Crimson Crown

⌠53⌡

It felt like his head had been submerged underwater when he finally came to.

Sweat dribbled down the prince's forehead as his eyes slowly opened, squinting at the torch that burned on the wall beside him. For a few minutes he laid still, gathering his consciousness together to remember what happened.

The only thing that came to mind was Jackson. He remembered wanting to see him, then everything went dark from there.

He finally shifted, turning his body that ached slightly; he must've hit the ground hard or something. His eyes glanced at the nearby window, dusk seeping through spilling dim orangey light through the room. He must have been out all day-- last time he checked it had been late morning. He could tell he was in the infirmity-- he'd become quite familiar with this room as of recent.

"Finally."

Jinyoung jolted, the voice catching his attention.

"Mark?" He called, looking toward its source.

The swordsman sat on a chair at the foot of the bed, his arms folded across his chest, leg anxiously bobbing up and down. Otherwise, he was quite composed.

"If you didn't wake soon, your mother would surely have my head." He mumbled.

Jinyoung sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"You fainted, I suppose. You were found passed out by the stairs— if you were not feeling well why did you not you tell me? If you were fatigued why did you not ask for help? I knew you weren't at your best, but I didn't know it was this bad..."

"No I was fine—"

"You always say that. From now on, I'll determine if we'll train. I am not trying to end up executed for overexerting the prince to death."

Jinyoung faltered. He wondered if Mark had gotten in trouble over this, despite it not being his fault.

"Mark... I truly mean it, if it were that bad you would have seen it in my performance..." The prince did not remember feeling anything unusual during training; he was sure he was fine, so why did this happen? "I do not know why I fainted..."

"Well you need to stop hurting yourself." Mark stood up, unfolding his arms to reveal a sack in hand. He stepped over to the prince, shoving it at him. "That's your second lost tooth in a week, at this rate you'll have none by the end of the month."

Jinyoung took the small sack, his frown deepening. He slid his tongue along the inside of his mouth, feeling yet another empty space that used to be occupied. He really must have fallen hard to knock out yet another tooth— or maybe his dental hygiene was weak. He'd need to see about it.

"I'll... just get replacements..." He mumbled, more to himself than aloud.

"I'll go tell everyone you're awake." The swordsman sighed, turning to head out. He abruptly paused just by the door, as if suddenly remembering something, spinning around to face the prince once more. "By the way— out of curiosity, are you and that vampire kind of... a thing, now?"

"What do you mean 'a thing'?"

"Like— I knew you two were close and all, but I mean... seems like it is sort of... intimate." Mark awkwardly scratched his neck. "Is he your... partner?"

The mere suggestion made Jinyoung's skin flare up. "W-What makes you ask such a thing?"

"Just—" Mark faltered, seemingly unsure how to word himself. "...He is very serious about protecting you, so. It gave me such impression that maybe you two are more than acquaintances..."