By the time Prince Roy had showered, washed, and dressed, and drugged himself with headache pills to at least ease his hangover, it was nearly 2 p.m. Rudy had helped him pick out a particular subdued suit today – dull, slate grey, with a navy tie – to appease to Queen Ji-Yu's implied request that he try not to embarrass himself.
Roy slunk his way down to the dining hall, avoiding the hard stares from the non-workers of the palace. He passed a particular Madam Tremaine, and noted her disgusted frown as he swept by her. Well, if she was going to react like that, why did she look at the photos knowing what was on them? It took restraint from Roy to resist saying anything. At least the guards stayed as passive-faced as possible.
The dining hall had been laid out differently than Roy remembered. Usually, only three tables occupied the space – one for the royal family, two for guests and palace officials. Today, several butlers and maids had arranged the tables into an upside-down U-shape, with his family at the top of the upside-down U and about thirty-five more seats added down the prongs.
Roy snagged his breathing. Dear god, she was serious about the Selection.
He shook his head. Perhaps they just had a host of guests coming, that just happened to match thirty-five.
Neither Ji-Yu nor Merrick sat on the head table. Instead, Roy's younger sister, Princess Gail, played with the silverware and attempted to make origami swans from the beige napkins. She was accompanied by her carer, Lanna, who sat next to her and quietly answered all of her questions.
Roy's stomach growled. The palace workers looked to him.
Momentary silence. Then, hasty bowing.
"Your Highness," they chorused.
Roy waved them off. "Dare I ask why you're laying out more than necessary sets of cutlery?"
The nearest butler replied, his face warped with confusion. "In early preparation of your Selection, Your Highness."
Roy grit his teeth. Damn. It was happening. He hadn't even announced it to Illéa. His mother hadn't even deigned to share his own Selection with him herself, yet.
"Rooooy!" called a voice.
Roy broke from his thoughts; Gail waved a knife in the air madly, a wild grin on her face.
Lanna threw up a startled face. "Your Highness! Put that down!"
Roy ascended the podium to greet them. Princess Gail was the perfect mix of their parents – the colour between Ji-Yu's and Merrick's, her hair with Merrick's texture and Ji-Yu's colour. Her nose poked out from her face like a tiny turnip, like Merrick's, but her eyes sparkled brown, like Ji-Yu's. She put the fork down and fidgeted in his seat.
"You're having a Selection!" she yelled.
"Princess, we don't yell in the palace," said Lanna.
Lanna was nearly the total opposite – an older woman, perhaps in her fifties. Thin and lanky, with frizzy brown-grey hair. She was dark-skinned, and her eyes glimmered like obsidian.
Gail pouted, mumbled a weak "Sorry", and twiddled her thumbs – her body bounced on the chairs.
Roy ruffled Gail's hair. "What are you doing?"
"Making swans," Gail whispered, fingering a napkin. It was crudely shaped into a bird. "Omma told me a story where they turn into a beautiful princess!"
Roy pouted. "She never read me The Swan Princess."
Lanna laughed. "I suspect Queen Ji-Yu was rather reading you How to Run a Country."
The sad thing was that Lanna wasn't far off the mark.
He grinned and shook his head. "A great book for five-year olds, would recommend," he said. "Did either of you know I was having a Selection?"
Gail bounced up in her seat. "A Selection! A Selection! Roy can find his own Swan Princess!"
"I'd rather she just be a princess and not any particular breed of fowl," Roy replied with a wry smile.
Lanna laughed, but it soon dislodged for something more wary. Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I knew about it. The queen announced it this morning to the palace. You didn't know?"
Ah. No wonder Roy never heard about it. He was far too deep into hangover sleep.
His stomach growled again. He called a butler and asked him to bring him a bowl of cereal. The butler bowed and scampered off.
Lanna wrung her hands together. "So you didn't know, then?"
"Dad told me about an hour ago."
She leant back in her chair. "I see." Then, she smirked. "Having too much fun at your, ahem, party, were you?"
