Petals in the Ocean

Chapter Two: The Currency of the Petal

Hi before you read, this chapter is for @kat4katou on Tiktok who sent me the sweetest message on tiktok about the beginning of PITO, I cried a little bit. Thank you Kat, and I hope everyone enjoys reading! 

PRESENT DAY

Within a kingdom of flowers, there was hardly any hostility. Nothing severely damaging happened other than market squabbles that easily passed as the moon did in the sky. Suga grew up that way. The joyful, mischievous prince slowly turned into a handsome, kind, and cheerful young man who was the pride and joy of Elvedare. He excelled in his studies, was nothing short of a danger with a bow and arrow, and was the most gentle soul when he wandered the public to check on the city.

However by the age of twenty two, Suga could tell that there was something wrong going on in Elvedare. The city was breaking apart slowly, not too much that it wasn't holding together, but enough where Suga could feel it. There was an increase of crime in the normally peaceful streets. He would be reading over battle strategies in the library, being interrupted by the head guard Stepheno to be told about far too many situations where he was notified that the royal guard had to step in. His own stomach boiled at the absolute horror of blood being spilled on the streets of his home, even more so when he saw it right before his eyes.

The topic was a touchy one, especially with his father. King Soru was somber within these new years of violence and crime. Worry and stress creased his brow, expressions he clearly tried to hide from his son, but Suga was well aware. It soon came time, when Suga himself had witnessed a woman be knocked over with her child right in front of him where he knew that he needed to speak. He swore that if he hadn't been for Stepheno holding him back in a full suit of armour, Suga would have chased him down and thrown the thief in prison for the rest of his life.

It was another night where he breathed in sharp quick breaths in front of the oak doors to his father's study before knocking to be let in. It was the same room that he had always seen from when he was a child. Tapestries that had hung for generations kept warmth in the walls that were laden with browns and rows of books. His father liked wooden furnishings and so tables and chairs littered each corner, making room for the gentlemen he brought into the study. Whenever Suga, a child, would wander into the room to look for a new book to read on the history of Elvedare, he himself would claim a softened chair for himself at one of the clean tables that sported a single rose in a vase. The room still seemed fairly the same, albeit with many more papers poking out of the bookcases and on top of tables without a flower in sight.

"Koushi, my son," he was greeted.

"Father I would like to have a word."

His father leaned back into his chair. Suga hadn't seen his father look this tired. The years had aged him greatly as it did everyone, but for the first time, Suga realized that he wasn't a little boy anymore. Grey hairs were trimmed neatly, but his eyes had sunk into his face with wrinkles. Simply wearing a gold embroidered green jacket over a white tunic, the room seemed to swallow the broad man. The king's shoulders were slouched, raisingly only to sit back in his chair and rest the side of his head on a rough hand. Suga hated to admit it. His father was becoming elderly despite his larger than life personality and broad shoulders.

"Of course, there was also something that I wanted to talk to you about as well." Suga took a seat in his favourite chair, cushioned with a soft evergreen shaded velvet. His hands were damp in his own grip despite how many times he had stared at the roses carved into the legs of the table. When had he ever had a discussion with his father like this? He didn't think they ever had. Their talks about politics and the governing of Elvedare had always been in hypothetical scenarios along with other nobles who were always shocked that Suga knew so much and scholars who were envious of him despite the praise they gave. Regardless of that, Suga only studied how to run his kingdom, he had never actually proposed a problem about his home before. Stepheno had told him a long time ago that he was lucky to never have to deal with them, but Suga always saw it as a mistake. How was he supposed to learn if he didn't have anything to actually fix?