it is now the second time on the afternoon that donghyuck finds himself standing in front of mark bare-chested – well, not actually bare chested, but more in the process of wearing the very expensive lumen style robes that mark had purchased for him prior. and well, just like it had been the case hours before, the sight of donghyuck's frail body still had the same effect on the royal.

the future king of aes held his breath as he lets his hands drape the black and silvery fabric around donghyuck's body, making sure not to cage the boys' ribs too tightly in fear that they could break.

in the process, the back of his hands happens to brush against the tanned skin a few times, the light contact sending a pleasing tingle inside his own chest each time, unconsciously pushing him to do it again. perhaps was it selfish, to pretend like he wasn't doing it on purpose, but the amount of happiness and giddiness it provided him was enough to dissuade him of stopping. well, that was until...

"ah! it tickles!" the peasant exclaimed, his back arching a bit to get away from the royal's hands for a second. "your hands are cold."

the tip of mark's ears reddens at the sudden movement, retracting his hands and rubbing them together in an attempt to warm them up a bit. "sorry, i'll try being more careful."

"it's okay..." donghyuck then admits shyly, flashing mark a small smile before turning around again so that the boy can continue helping him wear his – well, definitely not his – clothes.

mark goes back to it, deciding not to be selfish anymore and properly tie the robes without dragging his hands across the other male's beautiful skin.

it doesn't take more than a minute for donghyuck to be fully dressed, the robes securely wrapped around his body in a way that highlighted his mesmerising curves, and the jacket topping the look perfectly. with donghyuck in those clothes and the way they fit him so perfectly, there was no way anyone could ever think that donghyuck was in fact a peasant. however, there were a few other details that they needed to consider before judging donghyuck actually ready.

"a-am i ready?" the peasant stuttered out, his eyes looking at his own reflection in disbelief in the mirror of mark's room. he somehow couldn't recognise himself. not only were the robesway too extravagant compared to what he usually wore, but more than their expensiveness, it had to be their shape that made it impossible for donghyuck to acknowledge that he was the one in the mirror. the fabric hugged his sides very tightly in a way that looked painful but in fact wasn't. it was as if these robes had been specifically made for him, to enhance the best parts of his body in a way that would make him a hundred times more elegant than how he would be in clothes in a straight cut.

"huh..." mark seemed to take a moment to look at donghyuck up and down as well, his eyes going from his head to his feet a few times more than normally acceptable – but donghyuck was that beautiful, so what did you expect from him? – before he cleared his throat and took a step closer to the tanned male. "we still have a few things to take care of. starting with your hair..."

the royal lifted his hand to reach for donghyuck's hair, gently brushing his fingers through the golden-brown locks that seemed to live a life of their own currently. donghyuck couldn't resist the urge to lean into the touch, allowing mark to end up patting his head adoringly, the same way you would do with a kitten.

"w-what about my hair?" donghyuck questioned "what do we have to do with them?"

"arrange them, so that they fit royal standards." mark explained simply. panic flashed through his eyes a second lather though, when he caught a glimpse of donghyuck's frown as the peasant had surely taken these words as negative. "not that your hair isn't beautiful, that's not what i meant. they're amazing, and soft and i always end up wondering how they are always looking so messy and yet perfect..."the royal ended up blabbering endless compliments. "...but... i guess it doesn't go with what lumen people usually look like, you know...?"

by the time mark was done with his rambling, donghyuck's cheeks were fully flushed, and his own hand had lifted to comb through his locks in shyness. "y-yeah, o-okay..."

"so..." mark cleared his throat again, trying to focus despite the difficulty of the task considering how beautiful dognhyuck looked in front of him right now. "there should be some clay somewhere in the bathroom. we'll use it to shape your hair." mark announced dragging the other boy towards the attached bathroom.

donghyuck could only oblige, following the royal to the bathroom and staring at him as he fumbled around the cabinets to find what he was looking for. mark eventually pulled out a circular box from somewhere, opening it to show donghyuck the clay inside.

"that's what we use to keep our hair perfect." he explained. "well, usually you have a servant doing it for you, but..." the boy hesitated. "...considering that you shouldn't be there, i don't want a servant risking to tell the queen about dressing you up here, you know?"

donghyuck could only nod, approving mark's words. being busted and having the queen knowing who he really was had to be the last thing he wanted.

