The 7 Princes - His POV - Jungkook

Chapter 36 - Checkmate

"I want about half a dozen guards in this wing and half a dozen in the north wing."

I pointed to the blueprint. The head of the guards sucked his bottom lip.

"I'm not sure we have the resources for extra reinforcements," he replied. "I'll have to speak with the king about it."

I gritted my teeth. "My command doesn't count?"

He bowed. "That's not what I meant, Your Highness, but there are certain things that require clearance. Even Prince Namjoon doesn't have the authority to bring in reinforcements. Only the king can do so."

I rolled up the blueprint. "Then I will just have to go convince him myself."

The guard bowed again as I left the courtyard and went back inside the castle.

Jin had reorganized some of the recruitments, but it wasn't enough. Not to me, anyways. I couldn't even talk to Jin about it today. He was holed up in meetings. I was stuck wandering around the castle, being as useless as I always was.

No power. No authority. Just a title and an empty reputation. I couldn't protect anyone, or command anything, or be of any real use.

I looked down at my knuckles. They didn't hurt anymore. It was worth knocking Yoongi in the face. We weren't that close anyways.

I... I wasn't close to anyone, come to think of it.

I leaned against the wall, sighing.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up to a pair of soft, beautiful eyes I wasn't prepared to see.

"Nara," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm only here for the day." she said, her soft hands folded in front of her. "I need to return back to Jimin's kingdom by the end of the evening. I need to..."

She stopped.

"You need to plan your wedding," I finished for her.

It stung when I said it... but not as much as the times I had said it before.

She nodded. "Not so much planning as approving, but yes."

I held her gaze. If she had came to me a couple weeks ago, I would have told her to call off the whole thing and run away with me. I would have insisted until she couldn't tell me no. And now - as she stood in front of me - with that blush on her face and the look in her eyes, talking about Jimin, I knew I couldn't ignore the obvious anymore.

"You love him, don't you?" I asked.

She raised her eyes to mine, breaking eye contact as soon as she made it. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Don't worry." I said. "I know you do. I've seen the way you act around him. Even though I tried— "

I stopped myself. There was no point in confessing anything at this point.

"You've always been so kind to me, Jungkook." she said. "That kindness has been invaluable to me. I mean that."

She gave me a weak smile. I gave her an empty one in return.

"I know," I replied. "You've never lied to me. I don't expect you to start now."

There was silence.

"I think you have your heart set on someone too, don't you?" she asked.

I straightened. "What do you mean?"

She giggled. "I heard you punched Yoongi in the mouth. That was because of someone special, wasn't it?"

I clenched my teeth.