JiMina Collection

More Than Gold ~ Part 23

     Jimin was over the moon.

     His tutors were appalled as he eagerly skipped into his lessons. His mind was far, far away, and they eventually gave up on trying to get him to pay attention. He practically vibrated in his seat while he waited for noon, when he could finally be dismissed for the communal luncheon. 

     He was so excited to see Mina that he had completely forgotten the one thing he always made sure to do ever since the castle had become host to thirty suitresses: Stay hidden. For the past two weeks he made sure to take back-end shortcuts and avoid human contact at all times, just to avoid being swarmed by an avalanche of talkative women in bulky dresses and copious amounts of perfume. In hindsight, he had been quite lucky. Not this time.

     This was inevitably how Jimin came face-to-face with a woman who donned what was, to him, a rather unappealing dark green ballgown. Her hair was piled a foot high on her head, woven with intricate jewels and head pieces. The woman heavily batted her eyelashes at him, heavily waving her decorative fan. Jimin could vaguely remember her as the one who was first on the list of names he had drawn at the beginning of the month. She was always one of the girls who were all up in his business, talking way too much and flirting with him even when he asked them to stop. But on the bright side, this was just one singular girl. He could handle this. Hopefully.

"Your highness!" She squealed. "What a pleasure to see you!"

"Uh- yeah," Jimin fumbled, before remembering that he was supposed to be a gentleman. "The pleasure is all mine?"

     It ended up sounding like a question, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Are you perhaps here to see me? A bit of forewarning would have been ideal, but I know how you've been keeping an eye on me from the start!" She advanced on him as she spoke, slowly getting closer.

"Uh, you have? I have?" Jimin didn't know what to say, he was too busy taking a step back for every step she took forward. 

"Of course," She cooed. "Though I must say, if you really wanted to spend some time alone with me, all you had to do was ask!"

     Jimin awkwardly mumbled something along the lines of, "Mm-gah. Got to go, bye!" He knew his father would never approve of his informal language, but he was way too uncomfortable back there. So much for his great plan to get to the luncheon early. Instead, Jimin bounded down the corridor, putting as much distance between him and that girl as he could.

   When he finally ducked into an empty room, Jimin sighed with relief. He could never imagine being forced to spend the rest of his life with a vile creature like that. Was he being rude? He didn't think so, especially since all of them enjoyed getting all up in his face far too much. 

     Jimin found himself gazing absent-mindedly out the nearest window for the umpteenth time that day. He had been excited all morning, but the more the hours passed by, the more his nerves got the best of him. Jimin was grateful that Mina had agreed to meet up with him, but he knew she was still hesitant. He would never force her to do anything against her will, but he still sorely hoped she would one day return his affections. 

     He had spent all of the previous night planning for this evening. Even if she wasn't interested in him the way he was with her, Jimin still wanted her to have a good time. After all, this was the first time in a long while that they could spend time together. Jimin wanted everything to be perfect.

     Shaking himself out of his stupor, Jimin peeked outside the doorway, just to make sure the coast was clear before making his way to the dining hall. He knew he must be late by now and was not looking forward to his father noticing that fact.