The Untouchable Prince | A Norenmin FanFiction

四十一

Forty One
Updated: September 6, 2021
Edited: December 29, 2021

"Donghyuck-ah, it's time to get up."

Dread.

"I already have your ceremonial clothing ready. The ceremony is going to start without you if you don't wake up, Hyuck."

Donghyuck didn't respond, only pretending to sleep.

He was turning eighteen today. He's becoming an adult, but he only wished he wasn't. Today would change everything. The dozens of gifts he would get and the dozens of people he would see.

Guhyung walked over to the sleeping prince. In a swift movement, he pulled the covers off, revealing a curled-up prince. "Hyuck, please, get up. Today is a busy day." When there was no response, the servant sighed, "I know you're awake, Hyuck."

As if on command, the prince sat up abruptly. He glanced up at his servant, brushing his hair out of his face. "Do I have to go?"

"Hyuck," Guhyung began, holding out a hand for the prince to grab, "you don't want to go to the ceremony, I know, but the ceremony's for you. If it was for someone else, you wouldn't have to go." He pulled the prince up to a standing position the moment Donghyuck grabbed his hand. "Everyone is there to congratulate you on becoming an adult, you have to be there."

Donghyuck stood still as his servant changed him to the black and yellow (not gold) ceremonial clothes they received the night before. It was a beautiful vivid yellow silk hanfu set with thick, black hems that lined the outside robe. The vest was soft yet at the same time hard, with its black contrasting edges. The long wide sleeves of the robe were swirled with shiny black threads. The belt that wrapped around the prince's waist was a twenty-centimeter wide piece of fabric with five-centimeter black hems, made of the same black threads. A yellow pendant hung from the belt.

"Can't you just tell them that I'm not in the mood for a ceremony?" Donghyuck huffed, rubbing his tired eyes. He had stayed up late again, up to three in the morning. He and Guhyung visited the Huang Crown Prince for a checkup the night before. Renjun's palace was closed to outsiders, something Donghyuck remembered only when they arrived. Luckily, the older had let them in for the time being. Renjun's fright kept him from examining Donghyuck personally, but he was able to through Guhyung. He determined that the fracture was fully healed.

But, that wasn't the reason why Donghyuck couldn't sleep. In fact, it was Minhyung. No, the older didn't visit him physically, but instead, through his thoughts. The young prince couldn't stop imagining the things that would happen the day of the ceremony. He couldn't stop wondering if Minhyung would show up, or if he wouldn't, and it kept him awake.

"Your Uncle Hwang put a lot of effort into pushing back his work for you, Hyuck. It's your birthday, and he wanted his nephew to feel like everyone cared for him. This one heard that there were at least four things that happened at the empire's borders that needed to be attended to immediately that were pushed back for another day."

Donghyuck knew Guhyung was lying. Coming of age ceremonies were planned years before they actually happened, everyone knew when a certain prince was becoming an adult, and so issues were not reported on those days leading up to it. It was so the royal families could celebrate and spend time with their children. After all, children becoming adults was a very important time of someone's life.

"Now, come. Let me fix your hair and jewelry." Guhyung led Donghyuck to the other side of the room and began as soon as he could. He quickly brushed out the long hair and tied half of it into a bun. He picked up a gold headpiece and put it over the bun, securing it in place with a matching gold hairpin, which dangled a teardrop with a black gem embedded in the middle of it. Underneath the hair crown, Guhyung attached two smaller hairpins that dangled gold chain flowers down the back of his head.