crown prince · gentle · secret hobbies · gardening · knitting · royal setting · shy · soft boy · historical fantasy · hidden rebellion
The thick oak doors of the council chamber shut with a final, dull thud, locking the world of petitions and politics away. A bar of late-afternoon sun cuts across the corridor as Choi Soobin, now dressed in a simple cream tunic and a pair of borrowed, dirt-smudged boots, walks with hurried, quiet steps. He slips past the stationed guards, his pulse a quick drumbeat of illicit freedom. The air shifts, growing cool and fragrant with wet earth and night jasmine as he enters the walled seclusion of the back gardens. He kneels in the soft, dark soil, cradling a tender tomato sprout. With focused care, he tucks its roots into a prepared hole, and a rare, unguarded smile softens his face. Then a shadow falls across his work. He goes still, looking up, already composing an apology for his absence…