Royal Duty [Minjoon]

14th part

"Who are you." The servant asked warily. The increasing blush that had been spreading on his cheeks, instantly faded and his expression turned grim as he quickly distanced himself from his leaned position against the stone wall behind him.

The girl who had spoken had been standing at the end of the hall observing, now though, she was slowly making her way towards the spot where the servant stood, frozen. His chest tightened. How long had she been standing there? He wondered. From her comment to judge, he understood that she had been standing there for a while, long enough to see the sin he and the prince had committed.

He tensed at that thought, feeling his hands starting to shake despite his effort to prevent it from showing. The girl stepped closer to him again, her steps painfully slow, yet he wished that they would never reach him. A vague hope that they would walk past him without even batting him an eye, was lurking beneath all the doubt, panic and fear that was spreading through his body. The sound high heels were echoing in the empty hall and the sound surround the two of them as she slowly came closer. The sound was taunting, like it already knew his fate and was warning him about what horror was about to come once the sound stopped.

The girl who was approaching was much shorter than himself, maybe two heads beneath his own even while wearing heels. Still he was intimidated by her. Her posture, he aura , her mere presence, all screamed that she was from a high standing and well off family that wouldn't hesitate to use the information she had collected against him. The mere thought of what this short girl could do to was gnawing at his skin in such a manner that he had to force himself not to scratch at it.

"You are a rude one." She finally spoke, words empty and said with a clearly annoyed huff. The sound of her steps on the stony, newly polished floor halted as she stopped in front of him. "I suppose I will excuse you, considering your clearly low level of education." She told him, eying him ferociously. Her demeanor was making it obvious that she was intentionally speaking of him lowly.

"Well, I suppose I will have to tell you." She told, pushing back a lose strand of long, black hair, that had escaped one of the two pearl infested braids fastened on each side of her head. "I am princess Sang Sieun. Crown princess Eunae's younger sister. I came here as a part of her entourage." At soon as she had finished talking, she looked at the servant, crossing her arms. Namjoon felt panicked. If the crown princess' younger sister had seen it, there was no way he could get away with it. She was going to tell and he'd be thrown in jail and killed before he could even speak up for his actions. His chest was heaving as he threw himself unto a kneeling position on the floor in front if the royal. "I apologize your highness, I was not aware." He told, breathing increasing heavily and his hand clutched onto the fabric of his shirt with a tightened fist. "Save it." She scoffed, at him, motioning with her hand for him to stand back up again.
He instantly did as she told him, and hurried to stand up straight in front of the princess almost like it was a reflex. He was nervous, his heart was hammering in his still heaving chest, his body was tense and his gaze was flickering. Royalty were cruel,  this much he had understood from his stay at the castle, they were especially cruel if it was in matters of crime or family.

"Look." The princess sighed, her posture slumping slightly as she did so, but it was quickly taken back into action moment after. "I am not looking to get neither you nor in the prince in trouble. I am here to watch out for my sister and to make sure that her future husband is a good man." As she spoke, Namjoon wasn't sure if the words she spoke were reassuring or if they were going to take a sudden twist towards his doom. She had just seen her brother in law kiss a low standing servant, there was no way that what she saw would be beneficial for the prince in the future. "I do have to admit though," She spoke again, stopping the many thoughts that were speeding through the servant's brain. "I was surprised...to see him kiss you I mean. I guess I just hadn't expected him to kiss another man, a servant at that, and even after my sisters arrival." Her strong and authoritative voice had by the end of her sentence turned to mumbles. As though she was thinking out loudly rather than actually speaking to the male in front of her.

Namjoon wanted to question her words, but he knew he had no right to do so without being told. After all, this short, intimidating girl who knew his and the prince's secret, was a princess.

Before neither of the two got to continue the conversation, the heavy clanks of armored boots filled the hall. "Princess Siuen." A breathy voice said, making both of the two turn to see the source of the sound. "Yes?" She questioned back, looking at the same guard Namjoon had accidentally bumped into earlier. "You have been summoned to join the meeting in the dining hall your highness." The guard told, bowing down deeply to the royal. "Ah, thank you for reminding me Jisung." These were the last words she uttered before she was led by the guard down the same way Jimin had gone earlier. Towards the dining hall. Leaving Namjoon in a state of shock and anxiety. He still did not know his fate, but he had to admit that the princess did seem nice.

___

Jimin walked hurriedly across the hall, his fists were clenched and he felt himself breathing louder than usual. Why had he kissed Namjoon? He asked himself over and over. It was actually the only thought going through his head. He knew that it had been a stupid action to perform and he questioned why he had ordered such a thing of the older male. The fault was on his shoulders entirely, Namjoon only did his duty as a servant to listen and do as he was asked.

He had no idea why it had happened so suddenly. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen, had just showed herself in front of him as his future fiancé, yet the first thing he does is walk off and kiss his servant. It was like the moment he saw the beautiful princess his brain had completely stopped functioning, his body, instinct and heart taking control.
If there was one thing he could never refuse, it was the fact that over the last weeks he had built up a strong bond towards the servant. All his life he had been taken care of by nannies, knights, teachers and guards, but everyone of them had done it because they had to, and it was very obvious by their demeanor and the way they treated him, that they were just doing what they were paid for. Namjoon had been the only one except his father who seemed to sincerely care and enjoy his company. Even his father had recently been distant, like he too had stopped caring, or that he instead focused more on just marrying his son off, than the actual son in itself.

Jimin sighed. He was confused in what to do and confused about what he had done. He knew it was his duty to be married and bring an heir to the castle, but it was a heavy duty, feeling like a constant pressures that refused to leave. Like a burden rather than a duty, if you were to asked him at least.

This, especially considering the fact that he had always wanted true love. It was cliche, unheard of and maybe even a myth, he knew that and he always cursed himself for continuing to hope it would happen,  yet it had been his dream ever since he was a child to feel his heart beating in his chest at the mere thought of a person. He blamed it on the novels in the castle library that he had spent a lot of time in during his younger days. The ones which were page up and page down filled with growing attractions between two parts. Of course he knew it wasn't as easy in real life as it was in the stories. True love was not the fate of a future king. No matter how much he wished for it to be, it wasn't his choice.

He sighed, forcing himself to stop thinking about what had happened and rather focus on what would happen. He put his hand on metal handle on the door leading to the dining hall that he had stopped in front of. The prince sighed once again, feeling his mood go sour at the mere thought of the negotiations that would take place one he entered the said room. "Here we go." He told himself bitterly before he opened the door and a loud creak notified the others in the room of his presence.