All too soon they arrived in the main hall, coming in from a side door that allowed the three of them to slink into the hall, filled to the brim with artisans. Or well, as to the brim as was ever done, considering that the hall was never filled more than two thirds with people, the last third left for the thrones and the space around them. Mark could see Jaebum hovering around the throne of the crown prince, probably expecting him to be escorted downstairs any minute now.

Mark winced inwardly as he saw Bambam and Yugyeom enter from the other side of the hall, a careful blank mask on both of their faces as they walked over to Jaebum, Yugyeom taking the honor of informing the Captain of the Crown Prince’s personal guard that His Highness, the Crown Prince, was nowhere to be found. The expression that slid on Jaebum’s face was dark, and Mark knew he was going to get a scolding from his oldest friend as soon as Jaebum caught him alone. He should probably go reveal himself soon, before the whole castle would be in panic or worse, Jaebum would notice him from the crowd. Jaebum would surely recognize him even with black hair, although it had been years since he had last had this hair color, but as long as the guard was not looking for him in his black hair in the crowd, he would go unnoticed.

Mark was about to stop Jackson, who was walking a slight distance behind him, ready to excuse himself and go slink around the hall to not reveal who he was to Jackson and Jinyoung before revealing him to the guards, when Jackson suddenly stumbled on something, abruptly falling forward. He was still holding the glass sculpture in his hands, so there was no way he could break his fall without breaking the delicate thing, and thus he ended up falling onto his stomach with a loud ‘oof’ that got attention of all the artisans and guards near them.

But when Jackson looked up from the floor, he just smiled in a silly fashion, eyes moving to Jinyoung and Mark, never minding the embarrassment of falling in the main hall of the royal castle as it was full of fellow artisans and the royal guard.

Sure, the fall hurt like hell and it slammed most of the air out of Jackson’s lungs, but Jackson could feel the sculpture still intact in his hands, so it wasn’t that bad, really. At least the Prince wasn’t here to see him fall, that might have been a bit embarrassing. On the other hand the Crown Prince would have remembered him for sure if he had seen him fall in the middle of his court for absolutely no reason, so maybe that would have been good in the end.

A lot of people were watching though, so maybe it was still a bit embarrassing, but Jackson would take the most out of the situation and make a joke out of it, turning his head to Jinyoung and Mark to smile widely at them.

“We should be glad I’m a glassblower, not a trophy maker, otherwise this could have been a cat-as-trophy!”

Jinyoung looked to be so fed up with his , probably ready to kill him over making a show in front of the court anyway, but it was well worth it for the smile that slowly spread on Mark’s face, before the shoulders of the delicate servant started shaking, and he then started laughing out loud. Mark's laugh was so pure and melodical, the sound of it bouncing off of the walls of the main hall into the silence that had suddenly taken over the whole room, and Jackson felt his heart thump a couple of painful, loud thumps at the sight of Mark with his head thrown back in laughter. In a moment the servant slumped forward to lean his hands on top of his knees, trying to breathe through his laughter, his coal-black eyes fixed on Jackson as his laugh calmed to giggles. There was mischief and true happiness in his eyes, and it made Jackson happy too, so he let out a squeal of happiness, laughing with the boy he had known for less than an hour.

The moment was rudely interrupted by a stern but surprised voice calling out. “Your Highness!”

Mark finally calmed down, throwing Jackson one more conspiratory smirk and a quick ‘sorry’ before standing up, turning to the voice that had called out, suddenly standing more straight than Jackson had seen him for the entire time they had been together. Guards were jogging over to where they were, and Jackson thought he got them thrown out of the main hall for causing such a commotion and then Jinyoung would kill him for sure, but they came to surround Mark in a half circle, instead of him. Jackson was ready to get up and defend the poor servant who would probably get fired over causing trouble like this, when the most important looking of the guards spoke.

“Your Highness, we have been looking for you all over. Would you like us to go get his Majesty?”

“Yes, thank you, Jaebum. Do you have my effects?” Mark voice was still soft and low in tone, but it held a different air to it now. Jackson was confused, unsure what exactly was going on, although he had a tiny inkling.

And then Mark took off his wig.

Jackson didn’t know much of the royal family, but it was impossible to not have heard of the Crown Prince’s renowned beauty even in the neighboring kingdoms. And one thing that was widely known about the Prince is that he had colored his hair to a shimmering, almost white silver that no one else wore as well as he did. And right before Jackson, there was Mark, Mark the servant, Mark with a small smile, a gorgeous face, soft voice and black hair, revealing that he wasn’t black of hair at all, but instead the bright silver of the Crown Prince.

And considering the Captain of the guards called him His Highness, there wasn’t much more deducing to do.

So it was kind of really unnecessarily rubbing this revelation into his face when one of the guards stepped up and draped an aristocratic wine red overcoat on Mark's shoulders and gave him a heavy looking golden crown to gracefully set on the top of his head.

The murmurs that had been going around since the first shout by the guards quieted into a sudden silence as people started bowing around them. Jackson tore his eyes off of the silver and gold of Mark’s head as to look over to where Jinyoung stood. Jinyoung looked absolutely mortified, staring at Mark with blank eyes, his fingers clutching the cart he was using to wheel his sculpture so hard his knuckles were going white. But he had always been one with excellent manners and reflexes, so once everyone started bowing, he was already in a low bow, worthy of suddenly just running into the Crown Prince of the Kingdom.

Jackson didn't bow, mostly because he was on his stomach on the floor anyway. That should be low enough.

A hope of something Jackson hadn't had time to put into words withered and died in his chest, leaving a painfully throbbing empty spot in its wake.

