Chapter Text
It took two days for everything to go back to normal after the pirate attack. Now, you could attribute that to the fact that the crew was made up of only the most experienced of sailors and soldiers selected by Jiwoong himself. As someone who was part of countless violent operations though, Jiwoong knew better.
After checking the ship out they came to the realization that nothing of great value on the ship was damaged or stolen. Sure some rations and small trinkets were lost but nothing anybody would seriously miss. This came to the great relief of a certain blonde merchant but the captain felt this was strange.
Not that anybody on the St. Bloom seemed to share his concern. As nobody was seriously injured everybody gave a hand to help with the clean up. As he watched the return of the ship to normalcy, he started to doubt himself there was even an attack at all.
Nonetheless the last few days had him more busy than usual. It was the first time since the attack he had some free time for himself and he was writing in his travel journal when he was interrupted by a knock on his door. He stopped his pen, eyed the door warily and gave whoever knocked permission to enter.
He didn‘t let the surprise show on his face when Hanbin‘s fiance showed up.
"Jiwoong, I hope I didn‘t disturb you with something important," the prince began with a careful tone.
"No, nothing I couldn‘t do as well later. What brings you to me, your Highness?"
Hao looked relieved and fully entered the room. "I need to speak to you," he declared after he shut the door close behind him.
Jiwoong carefully put the pen and his journal away. This sounded like something that would take a little more time. His journal would have to wait a little longer. It wasn‘t without reluctance he wished the book goodbye in his mind and turned his full attention to Hao.
"Gladly. Take a seat. What do you wish to speak about?"
"Thank you."
Then there was silence. The captain waited while the prince did nothing but stare at the wooden walls. He realized if he wanted to go back to his writing today, he would have to be the one to start this conversation.
"What‘s the problem?"
Hao finally teared his gaze away from the walls to look at him. "I‘m not sure where to start..."
There was an urge in Jiwoong to let out a sigh but he kept it under wraps. This was something he could do with Hanbin but with Hao it was still better to be cautious and not let his true emotions shine through too much. "So there really is a problem. I was hoping you just wanted to get to know me better," he joked in a self-deprecating tone.
Hao seemed receptive. "Well, I wouldn‘t be opposed to that but that‘s not why I‘m here today."
"If it‘s not my company that you seek then enlighten me."
This seemed to be the last encouragement needed for Hao to give up his silence.
"I saw Matthew conspiring with a pirate. He asked him where Gyuvin was but Matthew didn‘t know and told him to search for Gyuvin himself. I didn‘t hear anything more than that because they left and I couldn‘t follow them or Gunwook wouldn‘t know where to find me," he explained without taking a breath between the sentences.
This left Jiwoong in shock. "Does Gunwook know about this too?" he asked.
Hao shook his head. "No, just me. I was hiding while I overheard them talking. They seemed to know each other..."
"And you are sure it was Matthew?" Jiwoong wanted to know. His eyebrows were in a serious furrow.
"I know what I heard. I‘m absolutely sure of it."
Jiwoong leaned back in his chair. He didn‘t take his eyes off Hao for a second but he looked away when he heard the prince‘s answer. "I had a bad feeling for a while. I hoped it was nothing... This is really troublesome."
This admission made Hao look very concerned. Jiwoong didn‘t like seeing the prince like that. It was his job to make his stay as comfortable as possible. That‘s what Hanbin and the king entrusted him to do. If he couldn‘t even do that, was he worthy of being Hanbin‘s right hand man?
"What are we going to do?" Hao asked the captain.
Jiwoong mulled over the question for a while. He needed more time to come up with a sound plan. There was one thing he was sure about though."Let this be my problem for now, Hao. You won‘t have to worry about this. I‘ll handle it."
"Be serious, Jiwoong. I want to hear what you are going to do. I already waited too long to tell you avout this. I should‘ve come to you right after the pirates left but I waited because you were so busy."
