d-day of the execution

kneeling on the wooden stage in front of countless people, the new king of aes – and his lover – standing behind with a sword in hand, donghyuck held his breath.

he knew that this was all for show and that it would be all over in a few minutes, but still, he couldn't imagine what he'd do if mark decided to betray him and not let go of the blade, or if he just missed his shot and ended up touching donghyuck with the blade.

the whole thing they had planned was spectacular and supposed to slap the crowd in the face, and to show them the new bases on which mark wanted to build the new kingdom. once again, it was all for show, but still, donghyuck couldn't fully erase from his thoughts the slim chance that this wouldn't be his last day on this planet. mark, mujin and him were the only one aware of this mascarade, and even though the royal guard was standing a few feet away from donghyuck, it wouldn't be too hard for mark to get rid of both of them if he wanted to.

with all these thoughts bubbling inside his mind, donghyuck couldn't feel more relieved when the silence was broken by the sound of mark's sword falling to the ground. in the end, the royal hadn't missed his shot or chosen to get rid of donghyuck. he had been true to his word and let the sword fall to the floor before it could harm his lover.

when the palm of a hand appeared in donghyuck's peripheral vision, the tanned male understood that it was time for him to stand up by mark's side. the peasant, despite having his arms tied together, tried reaching for mark's hand, allowing the royal to wrap his fingers around his lover's bicep and help him up.

"y-your marjetsy...?" one of the guards surrounding donghyuck stuttered out.

"untie him." the royal simply replied.

the guard could only blink in shock, not daring to move. seeing this, mujin approached donghyuck and was the one to set his hands free in an instant.

in the meantime, chatter had started erupting across the crowd, people asking themselves what was happening and wondering what to do next.

"my people..." mark spoke loud and clear, causing the crowd to stop chattering and to focus on the royal. "as i previously said, today marks a new beginning for our kingdom. and this new beginning goes with the cease of all those repressive practices that my ancestors have set in place and encouraged."

the new king of aes was met with a deafening silence at those words. the whole crowd looked at him with wide eyes, the guards frozen on their spots as their eyes diverted between the royal and the peasant who was supposed to be assassinated.

"i want my kingdom to be a place that everybody can call a home. a place where they feel free and do not fear to be reprimanded for what they might do. a place where they can be themselves without risking to be put in a box with a discriminative label." the royal continued speaking, captivating all of the attention of the audience. "from now on, aes will be a land of freedom, and inhabitants of our land will be proud to say they are from here."

the king marked a paused, eyes travelling across his people. they all seemed completely lost, most likely not knowing whether to rejoice themselves at mark's words, or to start thinking about running away before being locked in aes forever.

it was always like that with royals. at first, they were all open and positive, taking into consideration what the people wanted and feigning freedom. and then, as soon as the people became too comfortable with this, they tightened the screws of the metaphorical collars they put on each person, strangling them until the flow of air was barely enough for them to survive. and good peasants had the right to get their screws released a bit, letting more air into their lungs, but bad ones were strangled further, until it became hard for them to even have the vital necessary.

as beautiful as mark's words were right now, the people of aes couldn't exactly rejoice themselves of it. they couldn't be sure that these were genuine words, and not just things blabbered to make it seem like things would change.

peasants could never be sure of what royals said, this was one of the first things to keep in mind when growing up on the lands of a kingdom.

"i am aware of your scepticism. i can see in your eyes that, just like my predecessors, you think that these words are void of any meaning, simply spat at you for the sake of my reputation, and that i will go back on in less than a year." mark explained, a small smile creeping up on his face as he spoke. "and this is normal, i can't expect you to react in any other way when i say such things. you've been conditioned to hearing beautiful promises, only for them to be broken the second you were granted something. but today, i hope i will be able to make you realise that for once, it would be right for you to put your trust in me. i hope i will be able to make you put your trust in us more."

a few steps behind the king, mark's mother stood, back straight and brows in a frown as she stared at her son curiously.

just like the royal guards, she had considerably tensed the second mark's sword had fallen to the floor and when he had helped donghyuck up, asking for the guards to free him. of course, she was completely unaware of what was going on in the two boys' minds and what they had planned for this particular day.

the past regent queen's shoulders had relaxed as mark has started speaking again, addressing to the audience as a charismatic and confident leader that was ready to lead a kingdom. she knew exactly what was happening – or at least, she thought she did – mark was appearing open and presenting himself as an actor for a major change compared to the past, only to abandon this idea in a few months. it was always like that, anyway, his mother knew it perfectly, and she had lived it multiple times throughout her life.

right now, she could see mark would be an amazing king. he had understood exactly what his people wanted, and he was giving it to them so perfectly. the show he was unfolding right now was in a good path to be memorable and to make his reign iconic. plus, his young age helped him a lot, inciting the people to trust him more easily, and to be ready to accept things that went further.

oh, how much her son had grown up, and how proud she was of him...

