𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫

1.5 || Shin

By the time Seungmin awoke, the maids were in a scurry trying to locate the missing Prince. Although none had come into the gardens yet, they were running through and fro the halls and were shouting loud enough for him to hear. So, he decided to slowly walk back to his room.

"Prince Sion!" one of the maids shouted in surprise when she saw him casually entering the corridor. On cue, Sophia came sprinting down the hall, panting once she came to a stop in front of him. He tilted his head to the side, wondering what the fuss was all about.

"My Prince, where have you been?" asked the blonde maid, worry evident in her expression. "The sun has long gone..."

"I was taking a nap in my garden. I quite like it, so expect to find me there if I go missing again," Seungmin answered bluntly. Sophia could only stare at him in exasperation but couldn't say anything; instead, she puffed her cheeks out and exhaled before scrunching her nose with a frown.

"I'll be in the library," Seungmin then murmured. He gave her a look that said, "Now you know where I'll be," before walking away, satisfied with the nap taken in the gardens. Despite wanting to lie down in his bed, he knew it was necessary to learn more about the Northern border. His rest was favorable to him, but there were people living in Cambriage that were now in his hands.

In the back of the domed library, Seungmin surrounded himself with stacks of books about Cambriage, all ranging from folk tales to budgeting. He learned that the terrain in the North was much different than it was anywhere else in the Empire; the ground was covered in something similar to permafrost that made it almost impossible to grow any kind of crop except for the hardiest, unfit to eat. The only reason for its inhabitance, therefore, was to station soldiers at the Northern Wall to prevent barbarians (defined in this world as a group of people without larger governance) from infiltrating and stealing the one good aspect of that land: minerals.

Although the Second Prince was interested in deriving profit from the mines to upgrade the village, he realized that the rights to the mine were owned by someone else entirely. That someone just had to be Duke Maximillion, Alexander's father. As the Duke of the North, his land was quite close to Cambriage, and so he was the quickest to hear the news of the mine's discovery and buy the rights from the Emperor, believing that the Prince wasn't yet responsible enough to handle a mine.

"It's a loss, but I don't mind," Seungmin thought as he languidly nodded his head. "It's less work for me. All I hope for is that I don't run into Alexander when I visit Cambriage..."

As someone governing the land, the Prince was intending to tour Cambriage during the school break for a better outlook on how things were proceeding--the living standards of the people there, work, trade, and overall happiness. No amount of documents could rightfully report any of these, so it was only right for Seungmin to go see in person.

He flipped to another page of his current files and skimmed the list of goods sold, studying for the rest of the day until it was time for dinner.

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"Hey, Minmin, don't you think you're sleeping too much?"

"Sleeping is important," the boy muttered, ignoring the girl's laughter.

"But you should wake up now," she said. "Wake up!"

"Wake up!" A fairy's voice rang in Seungmin's ear, reminding him very much of the first day he was back in school. Again, he was brought back to the present by a sharp pain in his head, in the back of the classroom, after dazing out. Next to him, the Duke's Heir watched with a slight frown.