The royal prince was seated in the library, his expression unreadable. He was staring at the large books in front of him, all related to learning Keyung. For over six hours, he was surrounded by a variety of books on the topic, such as "Keyung Grammar in Practice," "Neehilar's Keyung," "Grammar for a Whole Life," "Concentrate On," and many others. At first, he thought it would be simple and easy, and he headed straight to the library to brush up on some vocabulary. However, the longer he worked on it, the more he realized how challenging the language was. He let out an audible sigh and decided to take a break for some fresh air. After closing the books, the royal prince set them aside so he could resume studying later.
The commander stepped outside and was greeted by the lush greenery before him. He saw many local kids playing on the green field, which was a bit far from the library. He smiled at the sight of the carefree children who had nothing to worry about in life. Jungkook wished for such carefree days in his life. He worked hard and trained himself from a very young age to become worthy enough to be the future Emperor of Moonstone. However, no matter how much he invested in his future, his people, and his land, he still didn't feel enough. He sighed and went back to the training field.
Taehyung walked up to the alphas who were practicing archery, feeling hesitant to apologize to someone in particular. He never used to apologize to anyone and he never thought he could, yet he stands here to say sorry to Sehun.
So the alpha cleared his throat to gain the attention of that particular individual. Sehun shifted his gaze towards him and the smile which was adorning his face dimmed in a speed of light. He scuffed and asked.
" What are doing here? To choke me to death again?"
His friends also turned in their direction with furrowed eyebrows.
" That's...... Well.....-" It was way too difficult to say sorry than he thought. But if he acts bad they would likely stick him here for his entire life. No. He can't risk that. He shrugged his thoughts and proceeded.
" Can I have a minute with you?"
Sehun said nothing and tried to study his face for a whole two minutes. He sighed.
" See. I know I was bad to you. I want to make up for that..........please."
Sehun raised his left eyebrow and huffed. He put his arrows down and Taehyung accompanied by Sehun went to the other side of the training field where nobody could hear them.
The alpha took a deep breath before he started.
" I apologize for my actions, I was not thinking straight at that time to begin with ...and I had no idea why I was so aggressive while fighting. I had some bad days at Blue Moon before coming here and I guess my anger reflected on the fighting." Well, it was only partially true. He indeed had a bad day when his father told him about his training. But that was not a reason for his atrocious behavior. The alpha was naturally like that. But he has to make some excuses to get promoted. He continued.
" I am at fault and take full responsibility. I'm deeply regretful and I can't apologize enough. Please forgive me." When he turned to Sehun he met with a soft gaze. Calm and collected. He hummed.
" It's good to know that your action reflected on you. And I think I can accept your apology. Don't do these kind of acts in the future." Saying that he retired from him. The blue moon's future alpha stood there perplexed.
" Was that this simple?"
The evening had arrived in the blink of an eye. All the trainees were exhausted after their training and were enjoying some refreshments. They split into groups based on their platoons and chatted away. Taehyung and Chanyeol, along with other alphas, snacked on cookies while their group discussed local news. Taehyung seemed to be more interested in the cookies than the conversation until a young alpha shared some interesting news.
"Heard anything about Southern Gates?"
" No. There were no updates about it." Replied a beta.
" I can't get over the fact that how our commander killed all the rouges bravely." Chanyeol's eats perked up at that.
" What did our commander do?" He questioned out of pure curiosity.
" Oh, you don't know?"
" Silly Chanyeol. When there was a rouges attack on the southern gate the guards alone couldn't do anything. They were about to kill, but our prince saved him at the time."
" Yes, that's true. His interference was majestical. He fought with all those rouge wolves alone. This news was the main topic among all the nobles at that time."
" That's amazing. I had heard about the southern gate issue but had no idea about his highness's interference. No alpha can compete with our commander right?" Chanyeol chuckled.
With a scuff, Taehyung slammed his fist on the table while they were eating. Everyone turned to him with a look of confusion. He stood up, slammed his chair on the floor, and left in anger. Taehyung was upset because the other trainees were always praising the commander as if he were a god. Sure he had left a bad impression on the commander, who then lectured Taehyung on the training field as if he were a child. This made Taehyung grow to hate the commander. He eventually went back to his barracks to cool off.
"What's with that guy?" One of the trainees asked from another platoon.
" That alpha seems so rude."
"He was the one who was about to kill Sehun."
" Is he?"
"Yeah, heard that he is the future alpha of the Blue Moon pack."
" Never heard about the pack before."
" That pack is outside of Moonstone."
" Oh, I feel bad for the people over there."
" Me either."
Chanyeol who heard these exchanges sighed in sadness. They are not wrong anyway.
