royal blood

12 | the cherished prince.

doyoung could clearly hear that his father was talking to one of his officials about him. it happend to be another discussion about the role doyoung had at that time for the kingdom of hlorrendin. in five weeks, he was going to be crowned as crown prince, but did his father agree to such thing ?

doyoung was happy to know he was going to be a leader one day. he wished to bring peace and love between the people he was going to rule over and finally end the years of terror in peleria. however, his father didn't want such a leader. he wanted a ruthless, mean leader that was only going to allow murder and pain upon his mortal followers.

it had been known that hlorrendin was an extremely religious kingdom. doyoung saw it as a way of his father trying to replicate what ancient egypt was, a kingdom where the leader thought of themselves as gods. doyoung didn't agree to doing such thing.

he knew how much his father tried to make him form into an exact replica of what he was. doyoung refused to become someone like his father, a person who would only see the bad in people and allow it. he wanted to become a leader that was remembered as full of love.

the people of peleria considered doyoung as the people's prince. in the hundreds of years of hlorrendin's existence, no one had seen a prince so caring like doyoung. he didn't see the flaws in people, he only saw the best of them that could be shown if they were to live different lives.

doyoung feared his title would be taken away by prince jaehyun of peleria. born into the already violent fetin, jaehyun was used to seeing people die and suffer. he didn't bother helping people, he chose to think about himself and what was best for him.

his father wanted jaehyun to be his own son. doyoung was like a stranger in the royal family. he was seen as the outcast, someone who didn't belong into such a dark place. he wished for the dark times to be over, so he could see a brighter future for hlorrendin.

" doyoung, what an unexpected meeting do i have with you. " jaehyun smiled, as doyoung looked up. he shaked doyoung's hand, as doyoung tried to crack a smile. " i happend to come by this beautiful castle, and planned to leave. but, i guess we can talk for some time. "

doyoung watched as the clock hit twelve o'clock. was it midnight already ? he raised his eyebrow, as he looked back to jaehyun. his eyes were black, blood dropping from them as his mouth was cut into a permanent smile. doyoung started yelling, scared of what was about to happen to him.

" i will become the crown prince, doyoung. the royal highness of hlorrendin will be jaehyun, not you. " it was surely not jaehyun's voice, as he approached doyoung. he grabbed doyoung by his shoulder, " who even is doyoung ? a little scared teenager who is still thinking about the life he could've had ? "

jaehyun continued laughing, as doyoung wished he could close his eyes. he was unable to, as he was in a state of shock. who was this person ? where was jaehyun ? his breath became uneven, as he started to shake his head. he was much more than that.

—

jaehyun opened his eyes. he immediately got up from his bed, trying to realise what went down in the nightmare he had. why was he the villain ? he had known that king hwan had liked him over his own son, but why was jaehyun in doyoung's point of view ?

he turned around, to look at seulgi. her small snores could be heard, as jaehyun was trying to call himself down. he put his hand on his heart, slowly closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. suddently, he felt another hand on his shoulder, making him flinch.

" i could feel you waking up. " seulgi spoke, as jaehyun turned on the lamp. they looked at eachother, as a small smile appeard on seulgi's face. " are you okay ? did anything happen ? " she asked, as jaehyun nodded. seulgi nodded, as jaehyun continued to look at seulgi in silence.

" seulgi, i keep thinking about doyoung. i still wonder what went down and lead to his death. " jaehyun took seulgi's hand, bringing it to his chest. " i am scared that you might be targeted, due to your knowledge of doyoung and his struggles. " he said, as a laugh escaped seulgi's mouth.

suddently, she stopped laughing. " yes, you might be right. if doyoung was murdered, a thing which we both happen to believe, then his close people are going to be targeted by this mysterious killer. " she looked around, as she let out a sigh. " however, i doubt i will be targeted. "

jaehyun nodded. " yeri and wendy are surely going to be in danger. " he let out a gasp, " i believe we should somehow alert the guards. their lives are at risk, and we need to protect the princesses. maybe, one of them will become the first queen of hlorrendin. " he looked around his nightstand.

" my dear, no one believes that doyoung was murdered. everyone believes that he took his own life, and such nonsense, as they call it, about a possible murder, is unaccepted in the palace. " seulgi tried explaining, who was becoming worried of yeri and wendy.

" we might need to go back to ceham. "

—

" i became insane, with long intervals
of horrible sanity " was doyoung's favourite quote. wendy had remembered him reading it out loud hundreds of times from his small book, a precious copy of all edgar allan poe works. it was something he treasured his whole life, ever since finding it in a small store.

wendy wondered if that quote represented how doyoung actually felt his whole life. he was always trying to smile, but wendy usually found him wiping tears off his cheek and covering his red eyes during family dinners. he was talking to himself, always humming or creating rhymes that would make him laugh.

doyoung used to sit in a mirror with a paintbrush covered in red. he would draw circles, squares and hearts all over the mirror and stare at them while smiling. it was his way of showing himself that he was actually beautiful, think that scared wendy.

seulgi was forced to clean off the paint, but doyoung would bring wendy and tell her to sit next to him. he would paint hearts on her face instead of a mirror, letting her know that she didn't need a mirror to know she was beautiful.

it was something that wendy never thought she'd hear from doyoung. she had seen how distant he got during his late teenager years and early adulthood. however, wendy tried to believe that it was a simple sign of a brother wanting to show signs of brotherly love to his sister.

it was not what wendy imagined back then. now, wendy clearly understood that it was a sign that doyoung knew that something was going to happen to him and wanted to spend what he thought could be his final moments with loved people.

thanks to sooyoung, she now could clearly tell that doyoung had feelings of being stalked. wendy took out the exact letter of the time doyoung had first mentioned feeling stalked, revealing the exact date of july 27th, 1923. wendy let out a laugh, seeing that date.

the exact date sicheng came to ceham for the summer festival.

—