Crimson Crown

⌠6⌡

Normally Jinyoung was pretty familiar with the palace library, but for some reason, he just couldn't find the books he was looking for.

A large room filled to the brim with sky-high shelves of books located in the middle of the palace, yet he could only locate three novels based on vampires.

He sat upon a small sofa and decided to crack open the covers; he figured he needed to make a start somewhere, and maybe the similarities in the books would lead him to a bit more information on the unknown creatures.

He was only 10 pages deep into the first book when a knock startled him from his reading.

"Prince Jinyoung?" A familiar, muffled voice called from behind the thick wooden door that soon swung open.

Youngjae emerged through the crack, his brows furrowed as he stepped in and shut the door behind himself.

"Did you leave the party early? I looked for you everywhere after losing sight of you."

The prince hummed, shrugging as he looked back down at his book. He purposely didn't tell Youngjae he was slipping away, especially since the last time he saw the younger, he was having a good laugh with Jaebeom. Who was he to interrupt a good time? "Well, you found me. You know I'm always in one of three places; my room, the kitchen, or the library."

The look of unneeded concern remained on Youngjae's face as he approached the sofa. "Yes, but why are you in here at this late hour? Did you even enjoy the rest of the party? It was thrown in your favor, after all."

"I left only about an hour before it ended. Things were dying down anyway. I needed to come up here and check something."

"Check something-"

"How did things go with Jaebeom?"

"J-Jaebeom?" Youngjae faltered, caught off guard with the sudden topic change. His eyes fell to his feet, cheeks glowing a light pink that Jinyoung definitely noted. "Oh, well he was arrogant and honestly quite annoying. Absolutely horrible at flirting, his lines made me blush out of embarrassment for him yet he took it as me actually being flustered-- the nerve of him, right? He's quite awful."

Jinyoung hummed, smiling as he looked back at his book. "So, things went well."

"W-What makes you say that?"

"The bruise on your neck."

Youngjae immediately touched his neck, exactly where the bruise resides just under his jaw. His blush deepened as he rubbed the blemish that he knew peeked out of his tunic. 

"I told the bastard not to leave marks..." He mumbled, his eyes frantically looking at Jinyoung, slight panic in his gaze. "W-We only kissed, I would never do anything more with that man inside the royal palace, h-he just cornered me somewhere private and I lost my clear mind, I'm so sorry to disrespect your home, prince-"

"Youngjae. I'm happy for you."

The younger blinked in confusion. "Happy...?"

"Yeah. Hopefully, that was a genuine interest he showed and not just Jaebeom acting on his impure desires again. I know you don't let your guard down for just anyone."

The younger let out a sigh, gazing off dreamily. "He made such a fool of himself in front of me yet somehow had me tied around his fingers..."

"Well, blacksmiths are good with their hands." Jinyoung retorted, wiggling his brow at the younger who flushed cherry red. "I won't feel disrespected if you two end up tumbling into bed, as long as it's not my bed of course, so next time feel free to indulge."

"Shut up." Youngjae spat, punching the giggling prince in the arm. He adjusted his coat, falling back into the professionalism he was trained to have. "Now you answer me. What are you so diligently looking for?"

Jinyoung was hesitant to just say it-- especially since it was a peculiar topic. But he trusted Youngjae with many things; maybe the younger had some valuable information to lend him. "Have you heard of vampires?"

Youngjae's brows knitted together as he slowly nodded. "Sure? What about them?"

"Are they real?"

"I... Jinyoung I have no idea. Why?"

The elder sighed,  looking down at the other books scattered around him. "I heard of a being so powerful, it could kill dozens in just minutes, among other amazing things. Apparently, he was a vampire."

"What do you need someone like that for?"

"To prevent the war."

Youngjae's frown of confusion deepened; he looked at Jinyoung as if he had no idea what he was talking about. "Weren't you saying violence is not the answer?"

"Yes but, I don't want to use him for violence. I imagine someone powerful enough to kill dozens could do other great things that will be useful. Like maybe.... reverse that power and save just as many people or... something, I don't know."

"Jinyoung...you sound insane."

The elder sighed; of course, he sounded insane, he was talking about a vampire powerful enough to help stop wars. But the mere thought of it being possible intrigued him, and in all honesty, the topic of vampires had simply caught his interest. "I know it's a bit far-fetched but imagine a great vampire stopping the war. No blood to be spilled; he could stop both armies in their tracks, save fallen soldiers from death, and we can form a truce before any fighting occurs!"

Youngjae shook his head. "Vampires kill people Jinyoung, and you don't even know if they exist, let alone how their powers work."

"If goblins exist then vampires can't be too much of a stretch."

"The last goblin was seen decades before our time. Who says a vampire is still alive today?"

"It doesn't hurt to try." Jinyoung closed his book, standing to his feet. The only lead he had so far was the vampire's location; somewhere along the woody edges of Alveras. That was enough for him to go on; it wouldn't hurt to just explore and see what was out there in the less ventured parts of his kingdom. "Where is BamBam?"

"In his room I suppose--" Youngjae watched as Jinyoung walked past him toward the door, suddenly realizing his plan. "Jinyoung, you're not doing this--"

"I must, to at least try and save our kingdoms... I must try." The prince replied as he turned the brass knob and pulled open the door.

"Cornelia is not your Kingdom!" Yoyngjae retorted, his urgency to stop Jinyoung from putting himself in danger nearly palpable.

"But those people are just as innocent as Alverians. The blood-splattered years ago is not on their hands, and they should not have to continue fighting our ancestor's war. I must try and stop this before the first battle happens."

"You can't go alone! It's too dangerous!"

"I'll be fine, I'm taking BamBam. You should relax and rest, you want to see Jaebeom tomorrow, don't you?" Jinyoung smiled, watching Youngjae falter and blush.

He quickly looked away, folding his arms over his chest. "H-How did you know we were meeting...?"

"I didn't, just an assumption. You may be closed off to others, but to me, you're a wide-open book, my friend." Jinyoung chuckled at Youngjae's glare, swinging the door open further and stepping through. He needed to get out of his party attire into something more comfortable if he was going to go vampire hunting this night.

"Come back unharmed, Jinyoung." Youngjae called after him, his worry for the prince not waning even a little.

Jinyoung raised a hand as he continued down the hall. "I promise, I will."