#zayneeeee

prince!zayne detests arranged marriage discussions under the guise of simple, family dinners.

he sits across his younger half-brother, prince!caleb, who was happily wolfing down the creole pork loin served in front of him, ignoring the blatant tension in the massive dining area.

"i visited zayne the other day," caleb mentions, shoving another piece of meat in his mouth.

"at the academy?" caleb's mother, the current wife of the king, asks. caleb hums in agreement. "he needed the training. he couldn't graze me with his sword, though," he replies, voice muffled by the food in his cheeks.

"he was being insufferable," zayne retorts, shooting a glare at his brother who merely shrugged.

"is that so?" she replies, tenderly slicing down the food on her plate, "well, prince zayne has always been known better for his intellect rather than his vigor."

"which is why he ought to stop tiptoeing around the overture of the north," their father, whose voice boomed across the room, said, earning a frown from his eldest son. "it is only a matter of time before the northern king's men pays us a visit with the princess."

there it is. it hasn't even been five minutes since they all sat down together before bringing up this topic for the hundredth time in a month.

"father, i ask you not to bring this conversation forward," zayne says, almost pleadingly. his eyes stare at the ceiling in an effort to avoid rolling it in this comical scenario.

"then at which hour shall we discuss this? shall we only bring this forward once the northern soldiers visits us, bearing news of cutting our trade route with several other kingdoms? or perhaps at which hour those gents finally invite us to their yearly gala to which you will be forced to take the princess's hand?"

the sound of clattering of zayne's silverware against his ceramic plate echoes across the halls, causing his brother and the king's wife to stay silent and focus on their meal, "i have told you countless of times before, father. i am not interested in being wed to a random woman before and it does not concern me today," he argues, jaw clenching.

the king's brows furrows, his features in a deep scowl towards his son, "does our economy not concern you, then? shall we only discuss this as soon as our kingdom is in shambles because of your selfishness?"

"selfish?" zayne seethes, abruptly standing up and his chair scraping against the floorboards, "if you can marry an opposing kingdom's princess for the sake of the crown with such indifference then i humbly beg of you to not compare me to you. the entire kingdom and i have been distraught when you bore the news that the queen, my mother, is dead. but you are lucky that months later, you have met your soulmate."

the king slams his palm down against the table, earning side-eye glances from the younger prince and his wife. "so this is what it was all about?" he bellows, "you refuse the marriage because she is not what the heavens assigned to you? because of your silly emotions?"

zayne clicks his tongue. "you don't even have an idea who could be your soulmate! the princess might be your soulmate!" his father continues.

"the princess is not my soulmate and i have known since the ball three years ago," zayne replies.

"and i have no desire to be selfish but i'd rather not spend the rest of my life with a woman i cannot love," he declares. the king briefly glares at him and opens his mouth, but before he can calculate another reply, zayne was already stomping out of the door.

an hour later, he finds himself within the confines of the academy. he carefully opens the large door and closes it behind him, cautious not to make a single sound. he was about to flicker open the lights until he finds a soft glow between the rows of bookshelves. with a frown, he warily makes his way to the source of the light, adamant in finding who his company would be.

as he gets closer, he hears the faint riffling of pages and scraping of pen across paper. despite the floorboards squeaking beneath him, the individual makes no haste in leaving. perhaps they were too immersed in their activity that they could not hear him, he notes. but as soon as he finds the library's lone visitor, his face falls into a smile.

it is you, skimming through piles of books—with the luminescence of your gas lamp atop the table radiating against your skin, accompanied by the radiance of the moonlight filtering through the floor to ceiling windows.

he hears you softly mutter to yourself as you turn the pages of the book, fingers clasped onto your chin in deep thought.

"are you supposed to be here?"

you jump in surprise, fists clenching against your chest in an attempt to slow the race of your heartbeat. "you frightened me!" you exclaim.

you miss the way his lips slightly curve upwards in amusement. with his hands in his pockets, he slowly waltzes his way to you.

"i am afraid you have not answered my question," he says.

you roll your eyes, turning your attention back to your book, "i am afraid it is none of your business."

"lord sylus have allowed you to not work tonight?" zayne asks.

"i am quite pleased to say that lord sylus admires my academic prowess so much that he lets me take occasional nights off," you reply smugly. zayne juts his lips out with mirth, cocking his head in curiosity, standing behind you and peeking over your material.

"'the history of plague'?"

you groan, "yes, i am looking for arguments against your foolish take on how to contain diseases and viral infections for tomorrow. now scurry off! i do not need you breathing down my neck."

instead of doing what you asked for, zayne pulls the vacant seat beside you and points your notes, "that's the main argument i am pulling tomorrow."

you point to the bottommost of your paper, "and that is how i am going to counter it."

"that's not enough."

"that's why i'm still here."

"how else will you argue that?"

"that's why i'm still here," you repeat, finally turning to him with a glare. but the sight of him basking in the light catches you off guard, with bated breath you say, "you look like shit."

zayne blinks.

"what happened to you?" you murmur, body facing him and without second thought, you stand up across him and thread your fingers through his hair, "were you tackled to the ground by prince caleb again?"

he groans, "no."

"you look like you have gone to fend yourself off at the forest." you brush off the stray hair away from his forehead, wipe your thumb against his tear-stained cheeks, and caress his face with your palm.

he looks up at you with doe eyes, gaze softening at your focused stare. halfway through fixing his hair, you stop.

"oh dear heavens."

zayne raises a brow at your concern.

"oh dear heavens!"

he frowns. "is there something the matter?"

"i just touched a royalty without consent."

"it's fine—"

"i even told the prince he looks like shit!"

"i probably am—"

"please do not kill me!"

taglist: @sapphic-daze @sylusgirlie7 @baystrel @cynireththorne @hyori2 @vanaaa @stargirlygirl @seris-the-amious

please let me know if you want to be tagged in the next post! hope everyone enjoyed this drabble. likes, reblogs, and comments are always highly appreciated <3

I feel like he would absolutely test the limits of what counts as "edible."

like... your flavoured lip tint/balm. maybe he'll kiss you more than he usually does when u have it on and maybe sometimes you even catch him using it himself just to lick it all away within like 10 mins of putting it on? n then maybe you have to police him like no zayne, you cannot consume lip balm in those quantities. yes, even tho it's edible in theory.

ahkk he's soo adorable. cud I request a short lil fluffy blurb for this pretty please?

NYYYYYYAAAAAA

What a horrifying combination of words that I refuse to like Zayne's post

FYI, fish mint is a type of herb (called rau giấp cá in Vietnamese). As a lot of Vietnamese dishes are eaten with raw herbs (rice noodle, spring rolls, bánh xèo, etc.), fish mint can sometimes be seen with an array of other herbs , but it does have a polarizing reputation. You either love it or you don't. And it is a visceral opinion.

I hate it. My mother grows it in her yard, but I hate it so much. I'm not a picky eater, but I find the taste to be very unpleasant.

It's just....so foul. It overwhelms everything else you taste.

But again. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you like it, you might even love it on an addictive level. There's no middle ground.