"jaemin?"

"yes, princess?"

the princess and the pink-haired prince; or her "guard" were in the library to study. it's been hours since she read her Flora book, so she decided to take a break from it. she placed down her book and looked at the white, worn-out glove that jaemin has been wearing on his right hand.

"do you need a new glove?"

ever since he's been yuri's guard, he had to get used to wearing the glove. it's a hassle, but of course, he wouldn't want to expose himself as the diamond prince with the blatantly obvious diamond imprint on his wrist. he didn't think much of the condition of the glove so long as it's still covering the mark. the emerald princess thought otherwise.

"it's still pretty useful unless you want to make a new one for me."

jaemin was joking when he said that.

"of course, i wouldn't mind at all." she didn't hesitate to reply, causing the prince to be slightly taken aback. before he could say a word, yuri has returned the book she was reading and gestured him to follow her.

"where are we going?"

"sewing room."

they bumped into taehee who was also finding the princess since it was time for dinner. it took a lot of begging before taehee decided to let yuri skip dinner and help her tell the other royal servants to leave the room.

"don't blame me if you are hungry, princess." taehee said before leaving jaemin and yuri alone in the sewing room.

"alright, let's measure your hand first." yuri found a measuring rope lying around and held out her hand.

"can i?" jaemin wonder if he's really the dominant one. he easily gets flustered by whatever the princess sometimes does. jaemin lay his right hand on yuri's held out hand and let the princess do her thing. she removed the worn-out glove and started measuring every finger. the prince admired the princess' focused expression as she does so.

jaemin realised she has a particular expression when she's in focus mode. her eyebrows will furrow, her lips would be in a thin line, and her tongue would be slightly out. once in a while, her lengthy hair would block her sight, so when it started to annoy her, she finds a hairband and ponytail her hair. oh god, someone please save jaemin. he felt his temperature rising as he stared at the nape of her neck.

he felt awkward for no reason and broke the silence by clearing his throat. yuri stopped for a moment.

"do you need a drink?"

"umm, umm, no. i'm fine." jaemin felt warmer than before so he unconsciously fanned himself with his left hand.

"i'll open the windows for you."

she's so oblivious.

although opening the windows helped, but her touch made him feel fuzzier. she made sure she measures his hand size right so that it would fit him perfectly. and made sure it's long and secure enough to cover the diamond mark.

"you know you don't need to do this, right?" jaemin felt a pang of slight guilt. he wouldn't want the princess to do extra work for him, although a part of him wanted a gift from the princess herself.

yuri shook her head.

"don't feel bad. i want to return this favour to you, for helping me all this while." jaemin's heart almost melts at the sight of yuri's smile.

"alright, i'm done measuring. why not you take a seat while i get started?" jaemin listened and grabbed a chair to sit beside her. but not within her working range. he realised how talented yuri is, despite being a princess. princesses usually don't learn how to sew. that's a servant's job to do. not only that, she knows her flowers and plants well to know which can be used to treat injuries. maybe yuri's curiosity over the smallest things made her to who she is now. he's thankful that taehee has been by her side and teaching her the things that she's interested in.

jaemin was busy starting at yuri's face that he was startled when the princess suddenly squealed. she immediately started on her finger which jaemin could tell, was slightly bleeding. yuri accidentally poked herself with a needle as she was trying to sew. it seemed all automatic when the prince took her bloodied finger and on it too.

"w-what are yo-"

"i'm healing you." jaemin continued on the finger. the princess felt the heat on her cheeks for some unknown reason and tried to remove her hand from his grasp.

"i can take care of myself, jaemin. let me handle it." jaemin stopped but still maintaining his grasp.

"i'm returning this favour to you too, for taking care of me when i was injured." the iron taste eventually lessened. jaemin finally went to the nurse's room next door and took some necessary items to tend to the small wound.

"at least you knew you were unhygienic." jaemin chuckled silently. he finally wrapped a plaster around the injured finger, ensuring it's secured.

"done."

