cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

seven

Renjun's eyes widened a little in surprise, and then narrowed in confusion shortly after. Donghyuck turned to face him, ready to tease him like he usually did, but then another beta servant was rushing into the room and bowing her head at Donghyuck.

"The king is ready for your arrival, Your Highness," she mumbled, her voice shaky. She seemed more nervous than the others—Donghyuck distantly wondered if it was her first day or something.

"Thank you, NingNing," Renjun murmured, giving the young girl a reassuring smile and a pat on the back before sending her out of the room. Renjun then turned to Donghyuck and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's time, Your Highness."

Donghyuck rose from his seat, letting Renjun lead him back out into the winding hallways John had showed him just hours before. A long train of servants followed behind Donghyuck in two neat lines, and the omega glanced back at them in mild alarm before tugging at Renjun's sleeve.

"Why is everybody following me like that?" He hissed under his breath, and Renjun glanced at him with a little smile.

"It is the first dinner between the king and the queen. His Majesty ordered all of your staff to attend to make sure you're properly taken care of during the entire meal."

"Everyone behind me right now is just my staff?" Donghyuck whisper shouted, throwing another look back over his shoulder. There must have been at least thirty servants behind him, maybe even more. "Why the hell do I need so many servants?"

"It is just protocol, Your Highness. Stop overthinking every single little thing, the only thing it does is make both of us feel more stressed."

Donghyuck snorted. "Did you know you've gotten feistier in few days I've known you?"

"I learned from the best," Renjun crooned back, shooting Donghyuck a secret little grin before wiping the look off his face and standing stock still as servants rushed forward to pull open the large mahogany doors of the dining hall.

"Your Majesty, the queen has arrived," Renjun announced loudly once the doors were fully open, lowering himself into a deep bow and stepping aside to let Donghyuck be seen. The omega looked up and spotted the king sitting at the very far end of the table, with a small group of his own servants standing a few feet behind him. Mark looked up and met eyes with Donghyuck, standing to his feet and walking over to greet him.

"How lovely of you to join me, Your Highness. It is wonderful to see you again," Mark said, taking Donghyuck's hand and bringing it up so that he could gently press his lips against the omega's knuckles. Donghyuck made a face and quickly pulled his hand away, looking down at the king suspiciously.

"Uh... 'sup, Mark."

Renjun gave him a subtle kick in the shins. Donghyuck yelped and turned to glare at him. Mark let out a long sigh.

"You are not to address me by my name, Your Grace. I thought we already discussed this," Mark rolled his eyes, stepping away and walking over to a chair next to Mark's place at the table before pulling it out and looking at the omega expectantly. "Please have a seat."

"Well sorry, I still kind of have no clue what the fuck is going on around here half the time," Donghyuck scoffed, walking over and hesitantly lowering himself into the seat Mark pulled out for him. He muttered a shy "thank you" when the king pushed his chair in for him and walked back over to his own seat.

"This dinner is supposed to be special, Your Highness. Please refrain from using foul language, at least while we're in here," Mark sighed in frustration, gesturing for the servants to bring out the first course. The betas set down a fancy porcelain plate in front of Donghyuck, decorated with food that he frankly didn't even recognize, and he looked at it wearily as Mark picked up his utensils.