Your Divine Grace {NamJin}

five

The palace hall was lined with people, whispering and shuffling as quietly as they could to preserve the already broken silence. In the front lined six men, differing only in height and face; each wore the exact burgundy robe with a golden embroidered marigold covering the chest, with brown leather belts studded with jade. The white collars of their undergarments sprouted like wildflowers in a meadow from their necks, sucking up the sweat from their skin. Something about them was peculiar -- they were all in perfect order, yet they seemed so strange. It was their perfection, the fact of their flawlessness that made them so unusual.

Seokjin wished for that perfection, standing outside of the palace hall doors in a bright blue, royal robe that mirrored the marigold stitching on the chest and shoulders. White lined his collars, but he kept his skin dry with constant dabs of a handkerchief to his neck and face. His veins visibly pulsed through his temple, and his stomach was queasy with anxiety.

"Don't be scared, Your Grace," Namjoon said, not intending the title to come off as a tease. When he saw Seokjin's face, however, he realized that the regent took it that way.

"I don't mean to scare you, Seokjin-ah"--

"I don't know if"--

"Don't be afraid, love," he began, pretending to straighten Seokjin's clothes. "I felt the same way when I was about to be crowned. I was in your place many, many moons before this. I was just as nervous then."

Seokjin's worries temporarily subsided.

"Not to brag, but look at me now," he said with a slight smile. "I wouldn't say I'm the greatest ruler ever, but the kingdom isn't in ruin, so I must be doing something right."

Laughing, the two nodded at each other, the younger assuring Seokjin of a success.

"You'll do great, love."

"Thank you, Namjoon."

Taking in another deep breath, the regent closed his eyes and sank himself in darkness one last time before the doors open and revealed him in all his fine glory.

Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself.

Seokjin kept his eyes on the throne, walking solemnly towards the prestigious, golden seat with Namjoon following behind him. He stopped at the foot of the steps and allowed Namjoon to pass, gently collapsing himself on the ground in a bow before him. Everyone else in the room followed, touching their foreheads to the ground.

"Praise be to Your Majesty," they chanted, revering Namjoon.

A small smile graced his lips as Namjoon bode everyone to rise.

Stepping up to the left side of the two was a young man with a baby-like face and skin, but a somber countenance was plastered over his expression. Standing between the pair, but off to one side, he held out both palms -- one towards the king of the moment, and one towards the king of the near future.

"Kim Seokjin," he said, letting his white habit brush against the floor. "Do you, on God, solemnly promise to guide and protect this land for eternity?"

"Yes, I do," Seokjin said, firmly banking on his will to at least keep the country in order until Namjoon got back.

"Do you, Kim Namjoon, entrust this land to Kim Seokjin, with an abiding conviction beyond any doubt that he will keep to his word and protect the land for eternity?"

"Pfft. I wouldn't," one elder in burgundy whispered, nudged by a younger male in the same clothes to keep quiet.

"I do," he said, looking right into Seokjin's eyes with a proud smile on his face.

Taking his hand out of the priest's palm, he removed the maple leaf crown from his own head, and nodded once at Seokjin. The regent bowed slightly, closing his eyes as the weight of the crown was placed gently on his head. Standing up carefully, he joined Namjoon on the top step, taking in the audience before him that were now his subjects.

Chanting a small prayer, the priest murmured a blessing on the couple and the kingdom as he announced Seokjin as king.

"I present you His Divine Grace Kim Namjoon, and His Majesty Kim Seokjin."

The crowd got on their knees once again, bowing and hailing the two before they walked around the throne together and back into Namjoon's rooms behind the palace hall.

"I must say, I didn't expect you six to attend," Namjoon said, cockily sprawled out on his throne before the six men dressed in the same robes. They stood before him in an eerily synchronized manner, seemingly moving all at the same time.

"I thought I'd never live to see the day that you'd transfer your power, Namjoon"--

"It's Your Majesty to you."

"If I am correct," he continued, not caring that he was interrupted, "you denounced your throne three hours ago."

"Seokjin is only regent. He acts as ruler in my place. I still have power, and I am still king. That will never change so long as I am alive on this earth."

"Ah, yes. I stand corrected, Your Majesty," the elder taunted, laughing in the most arrogant way possible. "You have the real power, while the bastard standing now"--

In no time at all, Namjoon's face was centimeters away from the elder. The other five stood in the same place watching, but their fright became visible.

"You will not refer to your regent as a bastard, Soo Yejun," Namjoon growled, gritting his teeth at the unfazed elder. "I may not be recognized as king by title, but I definitely have the power to throw you out and kill you if you ever step foot in here again."

The other five now trembled in fear.

"Listen carefully to me, you pompous brat. If you dare even make an attempt to hurt Seokjin, I will personally find every thing on this earth that makes you miserable and drown you in it before throwing you on the execution block. I hope I have made myself clear."

Namjoon walked calmly back to his throne and sat comfortably in it again.

"You may see yourselves out," he said, making one last second of eye contact with Yejun before the elder walked out of the palace hall with his five companions scurrying behind him.

"Sons of bitches," he muttered, getting out of his seat and going back to his rooms where Seokjin was waiting for him.