By The Crest

❃11❃

The four males' initial excitement from their reunion had now died down, only talking to ask Wooyoung if he was handling the work well or if he has seen their soulmates during his stay. The younger rolled his eyes at their questions but told them the truth that the only places he has been to in the castle was the workshop, his room, and once in the garden.

Of course, he made sure to not tell them about his little incident with the prince since he has a feeling that they might react badly and possibly go after for the royal's head. And Wooyoung was not going to jail for that.

Maddox was now leading the friends down a small flight of stairs. On both sides, the wall was carved out where two swords made a cross making it look like they were gaurding the sheild inside, the sun light passed through the arched windows to hit the blue carpeted flooring, and the Imperial Knights crests were on small blue banners that hanged on the ceiling. Wooyoung and his friends admired their surroundings before taking another turn to enter the training grounds.

Outside was a pavement road where it led to a mini open arena of sorts. From concrete, the ground turns into a sandy soil that was made to recreate the terrain in a forest. In the middle were a few knights already training as they tried to beat one another, to the left was another entry point that lead to the knights dormitory building, and on the right was a viewing deck where a man stood there with this stoic face of his as he observes the knights training.

"Bumjoong!" Hongjoong exclaimed.

Wooyoung gave his thanks to Maddox as he dismissed the servant while he and his friends made their way to the male on the deck. Bumjoong's previous expression changed in an instant once he heard and saw his brother, a smile appearing his face.

"Joong! What a surprise" The two siblings shared a brief hug before Hongjoong suddenly slapped his older brother on the shoulder.

"That's for making mom and dad worry and not sending letters" He sneered at the older for a second before it was replaced with a expression that looked like he did his parents some justice. His brother rubbed the sore spot and sighs as he turns to the knights who were still sparring with one another.

"Send my apologies to our parents, you know how busy I can get. I have a lot of new transfers from the Academy and they have my work cut out for me. Well, most of them." The Vice-Captain then yelled for the knights to take a break from the deck. The clanging of swords stopped in an instant as they drag their sweaty bodies to the side to replenish their quench and energy.

"Still, do you know I had to put up with mom's stress tea drinking? I'm not touching another tea cup for a while"

Bumjoong had to rub his neck out of embarrassment. His eyes wondered off from his brother and towards his friends who were chatting seperately while they let the brothers deal with their own issue. It then he noticed Wooyoung.

"Wooyoung right? I heard you're Eden's new apprentice" The younger was taken aback by the older's statement but gave him a nod as he and the other two males were now part of the conversation.

"Ah yes. May I ask how you know?"

"Eden mentioned about gaining a new apprentice a few days ago, and I heard some of the maids saying how someone from the Jung Duchy is staying in the castle for a while." Wooyoung nods as he and the others catch up with the Vice-Captain until someone they weren't expecting came over to them.

"Vice-Captain Kim"

The four males turned around at the new voice. They were surprised by the person in front of them but recovered quickly and bowed at the new comers.

"Your Highness, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Bumjoong greeted while he stepped in front of the four friends.

Choi Jongho, the second Imperial Prince. From what Wooyoung remembers from the novel, the male is in charge of the entire military for the kingdom and that he and San actually have a great brotherly relationship. Wooyoung eyes then notice the two other males behind the prince. One similarly tall like Yunho with ash grey hair that was in a small mullet and one slightly shorter with black hair that was more neatly styled.

"I wanted to see the tranferees' progress and I just so happened to run into Mingi and Seonghwa on the way. But it looks like you have guests of your own"

The prince looks at the four friends while Wooyoung thinks back to how familiar the two names were. He thinks that maybe they were mentioned somewhere in the book but just briefly. He notices that the three males eyes land on his three friends. Wooyoung finds it weird but his gaze travels to Yunho's left hand that was beside him, his eyes widen a little as he checks the other three males left hand. And just like he guessed it one of them has the same crest as him. Specifically the one with the ash grey hair.

Wooyoung thought that if those two were soulmates, then the prince and the other male was most likely Yeosang's and Hongjoong's soulmates as well.

"Oh! Forgive me for my rudeness. Your Highness, Mingi, Seonghwa this is my brother and his friends. Boys, His Highness, Mingi, and Seonghwa." The Vice-Captain pulls his brother next to him who seemed to be startled by the sudden movement. Hongjoong eyes the taller male (who his brother pointed as Mingi) and the prince until his eyes meet the other male with black hair who his brother pointed as Seonghwa.

Wooyoung watches as Yunho's eyes land on the taller male's left hand. He gasps that makes all of their attention go to him. Bravely, he slowly approaches the other till they stand face to face. He lifts his left hand to show the crest on the back of the hand. The Mingi's eyes go wide and lifts his own left hand. The back of their hands were side by side, their crest giving off a bright shine as a sign that the two had now found each other.

Wooyoung then sees Hongjoong standing before the black haired male. Fumbling with his fingers as he tries to get his words out.

"Is- Is your crest uhm..."

He then just points to where his own crest is located. The other male gets the message and cautiously lifts a small part of his shirt that's near his hip to reveal the same crest as Hongjoong. The male doing the same and they watch as their crest both shine like Yunho and Mingi.

Wooyoung smiles at his two friends as they have now found their soulmates. Even Bumjoong was happy for his younger brother. Wooyoung then looks to his side and notice Yeosang biting his lip and playing with his fingers as if he was contemplating about something, and the male knew exactly what it was. One major thing that he knew about Yeosang was that he did find his soulmate before the story ended. So it wouldn't hurt to help him find his soulmate so early in the plot.

Going over to the his troubled friend, he puts an arm around his shoulders to stop the male from fussing so much. Wooyoung gives him a comforting and encouraging smile before guiding him to stand in front of the prince. Yeosang looks at the other male with uneasiness in his eyes, but Wooyoung nods at him before standing back.

Yeosang gulps as he timidly looks at the royal in front if him. Jongho stares at the male before him and smiles at how shy he was.

"What's your name?"

"Y- Yeosang, Kang Yeosang... Your Highness"

He stutters out as his eyes drift towards his twiddling thumbs. The prince places his right hand out, showing his crest that was imprinted on the back of it. Yeosang keeps his gaze on the hand while he hesitantly places his own hands next to the other male's. His eyes flicker from both of their crests, inspecting if the colour, size, even the tiniest details was exactly the same. He feels more relieved when they both light up for a moment, sealing their bond.

Wooyoung is happy for his friends since they reached a huge milestone at the same time. Yet, he couldn't help but feel the small twinge of jealousy and longing in him. He knows that he has a crest, he knows that he needed to wait for things start picking up in this fiction world, he knows that he has a chance with San.

He just needed to be patient.