🌿 moments in Jade—just us, Keith & Yona...
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧??
𝚂𝙵𝚆︱𝟾𝟺𝟸 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜︱𝟺,𝟾𝟺𝟺 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚛: 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚡𝚈𝚘𝚗𝚊. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢.
Weeks earlier, in the bustling plaza of Jade Capital, Yona overheard chatter about a contest circulating among the young citizens of the kingdom. It was a lighthearted competition to determine the most charming and captivating prince among all the realms.
Yona found the idea utterly adorable. Just as she was about to depart, a memory flashed in her mind: Keith's quiet voice, lamenting, "𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦."
Though he had never spoken those words again, the weight of them settled heavily in her heart, invoking an ache at the thought of the hurt she saw in his eyes before. Without a second thought, Yona rushed to the leader organizing the event, eager to rally support for Keith. She hoped that if he saw how many people cared for him, he would never utter that painful phrase again.
Days passed as Yona devoted herself to gather support for Keith ahead of the final voting day. However, she faced significant criticism, with many accusing her of bias because of her close relationship with him. In her defense, she outlined Keith's impressive skills and expertise in pharmacology. In the end, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥.
As the last day of voting arrived, Yona awoke with an eager, hopeful smile, anticipating the results. However, her excitement swiftly vanished when she discovered that Keith had not secured the top position and her heart sank further as she examined the list, finding him ranked far lower than she had anticipated.
Tears welled in her eyes, but Yona quickly shook off her sorrow. She was about to meet Keith, and he had no idea she had participated in the contest. She wanted to present a brave face, to show him that she was fine and that nothing weighed on her.
But Keith knew her better than anyone—𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
As they wandered through the lush greenery of Jade in search of rare herbs, late afternoon sunlight filtered through the leaves when Keith finally broached the subject that weighed on him.
"You seem down, Yona. Is... is something troubling you?" he asked, his voice gentle yet laced with seriousness. He genuinely wanted to know but was cautious not to press her.
"Me? No! Everything's fine!" Yona forced a smile, striving for her usual radiance.
Yet Keith's unwavering gaze told her he saw through her facade. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.
"Your smile doesn't quite reach your eyes."
With a tender movement, he raised his gloved hand, hovering it over her expressive, doe eyes, which widened in surprise. He knew she was hiding something, trying to shield him from worry.
As her thoughts raced, he gently took her small, delicate hand—perfectly fitting against his larger one—and brought it to his lips.
"You can be honest with me, Yona. I will always welcome your truths, whether joyous or painful."
He kissed each fingertip with reverence before meeting Yona's gaze once more.
"Because from this moment on? 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰."
Unable to hold back any longer, Yona poured her heart out to Keith. She recounted everything from the day she learned about the contest to that morning’s disappointing results.
"I just wanted you to see that you are not an empty prince. You will never be one. You are amazing, Keith. I want you to recognize that. But instead, I fear I made things worse. I didn’t want you to see those results or feel like that again. You deserve to feel like number one because to me, you always will be. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦."
Throughout her confession, Keith listened intently, offering no laughter or anger, only an understanding that underscored how much he meant to her.
Suddenly, Keith drew his sword from its sheath and pointed it triumphantly toward the sky, making Yona jump back.
"Even if I face defeat against the Princes of Rhodolite or any other realm, Yona believes in me above all. Her unwavering support is what matters most to me. So..."
He lowered his sword, adopting a stance as if ready to guard Yona from unseen dangers, prepared to risk everything for her safety as his golden orbs locking onto her blue ones.
"I vow to be the winner of your heart and yours alone. Your faith in me has given me the confidence to stand tall against the other princes, and I dedicate this '𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺' solely to you."
Yona was taken aback by his vow, her heart swelling with happiness at the surge of confidence he exhibited, which she had feared might wane. She stepped closer to him, and he instinctively placed his hand on the small of her back, pulling her near as they celebrated this unique '𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺'—one that only Yona could inspire in Keith.
In that moment, they both understood what true victory meant: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔—𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏.
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