Roy replayed the memory of the party in his mind – the banging music, the sweaty dancers, the drink stains and spills puddling on the floor. He could still recall the taste of the apple vodka on his tongue – and the taste when it returned to paint Lady Katrina's shoes. He glanced to Lanna with a knowing look. "You're too comfortable with me, you know that?"
At this, she grinned. "Well, I am the royal babysitter, am I not?" She stared into the ceiling, with a knowing smile. "I still remember when you ran around in diapers, smearing the walls with your—"
"Rooooooy," Gail cut through. "Are you going to marry a princess?"
"Your Highness, it's rude to interrupt people," scolded Lanna, but she did so with a kind smile.
Gail shuffled. "Sorry."
Roy thought on Gail's question. If he wanted to be technical, he wasn't marrying any princess. If anything, they were marrying the prince, and becoming a princess. He didn't think Gail could understand that, though.
"Yeah, something like that," he said, ruffling her hair again.
She giggled. "I'll have a sister!" she exclaimed – her voice echoing off the walls. "We can try on pretty dresses and play hockey in the gardens!"
Roy stifled a laugh. "I hope not both at the same time."
The butler swept into the room, his coattails flowing behind him, and halted by Roy's side with a large platter. The requested bowl of cereal – but also two slices of buttered toast, a glass of orange juice, and a strange green liquid in a glass jar.
Roy pointed at the liquid. "Erm, what's this?"
"For the hangover, Your Highness."
He didn't dare sat it out loud, but it looked like the gunk he had produced all over Katrina's shoes. Turned out the whole palace knew about his misadventures last night.
"Thanks," Roy said, deciding to avoid the strange liquid, no matter how awful his hangover was, and instead tucked into the bowl of cereal.
What was he going to do? The Report was on Friday, in three days. How could he think of a way to cancel his upcoming Selection before he announced it to the entirety of Illéa, and the entire world?
How could he avoid making a stupid public apology?
"Appa says the maids will find me soon," said Gail. "They're making my dress for the Report."
"Oh, really," Roy said absently.
Perhaps if he sat down and apologised to Ji-Yu, earnestly, he could worm his way out. If he tried a puppy-dog face, like the ones Gail pulled whenever she 'accidentally' drew pictures on the walls with crayons, then perhaps he could just squeeze his way out. He stirred his cereal.
"I asked for a green dress!" Gail said.
"That's nice," said Roy, chewing laboriously on his cereal.
Ji-Yu was not easily convinced. He knew that. He'd known for nineteen years. If it was Merrick's decision, then he wouldn't even have to worry – but even Merrick seemed to have shuddered at the idea of a Selection. Then again, Merrick had a hand over Ji-Yu that Roy could never have with his mother. They were married, which he guessed was the clincher. Maybe if he made Merrick see sense, Merrick could make Ji-Yu see sense, too.
"I hope they make it in time for tonight's Report!"
Roy's heart stopped beating for a second, and he spat out his cereal onto the table. Streams of milk and oats splattered the tablecloth.
The Report was tonight?!
Gail laughed, clapping her hands at such a miraculous display of professionalism.
Lanna shot up from her chair, seizing the folded swans and dabbing the mess down. "For the record, Princess Gail, royals are advised to keep the food in their mouths at all times."
Roy didn't so much as care if he'd taken out someone with his spit. "The Report is tonight?!" he yelled.
Lanna shot him a resigned frown. "Yes. Queen Ji-Yu had it moved – about an hour ago, actually – so you can make your apology and announce your Selection post-haste."
Roy's lungs twisted inside of him. Of course, Mother would have it moved. Less time for him to manipulate Merrick into changing her mind. Less time for anyone to have her change her mind. "Didn't you think to tell me this before I sat down and ate breakfast?!"
Lanna cracked a smirk. "It's lunchtime."
Roy scooped the rest of the cereal into his mouth. No. He couldn't make a statement tonight! He had nothing prepared, nothing to say! He would stand on that stage and freeze, even with a teleprompter. That, in itself, would be a mistake. Roy did not make mistakes – at least, not ones he wasn't proud of.
