funfact! i actually based the whole history of their land, heraphany, on helen of troy or helen of sparta. ksjskss it was kinda a last minute thing but i've got everything written down. welcome to a new universe hehe

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       3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"yah! hurry up!" a loud shout caused jaeyoung to wake up suddenly. the girl jolted up from her bed, falling onto the hard wooden floor. jaeyoung grunts and slowly stands up as hyori struts in her bedroom. "it's a saturday!" jaeyoung exclaims and sits on her bed.

"exactly!" hyori also exclaimed.

"then why wake me up at five in the morning?!" jaeyoung whined and hugs her pillow tighter.

"cause! you'll be taking over my morning shift today," hyori grinned making jaeyoung frown and flop on her bed.

"why?" jaeyoung asked.

hyori placed both of her hands on the side of her waist, "i have some things to do." she giggled.

"and what is that?" jaeyoung removed the pillow that was covering her face.

"it's top secret! not for min jaeyoung to know." hyori said before pulling jaeyoung up.

jaeyoung slumped her shoulders, glaring a bit at the older, "whatever." she mumbled and grabs her towel before heading towards the bathroom.

"auntie kang is already waiting for you in the bakery! see you later night." hyori shouted before leaving the room.

meanwhile, in the palace, all the princes were inside the dining hall, eating breakfast. the atmosphere was moderate, topics would sometimes open up about certain things, but mainly that was it. chatting whilst eating wasn't something they would always do since they are always together anyways.

the king sat in the middle, he ate silently while his first wife sat to his left. his wife was busy analyzing the princes' expression, and soon noticed how more joyful some have been.

"renjun, dear." their mother called. renjun instantly shot his head up to look at his mother. although some of them weren't her actual children, they've come to respect each of their mother's equally. all eyes focused on renjun as the boy raised both of his brows, "yes, mother?" he questions.

"how was your trip to the library with jeno?" she asked softly.

jeno looked at his brother, a bit nervous that renjun would confess about the girl. fortunately, he didn't and just simply smiled, "it was okay. just like it always it."

their mother smiled as well, "that's good to hear."

"i've noticed how most of you seem more joyful, did anything come up?" their mother questions, her smile never faltering.

ten shot his head up and looked at his siblings, also noticing how some of younger ones looked more happy than before. "jaemin?" their mother called. the boy seemed to be busy with his meal, he snapped his head towards his mother, "yes, mother?"

"you look more happy than usual, my dear."

"am i not allowed to be?" jaemin suddenly questioned making jeno kick his foot from underneath the table. "i just won a game last night, mother. nothing else." he said.

their father, the king, suddenly cleared his throat. chenle sat up straight, not wanting to get scolded again like the last time he slumped in his chair. "yuta, jaehyun, kun and jisung will be going out of the palace tomorrow." he announced.

jisung's ears perked up at the mention of his name. "me?" he mumbled, a bit confused. since he was the youngest, he would most likely be given duties that was only within the walls of the palace. however, it seemed like the king had decided otherwise.

the royal family wasn't the typical royalty that would use traditional honorifics through the names 'prince' 'your highness' or anything. they would only be using it whenever they had visitors from outside the palace, or just visitors in general. the king wanted them to be comfortable with each other, and so he established that.

"you'll be informed by your tutor, minseok." the kind uttered and stood up alongside the queen. "and must you boys prepare for the grand ball next month, you also have your fencing training rescheduled next week." he stated before they both went out.

the boys all looked at each other as their heads turned to the door when it suddenly bursted open, revealing their tutor, jeon minseok. he was accompanied by a knight as he cleared his throat, a clipboard in his hand.

"as requested by the queen of valfield; prince yuta, prince jaehyun, prince kun and prince jisung will be attending the conference in the district of valfield tomorrow afternoon." minseok informed.

"the conference is about the upcoming grand ball and the season of efflorescence this year."

"why not taeil-hyung, youngho-hyung and taeyong-hyung, be the one to go there?" jaehyun questioned.

jisung nodded at that. "yeah, why not them? why me?"

minseok scratched his head, "prince jaehyun, prince jisung, forgive me but i don't know why you were chosen. it was requested by queen hayoon of valfield." he said.

"when are we gonna leave?" yuta asked their tutor, raising his hand as soon as he finished drinking his water.

"around four in the afternoon." minseok answered shortly.

yuta frowned, "but i want to go with sicheng later though."

"hyung, i can go with lucas instead." sicheng assured him.

yuta huffed and dropped his chopsticks, "then i'll have to wait a week or two to go with you again."

