♜
"i have never exactly given anyone a tour through the castle, so please bare with me." mingyu, king seungcheol's servant, apologized himself to the flawless elf walking next to him.
they hadn't exactly exchanged words in the past five minutes where they had been wandering through the wide corridors. and mingyu was scared that, since it was still early at morning, the day would last far too long if he didn't say something right now. though still the boy didn't speak a word and remained silent as his eyes were glued on the portrays scattered over the walls and the painted high ceilings.
as if he had never seen such thing before, which seemed fair to mingyu as he had heard the elves came from the woods. their palace probably looked far different from theirs.
"just between you and me, i don't think i can recall all rooms and hallways. honestly, if we wander through the castle too long we might even lose track eventually." mingyu said, flashing an apologetic canine smile to the boy walking next to him.
and for the first time, his words seemed to catch his attention, as the silent hallway suddenly filled with the sound of a silky soft yet utterly deep chuckle. in all honesty, mingyu had expected his voice to be a few pitches higher, though he wasn't complaining about the unexpected surprise at all.
"as long as we don't accidentally end up in a dungeon or anything like that i'm fine with you leading the way." his voice sounded even deeper as he spoke, the angelic tone leaving mingyu mesmerized. and mingyu couldn't help but to wonder how he felt these type of fluttering feelings when it came to a boy.
"well i must admit, i don't think i'm able to forget how the dungeons look like. to get there we have to go even a floor beneath the basement. if i am not mistaken there are a lot of warning signs, so i don't think we end up there by accident." mingyu rambled on and on, while the elf appeared to have listened carefully to each word he spoke. "or at least not under my guidance."
they both silenced down again, strolling down the hallway without any specific purpose since they had all day. it was the flawless deep voice of the elfish boy that broke the silence between them. "excuse me for asking, my lord, but how come you don't know know the exact way through the castle?"
"my lord?" mingyu asked in surprise, finding it oddly funny to be mistaken for royalty. "i am nothing more than the king's servant so you aren't forced to use the formalities. mingyu is the name."
the almond dark eyes of the boy widened, as he bowed his head a little, avoiding eye contact yet again when he let his hair slip in front of his face. "my apologies. i must have mistaken you for royalty because of the clothing."
"that's understandable, i'm still not quite used to the outfit myself. i don't remember i have caught your name earlier." mingyu asked carefully, wanting to have a name in return as he just told his.
"my name is wonwoo. jeon wonwoo, i'm the king's son." he spoke, bringing a hand up to brush his shining long hair out of his face, placing it behind his pointy ears. a beautiful shape in mingyu's opinion as his outstanding features didn't fail to catch mingyu's eyes.
"shouldn't i use formalities then?" he playfully asked as mingyu was getting comfortable now they exchanged names.
"oh please just call me wonwoo and treat me like someone normal." wonwoo emphasized the last word. "it's not like i will be a king one day. my father decided to make someone else the heir of our kingdom. i would be nothing more than a usual civilian, wouldn't i?"
"you would be a really handsome king in my opinion." mingyu covered his mouth soon after, realizing he had spoken a little too fast. "my apologies, i didn't mean to be so bold."
mingyu, however, swore he caught a glimpse of a smile on the boy's face, which had been plain up until now. "well thank you, you wouldn't look bad yourself as well." wonwoo admitted, making mingyu's grin widen in the process. "as a king, i suppose?"
"of course as a king, that's why i mistaken you for a royalty just now." wonwoo explained himself, forgetting about all the details in the hallway as his mind was now full of the friendly servant.
"say wonwoo," mingyu spoke, testing if the elf was comfortable enough with him calling out his name. "is it true that elves are immortal?"
wonwoo snorted, finding the question oddly funny. "we're not immortal, though it is true that we don't age. i have heard that humankind thinks we don't have the ability do die one day, but when it comes to a fight we're as mortal as any other specie. but it's just a myth."
mingyu seemed surprised by the explanation, not having expected this kind of answer. as far as he could remember his parents always used to tell him about that specific myth, that's why hearing it from an actual elf seemed strange. "i've been told that since i was a little boy. may i ask how old you are then?"
"seventy three." wonwoo replied in a monotone voice, his face expressionless while his dark orbs pierced directly into mingyu's, who didn't even notice his mouth being agape. until wonwoo's lips curled up in a sly smirk, turning his eyes back to the corridor in front of them. "no, i'm fooling around with you. i just turned twenty. we stop aging after our twenty fifth but around the turning of three- or two hundred our hair color starts fading and the smallest wrinkles will appear. my father just turned one hundred and thirty nine."
mingyu was still shocked about the fact that wonwoo's father was that old, but came by senses soon enough when he remembered the boy's age. "that means you're only one year older than me!" he cheered, finding it oddly amusing to be younger than an actual elf.
"i suppose you are nineteen years old?" wonwoo guessed, mingyu nodding proudly. "that actually comes as a surprise. seeing your length i assumed you older than me."
"i get it, i get it, i am a little tall." though mingyu noticed how their height difference made wonwoo a little flustered, making him wonder if the elf felt the same unexplainable feelings by his presence as well. "i hope you don't mind me asking, but is there a way for an elf to age like a normal human?"
"actually there is." wonwoo reached underneath the collar of his silk clothing, holding up an ordinary silver necklace. "us elves get that decision actually. we are given this necklace the day we are born and with some type of sorcery it's stuck around our necks for the rest of our lives. now if we decide before our twenty fifth to stop aging, and live a mortal live, we have to find a way to destroy it and break the spell."
mingyu was so engrossed in the story and was quick to keep asking. "but what if you decide to destroy it after your twenty-fifth?"
"that's actually pretty dangerous. the moment the necklace is destroyed, you will age up to your current age in just a few seconds. most cases have no chance of surviving and end up as nothing more but a corpse."
"and what about you, have you decided yet what you want to do with your life?" mingyu asked yet another question, seeing how it made wonwoo a little more enthusiast to use more words. it was visible the boy didn't have anyone to speak with back at his home.
"since i am born as the king his son, i don't exactly have any other choice but to keep this thing around my neck." wonwoo put the jewelry back inside his shirt with a heavy sigh, having absolutely no idea that the servant next to him had followed all his movements carefully.
"but what if you were to decide? what would you do?" and once that question was asked, wonwoo looked up and stared directly into mingyu's eyes. the golden haired boy found it pleasant, the intense eye contact, and wished for wonwoo to never look away.
"i would honestly love to live a normal human life and die at the age of ninety. my father doesn't want me to get attached to a human, so he will most likely force me to marry someone of my own kind. but in all truth, i prefer to make my own decisions and live a mortal life with someone i actually want to be with."
somehow mingyu knew, that perhaps the noble servant and the lonely elf were fated to be together.