"Thank you for your consideration. Next time just come to me, regardless of how busy I am. It‘s my job to ensure the safety of you and everyone on this ship. This is not my first time. So you see I am very serious about this."
"I get that. I didn‘t want to insinuate anything different... This issue just has kept me up the last two nights..."
"Why haven‘t you told me sooner about this?"
"Everything was in a frenzy after the attack. I was still in shock. To be honest, at first, I couldn‘t believe what I heard. I didn‘t want to think about the possibility of Matthew betraying us. Matthew seems so genuine... In fact, now that I‘m saying this out loud I am sure that I didn‘t want to believe what I‘ve heard."
Jiwoong didn‘t want to believe that either. That someone he let on board could plan to harm the people under his protection. Although at the same time as he processed the news, he couldn‘t help but feel a little bit relieved. This nagging feeling that something is wrong was bothering him since Matthew and Taerae were fished out of the water. It was good to know he could trust his instincts. The only thing left now was to decide what to do with this new knowledge. And yet...
"I had the same thoughts."
"Really?" Hao asked in disbelief.
"I had the feeling that Matthew was hiding something. Now I know that for certain. Nonetheless... I‘m not sure he is a bad guy." Jiwoong chuckled. "Am I making sense?"
Hao nodded. "I understand exactly what you mean. Matthew seems so nice..."
"Good.” Things will be easier if Hao is on the same page as him. “What still confuses me about your story is why was the pirate asking for Gyuvin? As far as I know they didn‘t attack Gyuvin."
"This is something I was wondering about myself. If they wanted to kidnap someone than me or Ricky would have been the obvious picks. Or even Yujin but nobody is supposed to know he is one of the princes of Floraison, right?"
"Right."
"Who would have told them about Gyuvin but not about Yujin? And if they knew about the St. Bloom in the first place then why not target the foreign prince or rich merchant? They couldn‘t have been out for money..."
"Or they didn't know about you, just as they didn‘t know about Yujin. Their information could have been wrong. The king made sure to keep the true mission of the St. Bloom under wraps. Exactly because he feared pirates would come attack it and try to ransom you for money, either from Floraison or Guang. They could have made a fortune had they managed to take hold of you."
"Hm, but maybe that‘s also what held them back? Targeting me means not only making an enemy out of one but two kingdoms at the same time. This could make it feel like it‘s not really worth it."
"That‘s possible. In my experience pirates aren‘t as smart as that though."
"Well, the other option would have been Ricky. His family is as rich as the royal family if not richer. That‘s common knowledge in my kingdom but they went for Gyuvin instead. Wherever they got their information it had to come from Floraison."
"I agree with you. That seems very likely. Although... Gyuvin is no stranger to Guang. He has visited your lands with his father on behalf of the king since he was a little boy. I imagine some unsightly figure could have come across him and decided he could make an easy target?"
"This is not totally impossible. On the other hand, Gyuvin was unharmed. I trust you and also think he wouldn‘t lie to you. They obviously failed with whatever plan they had."
"It seems that way..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I am not sure... Let me address your other concern. It is as you said. They failed. Besides the pirate attack Matthew also had ample opportunity to hurt anyone on the ship. He didn‘t. Instead when Yujin was in trouble he came to his aid and fought against the pirates. Whatever his deal is, it doesn‘t involve causing immediate harm to Gyuvin or anyone else on the St. Bloom."
Jiwoong could see that Hao wasn‘t convinced by that. "I already went over this in my own head. What if he is playing the long game? It could be all a ploy to gain our trust?" Hao asked without expecting a real answer. "His real goal could be something bigger than what‘s on the St. Bloom."
Jiwoong stood up from his seat. He went around his desk and offered a hand to the prince. Hao reluctantly took it and rose up. Jiwoong smiled and put his other hand on top of both of their hands.
"You have a smart head on your shoulder Hao. It‘s good to think critically about this. The facts are that we don‘t know enough to come up with the right guess." His grip tightened. "I will promise you though, if he wants to bring harm to anyone on this ship, he will have to come through me. And I don‘t take it lightly when somebody tries to harm something that was put into my care."
