"gentlemen." the monarch stated, back straight on his chair and chin high in the air as he looked at the dozen men sitting around the table. "a year has passed since the decision to create a more open and fair court was taken. a year full of challenges and success, one that i want us to look back on today to learn from our mistakes and improve for next year."

effectively, a full yer had passed since mark's public speech on that wooden stage, since his act of freeing his lover from his chains and of voicing out his love for him in front of the whole kingdom, since his decision to get his mother locked up in a cell for trying to get rid of the love of his life, and since his vow of creation of a fair court that represented aes as it should.

a year prior, mark had proclaimed the beginning of the golden age, an age in which everyone would be valued and taken into account, and mark hadn't wasted much time for that.

in a few days, mark had elections conducted into the major villages of aes, deciding to let the people decide on some representants for each of them, for one among them to come to the royal palace and defend the interests of their village.

mark had decided to nominate these people as members of his court, the people with whom he would be taking decision and who would be guiding him in his ruling of the country.

as promised, the golden age was the start of something new, and for most, better.

mark abolished the marking of children with red iron on the inside of their wrist, feeling his heart tearing apart each time he saw it imprinted on his lover's skin and recalled what it meant.

he also made sure to set in place more tasks and jobs that people leaving on the lands of aes could take part in for monetary compensation. that, and providing them with more crops and food supplies to ensure that his people wasn't starving while he could eat as much as he wanted.

considering the fields and farms in aes weren't as productive all the way throughout the year, mark also took the initiative to build strategic partnerships with other nearby kingdoms, finding a way to provide food to his people even when aes wasn't as productive as desired.

all in all, mark had globally changed the way the whole kingdom was managed, and after a year, it seemed that it was for the better.

"the relationships with the kingdom of lumen seem to be less tense, your majesty. lord jihun is currently over there and has been sending us letters to confirm that the king of lumen was willing to cooperate." one of the lords around the table explained. he was one that was already part of mark's mother's court when she was taking over mark's regency. considering how efficient he had been as the one dealing with the armed forces, mark had decided to make him a part of his court as well, despite fearing rejection when he had announced that people from the lands of aes would also be part of the court. the lord sure was sceptical at first, but he got used to it very quickly and never dared arguing against the king's orders.

"very good." the king could only nod. "i will program a visit to his palace a few months from now, just the time for us to fully plan the agreement that we have been discussing about." he continued, making the lord nod. "anything else?"

mark let his eyes wander across the table, passing quickly over the people that had already spoken, and taking a bit more time to let those who hadn't spoken speak up their mind.

"lord myunghae?" the royal stated, rising a brow as his eyes fell on the man that used to be an anti-royalist. "anything more to say about the finances?" he continued, bringing back a topic that had been covered previously.

the former anti-royalist looked right back into the king's eyes, his lips curving up un a small smile. "nothing, your majesty." he replied with a nod. "lord dongsik's overview of our financial state was very complete, and i have nothing to ad."

mark could only smile at those words, offering the man a warm smile in return.

after he had taken the initiative to make people from the lands join the court, mark already had in mind the idea to make myunghae join his court. donghyuck had warned him that just like his father, myunghae was an anti-royalist, fighting for the death of monarchy and the creation of a freer state, and it was a risky bet for mark, but he knew that it was a choice he had to take.

considering his own son had sacrificed himself to save royalty, mark believed that asking his father to be part of the leading group that would help implement changes in the kingdom could perhaps make him change his mind. sure, he wouldn't be knowing the end of royalty, because mark was still king of a kingdom, but he would be knowing the golden age, an age in which royals weren't the only ones making a decision anymore, an age in which everyone could have something to say.

and well, mark had done well to propose this to the guard's father. myunghae was now assisting lord dongsik in managing the kingdom's finances and he was doing his job remarkably well.

the king of aes continued looking around the table, pushing the different lords to speak up and give their opinions until his eyes fell on the lord by his side, the last one to take his turn to speak.

donghyuck was elegantly seated on the chair in a beautiful white and golden gown, one leg crossed over the other and his hands folded over the table. his hair had been pulled back to prevent them from blocking his view during such an important meeting.

having been assigned to help the management of crops, plantations and farms across the kingdom, donghyuck was speaking of the recent alliances they had created with other kingdoms, surely giving insights on how useful this was and how much of a good idea it had been.

honestly, at that point, mark couldn't even care less what the tanned male was saying, too engrossed in looking at his boyfriend from head to toe to bother paying attention to his duty as a king. he must admit, asking donghyuck to become the 1st lord of his court, and the boy accepting, had been perhaps the best decision he had taken. donghyuck was doing an amazing job, and his protection was ensured by royal guards every time mark wasn't by his side. on the paper, it was a very good decision, but well, considering how distracted he had mark each single time he spoke or just walked around – to be honest, he could be staying still and mark would be distracted – the king of aes sometimes wondered if it wasn't better for the sake of his kingdom to make donghyuck go from the rank of 'lord' to the rank of 'queen'...

"your majesty?"

"huh?" the royal blinked, lifting his head to look in the direction of the voice that had called him. see, once again he was thinking about his boyfriend so much that he hadn't even realised he had finished talking and that mark was now expected to speak.

"do you have anything to ad? or do you believe we could close this meeting there?" one of the lords questioned.

"well..." the royal looked around, meeting eyes with a few members of his court. "i guess that if no one has any inquiry or doubt, we could close the meeting here."

"if i may, your majesty..." another lord spoke up, catching the king's attention. "i have a question."

"sure. please ask." mark nodded, inviting the other to speak up.

"i was just wondering, your majesty, why are we having this meeting in here...?"

at those words, a silence took over the room, all the courtesans pausing to look at their surroundings. effectively, one of the massive tables from an office inside the palace had been moved around and brough in the middle of the chapel in which mark's ancestors has been buried, the same place the king came regularly while he was mourning for his father.

