?"

     The prince seemed to lighten up momentarily before looking at her warily again. "You... You really don't want to marry me?" He asked, hopeful.

    Mina smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it, your highness."

    The prince took her hand in his and they shook on it. "Call me Jimin," the prince smiled back.

     It was shocking how after all this time, Mina had never cared to take note of his name. "Hey, Jimin. I'm-"

"Mina." He interrupted her. The girl in question was perplexed. 

"How did you-?"

"Long story. Paper. Wind. Face. Smack. I'll tell you all about it, new friend."

"I look forward to it."