Chapter 20 – The Guard’s Prince

Minho has always been privy to the goings on in the palace but he’s never liked it. When he was a little kid he thought he was allowed to know the horrors that went on in the palace so when he was older he could be an unshakable ruler like his father, because that was what his father told him. It was as he grew up in his mother’s confidence that he realised she told him these things so he could be a better man than his father.

She let him find out about the hundreds of creatures being tortured beneath his very feet to be used in potions. She told him about magic and its evils and he couldn’t remember the number of times he heard her say she was glad he couldn’t do magic himself. She taught him about politics and economics and cultures from the surrounding countries. She prepared him for a future she didn’t want him to have to take on but he was glad she always told him the truth.

The only time she ever lied to him were her last words, and Minho let her have them because they were words of comfort. To this day he doesn’t know if the strangled ‘everything is okay’ was supposed to comfort him or herself.

Minho doesn’t think he’d be able to deal with everything if it hadn’t been for Jaehwan.

The only other child in the palace except for the royal siblings, Minho and Minji, Jaehwan was a favourite with the staff and the guests who frequented the place. The king had never protested about Minho hanging around a guard’s son, so Minho had grown up with Jaehwan constantly by his side, despite the five year . In fact, Jaehwan had more access to the king than Minho had these days.

After the death of his mother Minho told Jaehwan that he wanted to change the country, to make it more like the surrounding countries. It was what his mother wanted, after all, and he was determined to give her this one thing in a life where she had dreamed and dreamed but been unable to act.

Most of the citizens had a strong sense of nationalism, especially in the capital, and the guards’ was even stronger. Jaehwan’s father was a guard and Jaehwan himself was aiming to become a guard, so Minho certainly hadn’t expected him to just agree to help. Not that he’d ever thought of Jaehwan as narrow-minded, he just didn’t expect such wholehearted support.

The things Minho had started planning for, the changes he wanted to make, the things his mother had discussed and educated him on, were all met enthusiastically by the young guard and Jaehwan encouraged him despite his slow progress. They both realised that it was going to take longer than they expected to set everything up but they were willing to be patient.

That patience disappeared at the announcement of the war, Jaehwan’s doubly so when his mother was sent to the front lines. It took a lot of talking, a lot of calming, for Minho to get Jaehwan back on track and eventually he was.

Minho wanted to change the country, but so did Jaehwan. He would do what it took to make sure the prince was able to carry out his plans and fix things. To make it so other people’s families weren’t sent away to a useless war like his was.

Minho’s stomach twists in disgust as he looks over his father’s plans for the war. The things the king was willing to do to gain creatures to use were revolting and he didn’t particularly want to know the details. However, he’d figured that if he knew then he could warn the other countries if he ever got the chance.

When his eyes fall on the pile of profiles he frowns. A closer look reveals that they’re the profiles for the sorcerers Suhee had gathered up and brought here earlier in the week.

He flips through the new sorcerers and pauses when he gets to the last one. The sorcerer’s age was surprising, his levels and abilities were more so. Minho could use a powerful sorcerer on his side so that one day he can get rid of Suhee and his father.

“Who taught him?” Minho asks himself, scanning the whole document. If it was one of the ones who worked directly for his father Minho wouldn’t risk it.

Finally, right near the bottom of the page, he finds the name of Cha Hakyeon’s teacher.

“Choi Dohyun,” he reads with a frown. Why did that name sound familiar?

“Jaehwan, I have a job for you.”

“What is it?” the guard yawns.

He’s stationed outside a library that nobody ever uses, ‘building experience’ or some rubbish like that. Sometimes Jaehwan helped guard the king – because the king liked him – but usually he got assigned these useless jobs since he wasn’t a proper guard yet.

“Have you seen the new sorcerers?”

“Yeah, when they arrived. There was this one really young guy. He must be pretty good.”

Minho grins. “He is really good. That’s who I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What do you want with him?”