Mark didn't dare to look back as he started to walk towards his throne. His heart was aching in his chest, knowing he couldn't go back now, couldn't repair the damage he'd done, wouldn't be able to enjoy the company of Jackson any longer. He had hoped he might get away with this and perhaps then sneak to see the glassblower in disguise, to have a few more moments of that brilliant smile and that friendly conversation, but that would be impossible now. He was sure Jackson wouldn't want to see his face again now that he found out who he was and that he hadn't been who Jackson had thought he was, or even if he did, it wouldn't be the same. It would be like every acquaintanceship he had outside of his oldest friends that were in his servicehood; full of formality and awkward overthinking of everything. Mark would miss Jackson's uninhibited smile and frank words, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret this. He would be glad it happened, not sad because it was over.

He had gotten the most precious gift from the young artisan already - he had gotten his laughter back, and to have it back meant that Jackson would be able to get anything he wanted now, one wish fulfilled by Mark's father, like had been promised. Mark was glad it was Jackson who would get his wish granted, he seemed like a wonderful person who actually deserved it, having tried to make him laugh just for the fun of it, instead like those who had seeked to make him laugh only to gain wealth and status themselves.

Mark walked up the steps to his throne with grace, his posture perfect, like was expected. The heavy weight of the crown on his head always forced him to hold his head upright, or his neck would start to hurt in a matter of minutes. He had practiced these steps of this dance of etiquette thousands of times and then a thousand more. He the spot before his throne, pausing for exactly five seconds before lowering himself slowly onto the throne with his hands perfectly posed to land on the arms of the throne. Then another five seconds, and he could gesture for everyone to rise. They would have to do this whole thing again when his father arrived, but it hadn't been planned that he'd be needed in the main hall today at all, so there was nothing Mark could do about the sudden extra formalities.

He knew it wasn’t going to be good for his composure to look at Jackson, but he still did. The glassblower was still lying on the floor, his expression an unreadable mix of confusion and what was probably hurt, but when he saw Mark looking at him with a small, lopsided smile on his face, Jackson’s mood apparently turned a full 180 degrees, because he was beaming brightly at Mark again, finally shuffling to get up from the floor to move to stand in the mass of craftsmen and artists that had arrived for today’s gift giving ceremony. Mark schooled his face into an expression of polite interest as he looked over the crowd, addressing everyone instead of just the one.

“While we wait for my father to arrive, we can proceed with the gift presentation.” Mark threw a glance to Jaebum who had come to stand to his side, and the Captain of his guard immediately interpreted the message without Mark having to clarify in front of anyone. Jaebum gestured to the master of ceremony, and the short man walked over to where Jinyoung and Jackson were standing, silently inquiring them their names so he could present them to the Crown Prince in the right, the formal, way.

“Your Highness, Park Jinyoung and Jackson Wang from Jinyoung Park Glassblowers.”

It seemed the hall was in a constant state of whisper now, the word quickly getting around that these two were the ones standing nearby when the Crown Prince had finally, after all these years, laughed. Mark ignored the whispers and murmurs, settling a polite, but warm smile on his lips. The two glassblowers he knew already by their first names stepped forward and bowed politely, and Mark nodded, following the etiquette they were now bound to. Jinyoung took the honor of being the first to reveal his present, gently but efficiently opening the crate he had been pushing around all day to reveal a beautiful large glass sculpture of a swan in the middle of tulips. He explained its theme with a couple of words and wished Prince Mark well, easily navigating through the structure of procedure required for this kind of an event without being shown an example first, and Mark was impressed by both his manners and his work.

“Thank you, Park Jinyoung. Your work is magnificent, and I will see to it that it will be displayed in my personal quarters.” This was the highest amount of praise it was possible for Mark to give, and he truly meant it. The sculpture was nothing less but worth being put on display in his quarters, and that was something any artisan wished could be said about their own work. Jinyoung bowed deeply, thanking him for the praise smoothly, before allowing Jackson to step forward.

“Jackson Wang, Your Highness. I present to you this small sculpture of glass depicting two cats, and wish you well on your birthday and what will be hopefully be a long life.” Jackson followed Jinyoung’s lead and executed the presentation of his gift perfectly, his voice formal, but his smile still as bright and delightful on the eyes as it had been from up close. It didn't go unnoticed to Mark that he didn't explain the thought behind his work this time.

Mark made a small gesture with his fingers, and the servant who was about to take Jinyoung’s and Jackson’s gifts away to the side where all the gifts were stored before moving to their final places. The servant stopped, turning towards Mark holding Jackson’s delicate glass sculpture in his hands, and with another small gesture from Mark's fingers, the servant walked up the steps to the throne before settling on one knee before Mark's throne, offering the sculpture up for him to inspect. Mark picked the delicate thing up carefully, very aware that according to etiquette he should be wearing gloves, but all the more glad for it when he could now feel the smooth surface of the sculpture against the skin of his fingers. The servant looked surprised for a moment when Mark took the sculpture with the intent of keeping it instead of just taking a look at it, but with the reaction time required for anyone who wanted to live up to the standards of working a position like his, he retreated, allowing Mark to cradle the sculpture in his hands in his lap without making it seem like he was straying away from the usual pattern of these proceedings. But he was, and he knew this would be recognized.

“Thank you, Jackson Wang. I will treasure your work.”

Mark’s voice was unwavering and Jackson’s smile reached his eyes, and this was fine. If it ended like this, it would be fine.

Jinyoung was unsure if today was a nightmare or a dream come true. Possibly a little bit of both, considering he had been extremely rude to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom as he had