"thank you." but jaemin didn't let go of yuri's hand. she felt jaemin's eyes gazing at her intensely. she didn't realise jaemin's face was getting closer to her's until she felt his warm breath right at her face.

what's happening? why is my heart racing?

yuri didn't know what she was expecting from jaemin's action. but she knew she had to close her eyes. the flirty jaemin noticed this and smirked. he was teasing her. he changed direction and place his mouth near her left ear.

"you're welcome, princess." he muttered.

he pulled away and finally witnessed it.

the princess is blushing.

i did it.

her eyes are still closed for some reason. "why did you close your eyes, princess?" he teased again. yuri slowly opened her eyes and realised that jaemin isn't dangerously close anymore.

"expecting something?" he joked.

"no." she knows her heart says otherwise, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. she heard jaemin's chuckle and brushed it off by getting back to do the glove. the rest of the time, the princess was partially unfocused because again, she felt the same two eyes staring at the back of her head. she spends most of the time contemplating that she might be wrong. thus, it took longer than she speculated.

when it's finally done, she was somewhat unsatisfied. yes, she believed that the colour she chose fit him; light pink almost off-white, with a pink rose sewed on to it. but the threads that she sew seemed slightly messy. she didn't realise she was pouting as she looked at the outcome. jaemin knew the princess well enough to know that she's unsatisfied with her work. to him, it's the effort and sincerity that counts. and the pout she gave, oh god, jaemin was trying his best to resist pinching her chubby cheeks.

jaemin snatched the completed glove nicely and immediately wore it. it's perfect. not only it fits him well, but it's also more comfortable than the previous glove.

"i'm amazed, princess. i wonder what other surprises you have yet to show me."

although the princess was still unsatisfied, she appreciates the prince's praise.

"thank you," the princess sighed. "i'll make a better one next time." still pouting. jaemin placed his hand on the princess's head and patted it.

"it's perfect, princess. i do love the way it is." the prince's words somehow comforted yuri. the knocking at the door broke the moment. the door creaked opened, revealing taehee.

"prince jaemin, the king would like to see you."
____________________________________________

the king called jaemin in for the princess' weekly report. it's a hassle for the pink-haired prince as sometimes, he had to make up stories to protect the princess. But this is the only way for him to know about the man who has killed his parents. he just wanted to know why, when they have a grand alliance with each other.

jaemin arrived right in front of the king and queen's throne room. the guards announced the arrival of jaemin, followed by the king's instruction to allow him to enter. he walked towards them and bent on one knee, greeting them.

"you called me, your highness?"

"report on the princess, please."

"as usual, your highness. she never missed a lesson," he hesitated to tell the truth, but jaemin thinks it won't affect anything.

"she only skipped dinner today because she wished to sew me a new glove." he took a glimpse at the king and saw the king raising his eyebrows.

"don't worry, your highness. i wouldn't allow her to take a step out of the palace, ever."

"didn't know she's that hardworking. keep doing your job, ensuring that she doesn't leave the castle."

there are a few things that jaemin noticed for the last few weeks whenever he enters this very room. firstly, the atmosphere seemed too dark and dismal compared to the other parts of the castle. he already felt a bad aura coming from the castle, but it's suffocating when he stepped into this room.

secondly, whenever he tries to talk to the queen like he did today, he ends up getting ignored, and the king would've spoken on behalf of her. that's not normal. the queen, despite looking as grand as she's supposed to be, everyone could tell how absent-minded she looked. apparently, no one in this castle noticed it except for him, taehee and the princess herself.

lastly, he didn't feel any royal energy from the king himself. because of jaemin's ability to channel, he is more sensitive to royal energy awareness compared to the other princes. it is as though the king isn't who he thought he is. but honestly, he speculated that he could be wrong as he only learned how to feel royal energy awareness recently. so he shakes that thought off immediately.

the king finally let him go, leaving soft murmuring to himself accidentally heard by jaemin as he left the room.

what was he murmuring about?