A/N: Aye, guess who is updating? 'Tis me, haha! Hopefully y'all enjoy this chapter. Per usual, we're going back to the past again. Enjoy! xoxo

//

“Honey?”

You looked up from your tablet to see your mother standing in the doorway.

She was dressed in her rich red silk robes, the sleeves hanging downwards in huge waves of fabric. A golden belt was adorned right below her bust, and atop her head, she wore a headpiece that dangling with jewels, beads, and flowers. Her eyes were warm, her smile kind, and with the morning sun illuminating her from behind, she looked absolutely radiant. Mom was never overly harsh towards you unless need it be. Being her only daughter, you knew that you and her were the closest thing to a true family that you were ever going to get.

Even if there was no true father in your life, you knew that you had your mother. And that in itself, was just as good.

“Yeah, Mom?”

She sighed exasperatedly. You knew why—you weren’t supposed to use such casual, modern terms inside the palace. “Yeah”s and “Mom”s and “dude”s and “shook”s were not exactly forbidden, they were more frowned upon. But that didn’t stop you from using them any time that you could get. Scrolling down your tablet, you decided that was enough Instagram for the day and set it aside.

Her lips were painted a bright red today to match her dress. Hands lacing together, she spoke softly, “You’re going to helping out with the rest of the court girls to prepare for the afternoon tea, right?”

“I am?” You glanced down at your tablet, bringing up the schedule of your assigned duties for today. Then you sighed, set it back down. “Yeah, I am.”

Mom’s lips pursed again at your word choice, but she let it slide. “Alright, I just wanted to double check. I’ll be there with the rest of the Royal Court, so make sure you behave yourself, yes?”

“Yeah, I got it,” you drawled. Your lips were already pouting at the thought of tea duty. You didn’t have to do it all the time, but you sure were bad at it.

Sure, it was just serving tea to the Royal Court in the afternoon. Yes. But that meant brewing tea, and pouring it out, and then precariously bringing it to each member of the Royal Court: every single prince and princess and king and queen and then, the emperor.

If you had a family as big as Seokjin’s, your head would probably explode from memorizing all those names.

“Please make sure that you're on your best behavior, honey,” your mother reminded you. “We are having guests over today, after all.”

“Guests?” Why was this the first time you were hearing about this?

“A few princes from the Royal Air Kingdom. You know how it is, honey.”

That's right. The Fire and Air Kingdoms had been planning an alliance for months now, and you had heard that things were finally becoming finalized. After this tea, there was to be a wedding, no doubt about it. Maybe even more than one.

Though of course cross-Element marriages amongst civilians were forbidden, it was quite frequent between royal families. It wasn't fair, not at all. Especially because they were able to keep their lineage in power through their hybrid children—the only hybrids allowed to exist. The only people allowed to be influenced with more than one Element, unlike those who were restricted to pure, same-Element relationships.

No, not fair. But what could one do? There always seemed to be some sort of injustice no matter what.

You nodded quickly, sitting up and gathering your skirts. It was nearly noon now, and there were things to be done. Just because you were the daughter of a royal concubine didn’t mean that you were allowed to slack off. Not unless you were some sort of princess.

“I’ll head over to the kitchens right now, see if they need any help.”

Mom smiled, and you knew that she was proud. Thankfully, you hadn’t been married off yet, and you were so lucky that you and her were allowed to stay together. However long this period of time might last, you didn’t know. But you knew that no matter what, the two of you had to cherish one another.

“Alright, honey.” Mom soothed a hand over your hair, beautifully coiled today and decorated with all sorts of jewels, along with the hairpin that Seokjin had given you.

Your mom tsked lightly, tapping the moonstone and ruby encrusted piece. “Make sure you take this off before the tea starts.”

“I know, Mom,” you sighed. Didn’t want to let the Royal Air Kingdom that a Fire prince was playing favorites, after all. Everybody was always up in everybody else’s business, and though you didn’t like it, it was just the way things were. Like gossip in a city. Rumors throughout the rest of the modern world.

“I’ll see you later,” you said. With a touch ID to close the door to your room, you stepped outside into the main hallway, sunlight beaming down on both you and your mother. “Yeah?”

She laughed lightly, her voice sounding like wind whooshing through cherry blossom trees. She patted your shoulder lightly. Voice low, she smiled at you.

“Yeah.”

//

Prince Seokjin wouldn’t stop staring at you.

The afternoon tea was being held outside today, for the weather had been programmed to bright and sunny, with a pleasant breeze. It always was, when guests arrived. Overhead, fluffy white clouds few over a fake blue sky. The faint sounds of birdsong and crickets surrounded the whole courtyard, but you knew that there were no such things. It was all programmed, all fake.