This speech seemed to move the prince but it wasn‘t enough to fully appease his worries.
Hao was smart and very concerned. It wasn‘t easy to persuade him to let the matter go for now. Jiwoong tried every trick in his book to convince princes that it was better to let him deal with dangerous situations alone. He was trained for it. Even with all his years of experience with Hanbin and Yujin, Jiwoong took a little while to assure the prince that he could handle the issue safely. He managed it in the end though.
On his way out he let Hao promise him to talk with nobody else about this. Hao agreed without much fanfare and left the room. Leaving a much more exhausted Jiwoong behind than when he found him.
Jiwoong finally let out the sigh he has been holding in since the beginning of this conversation and immediately went to his desk. There he opened the last bottom drawer and took out a pile of wanted posters.
He sorted through them with a vigor that betrayed his frantic thoughts. After several unrelated posters he finally found the one he was looking for. A drawn picture of a young man with a bandanna on his head and a wicked grin on his face. A picture that if you knew the man screamed undeniably Matthew. How Jiwoong didn‘t put two and two together earlier was astonishing. That‘s why Matthew seemed so familiar to him in the beginning. He had seen his face on this exact bounty poster before.
There was a short explanation on the crimes he was accused with: Piracy, Smuggling, Fraud, Impersonation of an Officer of the Royal Navy and General Lawlessness. With big bold letters it read ‚THE FOX‘ and the bounty one could earn if you captured the criminal.
---
If one listened to the men talking in the halls you could hear them joking. Boasting about how many pirates they beat up. How the enemy left crying while they were running from the ship.
Matthew didn‘t know if he should scoff or laugh with them. With the knowledge that he was the one who orchestrated everything and Taerae‘s plan seemingly working, he decided laughing would be more appropriate.
Yujin had come personally to him to thank him. As well had Gyuvin and Gunwook for rescuing the youngest.
Taerae was positively relishing when he witnessed the younger guys come up to him. He didn‘t say it out loud but his eyes held a look that screamed ‚I told you so‘.
Yet, for some reason Matthew couldn‘t feel the satisfaction of a job well done. Something in him was holding him back. Pushing him to stay cautious and thus making it impossible for him to relax fully. It was driving him a little crazy because he didn‘t know why he felt that way but he had to trust his instincts. He knew from experience that they seldom betrayed him.
So when soldiers came up to him and clapped him on the back, he forced a smile and gave a nod. Thinking about it this way Matthew was one of the few people on the St. Bloom who couldn‘t pretend nothing changed after the attack. Whereas people before were more or less simply ignoring him, they now knew his name and sang his praises.
His new popularity was especially annoying in the way he gained two followers.
Yujin stepped beside him on the way to the general dining room. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" the young prince asked him. He tried to sound casual but was betrayed by his big eyes which followed Matthew with high interest. Behind them was Gyuvin who did the same but didn‘t even bother trying to hide he was doing it.
"Eh?" he replied oh so eloquently. He didn‘t know how to answer that question. The truth was, he learned from his time on the streets and from other criminals. There was no way that would end well for him. So being vague it is. "I mostly taught myself." Matthew answered while looking through the spacious room. No other soul but the three of them were there. That meant there was nothing to distract the two youngsters from him. He just wanted to fill his stomach after he missed the group breakfast this morning.
The other two were talking. Matthew didn‘t care to listen to them. He was scanning the room for something to eat. To his great disappointment there were none of the filled pies that Taerae described to him left. The only edible stuff he saw was a bowl of dried fruits on one of the counters.
A sudden question interrupted his search for food. "How about we spar some time?" proposed Yujin.
Matthew felt uncomfortable at the thought of fighting someone like Yujin. Be it because of his age or status. "No, thank you," he replied. Not bothering to hide his distaste for the idea in his voice or face.
