--

22

--

Myungsoo trained with Seunggi day and night until he exhausted himself or Seunggi forced him to rest.

“You’re not doing yourself any good by depleting all of your energy like this. You have to keep some so it can grow and expand based on the training we did today. And you need to sleep at night.”

Myungsoo’s sleep schedule was slowly shifting so that he slept at night instead of during the day. It was strange for him at first, having grown up in Rivedon and attending training at night and sleeping during the day.

“But Seungho doesn’t sleep. You don’t sleep. I’ve never seen Eli sleep either,” he protested as Seunggi sent him away.

“And you too, will not have to sleep, once you get strong enough so that your energy replenishes itself while you’re not actively using your powers. I’d give you another ten years before you get that strong, judging by your ability now. So for now, get some sleep.”

--

On the nights he couldn’t sleep, Sungyeol would usually be the first back with Kiseop from their training in the forest. He cuold hear their breathless laughter and Kevin’s cursing whenever the two of the came back.

Sungyeol would stay to keep him company, talking about his training, Kiseop, the knights, and the pranks he and Kiseop liked to pull on everyone else. “Eli has a bet to see which one of the other trainees will be able to see through our tricks first. I think Soohyun made it a requirement in order to pass the first level of training to move onto the next,” Sungyeol said with a snicker.

Myungsoo smirked and grinned. “I’m not surprised. If I were out there, I could totally take you on. You don’t have any new tricks for me.”

“Actually, Kiseop knows a lot of things. He usually uses these as diversionary tactics whenever he needs to escape from a large crowd or cause a distraction so he can get his job done. In a way, I’m learning, so it’s not like I’m just playing around out there.”

“I know, Sungyeol. You’ll be a good knight.”

It was awkward talking to Myungsoo nowadays. He didn’t know what to say, what to do. Myungsoo was looking skinnier than usual, and when Sungyeol asked him about it, Myungsoo would tell him he didn’t know.

Sungyeol overheard that Myungsoo wasn’t sleeping from Seunggi and Soohyun, and Soohyun put Hoon in charge of putting Myungsoo to sleep at night. Sometimes, Hoon would forget, and Myungsoo would sleep on his own, and sometimes, Hoon would forget, and Myungsoo wouldn’t get any sleep.

“So, when are you going to get off of bed rest and head out there with the rest of us?”

“Seunggi’s given me the okay. I start in the morning actually.”

Sungyeol glanced up as the sky started to turn pink, and he laughed, patting Myungsoo on the back. “Running on no sleep again, I see. You should sleep. I don’t think the Arch Mage would approve if you came back looking like a skeleton. Anyway, sun’s rising. Tell me how your training goes after you come back, okay?” Sungyeol patted Myungsoo on the shoulder before heading inside.

He was right. You definitely wouldn’t approve to see him like this, brooding. Maybe Woohyun was lying to him, and you hadn’t forgotten about him. But Myungsoo didn’t see the flash of color in his eyes when he told him that, so Myungsoo knew he wasn’t lying.

But there was hope. Maybe you’d remember him if you saw him again. He’d have to work on sleeping and eating more so he could build up a handsome body for you to remember. He’d be damned if you had to remember him as he was now.

--

Seunggi worked tirelessly, experimenting with Woohyun’s blood that contained Gyuri’s. He found so much potency and magic in them, he was almost a little bit scared to experiment, lest it rebel against him or something.

“Seunggi, delivery!” Soohyun called, dropping a package on Seunggi’s couch and running away before Seunggi could ask for a favor. His favors never ended well with Soohyun.

“Oh, Soohyun? Is that you? Can I ask you a... Oh. You’re gone.” Seunggi sighed and put his instruments down before taking his gloves off and heading into the living room and opening up the box.

“Oh! Seungho sent it back. Hopefully, it works.” Seunggi pushed a few buttons before setting it down as Seungho’s face appeared in front of him.

“Hello, Seunggi. I hope this works so I don’t look like a fool talking to this ball. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to write normal letters. How are you going to pass on anything down to future generations if no one can read what you’re documenting?”

Seunggi pursed his lips. As punishment for not practicing, Seunggi had the trainees take notes for them, and if he couldn’t read them, he made them write it over again. Seunggi had it covered.