Jungkook and the empress were reviewing financial statements in the morning. They were in the empress's office, which is attached to her chamber. She was wearing her glasses to read. The prince was so focused on the files that he didn't notice the empress watching him. She cleared her throat to get his attention, but he hummed in response without lifting his head.
" Can you look at me for a moment, son?". He shifted his gaze to his mother slowly.
" Yes, Mom?"
" How is it?"
"What?"
" You know what I meant." The male sighed audibly and began.
" It is okay so far." She knows everything about him. There is no point in hiding things from her. However, he is hesitant to talk about his sub-gender issues. So many years had passed yet he could not accept himself as an omega. Jisoo is a good mother. But he doesn't like to discuss these things with her. Unless it is important. Other than Seokjin he won't open up to anyone about his body issues.
" Just okay? you feel energetic or tired? What do you feel when you wake up?"
" Mom, can we keep going through the financial statements? I don't feel like talking about that." Jisoo shut her mouth and hummed in sadness. She has no idea how to make him open up with her.
" Well, why was this much money allowed to Neehilar last month? Don't you think this money is too much for research? Seems like they are hiding something?" He reasoned.
" Jungkook, they play a major part in our empire's economic strategy. Also, they do export nonrenewable natural resources such as oil, minerals, and metal account. If they ask for money we have to give no matter what. Otherwise, everything will be very... very.... very....complicated. Don't question them."
" You and your people." The prince muttered under his breath.
" You said something?"
" No your highness. Let's take another file." He was about to grab another one when a knock intercepted them.
" Come in," Jisoo said.
The assistant commander came into view and bowed at them both.
" I greet the Her Highness the Empress and His Highness the Royal Prince."
" Greetings to you too young Beta." Said the empress adorning a smile on her face.
" Greetings to the assistant commander as well," Jungkook said with a poker face.
" Commander, could you come with me for a moment?" He said secretly eyeing the lady beside them. Understanding the signal the young prince moved forward with him and went outside accompanied by Jimin.
" What is it jimin?"
" We should sit somewhere to discuss this, Your Majesty."
" Is it important?"
" Very important. It's regarding the attack."
" A few days ago I appointed some investigators from Navijade pack for the southern gate attack. Pardon me that I never shared this news with you, your highness. But I did this to confirm my suspicions."
" Elaborate."
" It appears that the investigators from Neehilar have no updates on the crime, and I have a suspicion that they may be intentionally delaying. As a result, I have assigned my own people to keep an eye on the situation." Jungkook hummed and encouraged to continue.
"They found out that the Rouges had some connections with Neehilar or maybe some people over there. That's why there was no improvement in this case before."
The future Emperor was a little surprised and nodded.
"I appreciate it, Jimin. Please continue the investigation with whatever resources they require. Assist them and keep everything confidential for now. Any other information?"
" No. Just this. If I get any further news I will deliver that to you with no delay. And What are We going to do with the previous team, commander?"
" Let them investigate or pretend to investigate while we solve the crime behind their back. I will personally appreciate it if the Navijade team resolves the mystery with my full support."
" Yes, commander. I will take my leave." He bowed and was about to leave.
" Wait. Are you going to the training field?"
" Yes, your Highness."
" Then I shall accompany you."
" Are you sure commander?"
" Of course jimin, lead the way."
"The B-level soldiers were training the trainees in swordsmanship. They paired up and fought with their long daggers, following the rules. Taehyung had already finished fighting and was resting with Chanyeol and the others, while some of the trainees were still practicing their swordsmanship."
Surprisingly the alpha fights with no aggression this time. He somehow managed to bottle up all his emotions inside.
A beta who was fighting swiftly moved back and made a fake move to distract the opponent. Taking advantage he pushed the dagger towards him which made the opponent fall to the group.
" I won." He said. The opponent who was an alpha scuffed and stood up dusting his back.
" I was distracted." He reasoned.
" Doesn't matter."
" Don't be so high. No matter how much you practice you cannot be like the commander."
Upon hearing this Taehyung huffed loudly and stood up gaining their attention.
" Seriously, you are dragging the prince here?"
" What is wrong? He is our commander." The other alpha asks confused.
" He might be. But don't you have shame? He is younger than us. You are comparing us with someone you is younger which is embarrassing."
Chanyeol gasped at that and stood along with Taehyung to stop him from spilling further. But he ignored it.
" Maybe I sound rude, but you all are making him something he is not. Like he is a God. He is nothing more than a mere little prince he is. I am the best archer and sword fighter in my pack. I don't think he could Excel me. But I'm not complaining."
" But I am." Everyone shifted their gaze in the direction of the voice and gasped.
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