Chapter 2

When Prince Jongin Finally Mastered the Art of Mockery Technique

It was a beautiful morning, precisely fifteen hours after Sorcerer Do came into the kingdom. The sky was deep blue with occasional patches of white clouds that were strangely -magically made- resembling Queen Kibum's side feature (or Queen Key he preferably to be referred as).

Bulbul songbirds, especially brought from the Jepun Kingdom, were chirping happily, sitting elegantly on their Sakura branches throne. Their soft plumage was colorful with yellow, red, and orange on their vests, cheeks, and supercilliary.

Queen Key loved to have a walk in the Royal Park, showered by silky petals of Sakura flowers which were magically bloomed every season, welcoming him along the pathway. Pink color would accentuate his beautiful blond hair and milky porcelain skin, and the bulbuls singing praises would be his national anthem.

In that beautiful morning with the warm rays of sun coming through the stained glass windows Royal Advisor Byun Baekhyun was standing outside a door. He straightened his flashy uniform and checked on each of his royal badges and medals to make sure he had everything placed on the right spot. He put his most precious one on the centre; the 'Royal Advisor of The Year' badge.

He inspected every gold thread and embroidery, looking for any imperfection. The Royal Advisor then checked his fancy collar with gold edging and caressed his perfect face. He nodded in approval. Today he had a smoky wraparound to make his eyes look bigger, with an exaggerated winged tip. There was absolutely no excuse for wearing the same blasé eyeliner day in and day out.

Satisfied with his flawless appearance, Royal Advisor Byun knocked on Sorcerer Do's room.

Royal Advisor Byun Baekhyun waited for a good minute without any response. He decided to let a few more seconds pass before giving another try, with the same elegant, royally allowed door-knocking manner; two short taps precisely 50 decibels of the power intensity (one could not be a Royal Advisor of The Year if he failed to pull off such an easy task).

Byun Baekhyun pursed up his lips, thinking about his next move. He thought about whether if he should knock the door once again or not and if it was royally acceptable to do so, plus, it would not be a wise decision to irritate a sorcerer early in the morning; he could be transformed into a platypus before he even cast his charming good morning smile.

He heard someone was turned into a brass gothic doorbell for not in keeping with the accepted standards of what was proper. The sorcerer who casted a spell on the unlucky Royal Advisor said that if he wanted to be a doorbell, he might as well be a high quality one. The poor person still chimed once in a while after being transformed back. Well, at least now he could precisely chime 50 decibels sound.

Before Byun Baekhyun could decide what to do, the door booted opened, much to his relief. Or not. Sorcerer Do was as grouchy as ever, if not even more. Dark circles decorated his huge, tired eyes. A sour pout plastered on his sullen face. He was wearing his usual sorcerer robe (the one with the ancient runes symbol), and without his pointy sorcerer hat, his fluffy brunette hair stucked out wildly, far from his slick well-groomed hair he had the day before, despite the fact that he just came from a long journey. 

The Royal Advisor gave the sorcerer his proper delightful smile and tried to start a friendly conversation, swallowing his nervousness. "Good morning, Sorcerer Do. I hope you had err, a good sleep last night." He took a glimpse at Sorcerer Do and averted his gaze right away as he saw a dangerous glint on the tired panda eyes.

 "Are you sure that your prince is not the problem at all? He seems insane enough to enter The Asylum for The Honorable Lunatics," the sorcerer growled, running his hand through his messy fluffy hair in annoyance.

"Err, actually he's not. Our prince only got 130 points of the Lunatics Quotient; one should have at least 135 LQ to be qualified," Byun Baekhyun politely answered. "What might cause you the inconvenience, if Byun Baekhyun may know?" he kindly asked.

"Your prince kept sending me obnoxious stuff since yesterday, with those crazy notes." Sorcerer Do pressed his cheeks in frustration. He went on, with his hands still pressed hard on his cheeks, causing his lips to form a kissy fish as he spoke,

"No I don't need a 'Faerie L'occitane Magic Lotion' to nurture my skin and leave it soft and youthful," he hissed through his gritted teeth, "nor do I need an eyeliner to accentuate my 'two rounds of universe with beautiful stars tinkling at the centre'," he mumbled in desperation, and finally the sorcerer snapped,

"AND I CERTAINLY DON'T NEED A GOLDEN BIG BOW WITH GLITTERS TO PRETTIFY MY SORCERER HAT FOR ZEUS SAKE," Sorcerer Do yelled. He marched his way inside of the room and came back with a flashy huge golden bow, pressing it to the Royal Advisor's hand.