He jammed toast down his throat. "I have to see Mother. Now."
The rest of the butlers and maids came to wipe the mess. Lanna pet Gail on the back.
"Another for your record, Your Highness: royals don't shovel their food." She paused. "Actually, just don't follow your brother's example. Ever."
Roy ignored her, downing the rest of the juice (and completely ignoring the 'hangover cocktail') and set back off into the hall. His stomach complained about his poorly chewed food, but he didn't have time. He had to stop this Report from happening.
He ascended three flights of stairs and plunged through four corridors, nearly bowling down three guards on patrol (or, more accurately: them bowling him down) until Roy reached Ji-Yu's office.
Roy paused to glance out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. His mother had the best, most central overview of the garden in her office with a balcony. The fields of grass stretched far, wound in meanders between trimmed hedges and fancy topiaries. Sculpted fountains sprayed the clearest water in all of Illéa. The forest at the end of the gardens had been fenced off with golden gates.
Merrick's office was on the opposite side of the corridor, also with a balcony view – but his door was usually propped open. He wasn't inside, though. Roy could only guess they were both in Ji-Yu's office.
Soft voices lilted from the other side of Ji-Yu's office. He rapped on the door, and the voices faded.
"Who is it?" demanded Ji-Yu.
"Your favourite son," Roy replied.
Merrick opened the door. "I see you're up and about—"
"You moved the Report to tonight?!" Roy snapped, pushing past Merrick.
Ji-Yu's office was surrounded by old, mahogany bookcases. Not filled with books, however – with strategy papers, folders, and parchments from old times. The old grandfather clock by the doors to the balcony clucked with each stroke, making Roy more nervous – a constant reminder that time was moving.
Ji-Yu's office was the complete opposite to Merrick's, which was strung with colourful streamers and pictures that Gail had drawn (no matter how ugly they were), and where the bookshelves were filled with novels and collections of fairytales.
Ji Yu was perched on the edge of her leather chair, leaning over her mahogany desk. She'd changed out of the hanbok to a simple dress suit and trousers, black and navy, and her hair was pinned into a ponytail. Several papers littered her desk, some with writing on. Red pen had circled several paragraphs, but Roy couldn't read what.
Roy's question hung in the air. Ji-Yu tensed. "Yes, I moved the Report to tonight. The sooner you make a public apology, the better."
Roy just laughed, but it wasn't friendly. "Well, thanks for the warning, Omma," he muttered. "Oh, and when were you going to tell me about my upcoming Selection? You know, the one I didn't know about?"
She knit her hands together on her desk, and tilted her head upwards. "I had planned not to tell you, actually, and to have you read from a teleprompter blindly. But, your father thought it best to tell you beforehand. In hindsight, probably a better idea."
Roy shook his head madly. His hair fell loose from the ponytail and straggled his shoulders. "Er, how about just not a good idea at all? I don't want a Selection!"
Ji-Yu narrowed her eyes. "Why not?" She produced a photograph from her desk drawer – one were his lips were plastered to some girl he didn't know the name of. "You seem to enjoy the company of women quite a lot. Why not just make it official and find a wife in one of them?"
Roy's lungs caught, and he wheezed out a breath. Great. Was she going to blackmail him with these stupid photos? If the apology was what she wanted, fine, he would deign himself to apologise. But he wouldn't so much as even think about having a Selection. He ground his teeth.
"I'll make an apology, Omma," Roy muttered, "but I'm not having a Selection."
Ji-Yu laughed. "It's too late. You are having one; it has been agreed with the province councils." She seized his gaze – unyielding and bold. "I'm fed up with you running about causing a scene. Perhaps when you have a significant other, you will think twice before making foolish decisions, as clearly, a king and queen as parents and a princess sister is not enough motivation."
Roy felt his mouth dry of words, and his arms shake. All this because he went to a stupid party?
Merrick patted him on the back. Roy could feel him take some of his building anger with him.