“I need you to follow him around and make sure Suhee doesn’t… you know… brainwash him or something.”

Jaehwan’s eyes widen and he feels a small smile on his lips. “Are–Are you finally starting to gather more people?”

“I guess so,” the prince sighs. “Anyway, follow Cha Hakyeon around. Okay?”

The young guards smile turns into a grin. “No problem. You don’t need me tonight?”

“I’ll take someone else.”

“Got it, I’ll go find him then.”

Minho didn’t get a chance to leave the palace often, so when his father told him he should attend a party at a local sorcerer’s house – to keep up relations, as it were – he jumped on board. He didn’t particularly like sorcerers or what they stood for, but he needed to get out of the palace and a party that would run overnight seemed like the perfect way to do it. It was also a great way for him to snoop a little and try find out what all these sorcerers are up to.

The front of the palace is usually pretty abandoned and there’s little movement despite there being a number of guards stationed there. So when Minho’s arriving home from the party the morning after, he’s surprised by the commotion.

Most of the guards have left their posts, running forward to replace the exhausted and injured sorcerers who are clinging desperately to chains. Those chains were attached to a battered looking teen and Minho fights the urge to run forward and demand his release.

As the guards begin to take the places of the sorcerers the boy struggles. It takes only a fraction of a second, but one moment the boy is standing surrounded by guards, chains dangling loosely around him, and the next he’s several meters away. The guards who had been holding the chain are still with him but they stumble and fall as he once again teleports – because Minho realizes then that that’s what he’d done. He doesn’t get as far this time and he pants where he stands, obviously exhausted from trying to move so many people at once. More guards grab the chains and for now it seems the boy has given up.

The palace door opens and Suhee storms out, looking vaguely annoyed. “Hurry up and bring that thing in here!”

“Yes ma’am!” the guards shout, even the ones who had just been hurt by the creature’s teleporting, and they begin to drag him inside.

Minho watches them go, a storm in his heart, and he realizes that he can’t let this go on. He can make as many plans as he likes but unless he actually does something things will never change. Jaehwan, Hakyeon, the guards who have had enough, anyone else he can get on his side, he’ll need their help.

 “Hakyeon’s been added to the potions team,” Jaehwan states as he enters the prince’s office.

Minho’s head snaps up from the plans before him. “What?”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan nods, relating to the surprise.

“Why?”

The guard shrugs and throws himself down onto one of the seats in front of Minho, helping himself to the cake that had been left uneaten.

“I don’t know but it was your father’s idea.”

Minho tuts in annoyance and leans back in his chair. “He’s just going to get corrupted faster,” he complains. “I can’t use a sorcerer that’s insane.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Minho knows that Jaehwan doesn’t believe the whole ‘using creatures in potions leads to corruption thing’, it wasn’t what was taught. But he just knew it had to be true, even if he couldn’t remember exactly where his mother had heard it.

“You know…” Jaehwan begins. “I think you might be right about that corruption thing.”

“What makes you say that?” Minho asks, not looking up from the letter he’s writing.

“I don’t know… he just seems a little… obsessed.”

“Is he angry?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm,” the prince hums, finishing his letter.

“I was just talking to Leo and he said that Hakyeon stormed off a while ago.”

Minho leans back in his chair. “Do you think I should tell him about what we’re trying to do?”

Frankly Jaehwan didn’t quite know why Hakyeon hadn’t been told about the plan yet. It had been six months, what had Minho been waiting for?

“It might give him something else to focus on,” Jaehwan suggests.

The prince sighs and stands up, stretching as he does so. “I’ll go talk to him then. Stay here.”

“Fine. Wait, do you want me to bring Leo?”

“Sure.”

Pretty much just a ‘Minho’s perspective’ chapter.

In case anyone is confused: The first bit is just an overview/pre-Hakyeon, 2^nd part is the first week after Hakyeon arrives, 3^rd part is obvious, 4^th part is just before Minho goes to see Hakyeon at the end of chapter 19.