"Come one, just once?" Yujin asked again.
"Nah," he said. He didn‘t bother looking at the others. Instead he went straight to one of the counters and snatched the bowl he spotted earlier to himself. He started to look through the different assortment of dried fruit.
He heard them approach him from behind. "Why not?" came the predictable question.
Matthew didn‘t answer. Instead he took great care in sifting through the assortment of dried fruits and nuts. Taking only the best looking fruits out of the basket. He had this thought that if he ignored them they would get bored and leave him alone. It was wishful thinking on his part.
Gyuvin, who was silent as of now, decided to chime in. "Come on," he said. "If you spar with Yujinnie once, he‘ll shut up."
Matthew had been busy with gathering his lunch for the day, so it took him by surprise when a hand suddenly snatched one of the bigger mango pieces right from under his nose.
With a smile one could hear, Gyuvin added on: "He usually gets sulky if he loses anyway. Then we won‘t bother you anymore."
"Ignore him. I don‘t get sulky," Yujin defended himself. "But he‘s right if you fight against me I leave you alone."
Ignoring them didn‘t work yesterday, so he wasn‘t sure why he expected a different outcome today. People told him he was an optimist to a fault. Matthew gave up on his quest for food and turned to the two boys. He side eyed the duo with slight exasperation "I don‘t see what‘s in it for me."
"I won‘t follow you anymore?"
The pirate in hiding slowly went back to sorting through the basket. "I swear they had dry apricots in here somewhere..." he mumbled to himself.
"How about something different for dinner today?" Gyuvin suggested.
Matthew didn‘t turn around this time but he stopped in his search. This seemed promising.
Yujin saw they had his attention and quickly nodded along. "Yeah, if you agree, we can get you something to eat that‘s way better than the normal crew rations."
The hopefully soon ex-pirate turned his back to the basket that held the most of his attention the moment they entered the dining room. He shoved a dried plum in his mouth and mustered the both of them with a spark in his eyes.
"Even better food?"
Gyuvin nodded with a grin. "For the higher ranking officials or important guests the chef prepares special meals. They‘re really good."
Matthew was still chewing but that didn‘t stop his curiosity. The rich got fancy meals? Figures. The officials got extra treatment too though? Wouldn‘t Jiwoong get this privilege as well? "Huh? The captain‘s eating in this room with the others though?"
"Yes but did you ever see Hao or Ricky eat down here?" Gyuvin asked.
Now that he thought about it these two were never present at the group meals. "Oh..."
"Jiwoong likes to eat with his crew," Yujin explained to him.
Matthew stowed that information into the back of his brain. He didn‘t examine why he did that. Instead he finally swallowed the remains of the plum down and cleared his throat. "If you have access to these kinds of meals how come I see you two down here with the rest of us every day?"
"Oh, since I‘m still a simple soldier, I‘m technically not allowed. Since Ricky and Hao Hyung have arrived though I sometimes sneak my way in to eat with them. Don‘t tell Jiwoong though. As for Yujin... I invite him all the time but he refuses!"
"I don‘t want the special treatment." This surprised Matthew.
"It‘s not like eating something different than turtle meat will mean you‘re spoiled."
"It‘s the principle!" Yujin replied in defense. "Mastery begins with humility."
Immediately Gyuvin‘s face shifted to a constipated face until he couldn‘t hold his laugh in anymore. "Did Gunwook teach you this?"
Curiously, Matthew watched as Yujin‘s ears turned red.
"No," he answered, annoyed. "It was Jiwoong Hyung."
Gyuvin playfully shook his head and pointed his finger up. "See, that‘s why he‘s eating the same two dishes week after week when he could eat roasted pork instead!"
Before Yujin could think of a response Matthew spoke up. "I actually agree with him," he proclaimed while placing his hand on his chest. "I for once would choose roasted pork over dried fruits any day."
"Ah, I knew there was a reason I liked you Seok Maechu."