"so... are you going to do it for me?" donghyuck asked innocently.

mark blinks a few times, his eyes diverting from the peasant to the pot of clay in his hand before going back up to donghyuck. he gulped before letting his lips curve up in a small smile. "i-i guess so..."

and well, it had to be one of the first times in ages so much laugher echoed within the palace's walls.

♕

working at a restaurant surely was stressful, ensuring that everything was ready on time, that the food was good, and that every customer left the place with a full stomach and a smile on their face. it wasn't easy every day, that's for sure, and you needed to have some kind of immunity to stress and anxiety when working in such a place. honestly, donghyuck was doing a pretty good job managing his stress and being a good worker at the restaurant. but oh well, the level of stress that working at the restaurant provided was nothing close to the level of stress that he currently had on his shoulders, while having dinner with the queen of the kingdom the lands of which he lived on.

"so, donghyuck." the tone the queen used was icy, and if donghyuck's body wasn't already frozen in its spot before, it surely was now that the royal had brought all of the attention on him. "how is the weather in lumen these days."

"mother." mark spoke rather sternly before donghyuck could think of a lie – how the hell could he even know what the weather was like in lumen? "there's no need to pretend like you like lumen. we all know you don't. so why would you even care about the weather there?"

the queen let out a small huff, reaching over the table for her glass of wine before taking a sip.

"you're right. i'm indifferent about anything coming from lumen." she explained. "it is a pity that you have to be the nephew of such a stuck-up king. at least, you have the chance not to live here permanently and to come from the southern kingdoms."

donghyuck gulped at her words, nodding slowly as he tried to keep his back as straight as possible despite the fact he wanted to disappear.

"which makes me realise...'" the queen squinted her eyes. "why are you wearing lumen robes? you should have come in your southern attire."

the peasant flashed mark a distressed stare before focusing back on the queen, his thoughts gathering at a thousand miles per hour to come up with a decent answer.

"m-my uncle prefers when i wear lumen attire when staying at his palace." donghyuck explained, trying his best to keep his voice steady and mask his nervousness.

the queen let out another huff. "not surprising. the lumen king has always had this need to feel like everything belonged to him."

donghyuck didn't argue. what could he even say back to that? he had no idea who the lumen king was, or how he was. he was aware that the queen was supposedly insulting his 'uncle' but how could he defend someone that he didn't even know without giving away that this was all a big masquerade?

"does he still wear his black crown everywhere?" the queen then questioned, seemingly curious by the king's antics. "it's so ugly and stupid. sure, it fits better with lumen attire, but what's the point of having a gold crown forged if to turn it black? i'm sure it's not even a gold crown. he must have not been able to afford himself such a thing and decided on making a crown in a black material that didn't cost him too much."

as the queen ranted about the lumen king, donghyuck could only send mark a distressed stare, not exactly knowing what to say or how to react to all of that. thankfully, it seemed like mark understood his worries, reaching for the small bell in front of him to shake it and request the servants to enter the dining room with their food.

the queen stopped babbling as the doors of the room opened, revealing a few servants carrying plates towards the table. they placed the plated in front of each of them and removed the cover before turning on their heels and leaving the three royals – well, two royals and one peasant – alone again.

"the chef always knows how to make me happy." the queen declared, staring at her plate of food, the previous topic having completely disappeared from her mind. "you're welcomed to dig in."

donghyuck heaved out a sigh as he looked down at his plate, lifting his hand to reach for the fork by the side of his plate, only to freeze in place again when he realised that there were not one but three different forks of lightly different shapes and sizes by his plate.

he glanced at the queen who already had her fork in hand, not allowing him to decipher which one she was using, thus resulting in facing mark for help.

the royal flashed him a small smile, his fork in hand as well, obviously not perceiving donghyuck issue with the cutlery. the peasant blinked a few times at mark, hoping that he would understand, but to no avail. it seemed like the hours of dining etiquette that he had had made him believe that it was common sense to know which fork to use in which situation.

