Royal ~ Minsung

-19-

Jisung set his plate of food down onto the table and took a seat in front of it. Comfortable chatter and shushed voices filled the dining hall.

"Good morning guys." Jisung greeted his friends with a friendly smile.

"Morning Mr. Servant." Soobin answered, making the others at the table giggle.

"Gold morning hyung." Jeongin happily greeted Jisung with his signature wide smile.

"Ji, this is Yeonjun. He's in Captain Seo's archery troop with me." Soobin happily introduced the boy sitting next to him.

"Oh, hi its nice to meet you. Im Jisung, Prince Minho's personal servant." Jisung said, bowing slightly.

Yeonjun froze for a second, before leaning across the table and speaking in a shushed voice.

"What, you're Lee Minho's servant? Isn't he like the devil himself? I heard he broke a rule and got thrown in the hole to rot away." Yeonjun quickly said.

Jisung frowned a bit. Minho wasn't as bad as a lot of people thought. It pained the boy that the prince was viewed in such a way, without people having any knowledge about him.

"Oh, no. What he did wasnt by any means illegal, nor that bad, it-"

"-it was just the king overreacting. He's extra hard on Minho because he tends to go against his father a lot, hence why his punishment was so big compared to what he did. He'll be out of the hole in a couple days."

Changbin made himself comfortable in the previously empty seat next to Jisung, his plate already laying in front of him.

"Oh, good morning captain Seo." Yeonjun quickly said, bowing his head.

"Good morning." Changbin greeted back before digging into his food.

"Hey, you're prince Felix's boyfriend, right?" Kai asked.

Changbin nodded his head, a smile spreading across his lips at the mention of his boyfriend's name.

"How come all the princes have male partners? Isn't it normal for princes to marry princesses?" Jeongin asked the group.

"Yeah, its more traditional, but the king believes that males are the superior gender, and he wants the royal family to be as powerful as possible so he prefers his sons to date and marry males. I'm sure he'd be ok with Minho marrying a girl though, at this point he'd let the boy marry a potato if he said he wanted to. The king has been trying to marry Minho for years." Changbin rambled in between bites of food.

Something stung deep within Jisung's heart. What else did the king do to Minho that no one knew about. He had been physically violent towards him, he had spoken words no father should say to his son, he had punished him for a minor thing that didn't even matter, he had tried to marry him away at many occasions, he didn't care when Minho was sexually asulted - and almost raped. Who knew what more could be going on behind closed doors.

---

The hours felt like weeks to Minho. 3 days and 3 night. That's all. Yet it felt like he had been trapped in the basement for close to a month by the time Changbin came and opened his cell, the morning after his third night in the hole.

Jisung had of course visited Minho 3 times a day, bringing meals down to his master, but within seconds the boy would be gone again. Minho couldn't blame him. The hole was by no means a nice place to stay, especially not for a beautiful, young boy like Han Jisung.

Minho couldn't wait to get out of there. The catcalls never ended during his stay in the hole, neither did Minho's urge to rip his own throat out. He despised his life and everything in it so much.

All Minho wished for was a normal life. Freedom to run through medows on a sunny day, without a care in the world. Loving parents who let him chase his biggest dreams. The possibilitiy and freedom to make his own decisions. Falling in and out of love with boys and girls of his own choice, until he finally found the person he wanted to share his life with.

Instead Minho was stuck in a prison disguised as a castle. No freedom to come and go as he wanted. An abusive, monstrous father with no faith in Minho. Rules, obligations and castes controlled his life. No chance at finding his true love, because he'd only ever leave the castle once every blue moon.

Changbin followed Minho through the halls, ignoring the eyes drilling into Minho's dirty, bruised and fatigued figure. Maids, guards, servants - whoever crossed their path would stare Minho down with wide eyes, and then run off to gossip about the prince's return.

The duo entered Minho's room, finally. The first thing Minho noticed was how everything was in perfect condition. The whole room looked like it had been cleaned and washed up while he was gone.

Minho peaked into his closet, seeing his clothes organized beautifully, his shoes standing perfectly in place and his accessories laying displayed in the most perfect way ever.

A small smile crept onto Minho's face. At least he had one tiny thing he didn't need to stress over.

"Jisung spent his days tidying up in here while you were gone. I told him that i would be picking you up early this morning, so he came in early and drew you a bath before breakfast. He'll be up in no time." Changbin excused himself and exited Minho's room after that.

Minho smiled and looked around his room once more. He noticed his horseriding clothes laying perfectly on top of the small table in tbe corner of his room. Checking his schedule for today, Minho remembered that he had horseback riding on his schedule. It made his mood brighten. His loyal and proud horse was a small escape from his poor life.

Minho entered his bathroom, closing the door afterwards. He stuck his hand softly into the water in the bathtub, feeling the nice temperature. A sigh escaped him. Why couldnt every day be like this. Refreshing, easy, calm.

Minho stripped out of his clothes, and threw them in his hamper. He got into the bath, moaning silently at the feeling. God how he had missed this. Warm water surrounding his body, calming scents filling his nose, complete silence to let his mind run freely.

Minho softly washed his body, making sure to be carefully around the injured areas on his body. Next, Minho washed his hair. He almost feel asleep while doing it, god how he wished he had someone to wash his hair for him in that moment. Someone he trusted to be near him in this vulnerable state. Someone to massage the soap gently into his raven hair.

Minho quickly rinsed his hair and got out of the tub. He started drying himself off, before exitign the bathroom, and entering his closet to look for a change of clothes.