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Y/n

Yet another funeral.

Rain poured and slathered them in a blood red color. Farmers shoveled the mud back on top of the countless graves while the kings and queens stood in front of the nameless burial sites, not so much as glancing at them and instead keeping their gazes on the ones who had shown up to the ceremony. Less guards from Nionna were there than normal, and that was Y/n's fault.

Ever since Y/n had taken Jimin to the waterfall, Nionna felt different. The guards were on high alert, convinced the "intruders" at the waterfall, whose faces they could not see, were from Kayira. Why? Logic wasn't present, apparently. Most from Kayira had red eyes, unless they were royals. The guards never reported seeing red eyes. Or any eyes, for that matter. It was their bias showing.

Again.

The more Nionna battled Kayira, the more she saw how Nionna assumed the worst of its people. Perhaps that was justified, but perhaps the entire war could have been prevented if Mother and Father had sent the resources necessary to the struggling people, no matter how cruel they were. They deserved a chance, didn't they? If Y/n had grown up in a wasteland and was forced to stare at waterfalls she could never touch all day, she would become a madman, too. Was it right of Nionna to judge Kayira when Nionna had never suffered a fraction of what they had?

Jimin stepped closer to her without saying anything, not that they were allowed to. Father stood in front of them, his head dipped in the typical moment of silence motion that had everyone keeping their mouths shut to remember the fallen. Rain pounding on them was the only sound in the area. Maybe even in the entire kingdom.

"Thank you," Father said, and Jimin's father agreed before the groups dispersed without saying anything to one another. Not even Jimin to lean into her ear and tell her to prepare to lose more soldiers.

Y/n lingered, as did Jimin, and she glanced at him. When he didn't meet her gaze, she nodded to herself and began her trek back. The delay caused her to stay far from the rest of her family, not that they would notice either way. That gave her the opportunity to ponder her situation and how she could save Kayira and Nionna from an endless cycle of torment. Was it possible? She didn't know, but-

Tug!

Her instincts kicked in as she went to strike the person who had grabbed her, but she knew who it was before his sweet hickory irises met hers. Jimin's soft, warm breaths tickled her cheeks as he snapped her around to face him, his grip on her elbow and pushing her closer to him. If either of their families were watching, she wondered what they would think of the sudden proximity. From the outside looking in, it couldn't look suspicious, right? Only two rival kingdoms at each other's throats, like the last funeral. That was how Y/n took it. She prayed to the gods she hoped were real that everyone else would take it that way, too.

"Princess," he whispered, his voice hitching more than before.

No one from her kingdom called out to her, and when she peeped back, she saw no one watching them. It was, as always, the "sad walk off" competition, where both sides began to drown in their miseries in a poor attempt to force the opposing kingdom to feel remorse. As if Kayira would ever do that. Nionna, too.

"Is something wrong, my prince?" She kept her voice as low as his, staring into his gorgeous eyes.

He peered around the vicinity, and he released her with his hand shaking. It was his gloved hand. With his other, he chewed on the nails for a second before moving it away and clearing his throat.

"Not here..."

Jimin trailed off and gazed at her without saying anything. A mental clock set in her mind. Soon enough, the others would notice them lingering like they had last time. The difference being that last time, Y/n had been at Jimin's throat with burning eyes and yells. At the current funeral, Jimin and Y/n didn't scream or try to go for the other's jugular despite being in the proper distance for such a move. More prayers entered her mind, but if Jimin didn't speak soon, no prayer could help them.

"What is it, my prince?" she asked when he didn't speak.

His hand skimmed by hers—the bare one that time. Skin contact had her knees threatening to buckle. Perhaps that made her pathetic, but she couldn't care. Those hickory eyes of his could make anyone melt away with the red rain.

Y/n cleared her throat. "My prince?"

Still, Jimin had no answer for her. His two fingers came to the back of her hand to pinch it, and she jumped from the brief pain. He let out a soft sigh when she did, and he removed his shaking grip from her to return it to his side. No further touch came. She didn't know if she found that relieving or not.

"My prince," she said one more time, her tone firmer than she intended. "I must return to my kingdom. Please, tell me what it is you stopped me for."

Jimin shook his head and rubbed the side of his temple before nodding. "I... my apologies, my fair princess. I do not know what got into me there."

She didn't either, but she chose not to comment on it.

"Tomorrow," he said, swallowing after he said the single word. "I need to see you. Please, come see me tomorrow. I beg you."

Beg was a word she never thought she'd hear come out of Park Jimin's mouth. In fact, that was the last thing she ever thought she'd hear from him; however, his voice scratched over every syllable he dared utter out, and his lower lip quivered in the process. Jimin scanned all over her face and parts of her body. The intensity of it had her shuddering, but she knew he meant nothing hostile by it. If anything, his eyes were soft. Delicate, even. As if he hadn't had water in years, and she was his source of it, standing right in front of him. Right within reach.

That had her straightening her posture and patting down her wrinkled, damp dress the rain had ruined. Maroon shades bled into the otherwise white fabric, and she knew no amount of washing in the waterfalls would fix it. Not that that mattered; Jimin stood before her, his lips parted to show his crooked tooth with a tiny dent on the bottom of it. She had the urge to smoosh it back in place. Instead, she nodded and gave him her answer.

"Okay."

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