Crimson Crown

⌠27⌡

Jinyoung rushed through the halls toward the library in order to investigate his idea. As he turned the corner down another long hallway, he happened to see Youngjae exit his room, another person following out behind him. As he approached the pair, he recognized the other person as Jaebeom while Youngjae leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Though Jinyoung was on a mission, he couldn't ignore the blatant affection that made him want to tease his friends. "You two have really gotten friendly huh."

Youngjae jolted as he glanced back in Jinyoung's direction. He shook his head, turning away from Jaebeom. "Oh, it's nothing..."

Jaebeom smiled upon seeing the prince, reaching into the satchel hanging off his shoulder. "I came by to give ya your dagger. ya never came for it. But Youngjae said you were busy training so while we waited we--"

"No need to give unnecessary details!" Youngjae interrupted, his face flushed a light pink.

Jinyoung's eyes fell to the sheathed dagger, having totally forgotten about his request since that day. He'd been so caught up in everything else that it slipped his mind. "Right, sorry..."

"Jinyoung has been a bit off recently." Youngjae mumbled as he curiously gazed at the weapon. 

"It's nothing though, I'm fine." The prince assured. He'd initially gotten this to use for Jackson, just in case the vampire ever needed to use him for nutrition but refused to bite him like he did the last time it was offered. He would still keep it, of course, but it would only serve as a reminder of the mythical creature Jinyoung was no longer seeing.

"Well, unsheath it. I love seeing the first reaction." Jaebeom encouraged, pulling the latter out of his thoughts.

Jinyoung glanced down at the leather covering the blade, gently tugging it off. The shing of the sharp metal softly rang in his ears as he revealed the dagger, the silver it was made out of shining even in the soft interior lighting. The sides were sharp, but the middle was engraved with images of thorned roses all the way to the hilt. It felt like a quality weight in his hand, but it was also light and felt easy to maneuver with.

"Wow..." He mindlessly mumbled as he flipped the blade over and over, examining every part of it. "It's really pretty. Beautiful craftmanship Jaebeom, as expected from a great blacksmith as you."

"Of course, I told ya, the best!" He exclaimed proudly.

"What did you want a dagger for anyway, Jinyoung?" Youngjae questioned.

The latter shook his head; the real reason why he wanted it didn't matter anymore, and Youngjae would scold him if he actually told the truth. "I just wanted something I can carry with me that's smaller than a sword."

Jaebeom hummed, nodding in approval. He was satisfied with his happy customer. "That should serve you fine for a while, and of course come to me for sharpening if needed."

"Of course." Jinyoung agreed as he slipped the sheath back onto the blade. He shoved the dagger into his coat pocket as he sidestepped the couple. "I'll be on my way, you two have fun."

"See ya!" Jaebeom waved while Youngjae narrowed his eyes at the latter, but kept his suspicions at bay.

Jinyoung continued on his trip to the library with haste, locking himself in the room lined with books so he would be undisturbed. He looked around, trying to decide where to start.

"History" was the keyword. He quickly decided to check the section where they kept their recorded history; he never thought about checking actual documentation for records of vampires. He'd been reading books on vampires, but to know their history, he had to look at the history books.

Though it was a bit strange; Jinyoung had an education like any other child, why is it only now that he's learned that vampires do in fact exist? Surely Jackson had a family, and they must've come from somewhere too, which meant that there used to be more vampires at some point in time. Yet Jinyoung never even considered them to be more than a myth, and there was nothing of the sort recorded in their history books.

He let out a sigh, realizing that maybe what he was looking for either didn't exist, or isn't where he thought it was. Still, he began to yank all of the History books off the shelf, rapidly flipping through one by one of the thick volumes until they were all stacked at his feet. 

As he thought, nothing about vampires.

He looked at the empty shelf, wondering if there were any more books that he hadn't thought of. Though upon glancing at the shelf, something caught his eye. He squinted, leaning in closer as something gold glimmered in the shadow. It was a small hole in the wood that was barely noticeable, outlined by gold that Jinyoung could have overlooked if he simply paid less attention. He reached in and ran his finger over the hole, the wood in the back of the shelf shaking almost as if it were loose.

His eyes widened in realization. A keyhole.

But what could possibly be hidden back there behind a bookshelf? Something that didn't want to be found and only a select few people must be aware of its existence, Jinyoung assumed. He glanced around the library, wondering if the key would be nearby. It was worth a shot, as his curiosity always got the best of him anyway.

He quickly began looking around the room, under couches, chairs, tables-- anywhere he thought a key could be hidden. There were numerous drawers in the room as well, which he opened one by one and went through the contents which tended to just be papers, pencils, or nothing at all.

Finally, he looked in the drawer of the little table that was placed beside the couch, meant to hold drinks and snacks or whatnot. He pulled it open, though he remembered opening it sometime in the past when he was younger and found nothing interesting. And as he opened it, there was truly nothing to look at, just a jewelry box, which he assumed was his mother's, and some random pieces of paper that had probably been in there for years considering they were drawings of monsters Jinyoung did a long time ago.

He almost closed the drawer, until he considered something he hadn't before. He reached in and pulled out the jewelry box that had been in there for who knows how long. All this time he thought it was one of his mother's forgotten pieces, but he realized he never tried opening it to see-- he just instantly lost interest every time he looked at it.

This time, he decided to indulge, flipping open the latch of the satin-covered box. The lid creaked open, and inside the box on a plush velvet pillow, was a necklace that had a charm in the shape of a key at the end. Jinyoung's eyes widened, realizing that this may not just be a simple charm. He picked up the key, dropping the jewelry box as he rushed back to the shelf. 

His arm slid in at an awkward position, sliding the key against the wood until it caught on the hole. At first it didn't seem to fit-- Jinyoung wondered if he had to go searching again for a different key. Eventually though, he angled his hand differently and the key slipped in, triggering some sort of mechanism that clicked. Jinyoung gasped as he pulled his arm out and took a look himself, the wood that was in the back of the bookshelf falling forward on hidden hinges, revealing another compartment. 

The prince blindly reached in again, his fingers brushing over various items, but they all felt like books. He was met with quite a lot of dust as he pulled out one of the thick books, needing to brush off the cover just to read it properly. 

On the front cover, it read "ℝ𝔼ℂ𝕆ℝ𝔻𝕊 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕃𝕍𝔼ℝ𝔸𝕊", but this history book seemed much thicker and richer with information than the others. It also looked as if it were written by a historian by hand, opposed to the ones mass-produced with printing presses.

Jinyoung flipped over the pages, his eyes darting around over various historical events that he'd never even heard of, let alone knew they existed. He was so enraptured in the mere existence of this book that he couldn't have possibly been prepared for what he saw in bold letters at the beginning of a chapter halfway through the book.

He paused on the title, needing to sit down as he reread it over and over.

 It read: "The Great Vampire Purge"

Jinyoung's eyes widen as he began to read the hidden history of his kingdom.