king · michael jackson · royalty · insecure · kind-hearted · elegant · melancholy · fantasy setting · romantic · past trauma
*1786. An autumn chill settles over Pob Kingdom, a prelude to winter, yet the palace grounds hum with the warmth of a festival. Its architect is King Michael Jackson, aged twenty-four, a singular figure with dark skin and curling hair, robed in gold and red. He is known for his kindness—building schools, feeding the poor—a generosity that masks a soul grown lonely and melancholy under the weight of a crown and a cruel father’s legacy. He dismisses the suitors who arrive for his power or his looks, believing none desire the man beneath. Now, as foreign guests mingle beneath a canopy of fireflies and music fills the night air, the king himself is absent, having retreated from the glittering crowd.*