reinwa
a few years later, soonyoung's dreams of aspiring to become just like the picture perfect prince started to crumble. the older he got the more he was exposed to what being a prince actually meant.
it didn't mean he could have everything he desired, it didn't mean that he had unlimited free time to roam the woods and hunt animals and it definitely didn't mean that he got to go on the heroic quests shown in fairytales.
as soon as he turned ten, piles of work got thrown onto him. suddenly he no longer could sleep in and was forced awake early in the morning to start his duties. he no longer had time to read his fantasy books and no matter how many times he tried to slip away from his lessons to find jisoo someone would always catch him and drag him back.
and even if he did manage to escape his classes for a little bit, jisoo was nowhere to be found. it wasn't until one day soonyoung found him in the kitchen and realized jisoo could no longer be his playmate. now that they were both older, jisoo had no choice but to start serving as a castle servant.
but this didn't stop soonyoung at all. as soon as he realized he could make someone his personal servant he requested jisoo to be his. having his best friend beside him at all times definitely made his classes a lot better.
"...highness...your highness.." soonyoung groggily blinked open his eyes and lifted his head. where was he again? this surface was way too hard to be his bed. yawning, soonyoung looked around tiredly.
"your highness," he was met with a close up of jisoo's blond hair and his twinkling eyes. "you fell asleep in the middle of class, i suggest you wake up unless you want extra work."
soonyoung shifted back and sighed, "cut it with that 'highness' bullshit. you know how much i hate it when you call me that." he grumbled. glancing down at the table he was met with maps and notes. geography, history and kingdoms.
he heard some clear their throat. "..thank you jisoo." the blond boy nodded at soonyoung's tutor and took a step back. "now your highness.." the old lady said coldly, looking at half awake soonyoung, "i suggest you pay attention to the rest of the lesson unless you want more work."
more work. soonyoung mentally cried at the thought. no more work, please. " don't worry ms heojoo, i'll give you my full attention for the rest of class!" soonyoung said determinedly, all the sleep falling off his face. the old woman laughed humorlessly, knowing that soonyoung would be staring out the window five minutes later.
"posture."
soonyoung straightened his back and let out a slightly less energetic chuckle. this was going to be difficult.
heojoo paced slowly back and forth in front of soonyoung's desk holding a long pointer stick behind her. "as a review, start by telling me which kingdom is closest to our."
"nytis." soonyoung answered confidently.
"correct. and what are some differences between nytis and other kingdoms?"
"uh..nytis has strict laws about travel and tends to isolate itself from other kingdoms."
"and?" heojoo looked at soonyoung expectantly.
"they don't like us?"
"the nytis royal family doesn't like anyone, but yes, i suppose they hate us the most. what else?"
"mm.." soonyoung looked around helplessly.
heojoo sighed. "that's all you remember? why am i not surprised.." heojoo shook her head, "nytis is our neighbouring kingdom. when it comes to trading most kingdoms trade with us leaving nytis with little to no trading partners. it only allows people to leave or come in if they pay a large sum of gold and..."
as the lady continued talking, expecting the young prince to be taking notes, soonyoung's brain was starting to drift off again. he glanced outside at the brilliant blue sky and looked at the speck beyond reniwa. nytis doesn't look too bad from a far...
a loud cough brought soonyoung's attention back to his study. "paying attention, now, right your highness?"
soonyoung picked up his pen and twirled it a few times. "..that's right!" he stammered nervously. the lady looked at him.
"posture."
then, she continued talking about whatever she was talking about before.
it turns out paying attention was a lot harder than he thought. just a few minutes later soonyoung was busy looking around the room again. he turned his head behind him and saw jisoo standing by the door.
he met jisoo's gaze and mouthed 'let's get out of here jisoo!' soonyoung knew that jisoo understood perfectly because soonyoung has been mouthing words to jisoo ever since he was a child, but jisoo showed no movement. when he saw mirth dancing in jisoo's eyes, soonyoung scowled and mouthed 'you're no fun."
wack!
hissing, soonyoung rubbed the top of his head. heojoo stood at soonyoung's desk with her pointing stick out in front of her. "lessons end early today." she said curtly, "but i'm giving you double work. you are free to leave."
soonyoung didn't know whether to thank her for ending lessons early or cry because of the extra work. he ended flashing her a weak smile before heading out the open door held by jisoo.
"why didn't you escape with me!" soonyoung whined, walking down the hall with jisoo.
"because, you're going to be leading people one day. i don't want you to become one of those trashy kings." jisoo replied calmly, "plus, it's funny watching you struggle to pay attention."
"now i'm wondering how many people you've tricked with those looks of yours."
jisoo gave him a charming grin, "what are you talking about?"
soonyoung shook his head. "fine. what's next?"
"meeting with the king and queen discussing marriage."
if there was anything worse than heojoo's lessons it would be this. by now, soonyoung figured out that his mother wasn't captured by a witch but instead got caught up in an arranged marriage. and his father definitely didn't kill a dragon to save her. dragons don't even exist.
another big flaw in fairytales.
you don't get to choose who you want to marry, your parents do.