"are you not hungry, donghyuck?"

the peasant's head snapped towards the queen who had just talked to him. "o-oh, i am!" he replied hastily, lifting his trembling hand to reach for a for, once again hesitating on which one to take. his hand ended up reaching for the one placed directly next to his plate, hoping that he would make the right choice.

before his fingers could clasp around the metal of the instrument, donghyuck's shin was kicked from under the table, making him divert his attention to mark who had been the one to initiate this action.

a small shake of head from the royal was enough for donghyuck to understand that he was reaching for the wrong fork, making him move his hand slightly over the second fork. this earned him another kick, allowing him to move his hand one last time and to grab it when mark's foot didn't come in contact with his shin again.

"do you not know how about diner etiquette?" the queen asked him, making donghyuck realise that accepting a diner with the queen of his realm had to be the worst idea he ever had.

"w-well..." he stuttered. "o-our dinners aren't as formal in the south."

"oh..." the queen looked at him with furrowed brows, making donghyuck hope with all of his heart that she had no idea how things went on in the southern kingdoms – not that he knew, but at least it would help him with his lie. "it is true that the southern kingdoms have always been a bit more laxist that we have."she simply added, allowing donghyuck to breathe again and finally take a bit of the food.

there was a very short silence before the queen started speaking again.

"i cannot understand how a realm could decide to drop diner etiquette principles though." she argued, seemingly not in accordance with what happened in other realms. "it is one of the most important things that allows us royals to get differentiated from the poor peasants we have on our lands. not having diner etiquette would me we could have peasants at our royal table without it making any difference. that's awful."

donghyuck definitely didn't expect the conversation to take this unexpected turn, the harsh words from the queen of aes making him choke on what he was previously munching.

mark's eyes widened as well at his mothers' words, knowing for a fact that a peasant was currently at their royal table, and that the hurtful words of his mother couldn't do him much good.

"mother." mark tried interrupting her.

"can you imagine, mark?" the queen looked at her son. "having a peasant at our royal table? this in unimaginable. i wouldn't even want them to be standing around the table, acting as our servants. i mean, i guess they couldn't even be servants, they wouldn't be able to keep themselves from eating the food served for us, or they would end up making it filthy because of how dirty and- "

"mother!" mark raised his voice, his fist hitting the table at the same time for more impact.

the queen frowned, looking at her son in the eye and not understanding his sudden interjection. her eyes then diverted to donghyuck whose head had lowered in shame, being the person directly hit by her words.

"what?" she asked her son with a frown. "don't tell me you let peasants share dinner with you in the south?" she now turned towards donghyuck who was trying his best not to get affected by her words. "god, i couldn't even imagine that happening!"

donghyuck shared a quick look with mark, his heart aching at the pitiful eyes mark was giving him. nevertheless, he nodded at the royal, making him understand that it was okay, and that he could endure her harsh words.

and good for him, because it was only the start of a long monologue...

"i don't know about the southern kingdoms, but here, peasants are not what we are proud about." the queen stated, swirling the wine in her glass before taking a sip. "sure, they are loyal. i mean, we didn't exactly give them a choice, but anyway. we provide them food and necessities a few times a month to ensure that they keep liking us, knowing that we are what is best for them and so that they don't think about rebelling against us. but that's the only reason. if only we could be powerful enough without them, we wouldn't even have them here, they're useless. i tried visiting a village a few years ago, and they live in such filth! it's horrific." she huffed. "i feel ashamed to know that this is what they call aes. aes is much more beautiful than these rotten lands on which they all live like animals in unrecommendable conditions. this is truly pitiful and i'd rather have them all dead than- "

"mother! what are you saying?!" mark's voice was loud, accompanied with the screeching of his chair as he stood up abruptly to tower over the table.

"i'm saying the truth! that's all!"

"you cannot say such things!"

"of course, i can!"

donghyuck didn't even hear the next words that were being said. actually, he wasn't sure he had been able to hear her previous words either, his brain completely shutting off at the first insults she had shot at his people. he was still physically there, staring at the mother and the son screaming at each other with his back straight, eventually taking a bit of his food despite the feeling of nausea that had taken over his chest and the ringing in his ears that kept repeating his father's words: 'watch how awful they are to us. and perhaps then you'll understand why we need to get rid of them'.

♕

the two boys were utterly silent as they walked side by side towards the back door of the palace that donghyuck knew so well. the peasant was back in his regular clothes, the lumen robes long forgotten at the back of mark's closet, hidden so that no one would be able to find them.

the atmosphere was tense, and although the dinner had started off and finished well, the hurtful conversation that had occurred at some point had somehow broken something.

