Ice Prince

Chapter 6

Hongjoong had spent the next few hours alone in his and Seonghwa's bedroom at his own request. For quite a while he had sat there with his legs bent and pulled up to his chin on the windowsill, which was right next to the balcony door, looking out into the distance. For a while he had been able to watch his father's and his entourage's carriages as they drove along the royal road, away from the castle. Away from him. For a little over two hours now, the last of them had disappeared behind the snow-covered forest, which was far in the distance, behind a kilometer-long snowfield where farmers grew their vegetables in the summer when the weather permitted it. Hongjoong had sat there in silence and sent away every visitor who wanted to ask about him with the words 'I'd rather be alone right now.' Seonghwa had accompanied him up to her room immediately after they had said goodbye and offered him breakfast, but Hongjoong had declined and leaned against the window.  The prince's personal knight had not left his post in front of the bedroom door during all these hours. Only now and then did he open the door and catch a glimpse of the sad prince, but he knew that Hongjoong needed time for himself now and he gave it to him, which is why he waited faithfully in front of the door and listened to the silence of the hallway. After two hours he heard the footsteps of another knight walking down the hallway behind the door at the end of the corridor. The footsteps were getting closer. Instinctively, his hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword. He doubted that he would have to expect an attack now, but he always had to be prepared for it. His fingers wrapped tightly around the leather-covered hilt and held it tight as the wooden door opened and Hongjoong's husband's dark brown-haired knight appeared. He smiled when he saw Yunho's tense physique and raised his hands playfully.

"I  surrender already." Mingi said.  Yunho breathed a sigh of relief and took his hand off his sword. He grinned slightly. The other knight approached with cautious steps and grinned.

"Do I have to announce myself in advance now when I get within a hundred meters of your protégé?" He asked and Yunho shook his head and laughed.

"No, sorry. I'm just very tense right now." He replied. Mingi, who was not on duty at the moment and had taken off his knight's armor, stood next to Yunho at the door frame and pointed to the door.

"Seonghwa said he just sits in there at the window crying. Is he still doing that?" He asked and Yunho nodded with a slightly depressed expression.

"He needs time. He will spend the rest of his life here, so he needs time for himself to come to terms with it." Mingi nodded understandingly and scratched the back of his head.

"Understandable. And you?" Yunho looked at the younger knight in confusion and frowned.

"Me?"

"Yes. How do you like the north?" Mingi asked and the older one hesitated. He twisted his mouth thoughtfully and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm somewhat used to the cold. In the West Kingdom we knew winters like this, but at least the ice is melting melting over there unlike here." A smile formed on Mingi's lips.

"And how do you like the people?" Yunho hesitated slightly and grinned.

"You Northmen are a pretty cool bunch." He then said, which made the brown-haired man laugh.

"We're cool, huh?"

"Cool and a bit gruff." Mingi laughed at Yunho's description of the Northmen, leaned against the door frame and stepped a little closer to Yunho.

"So you think I'm gruff?" he asked. Hiding his grin, Yunho looked at the younger man and shrugged his shoulders again.

"I don't know you well enough to say that, I guess." He replied. Mingi nodded slightly. He was still about two steps away from Yunho, his hands folded behind his back, his gaze stubbornly fixed on the dark brown doe eyes of the knight in front of him.