07/27/12

The beginning of peace between the two hard-headed royals?

            In the world that Victoria came from, there was no such thing as magic. Sure, there was technology that manipulated the natural elements, but no magic was ever involved. Everything was logical. For example, a house did not suddenly compress itself into a pouch and then suddenly decompress itself without any signs of damage. The house that Victoria was living in right now, however, was proof that the logic she grew up with was incorrect. At least in this country. With magic, all of her principles have… shrunken to an almost non-existent state. Her principles were like this house, shrunken into a small space in her heart.

                                                                        ::::

            Another advisor meeting was being held today. Lately, Victoria had been reluctant to go. It seemed that all of her fighting was of no use. Nichkhun almost never supported her opinions (although Hyuna seemed to disagree on that point), and the advisors always looked like they just wanted her to shut up.

             Victoria had gone into the conference room with her arms crossed. Her arms stayed like that for almost the whole meeting, until they arrived on the topic of prisoners.

            “In the case where we want to get information out of prisoners,” Advisor Yusli prompted.

            “Any means possible, of course,” Advisor Aruy said it as if it was the only choice.

            With that, Victoria sat up in her seat and uncrossed her arms. “No! It’s inhumane. What if the prisoner is actually innocent?”

            “We won’t know until we find out,” Advisor Aruy reasoned. “This has been the way Tawaran has treated their prisoners for years.”

            “To hell with tradition!” Victoria swore. Ignoring the shocked expression from the advisors, she continued. “How can you tell the difference between an innocent prisoner in pain and a guilty prisoner in pain? There is no difference! An innocent prisoner will probably even spout out nonsense in order to make the punishment stop! Tell me one thing. If the prisoner says that he or she does not know anything, will you believe him or her?”

            No one answered her last question because everyone knew the answer. They wouldn’t believe the prisoner.

            “It doesn’t matter how we treat the prisoners. As long as we get the answers we need, we are benefitting the country,” Advisor Aruy said.

            How Machiavellian of him, Victoria thought bitterly. She practically snarled at Aruy. “I suppose you’ll also kill innocent people because you forced them to confess something that they didn’t do?”

             After hearing that, Hyuna’s mind screamed in alarm. She tugged sharply on Victoria’s sleeve. This is getting dangerous. Even with the advisors, Victoria should not express her opinions on this. Especially not this.

            Advisor Aruy was about to say something when Nichkhun interrupted. “There is, actually, another option that we have all overlooked.”

            Everybody turned to him. Advisor Rasfin asked, “And what is that?”

            “We are a country who is not only proud of their combat skills, but also proud of their magical sensibilities,” Nichkhun began. Nobody knew where he was going with this, since he had his poker face on. “Why are we neglecting the powers of magic in this punishment law? There is no need to cause pain to others, and there is no need to blindly punish the innocent.”

            “There is an answer that even the previous kings and queens have not thought up of?” Advisor Yusli asked.

            “Yes. Before, there has never been a person who opposed this rule, since it has been so engrained in our society,” Nichkhun theorized. “But with opposition to this rule, I’ve come to realize that there is, in fact, a much better solution to this problem.”

            “And that is,” Advisor Aruy prompted.

            “A truth serum,” Nichkhun simply said. When nobody said anything, he continued. “A truth serum will solve both the problem of innocent prisoners and the problem guilty prisoners who will not give us answers. In addition, the truth serum has been in the magicians’ spell repertoire for at least two centuries.”

            “It is banned, though,” Hyunseung spoke up. “Besides, it is extremely hard to make.”

            “We have the best magicians sitting around us right now,” Nichkhun countered. “And the best magician specializing in memory is our very own Advisor Yusli.”

            “I’ve… I’ve never tried making a truth serum before,” Yusli admitted.

            “I guarantee that it will take less effort for you to make a truth serum than for the queen and Advisor Aruy to reach to a common conclusion on the treatment of prisoners,” Nichkhun remarked wittily.

            Every advisor laughed, except for Aruy, who just smiled.

            “I will try my best, your Highness,” Advisor Yusli bowed.

                                    :::::

            “You know, you shouldn’t have mentioned that,” Hyuna scolded Victoria. The royals and their assistants were walking back to their rooms. Hyuna was trying to be as vague as possible, since she didn’t know if Victoria had told Nichkhun about the cause of her parents’ death yet.

           “I couldn’t help it,” Victoria sighed. Nowadays, Victoria seemed like she had lost all of her energy. She seemed tired all the time. It really worried Hyuna. “It was even the perfect timing. I couldn’t resist.”

            Hyuna glanced over to Nichkhun and Hyunseung. They were listening in on the conversation, but thankfully, they were being quiet. Turning back to Victoria, she continued. “If it wasn’t for Nichkhun’s interruption, you would have been in big trouble. You’d better thank him later for that.”

            “Psh. As if he knew,” Victoria crossed her arms. Still being stubborn, aren’t you? Hyuna chided Victoria in her thoughts.

            “Hey, I’m right here, you know?” Nichkhun frowned at Victoria. But after a second, he looked away. “I saw Hyuna panicking and knew that something was up.”

            “See?” Hyuna pointed at Nichkhun. The four of them had now reached their rooms. Hyuna pushed Victoria toward Nichkhun. “Thank him now or else I’ll be standing in front of your room for the whole night.”

            Victoria gave Hyuna a look, but she still coughed out a, “Thank you.”

            “With more sincerity!” Hyuna pouted, trying to keep a straight face when she heard Hyunseung and Nichkhun chuckle.

            “Honestly, Hyuna!” Victoria yelled. Realizing that Hyuna wasn’t budging, she closed her eyes and sighed. “Thanks for saving my tonight.”

            “No problem,” Nichkhun shrugged and went into the room.

            “There, now go back into your room, Hyuna,” Victoria grinned. “See, he accepted it.”

            And you guys don’t like each other? Hyuna thought with disbelief. She shook her head at both of their stubbornness while she walked back into her room.