𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫

2.7 || Frivolity in Kyre

a/n: this chapter is very rushed at the end for personal reasons, but the second arc is coming to an end! (please read the note after update).
now the real plot will be picking up and I'm so excited to write it. we just have to get over min being a master at avoiding thinking of his feelings (or anything at all tbh), both good and bad
#badhabitofhis
#hereallyneedstherapy
#butdespitetryingtoforget,hewillneverbeabletoescapehispast
#despiteeverything,it'sstillhim

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By the time Seungmin awoke, Alexander was long gone.

With his bedhair still intact, Seungmin sat up in the bed, drowsily staring at the edge where Alexander once was. In his place, Shin was laying neatly, its tail curled over its nose for comfort. There was no sign that he was ever there.

Did that pesky boy even visit that night?

The smoothened ivory walls, the royal red-carpet floor, the dark wooden bedframes, the tea table, the paintings, the lanterns, they were all the same. Sluggishly, he looked at the chair by the bed, recalling that Alexander had taken off his cleaned armor there.

It was gone.

Everything was such a haze, though Seungmin did remember hearing some random history about the Maximillion family. Those insipid, onyx eyes looked pitiful at that time. Or, maybe Seungmin was imagining it. Why would that cunning boy tell him anything personal about his life when their only connection was the school project that was finished? Just what was Alexander's purpose in all of this?

"Am I still only your enemy's closest friend to you?"

Those words echoed in Seungmin's mind as the last things he remembered before falling asleep. He had heard it in a whisper close to his ear, so close that he could almost feel his hair prickling still.

He rubbed his nape awkwardly.

His skin felt warm to the touch.

Three light thumps came from the door, and the Prince dropped his hand to glance at the door to see Sophia peeking inside.

"Good morning!" she grinned, waltzing inside the room in her usual good mood. "I had the greatest dream last night! I think it was because I slept in this amazing bed. Prince Alexander really favors you, so it seems! He gave all the servants the best rooms in the servants' quarter. And you said you two weren't close..."

Her lips were in a pout as if she believed she was lied to. She had her arms crossed too, her winter maid outfit (it wasn't as cold in Kyre as it was in Cambriage, but she liked it too much to not use it again) ruffling by her chest every second she squeezed her arms harder. It was sometimes hard to tell who was the older one in their friendship.

"We aren't close," Seungmin muttered with a yawn, pushing the blanket to the side.

"Again, with that answer," the maid sighed, reluctantly accepting it and moving on to open the curtains. She worried often whether the mint-haired Prince had friends, never leaving for salons on weekends and always coming back right after school on weekdays. In the past, he was seldom in his bedroom, but it seemed like that was all he was doing in the present. Alone.

When Sophia had asked about his previous acquaintances, he said, "They were bothersome, so I told them to stop coming to me."

Of course the dedicated personal maid would worry.

Even with the Prince's case of amnesia, having friends was an important part of developing both a healthy mind and stable alliances that are crucial to nobles. Though he didn't seem interested in overtaking the crown from the current Crowned Prince like before, that didn't mean that the opposing faction wouldn't act against him in the future because, in the end, no one knew that he had forgotten all about his previous grudges and greed. His new personality made it hard to confront with its calm and reclusive disposition, so it seemed—based on rumors Sophia's heard as a gossip-loving maid—that most nobles either believed the change to be a scheme or didn't believe in the change at all. He was still the sore shadow of the Crowned Prince to most of the public. He was still an impediment for many nobles in other factions.