𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲•𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

ten

JISOO DIDN'T want to attend.

literally, three days after watching the sunset in the rooftop of the tree house, jeonghan was back in the palace. malicious comments about jeonghan spreaded after it was revealed that he wasn't dead. his smile on tv was starting to look ingenuine and rehearsed, unlike when he was warming up with jisoo.

this is how most commoner-royalty-dynamics end, right? jisoo had read so much and watched so much. of course, disparaging the almost impossible happy ending.

not that jisoo is in love with jeonghan or something, but the prince was starting to grow on him. it felt a little weird for the prince to not be around.

when his three friends knew about the whole jeonghan ordeal, they were shocked too. but, it seems like they have no problem with it as long as they get to attend the ball. psh, those guys, really.

it's funny. how this whole story took a turn.

"sire hong jisoo?" three knocks on the door, with a perfectly steady beat. jisoo was startled. "we are from bellezia's official committee. we have something to deliver to you."

jisoo quickly fixes his dishevelled hair and shirt, running to the door and opening it immediately. he figured that it would be rude to let the person on the other side wait.

"the coronation ball's theme is masquerade. we are delivering the masks individually. i suppose your company, sirs kwon soonyoung, wen junhui and chwe hansol have already recieved theirs." the middle-aged man in an expensive suit had said, raising a black, velvety box.

"t-thanks." jisoo had the urge to curtsy, but the middle-aged man left so abruptly that they had no chance to bid their goodbyes. jisoo shrugged anyway, and closed the door.

curiously, jisoo peeked inside the box. "what the fuck? if i wear this, i'd look like i'm straight outta fifty shades darker! this guy, really!"

jisoo inspects the gem-speckled black mask, wondering if there was a camera or tracker on it. he can't throw this out since he needs it and it looks expensive—so he hides it away instead.

"prince jeonghan." lee chan objects, standing from his seat. "we can understand why you went with such measures before the incident. but this, prince? this is beyond madness. you are all over the media, and your name is stained badly! you're going to push through with this even if us, your brothers who've done so much for you, don't like it?"

"king." jeonghan replied coldly, resting both of his arms on the armrests of the swivel chair he was sitting on. "practice saying that along with my name, because soon, it'll be a requirement."

"ah, don't flatter yourself too much," jihoon replied, closing the clearbook containing jeonghan's plan 'proposal' shut. it was obvious that the second-eldest prince was angered. "this plan is a one-way ticket to war. the kingdoms have never went into war ever since 1805. and, wow, 205 years later, you break the peace."

"i did not break the peace. they started it."

"really?" the prime minister had finally spoken up. his voice was calm and monotonous, unlike the other princes objecting. "you have a mindset of a child, your majesty."

"a child... a child? isn't it fitting for one young man to seek vengeance after ruthless people from grazia mercilessly poisoned my father, my step-father, my mother, and my friend, miss min suhae? you think that is childish, sire jeon wonwoo?" jeonghan retorted, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"i suggest speaking out about this, but i wouldn't want anything as cruel as your plan." seokmin said, playing with his silver cufflinks. his signature bright smile was plastered on his face, but it was off-putting. "the kingdoms would be wiped out."

"disregard that. we'll be saving the less fortunate, enlist the rich merchants and businessmen for my plan." jeonghan replied coldly. "they are nothing but leeches sucking the life out of us, even though they have so much money already. put them in the front line."

"but, your majesty—"

"not a word." jeonghan looks back at the middle-aged advisor of his, before standing up and calling minghao over. "a week after my coronation, i am going through with the plan. if anyone dares to defy me, you go off with your heads. you are dismissed."

"hyung. i think you were better off dead. you're a terrible human being." chan, the youngest prince, shot jeonghan a look and stood up to leave as well. jeonghan raises an eyebrow at him.

but weren't the murders from grazia terrible human beings too?

"think this through, your majesty," prime minister jeon says, skimming over the pages of jeonghan's plan proposal. "you might regret it."

"i won't."

jeonghan leaves eventually, immediately heading to the gardens to find his landscape artist: boo seungkwan. he's always here, admiringly looking at the flowers.

though, seungkwan seemed busy. jeonghan is now alone with his thoughts. without any of his friends who could understand him.

was it wrong to punish grazia for their actions? their princess and their people had killed the people that jeonghan loved and cherished the most. suhae, his step-dad, his dad, his mom. jeonghan was afraid that his brothers are next, and his friends.

he needs to teach them a lesson before jeonghan loses everything. that way, jeonghan won't become a lonely person. without family and friends, he is just a king with wealth and sadness.

"your majesty, what are you doing here?" finally, boo seungkwan. took you long enough. "aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?"

"chan thinks i'm a terrible person. i just want to protect them. am i wrong, seungkwan-ah?" jeonghan speaks, lips trembling as he remembers the look of disgust and disappointment in chan's face. his beloved youngest brother.

"i suppose there's nothing wrong with protecting the people you love. hey! i love my friends and family too, and i'd skin the people who threaten them alive." seungkwan jokes, making jeonghan smile a little. "but, think of their side too.

"what if they were forced to do so? paid, just so they could live by? they have families too."

fuck your families. jeonghan thought, remembering how he suffered so much while those terrible people get to live in happiness and comfort, with their consolatory money. fuck. them. "no. no."

"your majesty?" seungkwan's eyebrows furrow, surprised at jeonghan's words and facial expressions. "hello?"

"thank you. keep working. goodbye."

jeonghan is starting a war, and nobody can stop him. if the goddamn hitman who killed suhae didn't show up, jeonghan would've had doubts about his suicidal plan. no. this is what everything has come to, and it's time to pay them back.

"thank you for caring for me, hong jisoo-ssi," jeonghan whispered under his breath. "if you didn't, i would've starved to death in my bloody wedding suit and i wouldn't have went through with this plan i've kept for ages. thank you, also, suhae's hitman.

"you cleared all my doubts about starting a war."

-

a/n: the plot t h i c k e n s as we go further HANSJSNWEJDN this might have a sad ending but idK