Minho tried to repress a yawn as he entered the stables where was his stallion, Flame.

The Prince was holding a red apple in his hand and wanted to give it to his mount like he did every morning, thinking that being in an other country didn't mean he had to change his habit, even if people could find that it was rather weird for the heir of the throne to go to the dusty stables.

Well, to say the truth, Minho didn't really care about what people could tell. At least, what they could tell about his personality. As long as the crowd was satisfied with his way of protecting his country and the common people who lived in it, he was fine.

"Hey, Flame." he said when he saw his stallion.

The horse held up his head, leaving out his hay to look at his rider. Minho gave him the apple and patted his neck, already feeling more relaxed than before.

He hadn't slept well. First, because he wasn't used to this place. Secondly, because that wedding was worrying him, even if he tried to hide it. He wasn't ready for that, he would never be. But who cared ? He was the Prince, he had to do what his father wanted him to do for his country.

And finally, he hadn't slept well because of Taemin. Well, it wasn't the poor girl's fault but rather her father's. During the time they had spent together while having dinner, the King had never mentioned anything about Taemin, as if she didn't even belong to the family.

And he was quite pissed because of that. His father had always told him that family was the most important thing in a human's life and he believed in that. He couldn't understand how someone could ignore their daughter as the King did.

He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples and enjoying the silence of the stables. There wasn't any other noise than the soft crackling of the straw under the hoofs, the tiny snort of the horses and the shy twitters of the birds.

"Prince Minho ?" someone suddenly said.

Although he had been slightly startled, the boy tried to turn slowly to hide that fact and then, he saw an old man reclining on a cane, a smile on his lips, wrinkles all over his face that still had a reverend expression on it.

"Yes ?"

"I'm Goo Changmyun, King Sulmyong's steward." the man said.

"Oh." Minho said, bowing. "Nice to meet you."

The man seemed horrified and the Prince wondered if he had done something wrong.

"Your Highness !" Changmyun exclaimed. "I should be the one bowing, not you ! And I'm sorry if I don't but my back really hurts whenever I try to do so."

Minho chuckled.

"Don't worry, I understand. Can I help you ?"

"Actually, you can. I was looking for you: King Sulmyong would like you to have a view of the City with Princess Sulli."

Oh. Not even married yet and he already had conjugal duties ? Well, at least that was a good way to learn more about his future wife, because he really didn't know much about her.

He knew she was seventeen years old, so she was four years younger than him; he also knew she was a dynamic person and... That was all he knew.

Yes, talking with her was really a good idea if he didn't want to get married to a total stranger.

"That's great." Minho said with a smile.

Then, both men headed back for the castle and the steward suddenly said:

"Can I ask you a favour ?"

"Of course." the Prince answered, curious.

"Please, be nice with Princess Sulli." he said with pleading eyes. "She's very nervous about this wedding, so could you try to lay her fears ?"

"Well, I'm not a bad guy, you know ?" Minho answered with a tiny smile.

"Actually, I know. I mean... You don't seem to be a bad person and my intuitions are usually pretty good, so..."

"Don't worry." Minho said. "I'll try to make her happy."

Even if they didn't love each other, they could at least try to have a good relationship, right ?

***

After an hour of walking in the City, Sulli on his arm and some guards behind them, Minho could tell their relationship would be pretty good, yes. Sulli was a lovely girl, she had a cute smile and was easy to talk to.

It wasn't awkward to be with her as he had thought it would be: the Princess always found something to talk about or something to show him and since he was eager to know her better, he tried to ask some questions about her and her interests.

Soon, they were laughing together like stupid kids, and the guards' faces were priceless. They were quite surprised but still happy that their future King and Queen got on well with each other.

Yes, they did, and Minho was relieved. But... He knew he could never love her.

He wasn't... attracted by girls. And that wouldn't change, even with a pretty and nice girl like the Princess.

Nobody knew he liked boys, except for his father. Some years ago, when he was sixteen, Minho had had a relationship with a boy, the young groom who took care of his horse. As soon as they had met, they had fallen in love and some weeks later, they had confessed.