"we are here because, as an honourable member of my court, i wanted lord mujin to take part in this important meeting, one full year after he sacrificed his life to allow us the peace and prosperity we currently know." the king explained, eyes diverting towards one of the tombs across the room, and precisely the one in which mark had ordered mujin to be placed in, lost in the middle of past monarchs, as if he had had the same importance as them in his life span.

people would have argued about this a few years ago, a peasant in the middle of sacred royals. but not anymore, not under the golden age.

♕

standing in front of the length mirror into mark's room, donghyuck carefully untangled the golden jewels that his body had been covered on by servants before the meeting with mark's court. bracelets, necklaces, hair jewels... as much as they used to be foreign to him, each piece of jewellery being worth more than his previous house, donghyuck had gotten used to these in the past year he had spent close to mark at the royal palace.

he removed them all except those that were worth everything for him and that he never removed. first, his and his mother's bracelets that mark had ordered to shorten so that they didn't fall from his wrists anymore and that donghyuck wore on a wrist for one, and on the ankle for the other, and second, a necklace that mark had gifted him, made from the remaining chains of the bracelets that had been shortened and other golden links that mark had chosen.

these three pieces, he always wore them, feeling too bare when he had to remove them.

and once donghyuck had placed all of the pieces of jewellery in their boxes on mark's cupboard, he untangled the ties of his white and golden robes, letting them slip away from his shoulders and allowing him to step out from them and place them with care on the backrest of the chair that was nearby.

as he did so, donghyuck glanced through the mirror at his lover who was seated on the bed behind him, only to find mark's reflection looking right back at him.

"you're drooling." the tanned male muttered, a shy blush creeping up on his cheeks as he said that.

"how could i not?" mark's eyes diverted from donghyuck's barely covered body to his face as he turned around. while mark still hadn't undressed from his official clothes, the younger boy was now left in nothing but his undergarments.

"you're silly..." donghyuck could only shake his head at those words, taking a few steps closer to his boyfriend who was making grabby hands at him.

donghyuck stood in between mark's open legs as the royal was still seated on his bed, and mark's hands were quick to find their place around the dip of donghyuck's waist, a few of his fingers creeping inside the hem of the other's underwear teasingly.

"i don't know how you can still be so tanned after one year in the palace..." the king declared, pulling his boyfriend closer to drop a peck on his skin – it ended up on his bare collarbone, because it was what he could reach from where he was seated.

"i still go out to my village." the tanned male snorted, placing his arms around mark's shoulders. "i don't stay locked between the palace's walls."

"that's good." mark hummed. "i love your tan. it's one of the things that intrigued me the most when i saw you for the first time."

donghyuck chuckled at those words, letting himself melt under mark's hands that were caressing his sides with a gentleness that could make anyone swoon.

"i remember us fighting on this very bed, because you were trying to kill me." mark broke the silence motioning towards the bed he was seated on. "you didn't even know who i was at that time."

"how could i?" donghyuck rolled his eyes. "you had never made any public appearance."

"and with a face like mine, you couldn't imagine i could become a king?" the royal raised a teasing brow.

donghyuck smirked at that, his arms that were around mark's neck pulling back slightly so that he could push the royal back on the bed with a lot of force, allowing him then to jump on top of him and pin his boyfriend to the bed.

mark debated weakly, shifting around with not much conviction and letting donghyuck straddle him and place his elbow at mark's neck, close enough that if he pressed on his throat, he could strangle him.

"things changed though, i can totally beat you now." the tanned male said sassily, looking down at his boyfriend with a proud smile.

"sure thing." mark hummed.

"you don't belive- ah!"

and before donghyuck could finish his sentence, mark had pushed donghyuck's elbow to the side, making the tanned male loose his balance and allowing the king to shift their positions so that donghyuck was lying on the bed, and mark on top of him, both of donghyuck's arms secured under his body, and mark's own elbow threatening to restrict the flow of air from donghyuck's lungs.

"so? what do you say?" the royal raised a teasing brow at his boyfriend.

donghyuck feigned annoyance at that. "what?" he tsked. "long live the king?"

"i prefer long live my queen though." mark answered.

"i could live longer if you didn't threaten to kill me, that's for sure." donghyuck replied sassily, a smirk creeping up to his face.

mark could only chuckle at those words, relaxing his body and letting himself fall on top of donghyuck to wrap him in a loving embrace.

"thank you for being there for me, sunshine. thank you for making me take the right decisions and for making me the great king i am today." the royal spoke sincerely, his hand caressing the side of donghyuck's face.

"i did nothing but barge in your life with the initial objective to get rid of you..." donghyuck blushed at their intimacy.

"well, having someone wanting to get rid of me has never felt so good..."

and these were the last words mark pronounced before allowing his and donghyuck's lips to meet since what felt like forever, both males pouring all of their love into this meaningful kiss that occurred one year since mujin has given his life for everything to change for the better.

and as broken as mark and donghyuck had felt following mujin's sacrifice, they were forever grateful to him for having allowed aes to become the free and fair land that it always should have been.

♕

Life wouldn't be the same without them,

Our kind sovereigns, guiding us all.

Never have we felt so safe and blessed,

Giving us strength, no matter how small.

Loneliness fades where compassion reigns,

In the heart of aes, peace is found.

Vast lands of love without any pain,

Every soul valued, joy all around.

Trust in the king who governs with care,

Holding his words of justice for all,

Empathy reigns, with no more impair.

Know that together, we rise as one,

In harmony, with no more fearing,

Now is the right moment, my people,

Gather and all scream, LONG LIVE THE KING.