⁺◦ 𝔥𝔬𝔱 | 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 .

↳ 𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 .

"mingyu, are you alright? are you in pain of any kind?" your hands run along the ground. your head turns every which way, as you search for mingyu. "gyu, please talk to me. i know that you're probably in immense pain right now, but would you say something to let me know that you're still alive?"

you find your way to your feet by stumbling to a standing position. once your feet are set firmly beneath you, you walk around the small space. you try to listen for sounds of soft breathing, but feel disappoint strike you where you stand when you only hear your shoes come into contact with the ground. well, in this case, the ground is simply dirt. the dimly lit space doesn't help you in your quest to find mingyu. all it offers is cobwebs, bugs, and hopelessness.

"mingyu, where are you?!"

your drug-induced dream comes to a rather harsh end when you wake up panting. by the time that you get ahold of yourself, you realize that you and mingyu have been separated yet again.

prince joshua sits at your bedside like a devoted lover should. there's nothing that you wouldn't give for him to switch places with mingyu.

"welcome back to the land of the living, princess (y/n)."

"do you know where they're keeping him? is he in the dungeon or did the king decide to banish him from this section?"

"he's being held in the dungeon, which is where he's been since the king's knight took him away. if i'm being honest with you, he probably won't see the light of day ever again."

you slide out of the blankets that are piled on top of you. in a way, you come out of hibernation. using your core strength to do so, you sit up in the bed. only once your back is flush with the hospital bed does the pain rip through your stomach.

"i didn't-" you clutch your stomach. to your dismay, you find that there's a bandage wrapped all the way around it. "i didn't ask for your honesty, joshua."

"your heart stopped twice, princess (y/n). you died twice, but the nurses saved you. the nurses have been tending to your stab wound for the past two days, but you could care less about that. oddly enough, the only thing that's on your mind is your beloved."

you sweep your feet over the bed. finding your balance on them isn't as easy as it was before knight roderick stabbed you, but you stand up eventually.

"where do you think you're going in this condition?"

"i'm going to save my boyfriend from the king." you grit your teeth.

"i don't think that's a good idea, seeing as though you can barely move without grimacing."

you shoot the prince a glance that seals his mouth shut in an instant.

"did you think i didn't know that you were the one who told the king and queen that i was awake?"

"who says that i was the one that told them? maybe the nurses were actually doing their job correctly, and they shared the joyous news with the king and queen."

"there were no nurses in the medical wing when i woke up, so they surely didn't know." you hobble to the window to check if it's day or night. "just admit that it was you that caused all of this, prince joshua."

"i was only trying to help, princess (y/n)."

the dual-moons hang low in the starless sky. one shines a bright blue that looks identical to a clear, waveless sea. the other shines a deep purple that reminds you of an amethyst. you close the window at once.

"you call that help? what you did was an abominable thing, prince joshua."

a cup of water sits on the table that's right beside your bed. you eye it like you haven't had water in days. well, you probably haven't had so much as a sip of water in days.

"i figured that if your parents saw how in love you were, then they'd accept the fact that you wish to marry a non-royal. i honestly did not believe the rumors that the king was such a cruel man. so, i didn't think he'd do something like that to mingyu." prince joshua picks up on your thirst, and he delicately picks the cup of water up.

"i don't believe you."

he pulls your hands from your sides, passing the cup off to you, but you look down at his hands and how they're touching yours. snatching the cup from him would only prove to be unintelligent because you might spill the water.

you clear your throat to let him know that you've got the cup.

prince joshua peels each finger off of you, in a way that's so slow that makes it seem to you that he didn't want to let go.

"would you believe me if i told you that i'm willing to help you find your boyfriend and leave this section behind?"

you put the cup between your parted lips, then tip it back to take a small sip. the water tastes so good that you end up dipping your head back and downing the cup in a matter of seconds.

"no, i wouldn't believe you. i'd tell you that you're crazy and shouldn't say things that you don't mean. you shouldn't make promises that you know that you can't keep." you retort, while you start to make your way towards the small trash bin that's in the room.

you blink and the cup is gone. prince joshua moves from the window to the corner of the room where the trash can is all in the blink of an eye. you didn't even feel his touch when he'd taken the cup from you.

"lucky for you, i keep all of the promises that i make."