CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: THE BALL(10)

Radomir didn’t deny it. He didn’t need to. His silence was an answer all its own.

He exhaled once, slow, heavy, almost relieved.

"I never wanted a wife.." he said. "I never wanted anyone else. I wanted you. I have always wanted you."

Min-jae laughed.

It was the kind of laugh someone makes when the last thread is cut and there is nothing left but the truth.

"You’re insane.." he breathed. "Truly insane."

He stepped forward, close enough that Radomir could see every fracture in his expression.

"I would never choose you. I would rather die than marry you."

Radomir’s jaw tightened but he didn’t look away.

Min-jae continued, voice sharp, steady, and cruel in the way truth always is.

"Meical is ten times the man you are. He understands me. He listens to me. He sees me. Even if he didn’t, even if I stood alone in this world with no one left, I would never choose you."

Radomir closed his eyes for a moment, as though the words physically struck him but when he opened them again, he was calm.

"If you resign.." Radomir said quietly, "if you walk away from me.."

"I already have." Min-jae cut him off. His voice was trembling not from weakness but fury held too long.

"I am resigning as your advisor. I am done. We don’t ever need to see each other again. Not as king and advisor. Not as anything."

Silence stretched between them, long, taut, and suffocating.

Then Radomir spoke, soft enough to almost sound gentle:

"You can resign your position. But you will not leave this place."

A thin, brittle stillness settled in Min-jae’s bones.

Radomir’s voice remained calm, too calm.

"You will stay here. You will be my spouse. We will have a family. Many children. A life together."

Min-jae blinked once.

Then twice.

And then his temper, patience, and last thread of self-preservation all snapped at once.

"Children?" His voice rose, not loud, but sharp with disbelief.

"Are you actually delusional?"

He swept his hair from its bun, every dark strand falling freely over his shoulders.

"I am a man.." Min-jae said, each word shaken but solid.

"A man. A fucking man."

Radomir’s expression faltered.

"There are nine women out there.." Min-jae continued, voice breaking and rebuilding itself in one breath, "who can give you children. Nine. Not one. Not two. Nine."

His eyes fell to the small ceremonial knife laid beside the wine tray.

The room held its breath.

Min-jae grabbed it before Radomir could move.

With one swift motion, clean, decisive, final ..he cut his hair.

Dark strands fell to the marble floor like the end of a story.

Radomir froze, shock rippling through him so deeply it showed in his eyes for the first time.

Min-jae’s shoulders shook, not with fear, but with the force of the conviction inside him.

"I am a man.." he said again, voice low, hoarse, unshakably clear.

"And I have my pride."

He stepped forward, so close their breath nearly touched.

"You cannot force love. You cannot force loyalty. And you will never force me."

His hand, still holding the knife, dropped to his side, not threatening, only final.

"For what you did today.." Min-jae whispered, "the only thing I feel for you now is hatred."

Radomir didn’t move. He couldn’t.

Min-jae walked past him, each step controlled, steady, devastatingly dignified

and headed for the door.

Radomir caught Min-jae by the wrist before he could reach the door. His grip was firm, not rough, but there was no room for refusal.

He spoke without raising his voice, as though they were discussing something ordinary and not the wreckage of another man’s life.

"I do not care if he is your husband.." Radomir said. "I do not care if your marriage breaks. I was the one you should have stayed with. I was the one who should have been chosen."

There was no plea in his voice. Only certainty.

Min-jae did not answer him. His silence was sharp, deliberate.

Radomir guided him back toward the bed. The movements were practiced, controlled, he had made his decision long before the night began.

Min-jae struggled, but the outcome had already been decided. Silk rope, knotted once, twice, until he was tied securedly.

It wasn’t right enough to harm him, only to keep him in place.

"You will remain for a while.." Radomir said. "In time, you will accept the engagement."

Min-jae stared at him as though looking at something unrecognizable.

"You’re insane.." he said. His voice was quiet, almost tired. "You are truly insane."

Radomir did not answer. He left the room with the same composed steps he had entered with, closing the door behind him.

When the sound of his boots faded, the silence settled heavily. Min-jae lay still for a long moment, drawing a slow breath. The position strained his ribs, an ache pulsing along his bone. He had endured worse, but the familiarity of pain did not comfort him.

He stared at the ceiling.

He wondered whether Meical was injured.

He wondered where Saar and Vanadis were, and why they had not intervened.

It was their duty and they had failed him.

The night moved quietly beyond the windows.

---

Radomir descended into the dungeon not long after. The air was cold, dense with moisture, and the torches flickered weakly against stone. Meical was seated against the wall, hands bound in front of him with heavy iron chains. He looked up when Radomir entered, not surprised.

After what had happened in the hall, surprise no longer had a place here.

"You understand what you have done right?" Meical said. His tone was level, without fury or panic. It was a statement of fact. "Today marks the end of your reign."

Radomir stopped in front of him. His expression did not shift.

"You intend to challenge me?" Radomir asked.

"I intend to take your throne.." Meical answered. "If you were willing to choose a man in a hall of brides, then you were prepared to abandon your right to rule. A king without an heir has already lost."

Radomir regarded him in silence for a moment. It was not disbelief, only thought.

"You believe your claim is stronger than mine."

"My claim does not matter.." Meical said. "What matters is that I will act, and you cannot stop me.."

Something unspoken hung between them, shared history, shared loyalty, all that was broken now.

"This.." Meical continued, "is where our war begins."

Radomir did not flinch. The words settled in the air, heavy and clear.

"Yes.." he said. "It does."

And neither man looked away.