The Princes Street Rat

13 - The illusion of the other side

𓆩♡𓆪

Chan's words were painfully
clear as Jisung sat beside the recovery bed of Ari, the six year old who fell victim to the whims of the injustices the dragon clan faced.

Bandages covered the wounds caused by her father's bite marks who attempted to eat her alive. Jisung was not certain about when she'd wake from her slumber, but he hoped she slept for as long as possible. Everytime she was conscious, she would be in constant pain, a sight Jisung could not bare to watch.

Jisung observed the emerald crystal placed around her neck. The last one, the very last one they had in the entire the village. The crystals were used to heal the soil, but she needed to heal as well. And a sacrifice of crops was made for her sake.

That was the very least they could do for her, since they were able to easily able to access a crystal due to Chan's power and status in the clan. Followed by Chan's proximity to the girl, who he had taken an interest to after the incident.

He'd had been caring for her with a passion Jisung hadn't seen in him before. A territorial protective type but with a distinct sort of kindness. Chan was usually kind but his gaze was relatively softer for the azure dragon child.

"How is she?" A voice interrupted Jisung from his thoughts. He bounced up a tad bit frightened.

"Uh, oh... she's better. Her fever has gone down." Jisung gave Changbin his answer.

"That's good to hear. Here's her portion of food for the day. Chan asked that you don't wake her up and force her to take her food."

"Noted."

"If you need me I'll be in the room."

"Again?" Jisung asked. Changbin was usually out and about. Busying himself but lately he been drag and isolated.

And there's was not a doubt in Jisung's mind that it was tied to Felix.

Changbin didn't reply and instead, began walking away.

"Wait, Changbin." Jisung stood up and followed after him. He stopped and looked at him. "Did you at least tell Chan about the situation?"

"No. Just give me a few more days to figure it out."

"But what if Felix... you know. We aren't exactly his friends. What if he told them about us?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I hope I gorged him enough to expect him not to betray my trust."

"I hope you're right. I didn't expect them to be this riled up over crystals when they have plenty of riches. No less, he resides within the Palace walls."

"Greed is part of their nature."

"You think Felix is the same?" Jisung asked after a pause, genuine curiosity was all his tone was.

"I... no. He's different."

"He's human though."

"He's not like them, from what I've observed about him."

"But Chan said–"

"Chan is radical, his views are absolute. As they should be, everyone looks up to him. But because he thrives more when he sees all humans as enemy, doesn't mean they all are, besides you barely know Felix. You only spent a day with him. If you knew him like I do, if you spent more time with him, you'd know him enough to understand why he's different."

"Oh, I... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm..." he gave an apologetic sigh. "I'm just just tired. That was out of hand. I think I just need some rest." He said before finally going on his departure without Jisung's interruption.