Byun Baekhyun stared at the glittery item on his hand. Well, it was too tacky indeed, even for Queen Key's taste. He really should not postpone contacting the Royal Wardrobe Stylist to give Prince Jongin a lesson or two.

"Well, it is not the greatest choice for a sorcerer hat; he should've sent you a bow with soft color instead, maybe dusty grey or tout tendre..." The Royal Advisor's voice trailed off when he saw the sorcerer's grim expression.

He cleared his throat and changed his sentence hurriedly, "I will make sure our prince won't send you any err, welcoming gift anymore. And also.." Byun Baekhyun seemed to hesitate before continuing,

"Our queen would be so thankful if he could get his Faerie L'occitane lotion back. It is so rare; he finally got it after being in the waiting list for three months," he murmured quickly. Grinning awkwardly, Byun Baekhyun turned his gaze everywhere but the furious sorcerer.

***

It was safe to say that Sorcerer Do was not entirely excited to see Prince Jongin standing up outside the Royal Gate as he walked with the Royal Advisor, getting ready to observe the farmland. The prince looked as stupid as the sorcerer remembered; idiotic grin was plastered on his face when he saw Sorcerer Do coming closer. The only difference was that the prince was wearing a more comfortable and suitable attire to go outside; tight pants with a matching sleeveless vest.

"Good morning, my angel," Prince Jongin welcoming the grumpy sorcerer in adoration gaze.

"Did you sleep well last night? I thought of sending you our gigantic four poster bed, with its 20 mattresses and 20 featherbeds and all, but I don't think you're going to fancy a pea slipped between the mattresses -- it would only give you  sore muscles I guess. And the stairs to climb the mattresses seem impractical," Prince Jongin said lovingly.

Sorcerer Do groaned and walked a good distance from the prince. "Why me..." He cried.

Byun Baekhyun greeted his prince politely, "Good morning, Your Royal Highness," he gave the prince a formal routine bow before continuing fastidiously,

"What are you possibly doing here? Shouldn't you get ready for your etiquette lesson? I heard that you haven't mastered the art of mockery well; you have to look from a certain degree while maintaining the politeness, smiling a thin smile with a little arch on the corner of the mouth.” He shook his head in disbelief.

"It's so easy; Queen Key managed to acquire the technique long before he gave his first tooth to the tooth fairy. He even invented the variation technique with the addition of the rolling eyes movement." The Jong's Royal Advisor released a deep breath to calm himself down, and went on,

"Even Sir Ben Ben has managed to smile gracefully, twitching a corner of his mouth slightly upward while his eyes radiating as warm as the summer." Byun Baekhyun put the back of his hand on his forehead dramatically. Prince Jongin should've been able to master the art of 'Agreeing While Smiling a Disagreement' by now. The Royal Advisor sighed. His prince was not the brightest when it comes to the royal personal development lesson.

Prince Jongin raised a hand nonchalantly, not putting any personal interest on the rambles. His eyes never left the cute creature wearing the cute robe with patches of cute symbols.

"Now, my source of life, the one who makes this morning sun looks like a dull glimmer of the moon; I shall assist you through this dangerous journey. It is not safe for you to carry your own petite self without the one strong enough to be your living shield, love." Prince Jongin walked closer to the sorcerer, staring at him with a loving gaze.

"Sorcerer Do and I are going to a cherry farm, Your Royal Highness. No harm could possibly approach us in any way," Byun Baekhyun said with a sigh.

"Did he just call me a gloomy person? And moreover, a midget?" Sorcerer Do grunted.

He also referred me, the one who will go along with you as a weak, Byun Baekhyun thought with a sour face. Well, I’m not a baboon either, he mentally grumbled.

Prince Jongin, ignoring Byun Baek's statement of no dangerousness, turned his head toward his precious one,

"Come, my love. Let me help you to our ride," he chirped happily as he offered his hand to the sorcerer. Prince Jongin gestured his head toward the huge black horse behind him, which was held by one of the soldiers. Another soldier was holding a smaller horse, sandy chocolate with patches of white on the legs, as if it was wearing fancy socks. Sorcerer Do noticed the horse had small, eye lined eyes. It was definitely the Royal Advisor's horse.

Sorcerer Do scowled. He averted his attention to the Royal Advisor. "What does this mean? I thought that only the two of us are going there, without any prince, using a decent vehicle," he protested, hands flailing wildly to avoid the prince who was trying to grasp them, to take him to his ride.

