𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫

2.5 || Sweet Encounter

Two days pass by quickly when you're preoccupied with trying to sleep through the sounds of clothes being shuffled, bags being shoved, and Sophia's loud shouts for you to wake up. Groaning, Seungmin rolled in his bed and tiredly covered his ears with his pillows. It led to no success, though, because Sophia swiftly whisked away the pillow from his clutch.

"My Prince, you must get ready for the trip. I'm almost done packing your things, but I left your clothes on the ottoman!"

Drowsily, Seungmin rose from the bed, squinting through his long eyelashes and trying to get a grasp of reality, the reality where he was returning to the Imperial Castle he didn't want to go back to. Not only was Cambriage much calmer politically and socially, but the cold weather allowed for thicker, fluffier blankets and warm fireplaces, and that was something Seungmin enjoyed more than the progressively warming climate back at the capital. And the younger siblings...although he missed the daily interactions with Henry, he was not fully sure if he could face the twins again.

"Prince Sion!" Sophia wailed as she ran through the room, hauling a large bag. "Please get ready, I beg of you!"

Ignoring her pleas and obvious urgency to pack up, Seungmin looked down at Shin in his lap and asked in his husky, morning voice, "What is the best present for little girls?"

Sophia paused and tilted her head to look past the bag in her arms.

"Do you mean for the twins? I heard that you were in the gardens with Prince Henry and the two youngest Princesses one day. I didn't realize you had grown so close!"

Yawning, Seungmin gave a motion akin to a nod as he slid off the bed, making sure to slip his feet into his warm slippers. His silky night shirt slinked down, exposing his collarbone until he pulled it up languidly after a shudder from the cold air. He wanted to crawl back into the warmth of his blanket, but he knew it would be best to start getting ready for the day. If he got ready quickly, maybe the sleepiness would last until he made his way into the carriage where he could continue his nap.

And thus, he shuffled through the room to the private bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. His eyes remained closed as he did the latter, but he reopened them once he felt the familiar hair of Shin as it pressed against his ankles. It stretched and smacked its lips before circling his leg and finally deciding to sit to his left.

"If you want to give a gift for the younger Imperial children," Sophia suddenly shouted from the bedroom, "we could go shopping at the markets in Kyre since we're staying there for the night anyways...we should arrive an hour before the sun sets."

The Second Prince continued to wash his face with no verbal response, but Sophia, knowing that he had heard her, left the room to deliver the luggage to the carriage. Out in the hall, Yeong-Su was walking toward the bedroom for the shift change with the current knight. When he saw two stumbling legs beneath piles of luggage, he hurried over and took the top two bags, exposing the sweating, blonde maid hiding beneath. She gave a sloppy grin as she thanked him.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" the golden-eyed male sighed, disapproving her risky behavior. Regardless of whether the carriages were ready or not, it wouldn't take hours for the workers to load their things into the vehicles, and Kyre was not so far to take a whole day of traveling.

"To be honest, I just have a feeling," Sophia reluctantly admitted. "Maybe there will be a big storm, or maybe there's some big event happening in Kyre. Either way, I feel like we need to go quickly, and a woman's intuition is almost always right."

"You just want to drink that smoothie again, don't you," Yeong-Su commented, his eyes rolling as he began walking to the entrance of the manor where the carriages were waiting.