Chapter Text
Time had already begun to prepare for spring, and the cold days were finally coming to an end to start a new flow of life. There was only a slight chill coming from the half-open window, allowing it to blow out the very little warmth the candles provided on the bedstand table. The heedful Prince blankly stared at the bright sunlight slowly creeping into the cracks of the cedar floor and cobblestone walls. The orange illumination had greeted him with a warm welcome and reminded him it was time to seize the morning.
The morning came in the blink of an eye before Taki could even realize, as he lay restlessly. For he could not sleep without itching his skin or waking up in nervous outbursts.
Before he weighed in on the thought that the early morning started to make itself known, a swift sound from the heavy bedroom door rumbled him away from his thoughts. He lifted his body, pressing his forearm against the bed, to see who had rudely invited themselves into his quarters.
The head servant, a geriatric but tough madam, burst into his chambers without a courteous notice. Her long, perhaps too long, experience in serving the young royal was apparent, shown through her bold insolence that she got away with. Her gray, dry hair had been tied into a taut bun, and holding gray eyes that had a ferocious glare that faltered to nobody, not even the prince. Behind her were four young servants, struggling to carry a box bigger than their entire physiques and being.
Impertinent as ever, this lady.
Through Taki's swollen eyes, he saw the old hag sweep the dusty top with a handkerchief before presenting the box like a male parrot presenting a feather to a potential suitor. It was as large as a typical storage chest, and by looking at the struggling women who had to lift the box with one knee as well, there had been something patently heavy inside. Evidently, it should've been the male servants carrying the chest instead of the frail young ladies.
"Your Highness," Madam Tachi greeted with a courteous bow, her tone flat as a sheet, "Pardon the rude intrusion, but Her Majesty sent you a gift while on her travels."
There was a loud bang followed by a shake that the young prince felt through his bed. The box sent from his mother sat in the center of his room as soon as the head servant addressed him. There was a group of small complaints, followed by them stretching their wrists. He chose to ignore the rude and inappropriate awakening, rubbing his eyes to remain conscious, prompted by the dreaminess of the nonexistent sleep he received. He had welcomed the informality with open arms, even when in the eyes of others, it was treasonous to disrespect a royal with the lack of grace and appreciation. Taki brushed his long hair back from his face instinctively; his eyes could now fully focus on what was happening in front of him.
"What's it for?"
Tachi smiled with a tight expression, her eyes shaping into small crescent moons, shooting an incredulous look at him, "My young prince, it is for the ball, remember?"
d
"A ball? Did I miss something here?" His head cocked to his side, resting on the shoulder propping him up.
"Your family is hosting this year's ball, Your Highness. The royal clans' families are coming as well."
"Ah. Right. The royal families and delegations, I see." He fruitlessly recognized a ball he couldn't even recall being informed of, just mindlessly hummed along. It had been too hazy for him to remember anything for days. It was like water dripping on ink; everything was muddled. There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the prince and his servants, "I am guessing preparations are today, and it is I who has to get dressed. Is that why you're here, in my personal quarters?"
He swung himself over the bed to blow out his candle. This broke the silence, the servants didn't hesitate and went to open the chest with delicate care, exposing silky fabrics that were red as dark roses layered on top of a deep green blue with beautiful detailing.
"Expensive taste. Where did this come from? I have never seen such fine silk in our region, so surely this could've been imported?" He inquired, it was quite the red sore thumb, the clothing being not traditional but modernized clothes. Something that he wouldn't have expected his mother to personally choose out for him to wear. The details with the cranes and flowers were a significant match with the extravagant taste of the nation’s finely made clothes.
"I'm not quite sure where your mother traveled to this time to gain such flamboyant garments that have traditional stitchings despite it not being made here." Tachi blandly responded to the Prince; he could feel her disapproval like a silent grandmother.
He simply nodded, turning his back on them, and lifted himself off the bed to get dressed. One of the servants who had long silky brown hair slipped one of his arms inside in one of the many parts of the blouse. She placed him in front of a long mirror beside the large window. Under the opening, the view exposed the large stone courtyard that could take hundreds of years to get through. There, he saw more servants loading in last-minute supplies and decorations to be rushed and assembled. They were like little ants scuttling to gather food scraps by looking at the distance from his room to and courtyard.
"Do you know when they'll start to arrive?" Taki asked as he watched the servants work diligently below him. Now and then, he'd shift his limbs awkwardly to let his servants dress him.
