The Merciful Prince

Chapter 31

"Prince Xuxi, third son of King Wu, thought dead," Mark says, nodding. "Going by Lucas now?"

Lucas doesn't respond, except to look away. Jinyoung, with his not-so-newfound love of Mark wants to go in there and beat him, but Mark isn't even mad. He's never liked King Wu, and he has no feelings towards Prince Luhan. He isn't surprised that King Wu would do this, having their kingdoms joined by marriage would have been no small thing, and since he obviously knew Mark was a Sacor, he could argue that once they were married, once they had a child, Mark could make a bid for the throne.

It never would have worked, if King Wu had spent any lengthy amount of time in Ediekor he would know that the people would riot if they tried to usurp Mark.

"What exactly was the plan, Prince Xuxi?" Mark asks.

"Don't call me that"

Mark ignores it. "I wonder what an uproar it would be to have Prince Xuxi returned to Viav. People attended a funeral for you, the country mourned. What a surprise that would be. How do you think your father would react?"

Lucas doesn't respond.

"Would he be happy? Do you think he missed you while you were away or would he be furious? If I told him you were poisoning me, what do you think he would do? Would he admit it was his idea to save your life, or execute you to save face? What do you think, Xuxi?"

He still doesn't respond, but his breathing is heavier than it was, tears pricking his eyes. At the end of the day he's just a kid. A kid who was kicked out of his own home to go ruin Mark's.

"Lucas, do you love me?"

Lucas snaps his head around, nodding furiously as he stands.

"Did your father ask you to poison me?" Mark reaches through the bars, taking Lucas's hand as he nods, tugging him towards him. Mark nods, taking a deep breath. "Did he tell you to poison my father?"

Lucas pauses for a beat, staring into Mark's eyes. He can't lie to him; he nods. Mark smiles sadly at him. Lucas glances at Jinyoung before focusing back on Mark, wanting him to understand why he did it.

"My father wanted you to marry Luhan and have a child. You would need someone to watch the throne, and Luhan could do it." Lucas says, wiping his eyes. "Luhan is a good person I swear—he wanted to come and heal you, but you refused the offer, it went on much longer than anyone intended, but we wouldn't try to kill you, your majesty, he wanted to make you happy—"

"That's enough, Lucas," Mark drops his hand, stepping away from the bars. Even though he expected this was the case, he didn't like hearing it. He didn't like hearing that his father died for this stupid plan. For Lucas to try to tell him that Luhan—or anyone in his family—is a good person.

"Once he saved your life, couldn't you love him?"

Mark frowns, shaking his head. He would never have loved Luhan. He barely likes Viav. If Luhan had saved his life it would have meant better relations between Ediekor's and Viav's citizens for sure, but it would do nothing for Mark, who then loved Jackson with his whole heart.

Thinking of what to do, Mark just stares at him. He takes a step back to stand beside Jinyoung who wraps an arm around his shoulder, leaning to kiss his head.

"I can't even express how sad I am, how betrayed I feel"

Lucas starts to cry then; he was just barely holding himself back. "I—I'm sorry, I—"

"I know, but it's done, so now I have to decide what to do with you."

Mark leads Jinyoung out of the dungeon and up towards his room. He's so sad, his heart feels crushed under the weight of the decision. He'll have to execute him, or send him back to Viav to be punished by his family. There's no telling how Viav would react to that. He completely forgets that he's been walking with Jinyoung this entire time, until they arrive at his door and Jinyoung clears his throat.