Note: This story takes place in a fake country outside of Korea so most of the characters are not Korean. If people don't really care about authenticy regarding the names/country, I'll use idol names for all the side characters, which I'm totally okay with. Please enjoy!

His footsteps echoed against the emptiness of the hallways as he walked through the palace, each step creating a clicking sound against the linoleum tiles. He was normally always accompanied by someone — a bodyguard, an assistant, a tutor, or even his great-aunt, but for once it was peaceful.

It was just him, and well, the portraits of all of the rulers of Artyom lining the walls. Baekhyun briefly wondered how long creating one of those portraits took, and why they couldn’t just start replacing them with actual photos instead. It was a selfish reason so he wouldn’t need to sit through that, but it was also a valid question. 

Once upon a time, being alone was the norm for Baekhyun Byun. 

But then his world turned upside down after realizing that he was the heir to a small European country, placed almost right in between Italy and Greece in the Ionian Sea. All he had ever known about the country was the bare minimum that was taught in his world history classes, especially as a student growing up in South Korea, but then he was into the center of it all. 

The training was probably the most grueling of it all — learning the ups and downs of being part of the politics of running a country, the social cues, the languages, learning how to walk and talk and breathe royalty. 

Now that it had been seven years since his cousin, Sophia, had given up the throne to marry a commoner and his great-aunt, Margaret, had taken up the throne yet again, he had pretty much figured everything out.

Sure, he had to switch tracks from studying to become a physical therapist to focusing on political science in college, but over the years he had truly and genuinely begun to love the country his father was from. Baekhyun had formed a connection with the people and honestly wanted to help them to the best of his abilities, so he sacrificed his time and energy to learn to be the best ruler he could be.

And as he made his way through the maze that was the palace he called home, it was finally sinking in that it was his turn to be the next ruler. 

Elisa, his head assistant, had mentioned it to him accidentally that Margaret had called a meeting with the council to discuss her finally stepping down for good so Baekhyun could take over, and he was ecstatic to say the least. He knew that it had to happen soon considering his 26th birthday was in a few months.

Most coronations for new rulers in Artyom occurred after the ruler turned 26, but he hadn’t known that Margaret would’ve brought it up without him having to mention anything to her. It seemed as of late that he would have to prompt her to discuss his coronation, but it was quite possible that she was simply trying to surprise him with the news. 

Baekhyun quickened his footsteps, the excitement bubbling in him and a smile spread across his face unwittingly. He hadn’t even noticed it until he walked past a random mirror on the wall — one thing he still didn’t understand about the palace design — and caught a glimpse of his expression.

His mother would be proud of him, and he couldn’t wait till it was a more proper time in South Korea to give her a call about it.

As he stepped up to the council hall entrance, Baekhyun nodded to acknowledge the two guards standing outside — Archer and Cesar, he believed, and motioned for them to open the door. It was still slightly awkward for him to do gestures like that because Baekhyun felt out of place, especially because it wasn’t like it was hard for him to open the doors himself. Plus, he wasn’t entirely sure who was Archer and who was Cesar. 

“We’re sorry, Prince. Unfortunately, we’re under strict orders to not open the door for anyone,” Archer (possibly) spoke up, head bowed slightly in respect towards Baekhyun. That was another thing that Baekhyun had to get used to, but still wasn’t entirely. It was weird that people wouldn’t look him in the eye while talking to him.

Baekhyun was annoyed that he wasn’t allowed in, but it also wasn’t proper behavior to get mad at the guard. The guard was simply doing his job, and really, if he did enter, then Baekhyun would be quite possibly interrupting the meeting. Instead, Baekhyun nodded at them and thanked them before walking away, appearing as though he were the ever benevolent and pleasant prince he was taught to be.

As soon as he turned the corner, however, Baekhyun silently cursed. 

Dammit, he really wanted to know what exactly had been going on in the meeting and why it was taking them so long to agree on letting Baekhyun take the throne considering that’s why he was even told about being royalty. If they weren’t going to let him take the throne, then why bother?

He leaned against the wall, resisting the urge to tap his foot on the ground (it wasn’t princely, apparently), and sighed deeply. Baekhyun just hoped that no one would find him like this because he knew he would be in for a scolding of the month, but he couldn’t give a at the moment. 

As he stayed there longer, though, there were voices echoing from somewhere. He opened his eyes and looked around, wondering if someone was approaching, but even though he could hear voices, he couldn’t hear any footsteps. His eyebrows furrowed as he recognized how strange it was. He couldn’t possibly be losing his mind this early in the day — he hadn’t even interacted with that many people yet today. 

Baekhyun looked up yet again, trying to focus on where the voices were coming up until he caught a glimpse of a golden vent on the wall close to where it met the ceiling.

“Well then,” he breathed, realizing that the voices he was hearing were coming from inside the council hall, and then it also hit him that the reason why he didn’t hear them until that moment was because they were yelling.

“What the ?” he spoke aloud t