Eleventh Crown

People used to tell Hyukjae that he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. No matter how much he’d tried to stay strong in front of the criticizing, it had hurt to hear. He’d been a child at the time, hoping to exceed expectations and make a great family leader of himself; those harsh words had harmed him and his self-confidence.

Now that Hyukjae was an adult though, he couldn’t bring himself to deny anymore. It hadn’t been quite a lie for the sake of hurting him, as much as it was just a really rude thing to say.  

Even today, grown-up and relatively mature as he is, Hyukjae hasn’t gotten particularly better at disciplines that would prove him to be clever. He’s rather bad at any kind of sciences or humanities, be it mathematics or politics or economics, and he can never remember any of the history events that Kangin keeps trying to teach him. Honestly, Kyuhyun was probably the one who got all the brains at birth; Hyukjae had taken the devastatingly handsome looks for himself.

All in all, Hyukjae isn’t terribly smart. Or, at least, he’s not academic smart. As his mother used to tell him, Hyukjae’s people smart.

Rather than numbers or theories, Hyukjae is the type that understands people. He understands feelings, and emotions, and relationships between individuals. It’s easier for him than most to pick up on sadness or frustration or happiness, just by looking at someone’s behavior and facial expressions.

The courtiers and the guards haven’t noticed it. Hyukjae’s not surprised. A quick glance to his brother tells him that Kyuhyun knows that Donghae doesn’t feel comfortable; he’s also frowning, which probably means that he doesn’t know the reason why.

Hyukjae looks at Donghae more closely. He frowns, worried by the anxious nibbling on Donghae’s lower lip and the way he keeps pulling on the inside of his robes’ sleeves. Then, Donghae glances nervously at the crowd of whispers that’s gathered behind him.

Ah, Hyukjae thinks with a sigh. Now he knows.

*

For a terrifying second, Donghae forgets what the next step is. His breath gets caught at the bottom of his throat, sharp and painful, as he discreetly looks around in mounting panic. He glances at his private tutor, who gives him a smile that’s both encouraging and quizzical.

It’s fine, Donghae tells himself as he takes in a deep breath. All he needs is to calm down.

Donghae knows that he hasn’t forgotten—it’s just, it’s just anxiety playing tricks on his mind. He closes his eyes, counts to three, and then slowly retraces every step of the Courting to himself; Hyukjae accidentally proposed to Donghae—that’s where it all started. But then, in spite of the obvious misunderstanding, Hyukjae had proved himself to be truly interested in wooing Donghae. He’d accomplished the First Favors, and it was now Donghae’s turn to fulfill the First Gifts.

And there begins the main problem that is currently tormenting the Crown Prince.

The First Favors had bee