donghyuck was in a daze, the words that had been pronounced by the future king of aes replaying in his mind an unhealthy number of times since the end of the afternoon.

come back tomorrow, after lunch. and cook for me again.

even though it was more aesthetically pleasing, their dish wasn't as good as yours.

he couldn't believe these had been actual words that had slipped past the royal's lips. but at the same time, the sole thought of being able to have a conversation with the future king of his realm in person was quite surreal. and donghyuck wasn't even sure it had truly happened. maybe he just had a lucid dream – a very realistic and amazing one.

"son?"

the tanned male's thoughts were cut short by his father's voice, causing the young male to sit up on the excuse of a mattress he used as a bed and to look over his father's own mattress, where the male was lying. "yes, dad?"

"you didn't tell me about your visit to the royal palace."

donghyuck kept his mouth shut for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say right now.

he had sneaked in the palace in hope to understand his father's words better. he had gone there to realise how awful royals were with the peasants living on their land, and why the need to get rid of them and royalty was justified.

but right now, after that afternoon spent in the royal palace in company of the future king, donghyuck couldn't fully understand his father's point of view – sure, he had been assaulted and threatened to death at first, but then, the uncrowned king had been surprisingly sympathetic and good with him.

"donghyuck? do you understand what i was telling you about them?"

the tanned male gulped, knowing that his father was determined and that nothing would ever change his mind. this fight against royals had been going on for years now, even before donghyuck was born, and there was no way it could change. the only change possible for his father was a change at the head of the kingdom, meaning getting rid of the royals, and putting at its head someone that the whole people agreed with.

"i..." the boy hesitated. "i wasn't exactly able to overhear them speaking about us..." he finally stated, not really lying.

"it's not only about listening, son." the adult sighed. "it's everything about them."

donghyuck stayed silent at those words, looking in his father's direction while waiting for an explanation. he was still young and innocent, he must have not understood things the way his father did.

"everything about them is bad, donghyuck." sangkyu stated, his voice laced with disgust and hate. "it's the way they order people, servants and guards around as if they were inferior beings. it's how they only care about appearances and won't even try approaching someone or something that isn't appealing to them. it's the way they consider they're the only people that matter and how they think everything revolves around them. it's the amount of riches they have surrounding them when we barely have enough to eat..."

those words being said, donghyuck couldn't help but think again about those few hours he had spent in the palace, those few hours that had seemed so amazing to him while they lasted, those few hours that had made him doubt his father's harsh words concerning royals. but in this very moment, processing his father's words, donghyuck feared he couldn't deny what had just been said.

royals did order other people around as if they were inferior beings. the future king had kept screaming for servants or ordering the cooks to leave the kitchen and then come back, as if they were at his mercy and were there only to listen to him.

royals did only care about appearances. mark had been so reluctant to taste his dish at first because it didn't look aesthetically pleasing, even though he later admitted that it was delicious.

royals did think everything revolved around them and that they were the only people that mattered. the uncrowned kind had immediately thought donghyuck might be a spy from another realm, gathering information on him.

and finally, royals did have countless riches surrounding them, so many that they didn't even care about them anymore. and yet, the peasants living on their land were forced to work hard to afford the bare minimum to survive.

so, yes, donghyuck may not have realised it at first, but now that his father had opened his eyes again, he couldn't seem to get it out of his mind.

"do you understand, donghyuck?" sangkyu asked again, still lying on his mattress as his son looked in his direction, caught in some sort of daze.

"yes, dad." the younger answered almost robotically.

"they are bad and they need to be abolished. otherwise, their selfishness will be the death of us."

donghyuck couldn't really disagree about that.

the conditions the peasants of aes lived in still seemed liveable, but it was only a matter of time before the royals decided that their existence was a threat to their grand realm, and that they needed to get rid of all of them.  this was what donghyuck had heard over and over again as he had grown, and even though he never had truly understood the reason of those words, his visit at the royal palace and his father's eye-opening words had somehow helped him understanding better now.

"what can we do, then?" donghyuck asked, his voice barely above a whisper as his heart thumped in his chest rapidly.

"we need to prepare to overtake them." sangkyu explained.

"but how?" donghyuck questioned.

"well..." the adult paused for a second. "i don't exactly know yet. but we'll eventually need to get inside the castle walls and take action."

the tanned male stayed silent for a few more seconds, unconsciously replaying the future king's words from a while ago.

"dad?" the boy broke the silence again.

"mmh?" the adult hummed, waiting for his son's next words.

"do you think i could... go back to the royal palace again tomorrow?" donghyuck asked. "i could help you find a way."

and donghyuck couldn't be happier when his father encouraged him to do so.

plus, he had a reason to be in there because of the future king's invite. so, things couldn't be better for him.

♕

the future ruler of aes sat outside the castle walls, leaning against the back door through which he had let the peasant go out of the castle the previous day. lunch had been served around an hour ago, and now, mark had been sitting there, waiting for the other male to arrive expectantly.

this was so unfamiliar for him; waiting.

never in his whole life mark ever had to wait. he was a royal, he could have anything he wanted – as unimaginable as it may be – in a snap of fingers.  he just had to speak up, ask for a servant, and anything he wished would be brought to him as soon as possible.

and yet, here he was, his foot tapping against the floor in impatience as he held himself from calling a servant to bring him the younger male. there was no point in asking a servant to make the tanned male come anyway.

"y-your highness?" a voice disturbed the royal who was close from losing his mind from waiting for so long, making him jump to his feet in happiness at the idea of finally meeting the other male. however, he couldn't help but frown as he realised what he had been called.

