Chapter 12: “This time, can we pay what death wanted?”

The streets were quiet in the breaking morning light, only as the sun was rising up had the people, from their little homes with slight burnt roofings, lumbered to start their every day tasks. The temperature patiently stood humid today, perfect indeed for everyone. Some people drudged their carts uphill south towards Baekham bridge, to exchange sea products with Byungmi for their logs.

It wasn’t his first time to be wandering solely alone in these streets, maybe his twice he thought clearly, but either way, he was determined to locate the blacksmith’s nephew. A week has passed after the Prince’s birthday bash, a week after he himself had laid eyes on how his majesty had cheated on Princess Yoona while his parents were not around. How stupid, really--- if it were up to him, he would have his rusty sword put to good use.

And the nerve of Sooyoung to be eating with the royal family every lunch these past few days, although Kibum noticed, she kept distance, the usual small glances and secret smiles when Yoona had not been paying attention. Yoona would always be seated beside Changmin, but his eyes where in fact somewhere else. The course replayed in front of him as he remained silent, already being asked why so oftentimes than not.

Eventually walking through some alleys and turns, he found their wooden shop, hearing already the fine steel clashed upon another kind of steel, woven like clothe, into the best swords in town. Production had been slow this year, for guns were introduced by the Europeans to them, and lest the battles actually become easier to win over. Kibum was skilled in both, so nonetheless, he had nothing to fear when it came to technical uses.

Serenely like the calm dawn, he knocked on the door, the noise inside halting and before he knew it, an old man’s voice reached even the outside, yelling, “Nichkhun, would you get the door?”

The man opened it as ordered by his very own father, realizing at once that it was none other than Prince Kibum himself, grinning in seeing him once more. Nichkhun bowed at him for a very long while, curious at the same time for being in town.

“Who is it?” yelled Victoria cheerfully, Kibum could see, coming down from their staircase with a sluggish Kyuhyun, rubbing his eyes just trailing behind her.

“Ah, good morning, Prince Kibum!” She beamed and also greeted his majesty, Kyuhyun’s eyes aimed at him.

“What are you doing here, your highness?” he asked, queer of Kibum.

He entered as Nichkhun gestured him to his good home, requesting the man to take a seat for the moment; the shop keeper, the blacksmith known to create amazing swords used in wars these past few years, was now gazing at him oddly, nodding at him for he had not seen this boy, ever probably. Kibum understood perfectly though.

“We’ll give you tea,” Nichkhun stated, rushing towards their kitchen area behind the doors now.

Now beside Kibum, Kyuhyun laughed at his hyung, while Victoria sat next to his majesty as well. “See, Nichkhun’s easily paranoid. I feel embarrassed already.”

“What brings you here?” Victoria again mumbled, Kibum sighing. It was deep, so they assumed both together, it must have been serious. Looking almost desperately at Kyuhyun, his hands clapped together almost as though he was praying, twisting his lips in sync.

“You do know about Seohyun’s case, correct?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “What about her, your highness?”

“I talked to Yoona for a couple of times now,” he confessed, getting anxious more and more. “Her reason for being in Sangdokchi is to get her sister her eyes back. And only Sangdokchi have witches that great to return one of the important senses mankind needs.”

“But the current monarch has banished them to the island in the middle of the ocean, near China,” Victoria answered him, with Kibum and Kyuhyun smiling--- having that bizarre idea concurred at the same time, Nichkhun now entering with a tray of warm tea.

The prince picked up his cup and chuckled, blowing away the soothing air over the drink. “I think Kyuhyun got my idea.”

He saluted. “I certainly did, your majesty. I find it very brilliant.”

“What is it?” chorused Victoria and Nichkhun.

Kyuhyun poked Kibum’s shoulder with his shoulder, both of them almost like reading each other’s minds for it. The prince shyly bit his lip, nodding and staring into the eyes of the others. They have to do it: Seohyun needed her eyes back, Yoona had to fulfill it before her baby sister leaves the nation.

“Let’s visit the island in the middle of the ocean. Don’t they keep witches there?”

Nichkhun scowled at once while Victoria made a very curious expression. “Really, now if you were a sensible man, you would know that that island is very heavily guarded. Only a royal official can and may be permitted to visit---”

“Exactly why I am going with you,” Kibum gladly inserted his role in the plan. “It’ll be slightly difficult but I need everyone’s cooperation in this.”

Victoria, concerned about the consequences, stared at the prince, almost as though she was afraid to speak up and doubt her ideas but eventually realized this was a must. “But...we need a sorcerer who can actually reverse back the spell on Princess Seohyun. Wait, is it even a spell? Not all of them are capable of that, for each witch is special and they have accordance to specialty. You know how most of them are detained and cannot use power when they are in their cells. How will we know if this sorcerer is capable? It’s against Sangdokchian laws now to be allowing a fugitive to escape.”

Silence came in quickly like a welcomed guest, Kyuhyun shrugging. “Good point, Qian.”

Kibum drank the tea, uneasy, distracted --- the plan sounded quite acceptable when he thought of it. Although they were actually thought out of misery and sorry for Yoona over dinner last night. How were they going to pull out a sorcerer from his station? They were already stubborn enough to help mortals like themselves with anything.

“Maybe I can request to borrow a sorcerer for the meantime out of his cell. I’ll do some inquiry around if that is possible. We need a sorcerer willing to help for the smallest price possible,” Kibum answered. “For the price that won’t involve getting any of us, particularly the princess herself, harmed.”

Kyuhyun cleared his throat. “Yes, that would be helpful indeed.”

“Why are we going though?” Nichkhun questioned, getting a strong thump on the head by his seatmate Victoria.