"as the king of aes, i believe that this change i am trying to set in place cannot be meaningless and thrown in the air so simply." mark continued, taking a step closer to the edge of the stage, and getting closer to his people. "the lee dynasty has been the dynasty of the silver age for decades. we have ruled the kingdom of aes under a common set of rules and principles that had been defined long ago, by my predecessors when we had taken the step from the bronze to the silver age. however, i want the changes i implement today to mark a big change. a change that will make us go from the silver age to a newer, better age where everyone is respected, valued and taken care of." he marked a pause. "i want us to salute the silver age and to embrace the golden age."

a few jaws fell open among the crowd, and although the crowd didn't erupt in a mess of enthusiastic cheers and screams, many people faced each other and whispered among themselves, trying to ensure that they had heard what they had heard.

the golden age.

it seemed to them like aes had been plunged in the silver age since forever. the lee dynasty had been ruling aes for as long as they could remember, and they had never imagined that any royal of that dynasty would put an end to it. kids living in the lands of the kingdom always learnt that it was like that, everything in aes was of bronze and silver, because the lee dynasty had taken over another dynasty and made them go from the age of bronze to the age of silver. but now, the golden age... passing from silver to gold without changing dynasty... what the hell would that mean for aes and for the people?

another person was surprised at those words, eyes widening and hand reaching her chest as she heard the king's words. mark's mother stared at her son's back; mouth slightly agape as she realised the implication of her son's words.

in fact, mark was going way further than she thought in his promises. he was much more ready to become a king than she had expected him to be. and this was a very pleasant surprise for her.

instead of just throwing void promises in the air, mark was pretending to create true changes, and this came with the passage from the silver to the golden age. the silver age was the age of the lee dynasty, and everybody knew that as long as they were in the silver age, nothing would change, or at least, not consequently. but mark was very brave and intelligent. mark was using the change of age as a way to show that he was implementing a change – a change that wouldn't last, sure, they never did – and he had planned this for a while now.

the previous queen had wondered for long why mark had insisted for everything to be golden during mark's coronation. she hadn't understood at first why the boy would deny the bases of their dynasty, why he was ready to abandon silver, their roots, for gold. but now, she understood. gold was their future, the path on which mark wanted to go, and he had planned this for a while.

"my people, i know you must be lost and wondering what is happening." the king spoke again as the chattering among the crowd became more important. "but i will explain to you what made me decide to do this."

the crowd looked up at the royal expectantly, the previously closed faces of the crowd slowly melting into something softer and warmer, as if their façades were falling and showing the real hearts the peasants living on the lands of aes had hidden behind strong stone walls to brave the harshness of life.

mark's mother's eyes softened as well, looking forward to her son's next words – mostly something farfetched that would seduce the crowd and completely lull them into a trap, to the point they would believe mark with all of their heart, and become perfect pawns to the royals' games. it was always like that.

"what happened, my people, is that i decided to lead these changes for a very simple reason." the royal stopped talking for a second, his eyes glancing to his left where donghyuck was standing straight, hands untied by mujin's side. "i fell in love..." the king sighed. "...i fell in love with lee donghyuck, the person you can see just there."

gasps erupted from the audience, and this time, the chattering among people was much louder than it had previously been. the ex-queen also let out a strangled noise at her son's words, almost choking on her spit at the bomb mark had suddenly dropped. this was far from being planned, but mark had shown perspicacity and great leadership skills, so he could still be doing something strategic.

"what you have to know, my people, is that this person, lee donghyuck, is responsible for my father's death. he is responsible for the previous king's disappearance, for my mother's regency, and now, for my early coronation." mark explained, making the crowd shut up again. "he turned his back on our kingdom and did the most awful thing that one could do, and so, justice begs us to punish him and execute him on the public place. but this will not happen."

she blinked once, twice, and a third time just to be sure she had heard right.

mark's mother stood frozen on the back of the stage, eyes diverting between the assassin of her husband and her son, not understanding anything about what was happening.

mark had to be joking. or at least, he had to have something in mind. it was not possible nor thinkable any other way.

"through his words and his actions, donghyuck showed me, the new king of aes, that this wasn't who he was and that this wasn't truly his doing. in fact, the real culprit of this has already been punished, and donghyuck is now freed of the burden that had been weighing on his shoulders because of this." mark continued speaking, eyes meeting donghyuck's every now and then, and smiling shyly at the tanned male's shyness. donghyuck was not used to having that much attention, but standing on the stage, by the side of a king, and in front of people from the whole kingdom was even worse that any type of attention he had already received in his life. "as i said, donghyuck has showed me that he was someone trustful and loyal, who didn't doubt me, and who would be ready to follow me blindly if necessary. that is why today, i decided to cancel his execution on the public place, and to ask him officially to stay by my side, not just as a boyfriend, but as the first member of my court."

as the crowd let out another collective gasp, donghyuck's eyes widened considerably, the tanned male facing mark at the speed of light with a brow raised.

he mouthed a quick 'what the hell, this wasn't what we had agreed on?!' to which mark could only flash him a sly smirk and shrug, focusing back on the people.