"i thought i had told you to call me- "

mark stopped himself mid-sentence when his eyes fell on a young black-haired male dressed in silvery clothes resembling an armour. and he may had encountered the peasant only once, he could remember that he looked nothing like him.

"o-oh..." the future king stuttered, rubbing his nape before sitting back down against the back door.

"your highness, what are you doing here?" the royal guard asked, looking at the young king suspiciously.

"well, just enjoying the landscape, you know?" mark answered with a sheepish smile, gesturing his hand towards the beautiful view of the aes lands he had from there, lands full of fields and villages that spread until the horizon. "what are you doing here?" he then questioned, raising a brow at the guard, wondering why he would be using the back door.

"i was informed that an intruder was roaming around, so i came to check." the guard explained simply, causing mark's eyes to widen slightly – could donghyuck be that intruder?

"and? did you find anything?"

"no, your highness." the guard explained with a small bow. "i will be reporting this to my superiors."

"alright, you can go." the future king nodded, earning another bow from the guard who then walked back inside the castle through the backdoor mark was leaning on.

the second the royal guard was out of sight, the future king of aes jumped to his feet again, looking around him quickly before walking towards the back of the castle.

he checked his surroundings carefully, trying his best to stay hidden behind the trees and bushes that had grown around so that he didn't get caught by anyone who might be looking through the windows.

"donghyuck?!" the royal whisper-shouted, his head popping up from behind a bush before he gasped and ducked down again when he caught a glimpse of a someone standing there – surely a royal guard on patrol.

having still no idea where the peasant might be and guards being warned of an intrusion, the future king couldn't help but stress, thinking that maybe, this 'intrusion alert' had been declared because of the tanned male. and well, the fate of intruders in the castle of aes meant nothing good for them – imprisonment and if judged necessary, death penalty. so, mark better find the tanned male before he ended up locked up in a cell as a public enemy for ever.

in his distress, mark was surprised by a gentle pat on his shoulder, making him turn around slowly while staying in a crouched position behind the bush.

"hello." the tanned male greeted him with a small bow and a radiant smile.

but well, mark couldn't even appreciate that beautiful smile as he immediately grabbed the younger's wrist before pulling him down so that he was crouching by his side.

"donghyuck! what are you doing?!" the future king whisper-shouted. "the guards have been warned of an intrusion, and they are patrolling right now. there's one just there!"

"a guard just there?" the tanned male repeated before standing up again and looking in the direction of the person mark had caught a glimpse of a while ago.

"donghyuck! are you stupid! just come down again!" the royal exclaimed, trying to pull the younger down again, but instead, the boy resisted his grip and stayed up.

mark thought he was about to have a heart-attack when he saw the peasant lifting his hand to wave it at the patrolling guard.

"what the hell are you doing?!" he asked again with wide eyes, standing up as well and grabbing donghyuck arm to prevent him from waving further. and once he was sure donghyuck wouldn't be bringing the attention on them again, he faced the guard – or well, what he thought was a royal guard.

"huh?" he let out surprisingly, blinking in confusion at the sight of a male holding a shovel.

"that's myunghae. he comes from the same village as me." donghyuck explained.

"and what is he doing here?" the royal then questioned with a frown.

"a few people can take part in gardening activities around the castle once a month to get a monetary compensation." the tanned male explained, referring to the program the queen of aes had set in place a few years prior. "how can you not be aware of that?"

"i am not yet included in all of the royal meetings and stuff." the future king mumbled, feeling quite ashamed that he barely knew what was going on in his kingdom.

a small silence took over them, mark keeping his eyes on the peasant donghyuck was familiar with as he went back to his gardening works. just like for donghyuck, his skin was tanned and his clothes worn out, and he could see lots of small scars littering the male's forearms and hands, a sign that his hands were put at use quite often.

the royal was cut in his observing by a small chuckle coming from his side. he immediately faced donghyuck who was looking at him with a charming smile.

"your- "

"don't even dare calling me 'your highness'." the royal cut donghyuck's sentence before he could fully speak. he didn't exactly know why, but he didn't want the younger male to put that much distance between the two of them, and to make them feel like they truly were from two different worlds. mark just wanted someone his age to hang around, and he couldn't expect them to call him formally.

"i know, you want me to call you 'mark'." the brunette raised a brow. "i remember you asking me yesterday."

the royal could only nod at that, happy that donghyuck recalled his words.

"i was just about to say that your hair looks funny." the tanned male then pointed out, his hand reaching for the future king's head.

mark looked up, his eyes following donghyuck's hand as it ruffled his raven hair, causing small leaves and branches to fall from there, surely those he had collected while crawling around the bushes, thinking he was surrounded by royal guards.

"here. no more vegetation in your hair." the tanned male then informed; flashing mark a smile as he retreated his hand.

the royal couldn't help but stare at the peasant, his own lips unconsciously curving up in happiness. it felt nice to have someone treating him so carelessly and casually when he had been used to being pampered and treated royally.

since the royal seemed lost in a daze – one that had him staring quite intensely at the tanned male – donghyuck decided to clear his throat, looking away in hope that mark wouldn't notice his slightly flushed cheeks – he wasn't used to receiving that much attention, let alone from a member of the royal family.

"so..." he spoke again. "didn't you want me to cook something?"

"oh, yes!" the royal male was awoken from his daze. "let's head directly to the kitchen." he declared before grabbing the hem of donghyuck's sleeve and pulling the younger male with him inside the castle through the back door.

and well, even though donghyuck had come to the castle for a specific reason – using mark's invite as a way to sneak inside the royal palace and try to find a way to take action and end royalty like his father had taught him – in this very moment, as he was dragged by the hand across the castle's corridors, a very excited prince in front of him, donghyuck couldn't help but let his mind forget why he was really here in the first place.