“All hail His Royal Highness, Prince Kibum!” the announcer wailed as the fanfare started up, signaling the start of the ceremony. Kibum strode in through the large mahogany, jewel encrusted doors into the foyer, where the initial gathering was being held. Heads turned and backs bowed in the blond’s glory, and Kibum internally smirked, he couldn’t get enough of it. He made his way all the way down the velvety carpet and sat down gracefully in his throne. All eyes were on him as he cleared his throat.

“My dearest citizens and fellow ranks, I genuinely thank you all for appearing here today to celebrate with me in my engagement,” the onlookers cheered but quickly settled down once Kibum indicated he was not finished, “Now please warmly welcome my fi—” he coughed a bit as the word got stuck in his throat. Geez, it felt weird saying it out loud… Though he is positive his heart does not yearn to be with the duke, he doesn't think it belongs to that lowly peasant (what was his name again? Jangwoo?) either. He shook off the slight disturbance and continued, “My fiancé, Sir Minho, Duke of the Choi Kingdom.” The applause started up again and on cue, out strutted a tall, lithe man clad in clothing so heavily adorned and much too elaborate for his rank. He bowed in recognition to the attendees and stood next to Kibum. He was not allowed to take the adjacent throne just yet.

“It is a great privelage to me today to be here in the promise of marriage to your crown prince,” he spoke in an almost flirtatious manner to the audience. Some women swooned and he sent them a wink. One of them fainted then. Kibum, seated behind the duke, did not see the gesture.

As Minho continued his useless drabbling, on the outer walls of the palace, there was one guest who had yet to find a way in.

“I beg you sir, just a peek! I have to hear from the man my precious Kibum is doomed to wed!” Jonghyun kicked and struggled as the guards held him by his arms, restricting him from dashing through the palace gates.

“Listen, you filthy little scum, no one gets into that party without a high title or a special invitation. Which one do you have?” the knight narrowed his eyes and asked Jonghyun sarcastically. The latter could only squirm fruitlessly in the metal hold.

“Hey, I took a bath today!” the peasant fired back. The guard only squeezed his arm in warning, “Sir, I have neither rank nor recognition. Nothing but the Prince in my heart. I ask your mercy just this once, please let me in!” The other guard chuckled and threw a light punch to Jonghyun’s arm. He nearly cried out from the impact on his frail frame.

“Oh yeah, you’re that guy!” the knight spoke. Jonghyun looked up in question. Did he know him? The guard spoke to his buddy.

“Hey Taekwoon, I can take this one. He’s some little twerp that thinks the Prince is in love with him. He tries to sneak in to every event the Kims hold!” Jonghyun could only let out a dejected sigh. It was true anyway; he always attempted his hardest to land a spot in one of Kibum’s happenings, but a dirty man in a potato sack couldn’t very easily pass as a dignitary. The first knight, ‘Taekwoon’ then let go of the man’s arm, nodding to his partner to handle the situation.

Left alone with the scary guard, Jonghyun tried to use his best glare and seem a little bit tough under the scrutinizing eyes of the much bulkier male. Well, begging didn’t work. What else could he try?

Foolishly, Jonghyun hacked and spit on the guard’s boot. “Let me in to see my Kibum, or else!” The knight only laughed and rubbed off the saliva into the grass. He leaned extremely close to the poor man’s ear and whispered eerily.

“Or else what? You worm,” he insulted. Jonghyun didn’t have a chance to retort because the next instant, the guard had punched him in his stomach and he fell to the ground. Encouraged by the succeeding howl of pain, he followed up with drawing a small blade and uncurling the peasant’s fetal cower. He looked down on him menacingly as he quickly covered his mouth with a metal glove and plunged the knife into Jonghyun’s side. Jonghyun screamed a bloodcurdling screech only to have it muffled by an unforgiving hand. With tears clouding his eyes and bile rising up in his throat, Jonghyun’s last sight was the guard lifting a foot to stop on his stomach, forcing out an unsightly amount of blood from the gash and all consciousness out of Jonghyun.

“No one soils my uniform,” the knight barked to the unresponsive body as he quickly nudged it with his foot to hide it under a tree. He dusted his gloves and reassumed position at the front gates.