"Well, our Royal Protocol and the Carriage Department has informed me that Queen Key ordered for a quite lot of royal carriages, the flashy eight horse drawn carriage -- ones with the gold gilded sculpture -- for his 'Royalties that Look at Least Ten Years Younger Society' meeting, and King Jonghyun also asked for some carriages to pick up the royalties who are coming for the Annual Cricket League; our king specially trained the royal crickets to win; he had arranged our Royal Orchestra to play the crickets some classical pieces so they are able to chirp beautifully," Byun Baekhyun blabbered proudly. He stole a quick glance at the furious sorcerer and offered an innocent grin, with innocent eye smile and all.

"But I don't believe we've run out of the royal carriages, we should have more of them, sire." He turned his head toward the soldiers, who were shaking their heads apologetically. The Royal Advisor cleared his throat. Looking like he was in trouble.

"You should have told me sooner, I could have thought of a spell to make me able to horse ride or something. I cannot do the transportation sorcery without knowing the exact coordinate," Sorcerer Do chided the Royal Advisor. He was so frustrated he had a sudden urge to cry.

"The only spell I can only think of right now is the spell not to hurt my bottom when I fall to the ground." His face darkened. Sorcerer Do felt so miserable, and it showed on his face. Prince Jongin felt a tug on his heart seeing the saddened bundle of joy.

"Don't worry my precious sweet angel, I will keep you safe from any danger," he promised his beloved one, eyes shining in determination. "Come, reach my hand that will embrace no one but you, I swear I will keep your bottom safe from colliding with the cruelty of the earth surface."

Sorcerer Do shook his head in fear, "Can't I just ride a horse with you?" He pleaded Byun Baekhyun in desperation. Royal Advisor Byun Baek was about to voice out his agreement when he saw his prince squinting his eyes at him with a warning. He sighed and answered the sorcerer,

"With my deepest regret, I believe you cannot, sire. As you can see, my horse is small; he would not be able to withstand our weight. Prince Jongin's ride is way bigger and more comfortable," he replied in an apologetic tone.

Sorcerer Do was reluctant to go, but calling it off means another day in the Jong Kingdom, which means a day longer with the idiot. After pondering in despair he surrendered and gave a weak nod.

"Where should I sit?" Sorcerer Do growled. He looked at the hand offered to him in distaste, before hesitantly taking it. Prince Jongin happily assisted the unwilling sorcerer to his ride, the tiny hand in his hold, much to the sorcerer's dismay. Sorcerer Do was too distracted by the huge creature he would have to ride soon, he didn't realize the prince's fast hands had been placed securedly on his bottom, lifting him up and putting him on the back of the horse -- the sudden act made the terrified sorcerer release a (cute) little squeak. Prince Jongin climbed his horse easily and sat in front of Sorcerer Do.

"Come, Kyung Kyung. Hug my waist, I don't want you to fall," Prince Jongin pointed to his waist.

"No, thank you very much, I won't fall." The sorcerer put his hands on each side, refusing to touch Prince Jongin.

"And don't call me Kyung Kyung!"

 "As you wish, Kyungie." Prince Jongin smiled and snapped the horse's rein all of a sudden, his horse jerk forward. Sorcerer Do didn't prepare for the sudden act; he jolted backward but fortunately was caught by Prince Jongin in time before he could fall. The prince held Sorcerer Do expertly, his other hand was on the horse's bridle.

"See? I told you. You could've fallen, " Prince Jongin whispered into Sorcerer Do's ticklish ear. They were so close they could practically rub their noses together. Sorcerer Do was still in his shock he could not move a muscle.

"Now, circle your arms around me and hold tight. You don't want any incident to happen, right? I could've missed the timing and we might bump our lips together accidentally when I saved you," Prince Jongin chimed. He raised a corner of his lips faintly while staring at Sorcerer Do innocently.

Sorcerer Do grunted but he put his hands around the prince's waist anyway. Prince Jongin mentally did a victorious dance when he felt tiny hands circling his waist hesitantly. He patted the hands lovingly before encouraging his horse to start walking fast.

I have to inform the Royal Personal Development teacher once I get back, Byun Baekhyun thought. After all this time, finally our prince managed to master the art of mockery. A good one, I must add. It's my first time seeing pinkish blush decorating the sorcerer's cheeks.

Byun Baekhyun pulled on the bridle and urged his horse to move forward.

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