The Next Prince, Chapter 34 pg1
The Next Prince, Chapter 34 pg1
Chapter 34: The Magical Hour.
Within the shady and cool flower garden of the Royal Palace, a gentle breeze carried the fragrance of gardenia flowers throughout the area. Tarin looked at the latest picture posted on Khanin's public Instagram.
Overall, the members of the team were partying with captions. Finally, they had a team to compete with #TeamKhanin, which made the middle-aged man's face turn pale, calling upon the person who had been a father figure, Dhipabawon, to put his hands away from the tea cup and face him.
“Is there something interesting happening?”
“Father, you must have seen it.” Tarin spoke while handing over the iPad to the other party to let them consider the picture of Atsawathewathin predicting the future with the team members.
Dhipabawon declined, only glancing at it, before bursting into laughter.
“Intelligence runs in the blood.”
“Nin has been raised well, he has grown up just as he should be.”
“That's true... Tanattai has raised this child very well.” The tone of authority changed slightly when mentioning the name of the old man, the elderly person who fought alongside them against many obstacles in the past, Dhipabawon's face tensed, and his posture indicated that there was something to be pondered upon.
“Father... have you heard any news about Tanattai?” Tarin knew that his father continued to search for Tanattai.
Dhipabawon took a deep breath, his accumulated stress busting out, and he clenched his fist in frustration.
“No, no trace. It seems that someone related to this matter must have a lot of power... almost as much as us.”
“Do you think he is still alive?” he thought he had the answer in his heart, but he still didn't dare to speak it out.
“Difficult to answer. If he is indeed alive, Tanattai should do everything to come back to us, but if he doesn't come back, it can have two meanings.”
“...”
“One is that he will never return, or there is something that prevents him from coming back.”
“...”
The silence indicated that Tarin himself agreed, he also suspected that there was someone from one of the families who participated in the competition to eliminate Khanin and start a warning signal.
But who... who could do something of this magnitude?
“Don't mention Tanattai in front of that kid. Nin is happy, he is learning about life, his own life.”
It may sound a bit harsh, but Tarin understands the reasons why his father would speak like this. It's because he wants to make Khanin as happy as possible, so he shouldn't reopen wounds that haven't healed yet.
The training period has been extended from weeks to months. Everyone in the team helps each other by practicing and sharing their skills. Khanin can feel that his team has become stronger and intimidating.
Some people's experiences may not compare to those of professional athletes, but the fear comes from the freshness that no one has ever seen before.
He knows, we know. He wins hundreds of battles, but if he doesn't know anything, how can he prepare? Khanin knows his image is terrible in the eyes of Thawetmetha and Puchongpisut, but that's what they want. He wants to appear weak and uncertain to confuse them even more since they know nothing.
The royal prince slumps down after hours of intense training. Today, Khanin allows everyone to take a break. Even Charan gives the members two days off to recharge their bodies and spirits.
As for himself... he goes back to training like before.
Khanin doesn't know where to go or who to go with. He has no friends except Charan, but that's it. He wants the other side to have some rest and not be disturbed.
Even though he misses them a lot...
His index finger swipes to the chat box of someone who changed their name to 'Stubborn Antagonist', a self-proclaimed, gloomy, and embarrassing person that he can't help but laugh at.
His eyes dart to the open chat, contemplating for a moment before his slender finger presses on the keyboard.
‘What are you doing?’
That was a basic conversation starter, but before he could send it, the younger one decided to delete it. Khanin told himself not to bother Charan, so he ended up scrolling on his phone aimlessly. What was meant to be a temporary break turned into him slumping and dozing off.
Charan arrived at the Royal Palace in the afternoon without any particular reason or agenda. He comes just because he wants to. Even though today is his day off, he doesn't know what to do, so in the end, the taller one made a decision to come here.
With long and graceful strides, Charan walked through the hallway leading to the private training room. He encounters Chakri guarding the door, who tells him that he doesn't need to knock if going inside. It's the command of the young lord.
The leader of the Phitakthewa clan steps into their private training room. Someone, who he thought was working hard, is sitting in a corner of the sofa, his small head drooping, likely exhausted. It's hard to tell for how long they've been like this, but they seem to be struggling.
Charan entered with light and well-trained footsteps. He looks left and right, trying to find someone to make the sleepy faces feel more comfortable.
He steps closer as his thick hand reaches for a pillow, intending to place it under the sleeping person's neck. However, an emergency situation arises before he can do so.
Khanin suddenly moved, sending a jolt of alertness through Charan. He quickly positioned his shoulder to support him before the young prince had to strain his neck any further.
Thump!
The young one's hair rests against his warm cheek. Charan turns into stone, allowing the younger one to lean against him, making the atmosphere around them quiet and still, until the older one can hear his own heartbeat grow louder.
One who doesn't sigh, doesn't burn like the intensity of pain, doesn't freeze like the bitterness of sorrow, doesn't swing like the fluctuations of triumph.
But sometimes being close to someone who feels special in your heart seems simpler than that...
Simple enough to unintentionally let yourself and your heart be close to them like that, long enough for someone else to sleep soundly throughout the afternoon, and Charan's left arm has become a numb branch, due to experiencing half-sided paralysis.
“Oh...” The buzzing sound of a young boy's voice lets it be known that Khanin is awake, a lazy posture like an unsteady kitten not yet sober, it's truly entertaining to watch.
Charan's presence immediately draws the attention of the pale-bodied house owner, who quickly turns to look at his side.
“Slept well?”
“You! When... When did you get here?” Khanin is not sure whether he is dreaming or awake, the young boy widens his eyes for a moment and frowns.
With confusion evident upon realizing that all of this is real.
“Not long.” Only the left arm is numb...
“Oh... and why did you come here? Did Grandfather call for you?”
“No, no one called. I just wanted to come. It's the day off from training today.”
At the beginning of the sentence, Khanin senses that Charan refuses to make eye contact, the young man hesitates before flicking his gaze towards the hat and sword not far away.
“It's a day off, but without anything to do, it's boring.” Khanin speaks straightforwardly, his nature being not fond of staying still as before, his character remains the same. That's why he ended up here. Without knowing where to go.
“The weather is nice today.”
“Oh, it's nice, but there's nothing interesting to do.” The complaining voice hums, seemingly opening an opportunity for someone older to intervene. Khanin raises an eyebrow, asking an unexpected question that triggers such a reaction.
“Do you want to do something fun?”
“Oh, do you have any suggestions?”
“Yes, let's find something fun to do together then.” Charan's enthusiastic gestures grab the attention of the Rakshasa prince quite well.
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