While the king’s response had been a huge tell of the boy’s feelings, the young duke could not afford to make another misstep anytime soon. He had made the king suspicious and made an enemy of the financial minister. Perhaps it was best to lie low. And that was what the young duke did for the next few months. There was no more disturbance from his side and the closest trouble he came to getting into was stealing some food from the kitchens when he was a little hungry, merely because he didn’t want to cause trouble for the servants who already seemed gaunt and overworked. The chats he had with the financial minister was far from civil, blunt insults masked by little, sweet, false words. Both looking for a way to exploit and reveal the other as the antagonist. However, neither would give ground, and their little skirmishes led to nothing more but a growing hatred of each other and Yixing’s insistence that Luhan should stop this for he was getting one step closer to getting himself killed with every insult he threw at Damian. But Luhan had never been one to back down when faced with words like those, he was too stubborn and too prideful to back down. Sometimes, it got him into more trouble than he wanted.

However, these days, Luhan was becoming increasingly inconsistent as he adapted to life in the court again. With Damian, he was absolutely fiery, filled with poisonous smiles. However with Sehun, he seemed quieter, gentler. Perhaps it was the power Sehun possessed that rendered Luhan silent or perhaps it was his affection for the other. Even Luhan who was a master pretender could not always hide the looks of affection he threw at King Sehun.

Not, that he was the only one.

Oh Sehun had a harem of both women and men alike, and Luhan often strode past the king’s room with ears plugged and a grimace on his lips as he headed towards his own rooms. Some days, he wished that was him. However the king was no kinder to him, he was just as cold as before, perhaps a little quieter but still cold as ice. He still threw taunts at Luhan, and though most were rendered useless by the armor the duke wore, some still struck Luhan right in the heart. However he had not the heart nor the power to reply; the duke was rendered silent, taking taunt after taunt with silence. Each taunt was like a realization in Luhan’s heart. He did not have the king’s favor, and perhaps he would never have it. The king may have saved his life once, but he was no closer to gaining Sehun’s trust than he had been when he had first come to the court.

So, it was with his great surprise, that Luhan was invited to go on the trip to Sehun’s summer palace, where he would stay for the duration of the summer and autumn before returning to his winter palace. Most of his closer friends in the court were going along with Sehun’s closest companions and mistresses; Luhan was quite sure he would be excluded. After all, the king held no kind opinion of him. But he was proved wrong, Yixing bursting in with Yifan following in after to usher a bewildered Luhan to pack and get moving after the horde of people who headed towards the palace stables.

“Is Damian coming?” Luhan picked at his shirt as Yixing pushed him out of his room, Luhan’s luggage with the servants who would bring it to the summer palace. He could hear Yixing’s sigh as the other boy rolled his eyes.

“What do you have against the financial minister? And no, he is not. Sehun’s leaving him here in charge of affairs.”

That was troubling to Luhan, who didn’t utter another word and could not even manage a smile as they headed to the stables to get ready to go. While it was good that the minister would no longer get in the way of Luhan interacting directly with Sehun, Luhan was sure the kingdom would be in no better care under the financial minister as it was with “Sehun”.

But the young duke could no longer focus on these dark thoughts as he led his mount out of the stables, the sun shining gently as it filled Luhan with a nurturing warmth. Mounting up, Luhan finally found a smile as the sun banished the darkness, leading his horse to a gentle trot as he followed the other horses with those nobles finding it too troublesome to order a carriage. Behind him, Sehun climbed into his carriage and the driver cracked his whip, indicating the horses to move forward, following the steady procession of riders.

“Are you excited?” Jongin pulled up next to Luhan, chuckling at the seemingly content smile on Luhan’s lips. “You seem quite—happy to say the least.”

“I suppose I am.” Luhan replied thoughtfully “Happy though excited, I can’t say that until I see the palace.” he grinned. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be too troubling after all. 

AN: Enjoy! Nothing much to say actually :c