He Walks Alone in the Moonlight [COMPLETED]

ONE CAN NEVER STRAY FROM HIS PATH

(Another waring for those who need it, there is mention of blood/death, but not in graphic detail, read with caution)

The Crown Prince didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't to once again be greeted with the face of the scarred manservant. This time he was watching the scene play out in first person as if he was possessing his own body, but unable to control his own actions. His arms were around Jihyun's middle, fingers intertwined at the base of the smaller man's spine as he pulled him in for a kiss. Jihyun giggled into the Crown Prince's mouth, clasping his hands behind the Crown prince's neck. "It is strange, to see you be so affectionate to me today," Jihyun said when the pair pulled away from each other.

"Am I not always a glutton for your affection?" the Crown Prince replied, and he watched his hand reach up to stroke the glossy black tresses of Jihyun's hair, which now fell to brush his hips.

"Yes," Jihyun started, leaning into the Crown Prince's touch, "but you have been distracted these days. Something seems to be troubling you. I want to help." Jihyun frowned as the prince pulled his hand away and grabbed Jihyun firmly by the shoulders.

"The greatest help you can provide me today is to stay in our room. To not move, or make a sound, no matter what you may see or hear." Jihyun's face twisted from a frown to full of worry, his large eyes desperately searching the prince's. "Hwang Doyoon, what is going on." The prince's current self startled at the sound of his name falling from the servant's mouth. How dare he say the prince's name, with no sign of fear or shame. While his current self seethed, the future crown prince only tugged Jihyun into an embrace, grasping him tightly and burying his face into the man's silky hair. "I am going to make sure that no one hurts you again, that no one questions your place by my side. Today, I will become King."

The image suddenly shifted, and the Crown Prince, Hwang Doyoon, was thrown out of his body and into a bloody battle. The sound of agonized screams, of metal on metal, and the sharp scent of blood flooded his senses, and for a moment the vision felt so real Doyoon scrambled for a weapon to defend himself. After the initial panic settled, the Crown Prince finally recognized the courtyard before the throne room and found his future self fighting brutally with Jaeon and Chang by his side. Already he was wearing a King's robe, one his current self knew he had commissioned for Minjoo to craft in secret. It was only palace guards who fought his men, those forced to serve the King no matter their will, but even from his position, the prince recognized the lack of fight, or spirit in his opponents. There was a reason that Doyoon was so adamant to claim the throne, and it was because, even though his cruel and distant reputation preceeded him, his father was far worse. The commoners were none the wiser to their monarch's true face, but those who lived in the palace were witness to his atrocities and wanted to be rid of him more than they feared the Crown Prince. The Crown prince was not stupid, he would not attempt a coup he couldn't win, or for a people who would deny his rule. So the current prince watched the vision unfold with unbridled excitement until a white-clothed figure appeared amidst the sea of red.

"Doyoon!" Jihyun's cry echoed across the courtyard, and everything seemed to still for a second as the Crown Prince's breath caught in his throat. The manservant was being dragged by his hair towards the Crown Prince, a sword pressed against the pale column of his throat. "Stop this mutiny this instant, or I'll slice this wench's throat open." An unfamiliar officer bellowed at the Crown prince, and he watched his future self halt, sword dropping midswing. The prince's current self analyzed the officer's face, setting the unfamiliar visage to memory. "Let him go, or I'll give you a death so painful you'll wish you'd never have been brought into this world," the Crown Prince could tell he was fuming with fury, but also... fear? Yes, his future self was undeniably afraid, afraid to lose this manservant, even at the cost of a shot at the throne. "Doyoon, I'm so sorry. Please, don't stop for me, I'll be okay. This is what you've always wanted, your dream. Please." Jihyun's sentences were punctuated by fractured sobs, and the Crown prince felt his heart constrict. "You know, I'll always be with you, right? That'll I'll wait to walk the moonlit path with you, so take your time in coming to me."

"Stop talking as if you are already dead!" the Crown Prince roared, and his current self saw it before anyone else did, an enemy soldier had snuck up behind his future self, sword raised for a killing blow. Both the Crown Prince and his companions had been too distracted by Jihyun to even notice the approach, but not Jihyun. Not Jihyun, who had kept his eyes on the Crown Prince since the moment he saw him, trying to soak up the prince's image into his final memory. Not Jihyun, who pushed the sword at his throat away with a strength that sliced his palms. Not Jihyun who took impossibly large steps to reach the Crown Prince just as the sword began to fall. Not Jihyun, his Jihyun, who pushed the Crown Prince to the ground and took that lethal sword to his back. Even in the vision, Doyoon's ears were ringing from the sound of his own cries as he watched himself cradle Jihyun's body in his arms, watched Jihyun's white robes become stained with blood. It did not make sense. Becoming King was supposed to be his happiness. Why then, did Doyoon feel so hollow inside?

The world shifted out of focus, and he was back in the incense-filled cave. "More. I need to see more. What was the alternative?" for some reason his voice sounded hoarse. Had he been screaming in the real life, as he had in the vision? He couldn't remember. The witch shook her head. "I cannot show you more, you made your choice, that is the future you wanted to see, but I told you, your choice will not set your future in stone. There is still a way that will allow you to live a long life with that who you will walk the moonlit path."

"Is he truly the one who will walk the moonlit path with me, is the manservant truly my life partner?" the Prince leaned forward, gripping the table. The witch's eyes flickered with mirth. "He seems to have already upgraded in your mind, from swine to a servant. But to answer your question, yes, he is truly your fated one. I am known for helping others realize their happiness, but I tend to avoid telling them who their fated one is. It is the question I am asked most often, you know?" The witch began to pack up her tea set, rolling the cups in silky cloth.

"Then why did you tell me? Because I am the Crown Prince?" Doyoon leaned even further forward, trying to recapture the witch's attention. Finally, she looked up, and there was an eerie sort of violence and disgust in the witch of joy's eyes. "No. It is because I figured this would be a fitting punishment for you, Crown Prince. I could hear that child's screams from here, and I wish you luck in gaining back the trust of the one with which you are destined to walk the moonlit path." Doyoon reached forward and grabbed the witch's wrist, shaking her arms desperately.

"You said I had two futures to choose from, he is in both of them, I will surely win him back," the Crown Prince protested.

"Wrong. There are two futures in which you experience true happiness. There is always another option. There is always failure, a future in which you're not with the servant, a future in which you can never be happy."