“Anyway, I’ve sent Woohyun a letter telling him to stop by since I can’t leave Rivedon at the moment. I don’t know how fast they’ll deliver this to you since the messengers all hate traveling to the knight’s den. Something about valuing their lives. I hope he’s stopped by. If not, then send me a letter and as soon as I get it, I can start to make arrangements to visit you.”

“Well, there’s no need for that,” Seunggi said, glancing back at his work area. He was still in the first stages of his research, and he suspected that it may take him a few months to develop something for Myungsoo.

“I don’t really have anything else to say besides take care of my knights in training. Especially Myungsoo.” The message ended abruptly, and Seunggi blinked. Seungho was never one to beat around the bush.

“He didn’t even say good bye. Huh.” Seunggi picked up his projection ball and tossed it up and down before placing it back into the box and going back to his research.

--

“Seunggi’s given us the heads up, so you can come out for training with the rest of the living,” Eli said as Myungsoo lined up with the others. Everyone greeted him and welcomed him back with the rest of them. Myungsoo rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath.

“Alright, we’ll be headed through the forest. Your mission is to find this.” Eli held up a scroll with a star-shaped fruit drawn on it. Myungsoo blinked at it a few times before taking in the details of the drawing and stepping back into line.

“It’s called star fruit. Surprise. But the nurse at the infirmary crushes it up and mixes it with other herbs and such to treat your wounds, and she’s been running low on them.” Everyone shuffled around sheepishly as Myungsoo raised an eyebrow.

“I’d love for the day class to do better than the night class, but it seems that everyone isn’t as observant, even though we have sunlight.” Eli gestured wildly at the sky before sighing. “Kiseop and Sungyeol have been doing a good job tripping you up, but keep your eyes open. Focus. Because I won’t be saving you if you get caught up in traps again. Except for maybe Myungsoo since it’s his first day. But the rest of you! No help.”

--

Myungsoo didn’t expect for training grounds to be so... beautiful. He took a few steps into the forest and stopped as the rest of the trainees ran ahead, searching for the star fruit. Myungsoo took a few moments to admire the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves and branches of the trees.

It wasn’t too different from what it looked like with the moonlight, but everything was different. For one, it was warmer, despite the cooling weather. Myungsoo could feel his skin heating up, and it felt like something was embracing him.

“Myungsoo!”

He heard Eli’s voice faintly calling out for him, and he took in a deep breath of fresh air before getting serious.

--

Woohyun finished up writing a letter to Seungho, telling him of where the two of you had gone and how excited you were. Seungho made it a requirement to let him know that the two of you were still alive. If you went a few months without contacting him, he stated that he would send the entire army after you.

“Here. Make sure he gets it, so I don’t have to end my trip early,” Woohyun said, handing the scroll to one of the messengers.

It was daylight out, and you were asleep inside of the carriage, head resting on Woohyun’s lap while covered up with a blanket. Woohyun decided not to sleep since he had a steady food supply for once in his life. He started taking blood from your wrist now instead of your neck, because things always got a little bit too heated when he took from the neck.

He sighed as he brushed your hair gently with his fingers, watching you sleep. Time was passing by so quickly, but neither of you took heed of it. Woohyun just wanted to spend as much time with you as possible.

“Woohyun?” you mumbled sleepily, forcing your eyes open. Woohyun was startled for a moment before he looked down at you and frowned.

“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

“No, s’not that... You aren’t going to sleep?”

“No. I’d rather stay up and watch you sleep.”

“That’s... a bit creepy,” you breathed out before closing your eyes and going back to sleep. Woohyun chuckled and shook his head before leaning over and kissing your forehead.

When you were sleeping, he tried to think of nothing but you, but the more he looked at you, the more Myungsoo crept into his thoughts.

Exactly how much did he owe Myungsoo?

Woohyun owed him his life, for when Myungsoo saved his life when he got distracted during the first battle with Armalis.

Woohyun owed him... for you. What did he owe him for you? Woohyun sighed and let his head fall back against the side of the carriage. The only thing he could really do is take the best care of you he could for Myungsoo.

