By The Crest

❃18❃

Fumbling with the measuring tape in his hand, Wooyoung felt the gaze of the prince on him. His nervousness made his palms sweat, his feet in his shoes curled and uncurled as if it could soothe him but found it to be in vain.

"With all due respect Your Highness, I hope you don't mind letting Wooyoung measure your size this time. I want to see how well he's been doing ever since we started this apprentice of his; this would be his first time."

Eden's voice broke the small tension around the two. The apprentice hearing the friendly tone that the older used to talk to the royal. He didn't know why, but Wooyoung thought that the tailor would also have at least a small hint of fear for San, but he was wrong. Maybe it was because of his years of being the Imperial Tailor that made him get close to the prince to a certain degree that San didn't have his usual cold face, but rather just a blank one as he answers the older back.

"I don't mind" He said almost flatly. The tailor let out a small breath that he was holding and gave the younger a encouraging nod, and allowing him to start.
Wooyoung gets the signal and guides the other to his desk where a paper and quill was ready for the written sizes. Yet, he tries to stall some time before he could begin measuring. He quickly wrote at the top of the paper the prince's name and a colon next to it, he turns to Eden to ask a question.

"What are the measurements for?"

He avoids the stare that San was giving him once again, trying not to let his mind stray to the fact that he would need to touch the royal. The tailor puts his teacup on that saucer that he was holding while he watched the two interact.

"It's for the prince's coronation suit" Wooyoung's mind perks up at the word.

San's coronation as king. The coronation was part of the story. The part of the story where Wooyoung would meet his end. The day of the prince's coronation was where his old self would announce his confession to the prince about being in love with him. Yet, as part of the story, San rejects the original 'Wooyoung'. It didn't help that fact that his other version got rejected in front of so many people since it was during the celebration banquet, there, many witnessed how his crest's curse got him. The people feared at the monster in front of them, however San did what he needed to do and put his sword through the old 'Wooyoung'.

The prince got cheered as a hero while Wooyoung's character got tossed to the side as his time was finished. But, the main story didn't end there. Because San didn't know that Wooyoung was his soulmate since he never got his crest, Amia instead cursed him that he would never fall in love until his final breath. The Goddess also cursed him to feel the guilt of killing his other half. And so, the royal lived with his curse until he couldn't take it anymore.

Wooyoung finishes writing the occasion down and takes in a breath. He reluctantly faces San. From their feet all the way up to the other's face, anxiety flowed through him like rapid waters. It was like their first meeting. The prince staring right into his soul and the other barely managing to breath properly.

"M-may I?" The apprentice squeaks out. Asking for the taller's permission and that he'll be starting. The royal gives him a subtle nod that Eden barely missed it if it not for him watching the two closely.

With that, Wooyoung stepped beside the other. Aligning the tip of his measuring tape from San's shoulder bone until it fell on down his arm. The male lifts the part of the tape where it reached below his wrist bone, remembering the number, he goes to his paper and writes it down.

"How have you been doing, Your Highness?" The tailor speaks up from where he bit a cookie that Maddox just brought in the workshop with a cart.

"Doing well, though the pressure of the investigation on the person who sent the ambush on the festival is starting to be prominent."