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"mingyu! please receive our guests at the door."
the head of the golden haired boy shot up from the paperworks he had been working on before he nodded and hurried down the hallway. kim mingyu hadn't been king seungcheol's personal servant for the longest time, at least not before the tragedy that happened to their kingdom a couple of months ago..
he'd been picked by sir seungcheol himself from another kingdom and had been brought to adora by a horse-drawn carriage. it had most likely something to do with his length and his particularly broad posture, as he came in handy to protect the king. but as seungcheol wasn't as heartless as his former lords, he'd been treated with a lot of respect and dignity ever since his arrival in adora.
of course being ordered around was part of the job, but being dressed up in full beautifully detailed suits and having the ability to take care of his majestic golden hair made up for it.
he sped past maids that had to dodge for him to get past them, just to make sure he arrived at the tall doors of the palace before the elf folk would arrive. and to his luck, he made it just in time as the guards were just busy opening up heavy wooden doors that kept the castle safe.
once a stroke of sunlight fell exactly on the patterned carpet that lay through the entire castle's corridor, mingyu bowed politely to greet the newcomers inside the castle. "welcome in our kingdom, adora. please make yourself at home, i'll guid you to our king." mingyu spoke the usual formalities before looking up.
and once he did, he had to restrain himself from letting the surprise being being visible on his face. it was his first time seeing this rare species of mankind. glorious long hair that reached shoulder-length and in some cases even longer, pointy ears and flawless white skins. to his surprise, the group of exactly eight, contained only men. yet they were gorgeous in his opinion.
especially when one in particular caught his eye. it was the only one who didn't have his chin up, proud, like the rest of them. he was also one of the two who had a thin silver flower crown around his head, just like the elder man that stood beside him.
"thank you for your warm welcome. we wish to see the king now." the elder man spoke, bowing graceful to the servant who nodded, and guided them to his king.
mingyu noticed how the elves behind him silently admired the beautiful details of the paintings that covered up most of the ceilings and walls, or how they praised the patterns knitted in the carpet, where their feet floated over. even their whispering sounded divine, so soft yet so gracious.
it was for the fact he had to fulfill his duty and do his job, but he had such a hard time not to throw a quick glance over his shoulder to examine their gorgeous features once again. perhaps if he entered the hall where their meeting took place he would be able to take a quick peek, while king seungcheol would receive them with his usual politeness.
he turned around the last corner and flashed the two maids a small smile as they held the door opened for servant mingyu and his companion, who one by one entered the room. seungcheol gave mingyu a polite nod, making the servant step to the side of the room to keep an eye on the situation. he always had to wait for seungcheol's approval to leave again, which would be given the moment their important deliberation started.
"thank you for having me, your majesty." the front elf, crowned with the silver string, kneeled for seungcheol who clearly still wasn't used to the way of people greeting him. yet his expression remained plain as he gave the bowing group of elves a grateful nod.
"since my parents unfortunately can not receive you any longer, i hope you'll be satisfied with my serve." seungcheol spoke in return, gesturing with his hand to the round table for his company to sit down. "please gentlemen, have a seat."
"before we start, do i have your allowance to let my son stay somewhere here? he wouldn't take part in our meeting, but i thought it was important for him to get to know human-kind." the leading elf, who had constantly been the one to talk up until now, introduced his son by laying a slender hand on his shoulder and pushing him a bit forward.
mingyu noticed it was the exact same boy he noticed at first sight, the one with jet black shining hair that reached his collar bones.
"i'll let mingyu show him the palace, but if you prefer him to stay here it can be arranged of course." seungcheol offered, waving at mingyu to step closer to the group so they could see who he entrusted their son with.
"i doubt my son prefers to stay here all day. he would have a much more pleasant time with this young man." the elder elf pushed his son a little into mingyu's direction. this time again, the servant noticed how the black haired boy had a hard time lifting his gaze and to look mingyu straight in the eyes.
"now i think these two can perfectly take care of themselves, how about we start our consultation. i doubt we will be done by nightfall." the king suggested, guiding them to their seats as he gave mingyu another wave to leave the room and give the maids the further instruction to shut the doors and get back to their usual daily tasks.
mingyu did what he was told and stepped closer to the raven elf, placing a hand on the back of his shoulder blade to guide him out of the room. he couldn't help but to notice how soft the shining fabric of his clothing felt underneath his large hands, or how the boy who hadn't spoken a single word since his arrival was only at most a few inches shorter.
perhaps his king was right, they could perfectly take care of themselves today.
