APPLICANT #0.5

the prince of aques, baek juho

He likes being here. Luce is a lot different than what he is used to back in Aren. Even during winter, the capital of the Kingdom of Light looks much more warm than Aques. There is not much snow in his Kingdom, Aques being known for its hot temperatures, but he has never really felt the same warmth as when he visited Lucia. He loves the snow, he finds it very pretty but more than that, he finds the people pretty. They are all smiling at each other, giving each other hot milk for the mere wish of making them happy. In Aques, everything is done for glory and merit, not just… for the sake of doing things. The King is not here, busy with his generals to discuss what to do of the pirates who came too close to their borders – or that is what he heard. He is not given the opportunity to know more. He is just a child, with three older siblings, so the twelve-year old knows he will not be taken into account for royal matters. So he just enjoys the fact that his older brother has been kind enough to bring him to Lucia during his visit to the King so he could play with the young Prince of Luce. He likes him a lot and they have a lot of fun when they are together. He is searching for him in the castle when he hears screams and sees people running. He watches as a servant is running, a deadly pale Suwoong in his arms, and he stands still, frozen in place. He wants to know what is going on. What he feels, though, as they leave the castle that night, is that he will not see the big towers of Lucia’s castle, nor the smile of his friend, before a long time.

The silver-haired boy was sitting cross-legged on his bed, reading for the hundredth time the parchment his father had left on his desk to inform him of his betrothal. It had been three days now and the male could still not believe it. He had heard words of him getting married among the courtesans and the nobles visiting the castle of Aren but he had always thought them to be rumors. He did not expect them to be right, nor to be the last one to be made aware of this. He had always known he would be sent to another kingdom to marry a royal, he had expected them to be the niece of some King or Queen – nor to the actual heir of one of the White Land’s thrones. What good would that create? His two older brothers, including the one who had been supposed to take the throne at their father’s death, had died a month prior when their ship had been attacked by pirates. The attack had been unexpected and despite their best effort, their ship was sent to the bottom.

Juho was still mourning the death of his brothers. He had expected his older sister to take the throne, considering Aques had a great history of Queens but no, he was apparently given the throne. He had not believed it, neither did his sister, but she was supportive of him. She had never been fond of the idea of being a Queen so she had received the news pretty well. So, he already had to deal with the idea of being an heir, and now this marriage?

He sighed and stood up, walking slowly to his window. He was looking at the bright sky when he heard knocking on his door. He turned his head towards it, watching silently as his personal servant entered the room with a fuming cup of hot cocoa. The younger boy bowed and Juho nodded at him, walking closer to get the sweet drink.

“Thank you, Taeyang,” The Prince said with gratitude, before sitting back down on his bed. After a few seconds of silence, he looked at his seemingly embarrassed servant and frowned. “What is going on?”

“N-No, I-I just,” the blond servant stuttered then blushed, making Juho smile at his cuteness, “Hyung, what are you going to do for the wedding? S-Should I go there instead and act as the Prince like we usually do? I-Is it not bizarre? I-It is too much of a lie...”

Juho let out a sigh and signaled to his servant to sit down next to him. Taeyang had been his personal servant since they were children and he thought of the other as a friend and a younger brother. But more than – for years now, Taeyang had been acting like the Prince in front of everyone, while Juho acted as his servant. They were young at the time, no one could see the difference between the two. Juho had been used to being called Taeyang almost all his life that if not for those private moments, he would almost think he was the servant. The man drank a gulp and hissed as the hot cocoa burnt his tongue. A blue light flashed in his eyes and he watched as the smoke of his drink disappeared softly. He took another gulp and smiled, appreciating the now colder drink. This had been the reason why he had to hide. After all, what other choice did he have? How could the King ever say that his youngest son had magic abilities? They would lose the trust of their people. Magic was… an extremely sensible topic in Aques. No one liked mages and when those among the priests and doctors who used it were feared. So Taeyang, who had none of those, had replaced him in the eyes of the ever-so-critical nobles.

“Juho-hyung?”

Juho was taken out of his thought by the worried voice of his friend. He looked at him and smiled, before ruffling his hair affectively.

“Fortunately, we have never left the castle, so no one really knows what the little Prince of Aques looks like, right?” He smiled as Taeyang nodded, not sure where he was going with this, “Over there, no one knows I have magical powers. It is time for me to be who I am, finally. What do you think?”

“Let’s do this!” the servant laughed wholeheartedly, relieved that things were going back to what they should have been since the beginning.

Juho watched him, before taking a sip of his beverage.

“Besides… I really cannot wait to see Suwoong again.” 

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