As he tried to crane his neck backwards to look at her, the old madam jammed his neck towards the mirror to keep his head looking straight, giving a sharp wince. He sucked in his teeth to let out a quiet ouch and held the side of his neck. "When the sun is at its highest, that's when the ball will start, Your Highness. The families will start to make their appearances and give their congratulations."
"How long will the ball last?"
Tachi let out an empty chuckle, "For about 2 days, so the guests could enrich themselves with our glamour. Or so to speak according to Her Majesty, the Queen."
She moved the long pieces of his hair, exposing all of his face in front of the mirror. Then, she started to comb the messy locks until silky smooth. Staring back at Taki was the brown haired maid, sneaking curious looks at him.
It wasn't too uncommon for others to peak at his looks. The young prince is one of Hiyazaki’s biggest prizes that citizens dote on. From birth, he has always been described as a star that has fallen onto Earth. The grace naturally exuded off of him, ever so slightly was this suave flutter every time he walked or even blinked. The nation's people puckered up on him like a nurturing but vicious mother willing to protect their children from the cunning dangers from the world, waiting to strike innocent children.
There was another brief silent moment as the girl caught herself shooting looks at the prince. He could see her shifting herself from his view, like a mole returning back into their dark little cave. After that, he took his focus off of her and back onto himself. Suddenly, Taki felt a cooling, wet feeling be plastered onto his hair. There was a nice buzz following Tachi massaging the weird gel-like into his hair, hardening into it.
"Did you decide to take on a new ward?" Riki questioned the old, grave woman unbeknownst to the maids working closely to him.
"Did you notice?" She hummed back. "She's quite the joy. I think it'd do you some good to surround your princely self around proper people, don't you think?"
He skipped around her inquiry and asked, "I thought you stopped being a mentor a while ago."
"I did. I'm no longer a mentor but the girl is the daughter of one of my old apprentices... I took her in after her mom died." She said plainly.
The young man gave her a small nod, not asking further about the girl's history that felt too intimate to broach, before scanning her as she tied a thick black strap onto his stomach in which held up the long pieces of clothing flowing down to his ankles.
"But she has the red ribbon in her hair." He pointed out.
She simply shrugged her shoulders and stepped away to wipe her hands clean from the substance she had put onto his hair. She then picked up a finely crafted comb, experimenting with some loose strands in front of his face. His blonde locks were neatly styled, leaving him with this polished, kempt look that was unlike himself. A new person was molded in front of the mirror. Someone worthy of being an actual prince.
The elder stopped for a moment, speaking in English to halt the three other maids dressing the prince, "Miyoung can handle the rest. Haesoo, Soomin, and Whan, go fetch the prince his Pin."
They took a step back, did a quick bow, then hurried out of the room to retrieve the accessory. Miyoung, the girl Tachi took in, continued to dress him with gentle care. Similar to an elder's warm touch that soothed him effortlessly.
"The Pin? For what for? Aren't the Northern kingdoms only attending?" Riki asked her coolly, arching his brow.
"The families from Wonsan, Gwajae and Tokyeong are attending as well. Invites were extended to them, your mother insisted on doing so." She hummed, hiding the distaste from her voice which was nearly undetectable if you didn't keep a close ear.
Riki looked at the old woman incredulously like she had three heads growing out of her stomach. She returned the same expression and just sighed, shaking her head. His mother hasn't always been particularly fond of the push movements for a mixed society, let alone wild creatures being willingly invited into the main city of Hiyazaki. Not only was he surprised by his mother's unexpected move to open up the gates ever so warmly, but was also surprised with the other human royal families seemingly to accept it. Perhaps his mother had an epiphany an olive branch was a step towards a better way to coexist in the midst of the political madness concerning the supernaturals. Yet his mother was never the political figure nor had any strong opinions herself.
"Of course, there will be additional protection to keep the event smooth, Your Highness,"
"I'm not worried about the vampires attempting to do something. They're royalty who've lived longer than Hiyazaki’s birth. I'd give a better thought than that. I'm more concerned about what could happen during the ball and what the people may think," He scoffed, "You already know how the nobles feel about the supernatural.They refuse to even trade unless it's a human."
The lower peerage—the viscounts and barons—were violently against integrating compared to the Queen as they felt as if the people were threatened by their mere existence. In some cases, it was mildly understandable, it was undeniable that there were higher cases of murder against humans committed by the supernatural, that being the unrest between the two races has created mutual violence.
Taki never personally experienced the rabid nature of the blood-sucking vampires, told by old myths who painted them as inhumane monsters who could kill you before you could fully blink.