Matthew ignored the way Gyuvin pronounced his name and just laughed along. He liked Gyuvin too, he thought to himself but didn‘t say it out loud. Instead he asked with a smile: "And how will you get me one of these special meals?"
"Hao and Ricky won‘t mind if you tag along," Gyuvin readily explained. "We just need to tell the kitchen to make one extra portion."
---
One extra portion turned into four extra portions as word got around. Matthew never sat in a room this fancy, be it on a ship or a building. He never thought he would. The walls were shining with a pretty red wood paneling. Beautiful fabrics decorated the room. There was even a fireplace. It all seemed awfully unpractical but Matthew couldn‘t drag his eyes away from it.
The setting made him feel a little uncomfortable. He was informed that besides him and Gyuvin, Yujin and the two guests from Guang, there would also be Gunwook and Jiwoong joining them. If he had known his desire for some fancy dinner would result in this kind of party, he would have kept refusing Yujin. Or asked for some money. His only saving grace was that Taerae invited himself too.
So there they were. Eight people sitting on a long wooden desk decorated with expensive silver wares. Only it seemed he was the only one uncomfortable with this kind of setting.
What made matters worse was the fact that he could feel Hao sneaking glances at him from across the table. Matthews was racking his brain for why that could be but could come up with nothing. He prided himself as a socially aware guy. You had to be to con other people for a living. This made him nervous. He wanted to ask him about it but as often as Hao looked in his direction he skillfully avoided actually crossing eyes with Matthew.
His try to establish eye contact was interrupted by a knock on the door. The food was brought to them by two helpers from the kitchen who Matthew even recognized. Just as Gyuvin had promised him there was roasted pork but it didn‘t end there. It seemed like the chefs in the kitchen went all out. Besides pork there was also several other meat and fish dishes, some kind of soup that smelled mouthwatering and a big array of roasted vegetables as well as freshly baked bread. The pirate had never seen so much food placed on one table.
As soon as all the dishes were put down on the table, Matthew reached out to the pork to cut himself a big piece out. He didn‘t stop until he had a little bit of everything on his plate. Potatoes and sauce, dried sausages and things he didn‘t even know the name of. Even with its larger size, his plate spotted a mountain of food that looked like it could collapse at any moment.
He grabbed the spoon on the side and dug in. It tasted heavenly. As soon as the food touched his tongue, he couldn‘t stop. Spoon after spoonful, he shoveled the food down until he suddenly became aware of the stares of the other people in the room.
He stopped the next spoonful and looked slowly around. "Is something on my face?" he asked without having fully swallowed the food in his mouth.
Taerae pointed to his chin. Matthew looked down even if he couldn‘t see. He scrunches his eyebrows up. Slightly embarrassed he swiped his face with his sleeve.
"I take you like the food?" Jiwoong spoke up, slightly amused.
For some reason Matthew felt his face heat up. "Mh, it‘s tasty." There was still some fish left in his cheeks which he quickly gulped down. He opened his now empty mouth to talk again. "I‘ve never eaten something this good."
"Really?" Hao curiously threw in the room. "Can I ask you what you do for a living?"
Hao wasn‘t the first one on the sip to ask that. Matthew knew to just give enough of the truth to not seem suspicious. "Oh, just this and that. Anything for money."
"A jack of all trades then?" Hao asked without expecting an answer. "Nothing specific you‘re good at? Something that pays particularly well?" he prodded over the table.
"If you ask like that. I‘m good with the sword. Probably paid the best too." While he had no problem answering questions like that, he could slowly feel his heckles raise up. Why was Hao suddenly showing so much interest in him? "What‘s it to you?" he confronted the prince.
"Just curious," came the answer in a calm tone. "I don‘t often have the opportunity to talk to people who grew up... So different from me."
"You mean poor?"
Taerae made a choked noise beside him. "Matthew," he warned in a whisper.
If Hao heard him he didn‘t show it on his face. "It‘s not wrong to say. I just wouldn‘t use that word. I was thinking more along the line of people that are free to do what they want."
