The Merman's Lament - IvanTill

~08~

"-y!"

"-ear me?"

When Ivan opened his eyes, he found himself looking at a pair of green eyes that belonged to none other than his beloved prince. He immediately blushed, not having expected it at all.

"Thank God you are awake! You had me worried! I thought you were dead!"

Ivan tried to say something, but he remembered he had made the deal with the sea wizard and had given up his voice. Even though he once again lamented the fact he couldn't speak, he turned to look at the pair of legs he now had and stared at them in wonder, touching them and wiggling his feet.

Till looked at him confused, both due to not understanding his peculiar behavior and also due to not hearing anything from the boy.

"What's your name? What happened to you to end up like this?"

Ivan just looked at him pressing his lips, unable to say anything. Till seemed to understand so and, instead of being as harsh as he would usually be, he chose to be kind with him.

"You can't talk? Is that it?"

Ivan nodded, leaving Till also doing so as he processed the information.

"Then, if you can write, I can give you a notebook and a pen so you can communicate through it with me," said the silver haired prince, still trying to be as empathetic as he could. "And if you have nowhere to be, you can stay with me. I will be returning home this evening, so you can come with me."

Ivan smiled softly and Till's heart couldn't help but skip a beat at that moment. He internally cursed at that and immediately forgot all about it when he remembered that Ivan was completely naked.

"Let's get you inside the palace! You are completely naked and you can't just go around like this!"

Till helped Ivan try to stand up, but the moment Ivan's feet touched the ground, he felt an incredibly sharp pain that almost made him fall, though Till caught him on time.

"Would you like for me to carry you? I don't think you can walk at the moment."

Ivan nodded weakly, trying to recover from that debilitating pain that he had just experienced. It had felt as if he had stepped onto a bunch of needles, just like Luka had said.

Till began carrying him away from the beach, heading to the castle on top of the cliff. He had covered Ivan a little bit with one of the bandanas he carried with him so the servants in the castle wouldn't get scared upon seeing him.

"I'm warning you, don't get used to this," said Till as they reached the castle. "You are quite heavy after all. You are bigger and probably stronger than me."

Ivan was confused at the statement but couldn't say anything about it regardless of whether he thought anything or not.

When they reached the doors of the castle, the guards quickly headed their way when they saw Till carrying someone with him.

"Prince Till, do you require assistance in anything?"

"Yes. I found this man naked and unconscious on the beach. I would like for him to be given a bath and dressed."

The guards bowed down and called over the servants, who immediately headed their way as well.

"Leave him to us, Prince Till," said one of the servants, who covered Ivan with a blanket as he took him into his arms.

"I trust you with him. Treat him well," declared Till, kind of using a threatening tone at the same time to make it clear that they better not mistreat him. "And don't worry if he doesn't respond. It's not because he doesn't want to. He just can't. We will find a way for him to communicate with us."

"Understood, Your Highness."

Once they left, two other servants remained and Till stopped them before they could also resume their duties.

"Is Princess Mizi still here?"

"No, Your Highness. Princess Mizi departed towards her home earlier this morning, once you left for your morning walk."

Till felt slightly disappointed. He wanted to spend more time with the girl who had saved him. He barely got to be with her after she had saved him some days ago and it hadn't been enough for him. He wanted to know everything about her and perhaps, someday, marry her.

Those days he had spent with her he had been happier than he had ever been in his entire life. She was cheerful, her smile was warm like the sun, and she always knew how to get him to forget about the situation he had going on at home with his father, who was always yelling, insulting and threatening him.

The boy couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness washing over him after hearing that the pink haired girl had already left.

He didn't have the chance to get to know her even more and spend even more time with her like he wished. Now he didn't know if he would ever see her again considering her kingdom was quite far away from his and he barely had permission from his father to sail anywhere he wanted.

He retired to the room he had been staying at and waited for the servants to be done taking care of Ivan.

It didn't take long for the black haired boy to enter the room, accompanied by the two servants from earlier, who were helping him walk.

He was dressed in navy and black, wearing a similar outfit to Till, only that he did wear the tailcoat instead of just the shirt and the pants.

Even though his feet were aching with every step he took, slightly bleeding underneath the socks and the shoes, he pretended he was fine, not wanting to make Till or anyone else worry, no matter if he was agonizing on the inside due to what felt like walking on needles.

Till was left in awe when he saw him, his mouth slightly open in wonder and his cheeks tinted red. Apart from Mizi, he had never seen someone so beautiful, and he could even dare to say that Ivan was more stunning than Mizi.

He went to help Ivan out, taking his hands from the servants. They bowed before leaving the room, the two boys now being the two only people in the room.

"You look stunning in my clothes," commented Till, leaving Ivan blushing. "You could actually keep them if you want them, you know? I actually don't like them that much. I only wear them because I'm forced to."

Ivan was confused at the statement, but there was no way yet to ask him anything about it. That's when Till remembered that he had to give him something to write, and that's when he handed him a small notebook and a pen.

"Do you know how to write?"

Ivan nodded and Till handed them to him, hoping that he would be able to get to communicate with him now.

"Can you tell me what's your name, where you are from and what happened to you?"

Ivan decided to lie about what happened to him and where he was from, not wanting to tell him the truth considering he might be considered insane.

He showed him his answers and Till read them out loud.

"My name is Ivan, I'm from a very far away place near the coast and I'm a victim of a shipwreck."

Till stopped for a moment, taking in all the information he just read before turning to Ivan, giving the notebook back to him.

"I see. My ship wrecked recently too. Fortunately I was saved by Princess Mizi, who has left already. Glad you are safe and sound now."

Ivan's heart felt like it had been pricked by a needle upon hearing that. He forgot Till thought that princess was the one who saved him instead of him from drowning. He would have to try to make him forget about her somehow and get him to think about him and only him, otherwise he knew he would have no chance.

"I would love to spend more time with her, but she has now departed to her own kingdom, which is quite far away, especially from my own. I don't think we will see each other again at this rate."

Ivan couldn't help but become overjoyed at that statement. Perhaps if things remained that way and he managed to win his heart, he would make him forget all about that princess and only make him have eyes for him.