So much rambling at the bottom…My apologies in advance… omg, me, stop.
This is practically a past past chapter… yeah. It takes place before the events of the ‘past’ chapters and is Minho focused, obvs. In the first bit Minho is 4ish.

Chapter 21 – Let It Be Horrible

Minho thinks his game is fun. Hidden in the little cabinet in his mother’s sitting room, he waits to see how long it will be before he’s caught this time. Normally he was found straight away and only got into minor trouble, so when his mother’s guest arrived and he was still hidden, he knew he’d have to stay there or risk his mother’s wrath.

“You look beautiful, Your Majesty,” the man who enters greets.

For the first time in his life Minho hears his mother scoff. “Stop it, we’ve known each other since we were apprentices.”

“And being in your presence has always been my greatest pleasure,” the man chuckles.

The queen laughs but tries to appear serious. “Choi Dohyun,” she scolds. “You stop that now.”

Dohyun laughs too. “Okay, okay.”

For a moment it’s silent and Minho wonders if he’s been caught. He sinks down lower in the cabinet and waits for the door to be opened, it isn’t.

“Why did you come?” the queen asks.

There’s a rustling and then the crinkling of paper. “You sent me a letter.”

“Oh…”

The playful mood disappears instantly.

“What’s going to happen to the baby?” Dohyun asks.

“It’s being sent to a town near the outskirts of the country,” Minho’s mum replies shortly.

Minho wonders why his mum is angry. It was the voice she used when she was telling him off so he recognizes it easily.

“And the maid?”

“She’ll be fired.”

There’s a heavy pause and Minho works to keep his breathing quiet. If he gets caught now he’ll be in huge trouble, he knows how much his mum hates snooping which is why this game had been fun. It wasn’t fun anymore, not in the least.

“It isn’t the maids fault,” Dohyun grumbles so Minho can barely hear “I’m a little surprised the king isn’t going to acknowledge the baby since Minho doesn’t have any intuitive magic.”

The young prince is surprised to hear his own name and his heart pounds at the thought of being caught. He doesn’t know what the man had meant only that it had caused an argument between his mother and father several times.

“He can’t. The vows the king makes when sworn in are always the same for every generation. ‘The King’s dedication and loyalty to his wife reflects his devotion to the country’. There would be an uprising.”

“Ah,” Dohyun had forgotten about that.

“Besides,” the queen mutters. “I don’t want the baby to just grow up as a tool to be used by Jihun.”

Dohyun sighs, knowing that that is exactly what would happen if the baby had any sort of magic.

“Do you remember Kim Chunja?” the queen asks suddenly.

“That foreign girl we studied with?”

The queen nods. “She…has a potion shop now. I’m going to send the baby to live near her. That way if it does have magic that’ll be the first person it goes to see.”

“I…that’s a good plan,” Dohyun says.

He doesn’t think it’s a good plan. Chunja had run away from her own country and illegally entered theirs to learn magic. He didn’t like how determined she was to do magic and what effect that would have on a child. Magic is dangerous.

You could move there, a voice in his head mutters. He shakes it away.

“You also asked about my research… in your note?”

“Oh right,” the queen mutters. “What have you found lately?”

“Bigger reserves equals faster corruption, basically.”

“Huh?” she demands, surprised.

Her own reserves were pretty small, having not practiced magic since before she’d become the queen, but she knew a lot of sorcerers focused a lot on growing them bigger. Their own teacher had never taught them that way, stressing control and safety over everything.

“And your research on creatures?”

“Populations are low. Centaurs have moved up into the mountains, Anyelji are extinct now and Anyethi are going the same way.”

“…How many?” the queen asks sadly.

“One family group of four. Two elder males and a mated pair.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Mmm,” Dohyun hums sadly. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Both of them know it’s not true. Sure, the Anyethi were doomed, but they could try prevent other peoples from going through the same thing in the future.

“I…have a young son and another baby on the way, Dohyun,” the queen mutters. “I can’t risk starting something like that. I’m married to the king.”

Dohyun sighs. “I know…”

One day we will change it all, he whispers to himself but he knows she hears it too.

Minho doesn’t really understand much more of what they say – it’s all magic talk – but finally, finally Choi Dohyun promises to write soon and leaves. Minho hopes, prays that his mother will also leave the room.

“Pak Minho,” a voice growls.

Resigned to his fate Minho pushes the cabinet door open and pops his head out. He thought he’d be yelled at but instead the queen picks him up and hugs him.

The grumble melts away to a worried whisper in his ear. “You’re not allowed to tell your father what you heard, okay?”

“Okay,” Minho agrees easily because his mother is his favourite.