“Since you are very familiar with the docks and I’m sure you have friends there, if it’s not much of a burden to you, please request to borrow a vessel for the journey. It won’t take a day for travel, correct?”

Nichkhun recalled one time he was on the ship, on a voyage towards the said island in the middle of the ocean. “Not really. Only a couple of hours and you’re there eventually. I’ve never been off the ship because I was not permitted to so I’m not really sure of the topographical features. I do remember most of the island is covered in trees.”

Kibum clapped his hands, his cup emptied in an instant it was brought to him, and he stood up, bowing his head to all three. “We shall start the trip this coming Monday. That’s two days away for us to prepare the things we need. For now, I shall leave you. Thank you very much for this. I mean... it’s really quite heart-warming.”

The trio, also paying respect, lowered their heads as Kibum walked out of the shop. His mind though, Kyuhyun’s mind, was not complacent just about yet. Minutes after the prince closed the door behind him, he couldn’t help following him, wishing for more questions to be answered. He looked from left to right, in search now of which way and found not too far away him walking alone back to the palace. “Eh!” He called, shouting that is. If he were to address him as a prince, everyone in this particular neighborhood was bound to get a bite out of him. And that also applied literally.

Kibum spun around in surprise to see Kyuhyun trailing after him, and so he halted in wait.

“What is it, Kyuhyun?”

“You majesty,” he said, panting. “I... I was kind of wondering. What made you... you know, thought of helping Seohyun? Is she... in a more peril state now? Sorry, I’m just curious.”

He smiled at the other guy. “Perhaps it’s also the same reason why you want to help her get back her eyes, only in another projected manner.”

“Projected manner?” Kyuhyun repeated after him, eyebrows knotted together.

“I’m doing it not only for Seohyun,” Kibum later revealed to him. “I’m doing it for her sister and her kingdom.”

“That’s very... heroic of you but...” Kyuhyun his lips, hands on his chest. “What does Byungmi have to do with all of this? How are you all willing to help that other kingdom? Could it be you are also attached to it?”

“Would it be wrong to help them? Yoona cannot do it herself, you know,” explained Kibum, annoyed. “Just do what I asked you to do, and everything will be right according to plan.”

Kyuhyun sighed. He was too good to be real, and no prince would actually do something to help another kingdom out of sheer pity. There was something more than this, surely--- because any royal blood, defined as much as in their history, that they always would not do anything unless they were paid to do so. Examples would be conquering of other countries. Such theories hardly existed anymore, Kyuhyun concluded to himself, afraid to further deepen his doubt of the prince.

“Yes, your majesty,” he bowed his head, both in apology and in agreement. Now standing straight, the ring on his neck showed, Kibum bewildered at the sudden presence of this object, which he had not noticed earlier nor the other day he had met Kyuhyun. It appeared much like Yoona’s own ring, and apart from it looking bigger and more silver-like than Seohyun’s, Kibum gazed at it for a very long time.

“Er... sir?” Kyuhyun said, waving his hand to check if Kibum was still with him.

Kibum’s eyes widened, hands very swift just like a thief in any meager population, seizing the ring out of Kyuhyun’s neck until the string that held it broke. Kyuhyun, shocked at what the prince had done, glowered and was about to take the ring back from his highness’s hands but Kibum shook his head, putting his hand down, eying Kyuhyun. “Wait. I’ll give it back. Let me hold it first.”

Then there was that instantaneous pang of sharpness directed straight to his palms, straight to his bones, ripping his muscles insides and it hurt, just as much as the weight of Yoona’s ring when he first held it, and even by then, Yoona half-heartedly allowed him to. Grunting loudly, he let go at once, dropping the ring to the ground without much care anymore if Kyuhyun would hate him for it.

“Gah... “ he mumbled, shaking his hand as it went numb.

Kyuhyun hastily picked the ring up with ease, slowly putting it back to its rightful place, an extra strand of ropes now he used to collect it by his neck. “Are... are you all right, your majesty?”

The prince nodded, sighing. “We shall not speak of this. Not to anyone, understand?”

“But why did you look like---”

“To not speak of this, effective immediately,” Kibum retorted harshly, and then, realized his voice was quite too loud. With his eyes closed, Kibum shook his head lightly, fists balled tightly on the nonexistent wound the ring caused.

“I shall see you on Monday, early morning,” he further added. “By the docks before the sun rises, okay?”

Still in a state of puzzlement, Kyuhyun, baffled, inhaled deep and nodded to his orders. “You’re quite weird to be honest, your majesty. But since this is for Seohyun, I will have to believe you.”

The other man smirked sadly as he turned around, walking away still with that dreadful thought in mind. “I’ll have to use those words against you one day, Kyuhyun-sshi. So we’ll see who is to believe and what is not to be taken in as real.” Kyuhyun appeared to be a man who truly liked Seohyun, the way he pressed her hands upon leaving and the way he would also do the same when they meet. It was something Kibum hardly saw around the palace--- except maybe for Sooyoung and Changmin stealing moments in the afternoons when Yoona would be with her sister. It was more than something he found cute or charming; and Seohyun seemed to retaliate the same emotion, the likes and the friendship offered to her by Kyuhyun. Sweet and light, friends perhaps that could be so much more given time, Seohyun granted with that time.

But now that Kibum knew of a secret long while been kept or unknown to him (and maybe also to Kyuhyun), suddenly he felt like the royal family would have to face bigger problems than Seohyun’s sense of sight. Because her heart itself failed to protect her. It was like eventually what he was doing would not compare or compensate to the more painful end they would all see.

-o0o-

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