Of Roses and Daisies | Rawoong +18

Hwanwoong

Youngjo let their foreheads touch and he closed his eyes, breathing in Hwanwoong's now familiar soothing scent: "I just don't want to start a war." A single tear left an invisible track on his right cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you, my love. I heard your voice and I..." His hands found their way through the knight's hair behind his neck. "I just wanted to stop thinking about it."

"About what? What happened?" Hwanwoong asked, using his thumbs to wipe off the other's tears.

"There's a spy in our castle, our home. Seoho and all the strategists agree that the Kingdom of Daisies army seems to get closer to our citadel as days pass by and my father already hates them..."

Hwanwoong's blood froze in his veins as he realized the side of himself he had been hiding from the other for so long was finally colliding with Youngjo's in the worst scenario possible. The prince of Daisies was thankful the other had his eyes closed or he would have been able to read everything that was going on in his mind through his wide eyes.

"I have been trying to convince him to reconsider the idea of a peaceful meeting with them but he won't listen to me and now he will declare war to them for sure! I'm meeting with him in a while and I will have to tell him. How am I supposed to tell him? I know what his reaction will be already."

Hwanwoong couldn't help quietly breathing out in relief as soon as he acknowledged that even if their strategists suspects were reasonable, no one had a clue about him being the spy. He took another deep breath, trying to look calm and to focus on what the other young man was saying.

"We will have to get everyone's room checked out and I hate to do this. I hate this situation. I hate I have to be the one in this position because of-"

Hwanwoong surrounded the prince's body in a tight hug, his armor colliding with the precious silver ornaments of Youngjo's shirt. "But you are the prince, Youngjo. One day, you will be a king and you need to think about it. You have to face this reality and play your role in it or your father will do everything he wants and you don't want that, am I right?" He said, sweetly. "You are smart and strong enough to get through this and become the greatest king the Kingdom of Roses has ever seen." He slightly tilted his head to leave a chaste kiss on the other's lips. "I'm sure about that. I believe in you and I know I'm not the only one who does."

"Do you really think that?" Youngjo asked and his voice came out as tender as a baby's.

"Yes." Hwanwoong honestly replied, looking straight in his eyes because he truly meant that. He might had been a snake, a spy, a filthy traitor, but he had no doubts about Youngjo's bright future as the king of the Kingdom of Roses, whether he would have been still alive to see it or not.

***

Something had changed. Hwanwoong couldn't deny it anymore. He had started thinking about it after that day they had let their desire drive their bodies in the royal bathtub. The more he thought about it, the more he realized what they had done was too close to the definition of making love. Love.

Hwanwoong hated himself and hated Prince Youngjo even more. He hated how his own body reacted to the other's touch. He hated to discover a new side of the other's personality each day that made him question why their fathers had raised them into thinking they could be nothing but enemies.

Youngjo was so kindhearted, so smart, and Hwanwoong had listened to him so many times rambling about how much he would have loved to create this beautiful alliance including all the nearest kingdoms, therefore the Kingdom of Daisies as well, to support and to help each other reach greater achievements in terms of science and medical research. He was a true idealist and Hwanwoong had often found himself hanging on his lips, enchanted by the incredible amount of great new ideas he would pull out every day to animatedly expose to him. He would always say that he had to share them at least with someone because his father wouldn't have understood and he would have screamed at him to stick to his tasks as he always used to do with the queen.