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Y/n

Those gorgeous eyes wouldn't get old, no matter if they were attached to a monster or not.

She sat in bed with the monster, Park Jimin. His mattress was as stiff as Father's back, and it didn't help that the constant heat mixed with her black cloak had her sweating and smelling like an ox. Mother would throw her in a waterfall, not that Y/n ever cared what her mother's opinion of her was. Far more pressing matters weighed her mind, such as Prince Park's puppy eyes and soft freckles that got more endearing the more she saw them.

"I asked my people if they wanted peace," he said, and she leaned forward at that, a grin spreading as she listened. He tapped his finger against his cheek before shaking his head. "I wish I had better news, my fair princess. They do not yearn for peace the same way you do."

Y/n slumped back and pressed herself against the wooden post behind her that held the bed up. The mattress creaked like a squeaky door, and her thighs felt like they were getting squeezed from the position. A sigh forced its way out of her mouth, and she slouched for the first time in her life.

She buried her face in her hands. "Then what are we to do?"

"Sleep it off?" he offered with a chuckle. "Patience, my dear. War is not solved overnight."

"You want me to sleep while people are suffering?"

"Mine more than yours, yet I sleep." He shrugged and patted his bed. "I doubt you want to go home tonight, hm?"

Y/n almost slapped him for daring request she get in bed with him, but after a moment, she kicked off her shoes and realized he was right. His people suffered far more, yet he rested. Sleep was one of the most important things, Mother said. Reenergizing after a long day could make the difference between a rash and an informed decision. Tiredness would lead to rash, and rest would lead to informed.

Jimin held up his hand to stop her for a moment. "Take off that cloak, darling. No one will hurt you while you're with me."

Although she didn't believe him, she rid herself of the mask and cloak, setting them on the ground next to her boots. Yet another thing Mother would throw a hissy fit over.

"Don't you get tired of wearing that corset all day?" he asked in a drawl, dragging out every word as if he were yawning. "I have plenty of clothes in my wardrobe. Feel free to change."

Mother and Father would exile Y/n for conversing with the enemy, let alone sharing a bed with him. No rational part of Y/n's mind told her it was a good idea to take his clothes and crawl in bed with him, but, for some reason, she wanted to. Maybe it was to make him trust her more and therefore make him more pliable, or maybe it was to see those eyes she adored up close, but either way, she knew it was a terrible idea.

Yet she did it anyway.

Jimin whistled as she dug through his wardrobe and found chitons, all red and black. She tossed one at him so he could change out of his tunic, and he chortled and turned so he could strip. A stutter rested on her tongue when he took off his himation and tunic before she could so much as ask him to go to another room, and his scarred back came into view. But scars weren't it. On his skin waited a mangled mess of what looked to be a bird. No, not just a bird—the bird Jimin had stroked the first time she had met him outside his castle.

The flesh looked burned, as if he had branded it onto himself, and the symbol rested on his left shoulder as he threw on the sleepwear. When he finished, he shifted and caught her staring. Instead of the rage she expected, Prince Park smirked.

"You flatter me, my princess, but would you like it if I stared at you while you took that pretty lil' thing off?" He motioned to her dress. "Not as fun when I do it, hm?"

She whipped around and swallowed as best she could, closing the wardrobe with her hands clutching the fabric of the chiton. "My apologies."

Jimin shrugged it off before turning back around. For good measure, he covered his eyes and pretended to look at the ceiling through his fingers. She couldn't stop her small laugh as she changed, plopping her dress in the corner and not caring how much dust would infect it later.

"Finished," she said as she sat on the side of the bed. Jimin went under the thick covers that didn't seem to match the temperature of Kayira. "Are you insane?"

"Father thinks so." Jimin peeked at her through his long locks and half-open eyes. "I do, too. Why? What gave it away?"

"The covers. How can you stomach such thick blankets in this heat?"

"I'm a soldier, my darling. I like pain." He shifted back and forth as if to prove his point. "Besides, I don't mind the heat. It reminds me Kayira's still the same home I grew up in, right? Now, c'mere, don't make me sleep alone when such a gorgeous princess is right in front of me."

Yet another urge to slap him rose, but she locked it away and instead dipped in bed, but not under the covers. The bed was large enough to give them space from one another, and she gazed at the ceiling. Prince Park Jimin was far from polite—Mother would throw him off a balcony if she spoke to him—but Y/n trusted he wouldn't harm her. He had multiple chances to. That didn't mean she trusted him, and that also didn't mean she thought it was a good idea to stay there overnight, but again, anything for Nionna. If it caused him to loosen up and trust her more, perhaps it was worth it.

"You're so boring," Jimin mumbled through his closed eyes and messy face. His cheeks appeared more swollen than before, not to mention his black hair covered all of him thanks to him rolling around. "I want a bedtime story."

"Are you a toddler?"

"Depends on the day. My people joke I have the height of one." He paused to yawn. "Tell me about death, my dear. Convince me your story is real."

That was far from what she anticipated, but at the same time, it was far from surprising.

"I'd much rather learn about the big, bad Prince Park," she said, and he smiled in his half-sleep.

"Nothing to learn, princess. I'm a pretty boring guy."

"Oh, don't go there, my prince. You have far more intrigue than you give yourself credit for. How can I not be intrigued by the man who wants my kingdom to burn?"

He opened his eyes and met her gaze. "Maybe not all of it."

"Oh? Quite the change in stance, my fair prince," she said, firing the fair princess back at him as best she could. It was her attempt at sarcasm and poking fun at him, and it got him to chuckle, the little hiccups and vibrations bringing warmth to her stomach.

"Alright, alright, you got that information out of me, now stop dodging the question. Tell me your story, and maybe I might start believing you."

Y/n held onto the top of the covers, but she didn't pull them over her. If Jimin wanted to rush her, he didn't voice it and instead kept his mouth shut. That gave her the moment needed to reflect on her episode.

"It's normal for us to swim in the waters and pray to them for granting us such gifts. When I was a teen, I dove in and hit my head off a stone I did not see." She stopped and rubbed her head. "I didn't have the strength to swim back up, and I drowned."

"And you pray to those things?" Jimin asked, sitting up and knitting his brows together. "Don't tell me you still pray and swim in them."

"Of course I do." Y/n averted her gaze. "My people need to see strength in their leadership. If I cowered away from those waterfalls, what example would I set?"

"Even though you died in them? Are you not afraid?"

"Fear is an ally, if used right. Every time I come up from the water, I thank the gods for keeping me here." Y/n stopped to sigh and glance back at him. "I never want to go back to that place. What I saw when I drowned, it..."

In her mind, she remembered the screams, the twisted flesh, the blood—it drowned her senses until she trembled, and a hand on her shoulder got her to stop thinking about it. When she saw it was Jimin's hand, she almost swatted it away, but something about his rough yet somehow also gentle grasp had her relaxing.

"Maybe I was quick to judge you, my princess," he whispered, lingering on her shoulder for a moment longer before backing away. "Forgive me for doubting you, and for prying. Please, let's sleep. I feel we both need the rest."

That was true, and she didn't protest. She closed her eyes and felt his bed underneath her fingertips. Sleeping in the same bed as her enemy was not on her agenda, yet there she was. Oddly enough, it didn't cause bubbles to well up in her stomach, or her throat to feel dry, or her eyes to narrow—instead, her breathing slowed, her body melted into the rock-hard mattress, and her heartbeat decreased as she rested with Prince Park. And then, it happened.

She fell asleep without hesitation.

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