In the realm of darkness, Jonghyun forced himself to keep breathing. He had to, or else he wouldn’t be around to protect his Kibum.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kibum was awoken in the morning by sunlight streaming through his open bedroom window. Ugh, why were the curtains drawn? He grumbled and started moving to close said curtains, but when he did there was something restricting him.

It was only then when he noticed the snoring figure behind him with an arm thrown around his waist. That’s right, Duke Minho was sleeping in Kibum’s bed, by order of the king and queen of course. They only saw it fitting that the soon-to-be-wed at least share sleeping quarters. Needless to say, Kibum hated that idea.

He shuddered and as gently as possible, threw the man’s arm off him. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t all that gentle… Luckily the other had not even stirred and continued to grumble in-between snores. Kibum dusted the invisible Minho germs off his nightwear and stalked out of the room. He didn’t care that he was still in his pajamas or that the sun had just barely risen enough to shed light on this part of the earth, he just had to be as far away from that player, that flirt, as possible.

He was halfway down the main corridor and out the front door when a servant came rushing up behind him, “Prince, where are you off to so early?” He rolled his eyes and rubbed a finger into his temple in aggravation. He slowly turned around to face the innocent lady and with each step of his slow turn, his exterior frustrations melted into his infamous gentle smile. He would never want to worry any member of the palace.

“I’m going on one of my strolls. Dawn seems like a nice time to view the blossom trees, does it not?” he piped quickly. The maiden actually considered the idea, tilting her head back and forth in thought before agreeing.

“Alright, your highness. I’ll request two guards to accompany you—”

“Ahh, there’s no need,” Kibum waved his hands, “I’m more comfortable on my own.” The servant woman seemed apprehensive, but bowed in dismissal nonetheless. Kibum exhaled and finally walked outside into the warm, generously orange first sunlight of day.

Though Kibum was not always a morning person, he considered dawn his favorite time of day, especially during the summer. Ironically, the summer was when his favorite tree bloomed: the snow blossom. The white petals would fall and blow in the easy breeze, making Kibum feel as if he were floating in thin air as if they’d swooped him right off the ground.

These walks always gave Kibum time to think. Think about his destiny to ascend the throne as king and run the Kim Kingdom. Think about the state of his people and if he would even be a worthy leader. Think that he should stop worrying and simply try as hard as he can to be the best ruler he can and provide for all his people. Think about the people he interacted with on a daily basis, like about the insufferable Minho and all of his fake advances for publicity and audience approval. Geez he can be such a pain, he thought.

He envisioned himself ruling the Kim-Choi Dynasty once he and Minho married. Would he even be a good husband to me? He saw himself slouched over in stress and work, greying all too early as Minho went off and flounced around with whatever girl would risk sleeping with a taken king. Ugh, and apparently, several of the wenches were into polygamy. Kibum cringed in anger at the completely plausible future and kicked an innocent pebble that lay in his path. The suddenly-turned-projectile stone skidded to a halt right by a little white bunny that skittered off immediately in surprise.

The young price smiled seeing the creature that was just as white as the flowers on his trees. Instinctively, he changed his path and ducked into his private garden in which nearly a mile of the gorgeous trees were planted. He almost skipped in anticipation of seeing the beauty of the fluttering petals.

Soon enough, he’d reached his magical destination and was unhesitant to trail a hand through one of the low hanging branches as he walked slowly to savor the moment. The air around him was immediately filled with tufts of white, gently swirling down to the ground around him whist some blew onwards in the soft winds. He grinned as he watched those flowers blow into the direction of the rising sun, shrinking with every second. He childishly decided to chase them.

He broke into a paced sprint with his hands unrealistically grasping for the summer snow. He was just starting to run out of breath when the wind suddenly halted and the petals came crashing down to the stone path ahead of him. What? How curious…

He traced the new trail of fallen flowers that had just been created for him. He traced them with his eyes until he finally saw what they led to. The crown prince nearly dropped to his knees in horror.

“J-jonghyun!!”

A/N: Yo~ here's part two! Next chapter should be the last for this. Please comment! I love those~~