They truly loved each other and since Minho was still young and a bit afraid to get a step further in their relationship, the boy had said that he would wait for him and that he was happy if they could just cuddle.

Everything was fine until the day the King Minhyuk found them, hugging in the straw.

He had been furious and had ordered to get rid of the boy, hoping his son would be normal again.

Except for the King and the Prince, nobody in the castle had known why the cute, nice and lively Nichkhun had been executed. Nobody had noticed Minho's pain. That unbearable pain he continuously had in his chest.

"Prince, are you alright ?" Sulli suddenly asked.

Minho blinked and looked up to meet his fiancée's eyes.

"Hum, yes, why do you ask ?"

"Well, you were deep in thought... Is something bothering you ?"

Immediately, he could tell she was afraid it was her who was bothering him. That was cute...

"Don't worry." he said with a forced smile. "I'm fine. But, please... Call me Minho. Just Minho. Prince is a little bit too formal."

Sulli nodded happily and this time, Minho really smiled.

He was thankful she had interrupted his thoughts: he felt guilty enough already for his lover's death, no need to dwell at length on the past.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise, followed by screams and cries of fear and pain that came from the parallel street. Minho immediately headed for the origin of this uproar, motioning for two guards to follow him, for the two others to stay with Sulli.

However, the girl soon ran after him, running as fast as her dress allowed her to.

"Sulli !" Minho exclaimed, worried. "Stay away, that could be dangerous !"

"I don't care !" she answered with a firm voice. "I want to know what's happening to my subjects, especially if my future husband wants to provide them his help !"

Minho was truly impressed by her moral strength and eventually, he nodded. Then, his eyes met the closer guard's and the guy nodded, understanding his silent order to protect his fiancée if needed.

Soon, they arrived in the other street and they saw a small cottage that was on fire and almost destroyed; people were throwing buckets of water to get rid of the flames and a strong guy was holding back a woman who was desperately screaming.

"Let me go, please !" she cried. "My baby is still inside !"

Minho felt his blood rushing through his veins when he heard that and without thinking further, he ran to the cottage, protecting his mouth and his nose with the tail of his tunic, not paying any attention to Sulli's scream.

The heat was high inside, too high for a fragile baby, and he hoped he wasn't too late.

Even though everything was blurred because of the smoke, Minho still managed to find a wooden crib, in which a baby girl was crying loud, shaking her little fists.

Trying to hurry up without being brute, the boy took the baby in his arms and was quite astonished when she immediately calmed down, as if he wasn't a stranger at all.

Then he tried to go out but the flames were stronger than before, blocking his way to the street, and he slowly began to panic.

That was really courageous to enter a house on fire to save someone but if he couldn't get out, that was pretty useless...

Without letting go of the little girl in his arms, he ripped his tunic and wrapped the baby in it to protect her from the fire, planning to ran through it. A beam suddenly fell in front of him, putting out some flames and he took it as his chance to go out without too much risks.

Coughing, he ran onwards and found the door just a bit too late: he was almost outside when an other beam fell onto him, causing him to fall as well, but he had the reflex to protect the baby by hugging her tightly against his chest.

He heard screams and felt someone helping him to stand up, taking him away from the danger, and he realized it was the two guards.

"Your Highness !" they exclaimed, worried. "Are you alright ?"

He nodded weakly and began to cough and cry, the smoke hurting his swollen eyes. He barely noticed the fire was almost extinguished by now, he was too tired for that.

"Minjee !" someone screamed.

Minho saw the woman from before running to him and she suddenly hugged him, sobbing.

"Thank you !" she said between her sobs. "Oh my God, thank you so much ! My baby... Minjee..."

Sulli approached seconds later, hugging both the woman and her fiancé, and she calmly said:

"You have to see a doctor. All of you. I'll lead you to the infirmary in the castle, follow me."