The courtyard was a beautiful thing, almost like an oriental gazebo. It was polished and furnished with the glossiest of woods, deep rich auburn brown, with the perfect amount of the shade from the roof on top. Flowers and plants decorated it all around and enveloped the place in a peaceful atmosphere. Off to the side was what appeared to be a glittering lake, waves crashing back and forth in a pleasant scene, but again. You pouted slightly. You knew that the courtyard just so happened to be placed near the side of the dome, where the structure met the ground. Top coders and programmers had merely only made it look like there was a lake—but you knew that if you dared touch the dome, the whole surface would just be smooth, hard, metal.

Still, if you squinted carefully, it almost all looked real. Almost.

In the courtyard, the emperor sat at the front of the circular structure, legs crossed in front of him. To his right sat his two queens, Queen Eugene and Queen Iris, and to the left sat the only other king: King Charles. All of them were dressed in wonderfully lavish attire, all gold jewelry and metal flowers decorated their elaborate headdresses.

The Fire princes and princesses sat on one side of the gazebo, and the Air princes sat right across from them.

The Fire children were dressed traditional today—Prince Seokjin and Prince Chanyeol both adorned in bright red robes, white and gold accents all around. Whilst Prince Chanyeol braided flowers into his hair, Prince Seokjin’s was twisted into a high ponytail with pins and beads falling delicately.

Then there were the two princesses: Princess Irene and Princess Wendy. A strong Aries, Princess Irene dressed more in gold rather than red, her hair woven with strands of the precious metal. Her eyes were painted in the same shade, her lips painted a crimson, her cheeks flushed with fuschia. Though she painted a tough face, you knew that she wasn’t as macho as she might have looked.

And finally, Princess Wendy: the only Royal child that was not born under a Fire sign. Though most royal pregnancies were planned to be conceived during the months of the kingdom’s Element, sometimes these things just were not able to be controlled. And Princess Wendy was just that: she was not a force to be reckoned with. Though she looked sweet and smiled pleasantly, you knew that if somebody got on her bad side, justice would be served.

Across from the Fire children, there were the three air princes: Prince Suho, Prince Yixing, and Prince Hoseok. It was their third visit to the palace already, and you knew that somebody was bound to get married soon. Three times was more than “I think we should get married”. It was a loud and clear: “Seriously, let's get married.”

They were all fairly pleasant, all incredibly handsome in such an airy, gentlemanly way. They wore light grey robes, misty chiffons and moonstones glittering in their hair. Prince Suho fanned himself, his apparatus decorated with a watercolor painting he had clearly done himself.

Prince Suho had his eyes on one of the Fire girls, and you knew it. But which one, you had yet to find out.

Would it be Princess Irene, feisty, but feminine?

Or would it be Princess Wendy, sweet, but strong?

You and the other court girls had already served the first round of tea: today was a blend of exotic black tea and lavender, a combination unheard of. But Lady Mo, the one in charge of the kitchens, was sure of her little magical concoction, and had merely ushered you along.

Now, you stood off to the side, waiting to be called on. Hands upon your abdomen and elbows tucked in, head down.

And yet every time you looked upwards, Seokjin was staring at you.

Smirking at you, almost.

You turned back to the conversation and wondered why in the world he was acting in such a way. He had been training you for several weekends now, and you had slowly been progressing, though of course you still constantly made mistakes. Was something funny? Was your hair secretly on fire or what?

“Prince Suho,” the emperor was saying, smiling at the man. His voice was gruff, matching the long beard at the end of his chin. “How have you and your brothers been? It's been a few weeks since your last visit, yes?”

Suho nodded, the moonstones in his hairpin glimmering. “We have been well, Your Majesty. We hope the same for your family in return.”

The emperor chortled with laughter, though you didn't find anything particularly funny. “Oh Suho, you are quite the gentleman, aren't you?”

“I do my best, Your Majesty.”

The emperor smiled at this. Gesturing to his children, his voice boomed across the gazebo.

“Suho, you are clearly a kind man. I do not doubt that you will treat your future spouse with all the care that you can provide. Tell me, Suho. Which of my children can you provide for the most? Shower with love? Bathe in the comforts of the Royal Air Kingdom?”

And there was the question.

It was as if the whole place was just holding its breath. You kept your eyes down, glued towards the tips of your shoes.

Princess Irene stared at her teacup.

Princess Wendy shut her eyes.

And then you heard Prince Suho’s voice.

“Your Majesty, I cannot lie to you and say that Princess Irene has captured my heart already. But before it is all finalized, I must have to ask…”

“Yes, Suho. You may ask.”

Your breath hitched at his words.

What did he just say?

“Would Prince Seokjin be opposed to becoming one of my kings, as well?”

//

A/N: Listen, even idk what the f i just wrote lmao it's 12:06 in the middle of the night, fingers crossed I don't regret this tmrw in the morning hahaha

Do you guys feel like the story is moving too slow bc of the double past/present chapter switches? I feel like this is getting kind of boring, or no? Please do let me know down in the comments! And feel free to subscribe and upvote for MORE lovely content! Thanks for reading, honey~! xoxo