"It's all right, son," said Merrick. "A Selection is a great opportunity to meet new people. And a future wife, of course. It's worked very well for your mother and me."
"Emphasis on your mother and you, Dad! I'm not either of you!"
"Well," said Merrick, "you're technically half of each of us—"
"Not my point," Roy barked. "I'm not into the whole settle young thing! I want to enjoy my life before I inherit the throne – I don't want to marry!"
"You won't be required to marry, Jun," said Ji-Yu. "Only find a suitable wife to marry in future. And funnily enough, you can enjoy life and be married."
"What, like you?" he snapped.
Instant regret darkened inside him, and his stomach clenched. Too far.
Ji-Yu's frowned engraved deep into her face like a river slicing through a valley.
"I enjoy life just fine, thank you," she said. It took moments to realise that she had spoken in Korean – sharp, and unyielding vowels and syllables melding into one another. There was control in her anger. "I enjoy it twice as much with your father."
Roy slanted his eyes over to Merrick. He smiled blankly, having zero idea what she was talking about. Roy sussed it caused Ji-Yu grief to dare talk about romance. As if she was so above that now.
"Just because you and Dad found happiness, doesn't mean I will. I want freedom," Roy retorted, making sure to enunciate every word in clear English.
Ji-Yu's frowned tightened on her taut face. "You will be king one day, Jun," she said. "You will never have freedom, and that is the truth."
The words struck strong. Roy felt a wave of sadness splash at the sides of his chest. She was right. Even his temporary respite at the parties he attended could only make him forget his royal duties for a few hours. Maybe a few more, depending on the length of his hangover.
He took a step back, refusing to reply, and bowing his head in shame.
Ji-Yu spoke again. "You will make a statement tonight apologising for your awful behaviour at this… this social gathering, and all the previous ones that you have been lucky enough not to be photographed at." She paused. "After which, you will announce your Selection to the people of Illéa."
"Honestly, Roy, it isn't that bad," chirruped Merrick. "You may enjoy it."
Roy glanced at Merrick, but didn't respond. He no longer had the heart to.
Ji-Yu waved him away. "Meanwhile, I have rebels to deal with. Please shut the door on the way out."
Roy didn't hesitate. He gently pulled the knob to shut the door behind him, listening to the click as it shut, and he heard his parents' voices again, speaking of rebels and spies.
A sour anticipation clenched his airways. Tonight, he would have to make an apology for something he wasn't apologetic about. And tonight, he would announce his Selection.
After that, there was no going back.
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A/N: It occurred to me the other day that I won't be able to post this chapter next week, as I will be travelling. So here it is early. Yay!
If you haven't already, or have, but would like to make changes to your submission, please send me your character's Opinion of Gail. ALSO, totally not on the form, but I thought it would be handy: if you could also add how your character's Opinion of Roy would change after getting to know him, it would be uber helpful. I have plenty of initial reactions to his 'party' behaviour (LOL, they're all making me laugh!), but opinions change after becoming more familiar with a person. Lots of characters literally loathe his wild side, but I hope they wouldn't loathe him through the whole competition, otherwise they wouldn't last very long! I hope you can gain a sense of his 'sober' side in this chapter.
As a friendly reminder, the details and rules for OC submission are in the first chapter, the form and free province list are in my profile, and whether I am accepting OCs is on my profile or in the summary. Please submit all OCs through PM.
Before I do hop off, I just wanted to say I'm so pleased with the submissions so far! I asked for diversity, and you guys delivered! I've had bisexual girls, black girls, Indian girls, Jewish girls, girls with gay parents, girls with no parents. It's going to be a lot harder to choose the spies and the winner! I am again going to ask for more troublesome girls, though! Let's stir up some trouble! Otherwise I'm going to have to use one of my own characters, and that means less chance your character will advance further! (And trust me, exaggeration is key to entertaining writing!)
All favourites, reviews, and follows are appreciated! Hope you enjoyed!
~ GWA
PS: Please no spoilers for The Crown!