Perhaps the hate against the supernatural was justifiable according to evidence, provided that it would come from the nobles who had formally complained against the King—his father—for granting the territory in regards for military and trading purposes with the supernatural. Hiyazaki and Wonsan quickly came to terms with the coexistence between the species, as the King stipulated the sharing of the werewolve’s supply of a rare herb and marerials in exchange for official territories for authentic business.
It angered the people as it went against their values: to never meddle with those aren't human. Despite the unity, Wonsan hardly interacted with the Hiyazaki royalty outside of business matters, never attending events or balls.
"Although," Tachi started, letting Miyoung tidy Taki’s collar, The commoners seem more than excited for the families to be invited."
"Is that so?" He perked his head up at her, curious about the thoughts of the commoners who didn't share the same sentiment with the nobles.
"The people are curious about the blubbering about their mysterious but mystic beauty. They're like battle hardened warriors graced by the Gods." Taki heard a quiet giggle from the old lady, bemused from the chatter.
"Have you seen the families before?" He asked with a deep curiosity of the families who kept a notable distance away from humans.
The prince had only heard them through the grapevine. The description of their allure was rumored to compel people to incessantly rage about how effortless beautiful they were. He imagined them with dark, hostile eyes, bodies built to withstand anything drawn with deep, savage scars to show how tough they were. Long pearly sharp teeth and tall, unrelenting stances. In the history books, often not they were drawn with an ugly hunchback due to transformation: red devilish eyes with the intent to kill: razor black claws: with a sickly paleness that death had kissed them with.
"Oh no, of course not. l only know those who have voluntarily travelled to places like Wonsan and Tokyeong gossiped a bit too loud about it. You could rarely seen them outside of their palaces, even their nations."
Before Taki could open his mouth, the loud rumble echoing around the room made him turn to the sound. The three maids Tachi had dismissed each came back with three intricate jewelry boxes. They lined up about five feet away from the prince, keeping a mice distance, and outstretched their arms to present the boxes. Tachi's apprentice immediately kept an odd distance away from the prince, thought it is not uncommon for servants to keep away, he had mentally noted her peculiar curiosity but standoffish attitude.
Tachi trudged over to reveal all of them had exorbitant jewelry with ancient history, it had lived a longer than the kingdom, seeing modern humanity built from the ground up. It had jewels from the deepest parts of Earth that was engraved, forging strong rare gems that couldn't be found by any common jeweler or market. It gleamed under the slightest exposure with it's beautiful colorful hues. Designed with pure, real gold that would make any noble envious of the riches they had been blessed with.
She placed the treasures onto his neck, flowing down to his chest and clasped the earrings: Taki was truly amazed how anybody could wear such heavy garments that felt incredibly uncomfortable to move with instead of how he looked like a fancy princess. He didn't feel suited to being wearing something so extravagent despite his face and whole aura gave off the impression so, he felt mildly uncomfortable how overly obnoxious it was.
The old lady waved her hand at the maids once more, officially dismissing them from their duties, letting the Prince take in himself in the mirror. He was like a peacock with his profuse shiny jewelry and bright clothes that nearly matched the colors of one. Next to Tachi or just any other citizen, Riki was like a rose who easily out-bloomed the wilting flowers that competed for a gardener's attention. He was awed at the sight from the maids surmountable efforts who dressed him up like a bride on their way to their wedding ceremony.
"Are you ready, my prince?" He heard Tachi ask, she took a step back to give the man space.
"I'd be ready as a mother who hasn't had a wink of sleep." He sighed before turning around for his back to face the mirror.
He had decided to preoccupy himself with something else, a fixation. Whatever invaded his mind first would be his knight in shining armor, the saving grace that would help him persevere. The royal families, vastly the wolves, came to mind surprisingly when his mind decided to wander somewhere else. As he was guided out towards the door from the comfort of his room, he brooded over the peculiar curiosity over the vampires.
"I would like to visit my brother," he told "Accompany me to his quarters?
His loyal servant nodded and waved for by the others waiting patiently on standby to follow her and accompany the prince. He walked out of the door, taking light strides, and into the warmly lit hallway that give off a morning chill, making him wish he was still in his nicely set bed. With the servants on his heels, he had took a silent note on the overflowing rows of guards who were more or less twiddling their thumbs at the halls, supposedly "guarding". They all stood tall with high intensity, locked eyes: weapons unsheathed: and their armor shined and polished. He looked forward into the hallway, ignoring the extra 'preparations' to look for his brother.