Meical's eyes narrowed, but after a long, tense moment, he inclined his head. "I'll be right outside.." he said simply, the words carrying a promise rather than a statement.
When the heavy doors closed behind him, the atmosphere in the throne room shifted instantly. Radimir's courtly politeness melted into something sharper, more predatory.
"You've changed.." Radimir murmured, circling Min-jae slowly like a hunter appraising a creature that wasn't supposed to bite. "Marriage looks… different on you. Does he know what you are?"
Min-jae tilted his head, smirked, and clasped his hands behind his back. "Oh, I do love how you men always think you know me better than I know myself. Enlighten me, Your Majesty—what am I?"
Radimir's eyes glinted with intrigue. "Dangerous. Beautiful. And far too clever to be bound to him."
Min-jae laughed, low and musical, then looked him dead in the eye.
"Bound?" he echoed. "Oh, your majesty. I'm not bound to anyone. But between you and my husband, only one of you makes me feel like I'm not playing with a child's toy."
Radimir's smirk faltered just slightly at the jab.
"So.." Min-jae said, his voice turning cool and businesslike.. "shall we stop with the foreplay and get to the 'important matters' you dragged me in here for? Or are you planning to waste both our time trying to flirt with a married man?"
Radomir moved to the massive table at the center of the chamber, littered with scrolls, maps, and sealed letters. He gestured for Min-jae to join him.
"These arrived within the week.." Radomir said, spreading out the maps. His voice had lost its velvet charm, replaced by the steel of a man at war. "Someone in my court is planning to dethrone me. Coordinating with outside factions. See these marks? Reports of movements in the east, alliances forming in the south. I need your eyes on this, Kaizar. I want you to help me root out the traitors before they strike."
Min-jae's gaze swept over the maps, noting the careful annotations, the discreet insignias, the subtle desperation in Radomir's tone.
He tapped one finger against a cluster of red marks near the northern border.
"And in exchange for my brilliance, what do I get?" he asked lightly, though his eyes never left the parchment.
Radomir's brow arched. "Your king's gratitude should be enough."
Min-jae laughed, a sharp, melodic sound that made Radomir's jaw tighten.
"Oh, your majesty.." Min-jae said, finally lifting his gaze to meet the king's. "Gratitude doesn't fill coffers, and it certainly doesn't strengthen borders. Here's my price: written, sealed rights to Taygren—the northern lands. All of them. And ten million gold coins to my treasury."
Radomir blinked once, twice, then leaned back slightly, regarding him as though seeing him anew. "You ask for a great deal, Chancellor."
"And you ask me to keep your crown on your pretty little head.." Min-jae replied, his voice smooth as silk, dangerous as a blade. "If that's not worth ten million and a bit of land you barely hold anyway, perhaps I overestimated how much you value staying king."
For a long moment, silence reigned.
Radomir's fingers drummed idly against the table, his sharp eyes locked on Min-jae's face, measuring, calculating.
Finally, the king smirked. "You've grown teeth, Kaizar. Very well. You'll have your land and your gold. But deliver me the heads of those who plot against me, and quickly. I don't like waiting."
Min-jae leaned in slightly, his smile widening into something almost feral.
"Then stop talking.." he said softly.
Min-jae pushed back his chair and rose gracefully, smoothing down the folds of his elegant outfit. "Well.." he said lightly, though his eyes were cold as steel, "you have your answer. Deliver what I asked for, and you'll have my support. Now, if you'll excuse me.."
He turned toward the door.
That's when Radomir's hand shot out, catching his wrist. In one swift motion, he tugged Min-jae back, his other arm sliding around his waist, trapping him close.
"You know how much I love you.." Radomir said, voice low, almost desperate. "So why did you have to marry Meical? Why Meical of all men? Why not me? I'm the king, Kaizar. I was here first, and I told you how I felt first, so why…"
Min-jae froze for a beat, then let out a sharp, humorless laugh.
"If you weren't such an arrogant, self-absorbed bastard.." he hissed, prying Radomir's hand off his waist finger by finger, "maybe I would've considered you. But you treat love like ownership. And that's why you'll never have me."
Radomir's lips parted as if to argue, but Min-jae didn't let him.
"Meical.." he went on, voice like a blade, "is ten times the man you'll ever be. And if you ever touch him, I swear to every god in this wretched land—I'll end you."
He leaned in just enough for Radomir to feel his breath on his ear.
"If you want to keep that throne of yours, get yourself a wife and an heir. Because loving me?" Min-jae smirked, a cruel, perfect curve of his lips. "That's the surest way to lose everything."
With that, he yanked free, turned on his heel, and strode out, back straight, head high, every step radiating defiance.
Radomir stood frozen where Min-jae had left him, fists clenched at his sides. The door clicked softly shut, and the echo of those defiant footsteps faded down the hall.
For all his power, for all his crown and armies and wealth, he couldn't move him. He had never felt so utterly powerless in his life.
Outside the chamber, Meical stood exactly where Min-jae had expected him to be, silent, composed, arms crossed over his chest as though nothing in the world could rattle him.
Min-jae's smile was faint but genuine as he stepped close, resting his head lightly against Meical's chest.
"I'm tired.." he murmured, voice low, softer than anyone but Meical would ever hear. "Can you hug me?"
Meical's body went rigid. For a moment, he didn't move at all.
His eyes flickered down to the smaller figure leaning on him, sharp, calculating, always in control, and yet… asking.
A breath passed. Another.
Then, slowly, hesitantly, his arms came around Min-jae's frame, holding him not too tightly, not too loosely, just enough.
Min-jae let out a soft exhale, tension melting from his shoulders as he sank into the embrace. "Good.." he whispered, lips curving into a tiny, triumphant smile no one else would have noticed. "I have good news for you, darling…"