"i-i'm so sorry about everything my mother said, i..." mark broke the silence as the back door came into view, not exactly knowing what to say to make donghyuck believe that it wasn't true when he perfectly know that this was what his mother thought of the peasants living on their land – precisely, people like donghyuck.

"you don't have to be sorry." donghyuck answered simply, his eyes not meeting mark's and his voice emotionless. "that's just the way things are."

"it isn't. i can assure you it isn't." mark was quick to say, stopping in his tracks and holding onto donghyuck's arm.

the tanned male looked down at the royal's hand before using his own hand to detach it from where it was. "don't touch me, you might get infected by my filth." he simply said before continuing to walk towards the back door and pushing it open.

the words weren't spat at mark or said with any ounce of hatred in them. they were just stated, as if it was a mere statement, something that everybody knew about and that was inevitable. because it surely was true. peasants were filthy, and they caused problems for royals, they were better off dead anyway, and then, the royals would be able to live a peaceful life without needing to fear a coup d'état.

"i don't believe any of my mother's words." mark insisted, rushing to donghyuck's side and holding his arm again to prevent him from walking out of the castle. "i don't think like her."

"it's okay, mark. it's okay if you do." donghyuck sighed. "that's just the way things are." he repeated that sentence again.

mark was somehow getting tired of it; the way donghyuck always resolved every argument with those words. that's just the way things are. he hated those words. what if he didn't want things to be like that? what if he wanted to change them?

"it's not the way things have to keep being like." mark assured, looking deep into donghyuck's orbs. they had lost their curious glistening, the flicker of amazement that they had as the peasant discovered the royal world for the first time. instead, they seemed empty, void of any emotion. mark hated to see that look on donghyuck, loving so much more when he could read him though his eyes.

"goodbye mark." donghyuck answered after long seconds.

"g-goodbye...?" mark repeated, sounding more like he was questioning the boy. "a-are you coming back tomorrow?"

donghyuck didn't answer to that, leaving the royal's words disappearing into thin air.

"donghyuck, please. tell me you'll be coming back tomorrow."

the tanned male sighed. "i don't think i'm welcomed here."

"you are." mark insisted. "i want you here. there is nothing more that i want than you here, in the palace."

mark's words were heavy, and donghyuck could have mistaken them for a sudden confession. they held so much pain, as if the fact that donghyuck might not come back hurt mark deep to his core. as if mark truly cared about donghyuck and was indifferent of the fact he was a peasant, one of those rotten creatures that royals wanted to get rid of.

the royal heaved out a sigh. "i understand that you might not want to come tomorrow. or the day after tomorrow. but please, at some point, come back to me, i want you here, donghyuck."

the tanned male stayed silent at those words, his eyes finally gathering the slightest bit of emotions as they became slightly watery. 

"i'll be waiting at this door, every day after lunch." mark spoke, his hand that was previously attached to donghyuck's arm sliding down all the way to his hand, allowing him to intertwine their fingers for a second before letting go. "i'll be waiting for when you'll be ready to come back to me."

for the first time since they had been alone, donghyuck's lips curved up in a smile. it wasn't as bright as his smiles used to be, but it was enough to give mark hope, to tell him that donghyuck might come back.

his lips still curved upwards, donghyuck leaned forward, his eyes fluttering close lightly as he placed a chaste peck on mark's cheek, right next to the corner of his lips.

"i promise you i'll be back."

and that being said, the peasant turned around and left things the way they should be.

royals in their palace, and peasants in their filthy lands.

♕

"has donghyuck's carriage left for lumen?" the queen asked one of the guards that was standing close to the palace's entrance.

the guard immediately bowed. "the carriage should have left, your majesty." he replied. "however, i never caught a glimpse of his carriage arriving and- "

"the carriage has left for lumen a dozen minutes ago, your majesty." a second guard stated, catching the attention of the queen and the other guard. "it should be reaching the border of aes in a bit less than an hour."

the royal guard that was previously speaking frowned, looking at the other guard surprisingly considering he was the one on duty next to the entrance and not the other. however, since the queen seemed more interested by the second guard, he shrugged it off and went back in his position, back straight and hawk eyes ensuring that no one trespassed the royal property.

the queen flashed the other guard a small smile. "thank you." she said simply before heading back to her own quarters.