“Hey,” Woohyun said quietly. You made a small groan. “I love you.”

You sighed and turned your head on his lap before curling up closer to him. “Love you, too.”

--

Woohyun took you through the jungle, and you got to see plants and animals you’d never seen before in your life. For once, you wished you were good at art so you could draw everything and keep it as a physical representation of your memory. There was so much to see.

After the jungle, he took you towards the desert. By now, the weather was hot, and the desert was scorching hot during the day, which you felt the remnants of at night when everything cooled down to the point where it was almost chilly.

You watched as the wind shaped the sand dunes, leaving wave like ripples in the sand. You watched in fascination as a snake moved sideways over the sand, leaving behind strange tracks in the sand.

Woohyun entertained you every now and then by using his wind powers to send the sand flying around and sculpting random things out of it for you.

“Snowmen, Woohyun? Snowmen?”

“No, sandmen. And they’re not all men, it’s a sand family,” Woohyun said as the carriage passed by one of his creations. You rolled your eyes and sighed. You knew it was impossible for Woohyun to have children, just like it was with all vampires. Vampires were only created, and not born, aside from the very first vampire, whoever it was.

You turned and stared at the sand family until the wind blew them away back into the desert. Woohyun watched you sadly for a moment before sighing heavily and pulling your slipping mask up on your face, making you turned your attention back to him.

“I’m sorry... that I can’t give you a biological family,” Woohyun said quietly. He didn’t learn about a vampire’s inability to have children until after he was turned. He was devastated, but he hoped that you wouldn’t be disappointed.

“It’s fine,” you said, leaning onto his arm. “We can adopt. The world needs more love for people who already exist, right?”

“Don’t you want kids of your own, though?”

You chuckled at him before sitting back up and grabbing his arm as he guided the horses through the sand. You spotted a group of camels trekking across the sand, leaving behind their strange shaped footprints. You spotted a baby camel running around his parents’ legs and smiled fondly.

“I never thought I’d get out of that broom closet in Armalis, let alone get married and have kids. But... I suppose. Most girls want to be a mother at some point, don’t they?”

Woohyun nodded. Would you have been happier with Myungsoo? Where Woohyun failed, Myungsoo could succeed. Both of you were living, so you would be able to bear his children. You’d be able to have biological kids, and...

He glanced down at the content smile on your face and tried not to sigh again. But then again, you looked happy with him.

--

Years passed on your travels around the world with Woohyun. Eventually, Woohyun took you as far as he knew, and it was time for you to turn back and head back to Rivedon. The trip back would be much shorter since you two weren’t wandering around anymore.

Your carriage was full of various souvenirs from various places around the world. There were a few things that you found that you wanted to show Mir, to see if it was worth anything, or just to get his appraisals on it.

“There’s a place I want to stop by before we get back to Rivedon,” Woohyun said, taking the opposite path to Rivedon.

“Oh? Where? We told Seungho we’d be back soon,” you said, reminding him of what he promised Seungho.

“I know, we’ll just rest there for the day. I’ll show you around briefly, then we’ll leave.”

You blinked a few times before giving Woohyun a curious look. “Where are we going?”

“Back to where I lived for a while. Gyuri’s castle in her hometown.”

--

For some strange reason, you found it odd that the people in Woohyun’s hometown were so excited to see him. From what you’d heard, he was cold, aloof, and very uncaring before you arrived in Rivedon.

But the townspeople seemed to love him as he hopped off of the carriage and greeted a few people with smiles before leading the horses to the castle so they could be taken care of and get a well deserved break.

“Come on,” Woohyun said, opening the carriage door for you. People cheered when they saw you, and you smiled at them, waving at them sheepishly before Woohyun waved once more and led you into the small castle.

“The people here really seem to love you,” you said, looking around.

“Yes. You can’t believe everything people say about me. Sure, I was a bit... unbearable before you came, but I was good to the people, because they were good to me.” Woohyun let go of your hand as servants came up to him and bowed.

“Get the main room ready and some food.”

“Yes, sir,” they said before hurrying off. Woohyun turned and glanced at the decor in the castle before smiling at you. “Welcome to Gyuri’s castle. This is where Seungho and I used to live. And Gyuri.”

