At the end of his long life, the king spoke in these words:

“And now I lie here at the dawn of this life. My bloodline is broken, I have no heir for I buried my children. Yet, the next king shall be mighty and bring a new strong line. A special one, only, shall sit on the throne. “

As he died soon after, quarrels began between noble families to decide who would take the power. No agreement was found and people feared a civil war, until one day nine men wearing golden coats arrived on their horses as white as the full moon. They passed through the bickering and sat on nine simple wooden chairs. Silence fell on the royal castle. They took the power just like that and sent all those useless and greedy assembly away, choosing a whole different court amongst the wisest and most clever men in the country. They started to rule with intelligence and reason, and soon they were approved by every single person. A new ere began, and the king’s throne remained empty.

--

Donghae woke up when the sunlight suddenly invaded the house. He stirred and stretched before slowly opening his eyes.

“Hey Nana.”

He looked sleepily toward the petite woman who was opening the huge windows of the room.

“Good morning Donghae. Can you please explain to the clown outside your door that I’m not trying to poison you?”

He realised she seemed quite angry as she went back to the dolly supporting an appetizing breakfast specially made for Donghae. Still emerging from sleep, he blinked several times.

“What clown?”

He wasn’t even bothering to move an inch since Nana was organizing the tray before putting it carefully on the bed.

“Yes, yes, the weird dude with the poker face that examined all the food and asked me some questions before finally letting me come in.”

She told what happened and Donghae not so carefully pushed the tray away from him to be able to get out of bed. He opened the door, not minding the fact he was only wearing some loose pants, and then saw Hyukjae and his impeccable looks standing next to his room.

“What the are you doing here?” the blonde boy asked incredulously.

Hyukjae graciously bowed his head toward him.

“Good morning Sir. Since my job is to take care of you, I’m here to be sure no threat can come to you.”

Donghae gave him a are-you-kidding-me look.

“Damn it dude, we’re in a house with one of the best security system of the world, relax! And don’t scare the staff, will you? Nana is probably the last person that would harm me!”

“I apologise for that incident, it won’t happen again.”

Hyukjae remained still, eyes fixed on the wall while Donghae was looking at him as if he was crazy.

“Did you hear what I just said? I’m totally fine so come on, go away, you don’t have to stay here! Aren’t you supposed to obey me? Then go read a book… Do some… Exercise or… Whatever you do in your… Free time.”

Donghae shrugged his shoulders and waited for the black headed man to leave but the latter remained where he was.

“I am sorry Sir, but your security is my priority, even over your orders. I will do what I judge the best to assure your protection.”

Donghae rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration, slamming the door before returning to his breakfast.

That day was a Friday, so it meant Donghae had a whole day of studying awaiting for him. His classes took place in his own study, smaller than his father’s and not as elegant but good enough to welcome the university teachers. An old man called Mr Oh gave him a lesson about Economic Law from 8 am to 10 am. Donghae was not the best student ever but he learnt quickly and he was smart, so none of his teachers could complain about him (anyway, if they did they would be fired and disgraced). He carried on with an Introduction on War Strategy before finally having a break for lunch.

Besides that, Donghae could see what it meant having a bodyguard glued to him in the person of Lee Hyukjae. The man stood behind him during the whole classes, not emitting a sound (Donghae even wondered at some point if he was still breathing). The blonde man often forgot his very presence, but it seemed that the teachers were rather uncomfortable with facing this strange and emotionless man.

He ate in the grand living room, having the huge table for him alone. He didn’t like feeling lonely so since he now had a man following him everywhere he spoke to him.

“Hyukjae, why don’t you sit and have lunch with me?”

He tried to smile politely to show how he was open to a friendly relationship.

“I already ate Sir” Hyukjae answered back with a bow of his head.

Donghae’s kind expression fell and he went back to his plate, upset and annoyed. A real pet would be more pleasant than this cold man. What’s what the point of having someone serving him his whole life without talking or being nice to him? How was he supposed to trust him with this poker face? He didn’t know what he thought about him, nor what he had been trained for exactly. He knew nothing about him. And besides, when did he find the ing time to eat without him noticing?

He went on with his classes during the afternoon and was free to go at 6pm (an entire and exciting  lesson about Quantitative Techniques). The evening was uneventful since he was exhausted and still had class on Saturday. All in all, he just spent a normal day, all alone in the big family mansion despite Hyukjae’s presence (it was not even a presence but there was no word Donghae knew to describe him. He was more like a ghost, really).

The next day was just the same. He had classes until 3pm and then he spent an hour with his mother returning from her holidays in Italia.

“Tell me Donghae, who’s that grumpy dude with you? Is that a new friend?”

Donghae was sitting on a sofa, his legs crossed while listening to his mother blabbering about Roma. When she changed the conversation subject he threw a look in Hyukae’s direction. He wasn’t different from the day before and acted like he didn’t hear anything or didn’t care at all.

“Didn’t Father told you? It’s Hyukjae, who apparently was given to me by his parents. His role is to protect me and take care of me” he explained with an almost mocking tone.

His mother’s face lit up from remembrance.

“Oh, Hyukjae, sure! I almost forgot! Well you changed a lot my boy, no wonder I didn’t recognised you. You seem serious and mature, you should be able to take care of my little son. I trust you with him!”

“Mother!” Donghae protested. “You don’t even know what kind of man he is! He’s been in a foreign country for years, how can you trust him that easily?”

His mother blinked, clearly surprised.

“But, Donghae,” she said. “Why couldn’t you trust him? He’s been raised for you, he lives for you. You are the only thing that matters to him.”

Donghae was speechless. He felt a weird feeling in his belly, this kind of thing was not natural.

“I may have not seen him for years,” the woman continued. “But we’ve been updated on his progresses and I can assure you he is the best you could wish for.”

He had nothing to say to that. He found this situation awkward and couldn’t stand that annoying poker face, but then what could he say? The man was here to serve him, he didn’t have a choice and had to put up with him.