The woman took her baby and stepped back, reddening and just at that moment, Minho realized he was half-. He also noticed that Sulli was looking at his body with wide eyes and in any other circumstances, he would have chuckled. But right now, all he wanted to do was going to sleep. The adrenaline had rushed in his veins before but it had left him exhausted.

"Let's go." he said weakly, limping but still trying to follow his fiancée.

His legs were so shaking that the guards had to hold him up and they helped him to walk until they arrived at the castle.

Quickly, Sulli leaded them to the infirmary and she decided to wait for his fiancé outside, just in case the doctor had to take his clothes off. She had already seen much more than she was supposed to...

Minho collapsed on one of the beds in the infirmary and closed his eyes, waiting for someone to come, while the woman and her baby went to an other room.

Soon, he heard footsteps and opened his eyes to see a guy in a red tunic, smiling at him.

"I wish I met you in a better place, Your Highness..."

"Minho, that's enough..." he mumbled.

"As you wish, Prince Minho."

Was he doing it on purpose ? Minho was Minho, nothing more. Duh.

"I'm Lee Jinki." the guy said while sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm the principal doctor here. Do you have any headache ?"

Minho slightly nodded and he took a good look at this Jinki guy when he stood up to grab some herbs that were kept in a medicine cabinet.

The doctor was young, quite tall and... Really good-looking. He had short, wavy hair and seemed to be always slightly smiling.

"Aren't you a bit too young to be the principal doctor ?" he asked while Jinki applied some balm under his eyes.

"No..." he answered, shrugging. "I've always been around doctors since I was a child. My mom was the Queen's midwife and my father was the principal doctor too, so I'm quite used to be here... I've known the King and the Queen for years, and I'm a friend of Sulli. I'm twenty-six, by the way."

Minho furrowed his brows. That was interesting... A friend of Sulli, hum ?

"What about Taemin ?" he asked.

Jinki looked at him, confused and a bit tensed up.

"What ?"

"Are you her friend too ?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask ?"

"I'm just curious..."

He didn't say anything more and they remained silent for a bit, before Jinki asked him to lie on his stomach.

Minho did as he was told and he hissed in pain when the doctor pressed his finger on a painful area of his back.

"For how long have you been Sulli's and Taemin's friend ?" Minho asked again to distract himself from the pain.

"Pretty long." he answered, chuckling. "I was there when their mother gave birth to them."

"How old is Taemin ?"

He hadn't the tiniest idea about that, since he hadn't seen her face.

"Nineteen."

Minho's eyes widened and he turned his head to look at Jinki.

"Really ? Are you sure ?" he asked.

"Of course, I am."

The boy frowned, confused. Taemin was older than Sulli... So she was the heir. Then why was her father like that ? And also... Why wasn't he going to marry her, instead of Sulli, if she was older ? That was really intriguing.

"Have you ever seen her face ?"

Jinki sighed before answering with sadness in his voice:

"Yeah, I have. Long ago. I don't see... her... so often anymore, and when I meet her, she's always wearing that mask because we aren't in her room..."

"Wait, do you mean you've been in her room, alone ?!" Minho exclaimed.

"Yah ! That's not what you think it is, I'm not her lover, got it ? Plus, when we stayed in her room, Sulli was with us. They liked to spend time together but now, Taemin is rather lonely."

Minho opened his mouth to ask a new question but Jinki took the floor before him:

"Please, could we talk about something else ? I'm not supposed to talk about Taemin."

The Prince furrowed his brows.

"Why the hell..."

"I can't." Jinki immediately answered, before he could even finish his sentence. "I'm not allowed to, and I have already said too much. If the King knows that I..."

"It won't happen, don't worry." Minho said, earning a smile from his doctor. "You can trust me. What happens here stays here."

I killed Nichkhun. I. Killed. Him. I feel so bad ! *sobs* Did you still enjoy the chapter ? I hope you did, even if there must be a lot of typos... But it's 1 AM, I'm tired and I have an exam in... Seven hours. Ugh >.< So, I'll edit later if needed ^^

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