You looked around in awe. The castle was small from the outside, much smaller than the castle at Rivedon, but it was so richly decorated, you were afraid to walk farther in, just in case you accidentally bumped into something and broke it. You were almost positive that everything was priceless.

“Don’t worry about breaking anything. Gyuri was pretty crafty, and she put spells on everything so pretty much everything is unbreakable. Here. Look.”

You gasped as Woohyun swept a vase off of a stand, and it fell on the floor, rolling away harmlessly, still in one piece.

“She started doing this after I broke her top four favorite vases,” Woohyun said fondly before picking up the vase and replacing it on top of the stand.

You took a few steps in and followed Woohyun as he pointed out other places to you. “The fireplace is in here. We used to spend time together reading or listening to Gyuri tell stories... The kitchens are this way. We always ate together, even though Seungho said he felt sick smelling the blood... Gyuri’s room is down this hallway. I haven’t stepped foot in it since... well...”

Woohyun turned around and found you taking all of the sights in. You accidentally bumped into him, making him chuckle and steady you on your feet as you grabbed his arms.

“You and Seungho... you two really loved her, didn’t you?”

Woohyun gave you a smile and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “We did. Everyone loved her. She was the closest thing we had left to family. But now I have you, so it’s not so bad. Seungho, though... he’s having a hard time coping.”

“I can imagine. Weren’t they together for hundreds of years?”

Woohyun nodded, taking your hand and leading you down another hallway. “My room is down here.” He stopped in front of a doorway and pulled aside the curtain for you to step inside. “There aren’t any doors inside her castle because she didn’t believe there should be any separation.”

You stood in the middle of Woohyun’s room and glanced around. It was simple. There were a few toys here and there, some books. A few drawings of someone familiar were pinned on the walls. You stepped in for a closer look, and you saw Woohyun hastily try to get in front of you, but you already saw.

“Are those drawings of me?” you asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He laughed sheepishly for a moment before rubbing the back of his head.

“Uh... Well... Yeah. After Gyuri adopted me, I told her about how I wanted to get stronger to protect you, and she was curious as to what you looked liked. So I tried to draw you, but my art skill is... well. You saw.”

You gently moved Woohyun out of the way before examining his drawings. You could feel him fidgeting behind you as a smile grew on your face. “Woohyun, these are so cute. At least I can tell they’re drawings of me? If that makes you feel better,” you said, wrapping your arms around him.

He laughed and buried his face into your hair as a servant came in and announced that your food was ready.

“I’d like to know more about Gyuri. What kind of person she was. You’ll tell me, right?” you asked as Woohyun laced your fingers together and led you towards the kitchens.

“Sure, I will. You can ask Seungho, too.”

--

Gyuri’s portrait was uncovered again, and this time, Seungho sat in one of the seats across from his desk, spinning a pen in his hands while he stared at the picture.

The news of Myungsoo being a mage with his powers bound by a curse Gyuri set had him confused. Why would Gyuri do something like that? She always had her reasons for doing things, but Seungho couldn’t quite figure out what it was this time.

He’d been wondering this almost every day for the past few years, checking up on Myungsoo’s progress in his training. Seunggi said that he was possibly the best trainee they’ve had in ages. He excelled in everything, even though he started training a little bit later than the others.

You should consider taking him as your apprentice to replace you when he comes back, Seunggi told him. Seunggi was still working on a way to break the curse binding Myungsoo, but for the most part, it didn’t seem to bother him.

Seungho had an unfinished letter written to Myungsoo on his desk, asking him the same thing. Seungho just wanted a yes or no answer so he could plan appropriately. He didn’t have too much longer to live, unless he took up Seunggi’s offer on finding out his secret to longevity. And even then, he’d probably die trying to figure it out.

“Gyuri, why did you bind his powers? What’s going to happen that you had to bind his powers? You knew you couldn’t change the future, if your experience told you anything. So, why?”

Joon stood outside of Seungho’s office, leaning on the doorway. He was going to tell Seungho he had another package waiting for him outside, but he peeked in and saw Seungho so lost in his thoughts.

He was just waiting for him to remember now.