Was Hao on to him? He didn‘t think he gave anything away. Was he maybe really just curious? This type of questioning seemed so sudden though. If Hao wanted to play it that way then Matthew could do as well.
"I don‘t know if I‘m that free," Matthew replied. "But at least I don‘t have to marry a stranger I guess."
"Come on," Taerae muttered desperately to himself. Matthew had to stop himself from grinning at Taerae.
Hao slowly raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Right. This could be difficult for some people but I actually don‘t mind."
The younger guys of the group who were talking at the start of the meal had stopped to follow this exchange. Gyuvin squirmed a little in his seat and Ricky gave Hao a big side eye.
Matthew wanted to respond to Hao but was stopped. Gunwook had taken a cautious look at the people at the table and had quickly intervened.
"Matthew Hyung, I heard you agreed to spar against Yujin?"
His attention momentarily shifted to the younger. It wasn‘t him who answered though. Seemingly in a hurry to change the topic Yujin nodded along. "Yes! The deal is that he‘ll get this fancy dinner and I get to fight him"
"Any chance you will give me the chance too?" Gunwook inquired in a lighthearted way.
Matthew was eyeing them both up while he resumed to empty his plate. The food still tasted good. So what if the mood at the table is weird? He should enjoy all of it as long as it lasts. He gave thought to Gunwook‘s question. "We can train as often as you like as long as I get to keep eating this well," he answered with a tone he consciously kept light. The kids were alright. He wouldn‘t give them a hard time.
"Will you join us every day for dinner if Yujin wants to fight?" Hao asked pointedly and shot him a look from the other side of the table.
Before anyone else could intervene, he quickly answered himself. "If he wants to fight and I get to eat, gladly. As long as his highness doesn‘t have a problem with it."
"It doesn‘t have anything to do with me. I was just asking out of curiosity," the prince replied casually. It was difficult to tell if the prince meant that or hid some deeper meaning behind it. It made Matthew feel irritated. He‘d rather have all grievances in the open than speak around the bush. Especially when he didn‘t even know what kind of problem the prince had with him.
It came to a point where even the food couldn‘t dispel the annoyance that kept building up the longer the dinner went. So he let it out. "Didn‘t seem that way to me," he accused Hao.
"Then I will have to apologize," came the retort. Polite and calm.
Matthew felt irked by the way the other acted. He long since stopped eating the food and was staring at the prince. He couldn‘t figure out why he suddenly started to act all high and mighty. They didn‘t start off on the best foot but they put that quickly behind them. At least that‘s what Matthew had thought.
"Hey," Gyuvin shouted abruptly. Yet, when everyone turned to look at him, the young man seemed to be at a loss for words. Awkwardly he turned to Matthew in the end. "Uhm, can I get a round in too?"
Matthew decided to take the rescue line for what it was. No matter what problem Hao had, he didn‘t have to engage with him and escalate the situation.
"Sure," he agreed. "Just don‘t blame me if you get hurt."
His answer put the usual smile on Gyuvin‘s face. "Aw, you‘re worried about us? That‘s cute. You don‘t need to though. We‘re soldiers."
"Yeah," agreed Yujin. "We want to fight you to get better! You don‘t have to go easy on us."
"I also really want to see you fight again," Gunwook said. "It was different from the way we were taught."
"Now I really want to see you fight with my own two eyes," Gyuvin commented. "It sounds like he is even better than Jiwoong Hyung?"
Gunwook immediately disagreed. "He was great, alright. But better than Jiwoong? I don‘t think so." Then he nervously looked at Matthew. "Sorry Hyung."
"It‘s alright," he replied. That comment before that had sparked his curiosity though. He directly turned to Jiwoong when he asked: "How good are you?"
"The captain is the best," answered Gunwook in his stead without missing a beat.
"He is really cool," praised Gyuvin as he nodded his head and scratched his chin like a wise old man.