"i can go on your turn." sicheng said.

"whatever." yuta sighed and continued eating his breakfast.

"i'm pretty sure you guys can handle that meeting well." taeyong told them.

"i'm nervous," jisung blurted out, fiddling with his fingers as chenle gave him a pat.

"you'll do fine," chenle sent a smile to his brother. he then leaned in closer to jisung's ear, softly whispering, "just remember the girl's smile, and you'll be alright."

heat rushed to jisung's cheeks as he blushed at chenle's words. "i-i don't even remember her name!" he accidentally said a bit too loud, causing his brothers to eye him in shock. realizing what he had just said, he slapped his hand over his mouth and had his eyes open wide.

renjun facepalmed, shaking his head in disappointment while jeno and donghyuck just looked at the younger one in shock. chenle had his mouth agape while jaemin also stared at jisung in shock.

doyoung squinted his eyes at his youngest brother, not sure if he actually heard it right. jaehyun pressed his lips into a thin line, a bit nervous for the youngest. sicheng just looked at yuta, yuta did the same. lucas stared at his youngest brother, still trying to translate his words in his brain. kun furrowed his brows, and eyed the other's expressions.

jungwoo knew and heard clearly what the youngest had said and hung his head low in disappointment. mark, on the other hand, was also nervous for the youngest, he may not know what they were talking about, but at the mention of the word 'her' he knew some of his hyungs would flip.

taeyong, youngho, ten and taeil had the same unimpressed look plastered on their faces as they stared at jisung.

jisung silently prayed that they wouldn't throw a fit at him for what he had just said. he gulped and looked at chenle who just gave him a forced smile. "jisung, what did you just say?" youngho raised a brow, wanting to hear it again.

jisung shook his head, "i said nothing! you heard nothing!" he exclaimed.

minseok, their tutor, still stood there watching the scene. "minseok-hyung! can you please leave for the moment?" jisung pleaded.

minseok nodded and bowed, "as you wish, your highness." and left the room with the knight, leaving the brothers all alone.

"jisung." taeyong crossed his arms. "what did you say?"

jisung looked at his other brothers, trying to ask for help but no one dared to look at him. he huffed, "i didn't say anything!"

"you said something." youngho frowned at the stubborn kid.

"you must misheard it," jisung uttered. "that can happen."

"you don't remember who's name?" lucas suddenly spoke up after realizing what jisung had said, causing jisung to groan and slump in his chair.

"no one!" jisung said.

"you met someone? or was it some girl?" taeil stood up.

"hyung, i didn't." jisung shook his head vigorously.

doyoung squinted his eyes at the youngest, "so i did hear right. you met a girl!" he points out while jaemin suddenly shoots him a glare.

"what?" doyoung raised his brow at jaemin.

"i didn't meet anyone. how would i even be able to meet someone if i'm not even allowed to go out?" jisung reasoned.

"i swear, jisung. if you met a girl, we're gonna have a talk." taeil crossed his arms, still unimpressed with his brother.

jisung nodded, "yes, hyung."

"the rest who aren't included in tonight's trip to the district of valfield will be needed in the study." taeyong stated before leaving the room with ten.

the others soon followed and it was only jisung, chenle and mark left alone.

"what was that about, sung?" mark questioned, walking up to the two.

"i'll tell you some other time, hyung." jisung sighed and left with chenle.

mark stood there dumbfounded as he watched his two youngest siblings leave the dining room.

"prince minhyung," a knight called for his attention. "your brother, prince jaemin, is waiting for you at the gazebo."

mark nodded and left the dining room as well, now making his way to the gazebo.

. . .

jaeyoung was waiting for the new batch of bread to finish baking. as she waited, she decided to help out at the counter as well. "oh, mrs. kang!" she suddenly called. "i just remembered that i wanted to ask you something."

"and what may that be?" the elder asked as he gave the change to the current customer by the counter.

"who were your regular customers that usually come in around at six noon?" the girl questioned, curiosity hitting her.

mrs. kang tilted her head a bit to the side before looking at the girl, "why?"

jaeyoung raised both of her brows and gripped onto her apron, "n-nothing! it's just that, they are nice and all." she mumbled, although doyoung wasn't the nicest to her, she still believed that he is.

"they are one of my important customers, my family has been baking and cooking for them for decades," mrs. kang smiled, reminiscing the old times. "i'll tell more about them soon, you have bread to watch over." she said and pushed jaeyoung inside the kitchen.

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