“At three o’clock this afternoon the queen will be executed for treason.”

Minho’s heart stops beating at the announcement. It comes from his father but he dares to open his mouth and choke out a ‘Why?’

“For conspiring to end our great monarchy.”

His body is frozen and his stomach is churning violently but he knows what his father expects so he picks up his fork and continues eating his breakfast to avoid suspicion.

“Mum,” Minho cries.

He’s sobbing, face gross with tears and snot as he clings to his mother through the bars of the cell she’s held in.

“Oh, sweetie,” she replies calmly, wiping his face with her sleeps. “This was always a possibility.”

That doesn’t make him feel better and he chokes a little when he tries to tell her that she should never have tried to change things.

“Now, now,” the queen scolds, hiding the quiver in her voice. “What would we be if we never tried? Hmm?”

She lets her son cry for a while longer, his hair comfortingly before she presses two pieces of paper into his shirt. “Put them in my mail box and then destroy it, okay?”

“Okay.”

The guards in the room are on their side – and no doubt more would be too after the queen’s death – but they still warn the prince that he needs to leave soon.

Trying to breathe again Minho pulls back from his mother’s embrace through the bars. He can instantly tell that she’s trying not to cry and he opens his mouth to say something, anything but she beats him to it.

“Everything is okay,” she tells him, forcing a smile. “Everything is okay.”

Minho attempts to smile back but it feels like his lips quiver and then give up. “Everything is okay,” he repeats.

Jaehwan struggles to get the silencing spell to hold but he manages it eventually. Once it’s in place he pulls the prince into a tight hug.

He’s extremely worried about his friend. They were all forced to watch, everyone. In the courtyard out the front of the palace citizens gathered to watch. Some cheered. But the prince kept up a calm façade that rivalled his father’s and sister’s.

“Everything is okay,” Minho says, sounding strangled as he tries to reassure Jaehwan.

He had done as his mother asked and mailed the letters. He didn’t read them, even though he could have, and he doesn’t know who they were addressed to, but he knew they were about their plans. Plans that suddenly seemed a lot more important.

Jaehwan, despite being five years younger than the prince, is taller and he easily manhandles him onto the bed. “Everything will be okay,” he corrects. “For now, let it be horrible.”

As the sun sets Minho wishes for nothing more than to forget everything, but he knows he never will. He cries into the younger boy’s shaking chest, sobs echoing in the room and letting this be the worse day of his life.

“I’m going to change it all,” he whispers hoarsely hours later as they begin to drift to sleep after exhausting themselves.

Jaehwan tightens his arms. “I’ll help you.”

I…made myself depressed while writing this. That’s why I decided to add the bonus part below (which I wrote after first mentioning the prince but couldn’t fit anywhere in chapter 20). It probably takes part a little before the execution.

BONUS:

Jaehwan pulls away from the kiss with a gasp, covering his mouth with his hand, eyes wide as he stares at the prince’s face.

Minho continues to look up into Jaehwan’s eyes, a clear question on his face.

“Sorry,” Jaehwan whispers.

The prince’s eyes close and his brows pull down and his head drops. He releases a shaky breath that makes Jaehwan think he’s crying until he looks back up with a small smile.

“It was worth a shot. I’m sorry, Jaehwan.”

“No – I mean that right now – I…me too.”

Minho wants to ask why, why didn’t Jaehwan want him? He can feel the rejection deep in his chest but he realizes he also feels relieved. What kind of relationship could they have anyway? Guards weren’t allowed to get involved with any of the royal family. He’d be forcing Jaehwan to live in secrecy.

“Let’s get going for that meeting my mum called,” the prince says.

“Y-yeah.”

They start off down the hallway and Jaehwan can only hope that the awkwardness dissipates quickly.

Minho is 22 in the ‘past’ chapters, 20 when his mother is executed, 4ish in the start of this chapter.

Jaehwan is 15ish (Hakyeon 16-17) at chapter end. Jaehwan is 16 when the war starts (mother dies) (Minho 21). 15 when they kiss, 17 when Hakyeon arrives, 25 in the ‘present’ chapters.

Anyelji = rabbit people that will never be mentioned again. (If I were to make them all into creatures Hongbin would be Anyelji)

…So, the baby… guess who that is. *clears throat* completely random plot (more like character) twist. (Completely forgot I added that after writing all the Minho’s mum stuff) (Pretty much unnecessary to the plot) (Will never be mentioned again) *flits away into the night after causing mass confusion*

…I ship JaehwanxMinho so much. That bonus was supposed to be the end of it. Ugh. I wrote this before chapter 20 and it made me go back and add stuffs. Ugh.