Chapter Text
The first time Princess Hyuna of Varecia saw the frostbitten prince, he was vomiting over the side of his father’s warship.
She tilted her head, **long brunette hair slipping over her shoulder** as she squinted up at the gangplank. Prince Luka of Vaelis looked like a ghost misplaced in her sun-drenched world—**pale as sea foam**, silver-blond hair clinging to his clammy forehead, his heaving shoulders draped in furs too heavy for the humid season.
“You’re ruining my fishing spot,” she called, hands on her hips.
Luka’s head snapped up, golden eyes wide. He wiped his mouth with a trembling hand, and Hyuna nearly laughed. *He’s holding a handkerchief. Who brings linen to a dock?*
“I—apologize,” he rasped, voice like crackling ice.
Hyuna climbed the rope ladder before he could faint, her bare feet sure on the salt-slick rungs. Up close, he smelled of snowmint and sickness. “Come on, jellyfish prince. Let’s get you *diplomacy*-proof.”
She dragged him past his father’s sneering entourage, ignoring King Heperu’s booming negotiations with her parents. Luka stumbled after her, his breaths shallow whistles. <
“Why are you *here*?” Hyuna demanded as they reached the market, where the air swam with the tang of citrus and brine.
Luka gripped a stall for balance. “Trade. Our mines for your ships.”
“Liar.” She plucked a mango from a vendor’s cart, tossing it to him. He fumbled, nearly dropping it. “Your dad’s got ‘conqueror’ eyes. Ours just have fish.”
Luka’s lips twitched. A near-smile. “The mines *are* failing. Our people are hungry.”
Hyuna paused. His honesty was… unexpected.
“Then you’re bad at digging,” she said lightly, peeling her mango with her teeth.
“We’re better at freezing.”
This time, she laughed.
---
Hyuna found Luka on the docks, his fur cloak abandoned, sleeves rolled to the elbow as he sketched **trade routes** in the wet sand. The humid air painted his pale skin with a sheen of sweat, his breathless focus almost charming.
“For you,” he said, thrusting a velvet box at her without looking up.
Inside lay a teardrop pendant, **moonstone** swirling with milky blue. “It’s just politics,” he muttered.
Hyuna arched a brow. “You giving jewelry to all your allies?”
“No.” His ears pinked. “It’s— Vaelis doesn’t have pretty things. Except this.”
She clasped it around her neck. The stone settled cool against her **sun-warmed skin**. “Thanks, jellyfish.”
Luka scowled. “That’s not my name.”
“It is now. ”
That prideful smile she gave him could give him a heart attack. He continued drawing ruts until she felt something warm hyuna sat beside him
“ Is Valelis really cold ? ”
The question sounded stupid he turned to look at her with a slight smile
“ only when you’re not able to fight against it ”
“What do you like to do for fun ?”
That seem to catch him off guard since he gave a full minute of silence
“Father gives me puzzles …”
She chuckled trying to light the mood
“Your really intelligent then , my father try giving me puzzles though he never did again since I just throw
them on the floor till they open up”
That seem so slightly make him laugh
“ your something else miss hyuna ”
“ I also enjoy swimming”
“ In Vaelis water solidified’s we aren’t able to swim”
That was his excuse to say he didn’t know how to swim
“We’re not in Vaelis , we could go somewhere to swim “
“…I don’t know how to swim “
“I can show you “