Crimson Crown

⌠62⌡

Jinyoung cooled down enough to return to the palace. He thought over his conversation with Mark, and wondered when the best time would be to reapproach Jackson. He felt bad for the things he said and how he left, and was sure that the latter felt the same, but he still needed some time to gather his thoughts before properly facing him again.

As he headed toward the stairwell, Youngjae appeared rushing in the opposite direction, his eyes brightening upon finding the prince.

"There you are." The servant exclaimed, shifting his course toward him. "I wanted to let you know that I overheard the King and the General in a meeting."

Jinyoung stopped in his tracks, brows furrowed. "What? About the war?"

The latter nodded. "They want to launch a surprise attack on Cornelia. I do not know when, but maybe within the next few weeks."

A surprise attack? What other goal would that approach accomplish aside from bringing more death, destruction, and heightened tentions across the lands?

"But why? What is the point?"

Youngjae shrugged, letting out a sigh. "It just feels at this point we're competing to show off."

"This won't do..." The prince shook his head. "... no more blood should be shed from either side."

"But there's nothing anyone can do to stop it..."

Jinyoung groaned, kicking the floor. He still felt stumped about this issue, and hated the way his father was handling it. He was sure there had to be a more peaceful way of approaching the situation, but with everything else going on, his mind was in to many pieces to think about anything properly. "Please just... keep your ears keen. If you hear anything more about this plan, tell me immediately."

"Only if you promise not to do anything rash." Youngjae retorted.

"I will not promise anything of the sort."

"Then... at least be careful."

The latter rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I will try." He mumbled while continuing down the hall. "I am going to the library."

He waved off Youngjae and made his way to the stairwell. He wanted to retreat to his safe space, the quiet confines of the library where he could drown out everyone else and finally clear his mind enough to focus on one thing at a time. It was the only place he could spend hours in and never get bored.

He pulled the large wooden doors open and stepped in, the moment his foot passed the threshold, he felt the presence of another being. The feeling startled him yet again; he would eventually have to get used to that.

He glanced into the room, his gaze landing on the back of a familiar frame putting a book back in its proper place. Jinyoung froze once Jackson turned, the two locking eyes. There was a slight uncomfortableness that they weren't used to feeling around one another, but neither of them had the confidence to address it.

"Jackson-?"

"I'm sorry."

Jinyoung blinked as he watched the latter swiftly approach. For a brief moment, he thought that maybe they might reconcile things now.

"It's-... it's okay...?" He stuttered out.

Without a response, Jackson brushed past him and stepped into the hall, making his way down the coorrider.

"Jackson?"

Jinyoung's confused calls were left unanswered. He listened to the tap of Jackson's feet against the floor, which was followed by the heavy thud of a door closing.

The prince let out a sigh. He wasn't expecting Jackson to be the type to hole himself in his room but, he wasn't exactly surprised either. He came to the library to practically do the same thing; they were both more similar than it seemed.

Jackson needed his space, and there was only so much of it he could get in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. They needed more time, and Jinyoung was willing to wait to fix things later.

In the meantime, he closed himself in the library, immediately scanning the shelves for anything that pertained to their neighboring kingdom Cornelia. There must be something that he was missing, and maybe finding out what it was would be the key to relieving these hard times between the two lands.