Nionna || •PJM• ✔️

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Y/n

He had the most beautiful eyes.

If only they weren’t attached to the body of Park Jimin, the prince of Kayira, Nionna’s sworn enemies.

Funerals were the only times she had gotten to see the dark hickory irises of Prince Park Jimin, and that included that moment when they stood in the pounding rain outside Nionna’s border, but not quite in Kayira’s territory yet. It was a neutral space buried between the two mountains engulfing Nionna and Kayira, the two kingdoms who refused to interact with one another. Well, that was a lie; they did interact, but on the battlefield.

That was why Y/n saw Jimin more than she should.

The prince, as according to war customs, stood next to her as the farmers of Nionna and Kayira worked together to bury the dead from their last battle. Over fifty had died on Nionna’s side, and over twenty on Kayira’s. A small skirmish had occurred the previous night when Kayira invaded with torches and endless arrows. It was guerilla warfare, and Y/n wondered when it would stop.

Waterfalls hissed in the distance as the shovels scraped against the mud and rocks, though not much could be heard over the cracking thunder that painted the sky a scarlet hue. The rain held the same shade, and when she looked down at her gloved hands, she watched the red, blood-like droplets mix with the black fabric.

Muck infected their boots, even as the twelve soldier representatives from both sides stepped forward to raise their swords in honor of the lives lost. Bits of grime mixed with the rain to create a downpour so the graves that had been made no more than a minute prior became washed out. As if the corpses weren’t ever there in the first place.

“We will now read the names of all who died,” King L/n said from next to King Park. They stood in front of the unmarked graves that would receive headstones later. Assuming they could find the right spots after the rain was done.

The Kings went through every single identified soldier who had perished in yet another battle. Some were mutilated beyond recognition, but the unknown got recognized as well. That was their war customs, after all. Innocent men died for a war they never asked for, and the royal houses on both sides acknowledged that. But what good was a ceremony that they had every other week? What good would it do, knowing she’d see Prince Park again and hear the same line over and over?

“Prepare to bury fifty more,” Jimin whispered in her ear as soon as the Kings ceased their speeches.

And there it was, the same thing he had said every time they met, with the number changing depending on the casualties. Ruthless didn’t begin to describe the wasteland that was Kayira and Prince Park Jimin. Those gorgeous eyes were attached to a monster who cheered whenever Nionna suffered.

A moment of silence passed for the victims of Kayira’s greed. Nionna’s rival kingdom wanted access to their resources, hence why the war broke out over a year ago, and they had lost thousands ever since. Kayira were the better fighters, but Nionna had much greater size to keep them at bay. Neither side was winning or losing, though in Y/n’s eyes, everyone had lost the second the first battle had begun all that time ago.

Y/n hung her head but couldn’t stop herself from scanning over Prince Park’s face in the dim lighting. The clearing had a mix of healthy and yellow grass, but with the mud, the ground sunk, causing Jimin’s thick black boots to lower him and make him appear shorter than usual. His long, black, wavy locks danced down his neck to cover it, also covering his scarred ears, though it didn’t cover the pale line on the left side of his jawline that ran up to his button nose.

Jimin glanced at her, but she didn’t back down. Not that she ever would. She narrowed her stare as she took in every detail she could—the mole on his forehead, the chipped front tooth that poked out of his plump lips, the bags discoloring his rough skin. All of it created Park Jimin, the most evil man she had ever known.

“Thank you,” King Park said after the moment of silence passed.

The kingdoms dispersed. Every funeral was short—no more than ten minutes—yet Prince Park managed to test her each time. She didn’t engage, otherwise she’d cause a scene. Not that she cared about her family’s opinion of her; they had no intentions of negotiating for peace, after all. How could she respect the ones who egged on the war? If she were queen, she’d stop it in a day. No matter what it took.

But that day was different. As the two kingdoms, both sporting around a hundred people to witness the ceremony, fled from one another, Y/n separated from her family to grab Prince Park by his tattered, maroon himation that was on over the black tunic hiding his toned chest. She tugged on the fabric to drag him back to her. No one noticed the two engaging as they were too focused on their dramatic walks to give off the impression that one kingdom was suffering more than the other.

“Princess,” Jimin said, rolling the word around in a drawl. He allowed her to pull him closer to the point where he joined in by invading her personal space. His breath tickled her nose and caused it to flare. “What’s the meaning of this?”

She didn’t answer that and instead went into her tirade. “Why do you wish death on others? Those soldiers are innocent men. Do you know how many are farmers recruited to help the cause?”

“I don’t care.” He peered at his broken nails before clicking his tongue and meeting her glare. “Your people have waterfalls, more animals than you can hunt, more currency than you could ever imagine, and instead of helping my desolate wasteland of a kingdom, you hog it for yourselves. There are no innocents in your kingdom. Just people who acknowledge the problem and don’t care, and people who pretend the problem doesn’t exist.”

“And that’s your reason for wishing death on others? Because your people are suffering, that gives you the right to inflict suffering on us? Do you even realize the fate you’re subjecting these soldiers to?”

Jimin lowered his head until his forehead skimmed by hers, his voice a scratchy mumble. “I. Don’t. Care. And why are you being so high and mighty, hm? Don’t act like you don’t celebrate when you win a battle against us.”

“I don’t. Death is something I’d wish on no one.”

“That’s rich. Death is the only thing we are guaranteed in life,” he said, his voice cracking over the word life. “I don’t see why you’re so bothered by it.”

Her lower lip quivered, but backing down was never an option for her, so her mouth moved and spoke the words she hadn’t admitted to anyone. Her doctor and father knew, no one else. No one was supposed to know, yet there she was, revealing her secret to her enemy.

“Because I’ve died before.”

Jimin leaned back at that, his pupils dilating for a brief moment before a howl of laughter escaped his throat. It sounded dry as it came out.

“How cute, the princess is a liar,” Jimin said with a snarl.

But it was true. She had drowned when she was a teen, and the doctor managed to bring her back one minute after death, but it felt like hours. Hours of agony in another realm she had never seen before. Death was not the peaceful afterlife their kingdoms wished it to be, but she was forced to keep it a secret, otherwise they would panic. Otherwise, no one would fight.

“Princess!” King L/n’s voice called out in a boom as loud as the thunder.

The rain was an afterthought as Y/n backed away from her sworn enemy. As always, his eyes remained devoid of emotion, but his lips had a slight smirk on them, like he dared her to disobey her father and continue their conversation. If she had the energy, she would, but the day had drained her, and she had much to do if she was going to fix the war.

She swiveled on her feet and departed without looking back. Nionna waited in the distance with its glorious golden skyline and the six waterfalls, three on the left and three on the right. They were as massive as the main castle, where royalty like Y/n resided. The red rain and clouded skies couldn’t drain Nionna’s beauty, but with war on their doorstep, that could change. Y/n wouldn’t let it change. She wouldn’t let more people meet the same fate she had briefly met before. In order to do that, she’d have to take a risk. She’d have to go behind her family’s back and do the one thing she never thought she’d had to do.

She had to negotiate with Park Jimin.

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