"Nobody can beat him," ended Yujin begrudgingly.
All the while Matthew‘s eyes hadn‘t strayed from the captain. From start to finish the other‘s face didn‘t betray a particular emotion at the turn of the conversation. Something in him wanted to change that. Like a bad omen he could feel his curiosity grow stronger.
"Maybe we should spar? See who would win in a fight between us?" he suggested. All the while he gave Jiwoong an appraising look. And when the captain slowly returned with his own appraisal his heart started to beat faster. His dispute with Hao is now fully forgotten.
While he waited with baited breath for an answer, he was awoken from his silent staring match by the youngest at the table.
"Buuh, we asked first. You can‘t fight Jiwoong before you fight with me," Yujin complained.
"I don‘t know," Gyuvin thought out loud. "I think that would actually be really cool to watch!" While Gyuvin seemed excited Yujin gave his friend the stink eye.
"Jiwoong can be the grand finale after you fought with all of us. How does that sound?"
Matthew let Gunwook‘s comment sink in and despite what he said before, it was only now that he seriously started to think about what he had agreed to. He didn‘t care that much about fighting the younger guys but couldn‘t he actually learn something from Jiwoong? This could be a prime opportunity for him to find out how strong one of the best soldiers in the kingdom is and more importantly what his weaknesses are. In his opinion as far as he could see nobody should pose a problem for him if push came to shove. But if he believed the admiration in the boys' voices, Jiwoong could be the exception to that. In that case, if the plan went wrong wouldn‘t it be really smart to be prepared?
"What do you say, Captain Jiwoon? Are you willing to fight me?"
A mysterious smile appeared on the other‘s lips. "Sure."
---
On the other side of the sea in a white palace a certain prince stood in front of a large window. It faced the ocean. Giving the prince a perfect view of the moving waves.
On the day the St. Bloom left the port the sun was blazing. It painted a very different picture to the sky today which was covered with clouds.
No matter how long he stared out the window the view didn‘t change. The horizon stayed empty apart from the occasional high wave making its round. In a way perfectly reflecting the expression on Hanbin‘s face.
A knock brought him out of his musings. It was one of the royal advisors.
"Your highness?" Hoetaek politely inquired. "It‘s time for the emergency meeting.“
Hanbin pursed his lips. "Another one?"
"Yes. You should have been informed this morning."
The prince let out a quiet sigh. "I was. The solution to the problem stays the same though. Tell them to take from the royal storage."
Hoetaek didn‘t seem faced by the dismissive tone of Hanbin‘s voice. "I don‘t think your father would be happy if I told him that."
Hanbin finally ripped his gaze from the window to look his advisor in the eyes. "And isn‘t that the crux of the matter?"
Hoetaek didn‘t evade eye contact but otherwise stayed silent. He had a calm aura around him which normally put the prince at ease. Unfortunately, it wasn‘t working at the moment.
"Alright," he said to put this matter behind him. "Tell them I‘ll be right there."
Against his expectation Hoetaek didn‘t move a muscle. With a question in his face he turned back to the older man. It seemed like he was also beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. "The king explicitly told me to escort you personally to the meeting room..."
Whereas Hoetaek still emitted an air of professionalism Hanbin felt his own slipping.
"Why? It‘s not like he listens to my opinion anyway." One could hear an edge to his voice which he thought he had mastered to hide.
"You have to understand that things are tense at the moment," Hoetaek began with a sympathetic tone. "The riots are getting worse... As well as the disappearance of your royal brother..."
"Yujin is safe with Jiwoong. I‘ve told him this."
"And I agree with you but you know how your father is."
Hanbin felt his shoulders slump down. "I‘m well aware." He scrunched his eyebrows together. It took a conscious effort to smooth them out. When he felt in control of his facial expressions again, he finally conceded. "Alright. Lead the way."
Hoetaek gave him a slight nod. Without another protest Hanbin followed him swiftly out of the room.