nytis
it was easy to forget that dongyun wasn't the king. with everyone calling him, "his majesty" and having power over all the people in nytis, wouldn't be surprising if people had forgotten that he was merely acting as regent while his father, song jeobeom was slowly dying on his bed.
the thought of jeobeom in one of the castle rooms, dying slipped jihoon's mind until one night when he woke up from a nightmare. the boy placed one hand over his pounding chest and wiped his damp forehead with the back of his other one.
surround by heat and flames, jihoon watched in horror and jeonghan stared back at him blankly, face melting like wax dripping onto the bakery floor. "this is your fault jihoon. all of it is." the man's voice grew more distorted each time he repeated those sentences.
a large burning support fell on top of jeonghan creating a loud bang, ending the nightmare. "jeonghan's fine. they're all fine." jihoon murmured to himself in a voice a little too shaky to sound reassuring. he patted his heart and laid back down in the mess of blankets. "another sleepless night." jihoon let out a bitter chuckle. he should be getting used to sleepless night by now.
"it's his majesty jeobeom!"
"quickly!"
jihoon heard bustling in the halls outside him room but that was not the main reason he sat up. he hadn't heard the name jeobeom in a while. and judging by all the commotion in the halls, he could only assume something happened to the old king.
slipping out of bed, jihoon crept to the door and peeked out the small crack. maids ran back and forth past his door, with frazzled expressions on their tired faces. a man carrying a large back with a grim looked sped by as well.
"is he okay?! how is his condition?"
jihoon pressed closer to the door, trying to catch what the fading voices were saying.
"we're not sure yet but things aren't looking up for his majesty. after all he is quite old and has been ill for a while now.." the rest of the conversation faded out in the sound of rapid footsteps clicking against the tiled floor.
pulling away from the door, jihoon scurried back to the bed. he should have felt at least a little pity or sadness, someone was probably dying just a few room down from him yet he couldn't find himself to feel those things.
jeobeom did a horrible job of ruling as well as horrible job of teaching which explains why dongyun rules just as well as he did (which was not good). jihoon only felt anger towards jeobeom. it wasn't fair that the old man got to tap out, leaving nytis is shitty hands.
huffing, jihoon stared irritability into the darkness until it was dark no longer.
"i'm sorry... announcement to the people... day of mourning.... official coronation."
the next morning there was a layer of grief hanging in the air. the lines faces of the servants looked even more prominent the next morning. just like jihoon expected, the old king died last night.
out of all the people in the castle, jihoon expected dongyun to be the most heartbroken but that didn't seem to be the case. the man yawned as soon as he finished the tragic announcement and demanded dojin to fetch him some water. "father passed away last night... ah i hope he can finally rest in peace." dongyun's voice sounded miserable and his lips pulled down into a frown made everything looked and sound more believable but there was something fake about it.
"tragic, isn't it jihoon?" dongyun looked at him and flashed him a weak smile. jihoon kept his lips sealed and gave a half hearted nod. "so close to my birthday too.. now dojin has another reason to add onto the 'why i shouldn't host a party list'."
just at that moment dojin appeared back in sight, holding a silver tray with a glass of water on top. "oh good, you're here." dongyun picked up the glass and took a single gulp of water before placing the cup back down. "i still don't see what the big deal is about hosting a party." dongyun said grumpily to the servant.
a grim expression appeared on dojin's face, "about that... your majesty, the advisors have been discussing about your official coronation and they have decided to line it up with your birthday."
"what's with the long face?" dongyun grinned, "this is wonderful news! the people can celebrate for both my coronation and my birthday on the same date! this is wonderful, don't you agree jihoon?"
coronation on the same day as his birthday... jihoon swallowed. "im going- back to my room."
dongyun narrowed his eyes and was just about to reach out his arm when dojin stopped him, "please your majesty, we have things to discuss." dojin clearly looked unhappy about the whole idea, "in private." rolling his eyes, dongyun dropped his arm.
"fine, what is it?" dongyun snapped, not happy about jihoon walking off like that and further maddened by the fact that dojin seemed so against an idea he was personally looking forward to.
"your majesty, going out in public like that!" dojin whispered quietly, "it's dangerous! we both know that kitae is still alive, what will become of you if everyone finds out he isn't actually dead?"
dongyun laughed, "that would be concerning... but don't worry, if he shows up, then we'll kill him. i'll have all the guards out. if that disgrace does decide to come out with his friends, then.." he picked at his fingers, ".. i'm afraid there will be a bloodbath. dojin you know, i don't want my white tablecloths getting stained red. i expect you to do your part and that everything runs smoothly."
dojin looked at the completely unbothered man in front of him. "that's enough talking. i barely got any sleep last night." dongyun waved his hand motioning dojin to leave, "i'll be sleeping in my room. don't disturb me."