"so please, my people, welcome the first member of my court, lord donghyuck of aes."

"NO!!"

everyone got startled by the sudden shriek of horror that broke out, all eyes diverting to the back of the stage from where it had come. people barely had the time to process when the past regent queen lunged forward, pushing one of the guards on the stage to the side and reaching for his sword.

"you deserve to die and rot in hell!" she exclaimed, rising her sword in the air with agile rapidity, and lowering it with all of her forces the second she got in front of donghyuck.

being face to face with the woman whose husband he had killed, the tanned male didn't get the time to think and step aside or think about protecting himself from the blade.

mark who had been pushed aside in the concussion as well, didn't get to reach for his own sword on the ground again to block the woman's blow.

and so, being on this stage, completely defenceless and with no one to stop the past queen, donghyuck saw all of his life flashing in front of his eyes, coming to make him revive all those amazing and unimaginable moments he had lived, from his house to the restaurant while passing by the cemetery and through the royal palace. all those times with his co-workers, his parents, and his boyfriend. it all appeared in a flash and although it seemed like it lasted a whole life, it passed in a flick of finger; just the time necessary for the blade to slide across the air and dive deep into his chest, piercing through his clothes, his skin and his organs, and leaving him bleeding his heart out in front of the people of aes.

but well, the flick of a finger seemed way longer than he had expected, considering after two seconds he couldn't feel the blade going through his body.

the tanned male opened his eyes just in time to see his vision of the queen blocked by someone. but this didn't last long as the person in front of him collapsed backwards and fell on him.

"guards! grab her!"

donghyuck barely paid attention to mark's voice or to the concussion caused by the guards all focusing on mark's mother to catch her and block her movements. instead, donghyuck wrapped his arms around his saviour's chest, helping him in his fall backwards until he had fallen seated on the wooden stage, his saviour in his arms.

donghyuck couldn't help but let out a pained gasp at the sight of the male.

"m-mujin..." he stuttered, eyes going all over his body and stopping at the blade that was still planted in his chest and that caused blood to ooze out from the wound.

a wave of warm tears flooded to donghyuck's eyes as he tried reaching for the wound with his hands, applying pressure over mujin's hands that were already circling the blade in his chest and that had started to be filled with red liquid.

"m-mujin, no! w-why did you do that?!" the tanned male cried out loud, a lump forming in his throat as his whole body started trembling.

mark knelt by their side when he had made sure the guards had his mother securely blocked, but donghyuck didn't even pay attention to it, too focused on his childhood friend that was currently emptying himself of his blood.

"i-it's my duty as a royal guard... to protect the royals and the lords..." the guard muttered barely above a whisper and wincing every other word.

"m-mujin, but, no..."

"and it's my duty as a fellow aes peasant and as a friend... to take care of you..."

the tanned male choked on a sob, his head lowering to rest against the side of mujin's face as he let his tears run down his cheeks and wet mujin's own.

and in an instant, as if a flash of hope had hit him, he lifted his head again, tear-stained eyes looking into his lover's.

"mark! we need to do something! we need to save him!" he exclaimed.

the king looked at his boyfriend with a sad gaze before diverting his eyes to the blade that was still planted in the royal guard's chest.

"i-i'm afraid it's too late, now... with how much blood he's losing, he must have been hit close to the heart, and these blows are fatal..."

donghyuck's tears doubled as these words left his lover's mouth, pulling his childhood friend impossibly closer and crying in the crook of his neck.

pained by the state his lover was in, mark made a mental note to always keep donghyuck on close watch. but for the moment, he had much more important things to do.

the king reached out towards mujin's bloody hands that were still maintaining pressure on the wound he had been inflicted. he delicately placed his hand on top of mujin's squeezing it lightly to catch the guard's attention.

mujin looked at him through half-lidded eyes, his body not having enough strength not to be slightly shaken with the violence of donghyuck's sobs.

"thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving the love of my life." mark spoke loud enough for the dying guard to hear. "you will be missed as the second member of my court, lord mujin."

the royal guard expressed his gratitude to the king of aes with a slow blink and a half smile, not being able to do much more as blood started truly lacking in his system.

and as donghyuck continued holding onto his body like a rag doll, refusing to let go and accept the fate his friend was bound to meet, mark offered him another sincere smile, allowing mujin to mutter in a last breath before letting his eyes flutter close and his body going completely limp...

"long live the king."

♕ the end ♕

so... this marks the end of long live the king

a big thank you to all of you for reading, supporting and showing so much love on this work!

and see you tomorrow for the epilogue

lots of love <3<3<3