They took as long as they could spare in their own bubble in the protection of the maze, just lying there with their fingers laced together, talking about anything and everything. Both of them were decidedly ignoring that the future ahead of them was unsure and unknown, even if the bliss of ignorance could only last for just a while. Whenever their conversation would slow down to a stop, they’d kiss, small pecks and soft movements of lips against each other, both knowing that it was better to take it slow for now and not give in to the heat that would swirl in their respective abdomens whenever one of them would flick their tongue over the other’s lips, tasting and at times gently prying lips apart into slow open-mouthed kisses. It was a delicate balance between sweet and steamy, and sometimes they would part, panting for a moment with their faces so close to one another, noses or foreheads touching, before they would calm down enough to either resume conversation or start another round of intoxicating kisses.

It was only a few hours later, when the sun started to set and JB shouted that if they weren't out of the maze by sundown, he swore by all the gods that he would burn the maze down to get them out, that they finally  got up from the grass and Mark led them to the exit with sure steps, never faltering or wondering if he was going the right way. Their fingers were still laced when they stepped out of the maze, JB furious and Jinyoung amused that they had hid away the whole day, but Mark’s serious gaze made it clear that he regretted nothing.

It was only when Jinyoung clamped a hand over JB’s mouth and told the bodyguard that no damage was done, and the two of them had been safe within the castle walls the whole time, that JB stopped ranting and calmed down. His face was flushed red, at least mostly from stress and exasperation, but partly also because of how perfectly Jinyoung had chosen his words to undermine JB’s complaints, and the bodyguard couldn't help but be kind of intrigued about the younger glassblower even as he was embarrassed to be treated like a child throwing a tantrum (which was what he was acting like, but JB didn't like it being pointed out).

It was only when Jinyoung and Jackson had to leave the castle before the dinner Mark was required to attend that Mark let go of Jackson's hand.

Mark had never been one to neglect his responsibilities or laze off when it came to work, always displaying earnestness and always taking matters seriously. It was why both the council and the court praised him for how responsible he had proven himself to be, since he was always careful to take all angles into account when he was given responsibility of a project or when he was arguing his opinion on a case.

But never before had Mark been quite as passionate about a matter as he was about arranging it so that he and Jackson would have a shot at having an actual relationship. He was going to do his utmost to get the council and the King to agree to whatever arrangements that had to be made in order for that to be possible. There was no way he was going to take no for an answer, nor was there room for failure in this matter. Never before in his life had Mark wanted something as bad as he wanted Jackson by his side, unless you counted those weeks and months he had mourned after his mother and wished for nothing more than her to be alive again. But as that was not something that had ever had the slightest chance of coming true, it didn’t count. Jackson was the reality of happiness he had a chance to possess.

There were many different kinds of problems with Mark and Jackson dating. Some were problems because of other people’s expectations, or because of the impact they had on their or other people’s lives. Most of them could be solved, but unfortunately not all of them.

The first problem was the original one, the question about how it would be possible in practice for Mark and Jackson to date in a meaningful way that would be more than sending letters each day and sneaking out to visit one another every month or so. It wouldn't be a problem at all, if Mark wasn't the Crown Prince and Jackson a glassblower’s apprentice. But the fact was that Mark was in a position that he couldn't just start dating someone like normal people would, because he would be recognized going around town and it would be considered weird if Jackson started visiting the Castle too often with seemingly no valid reason. But the practical side of the first problem could be dealt with easily enough. Jackson would have the chance to move into the castle and get a workshop for him and Jinyoung so the glassblower would not have to give up his trade and his dreams to be with Mark. The practical side was just a matter of talking to the right people and throwing money at any problems that could not be solved by talking.

But the thing was, solving the first problem caused a second problem to appear, and the second problem was not one Mark would be able to solve. The second problem was just a fact that he and Jackson would have to accept, if they wanted to be together.

The second problem of Mark and Jackson dating was that if they would start to do it seriously like planned in the solution for the first problem, the fact that they were dating would be publicly known. And because it would be publicly known that Jackson would be dating the Crown Prince of the Kingdom, it meant that Jackson would be fully into the public eye, and there was no way his life wouldn’t change forever even if their relationship wouldn’t work out in the long run, because once he would be labeled as someone Mark dated… That would be forever the first thing in everyone’s minds when they’d think of his name. And that was not a nice fate for someone who wanted to make their own name and living doing what they loved.

Mark tried to find a solution to the first problem that wouldn't cause this to happen, but no matter how he spent sleepless nights thinking about it, there was no solution satisfactory enough that wouldn't cause the second problem to appear. There was honestly no helping to the second problem, because it was something that was so inherent about trying to date a Crown Prince that it couldn’t be avoided, and Mark couldn’t just decide to not have ever been a Crown Prince. It was not possible.

It was a huge con, and Mark knew it. It made everything else so much more complicated, and unfortunately the complications would happen way before they would even know if they would want to stay together and get married and all that actually serious stuff. It was unfair, because Mark would have loved to get to know Jackson slowly and in peace, to allow Jackson to lead the somewhat quiet life he had, before the younger would have to decide if he wanted to throw away whatever he wanted to build with his name, his privacy and the life he was used to just to date Mark. It was unfair, because Jackson had to make the decision before he even knew if he wanted to be with Mark for a longer time than just for now. But it would be a choice he would have to make, and Mark would make sure that Jackson would have to make as little compromises as possible, even as he would have to accept this one huge downside.

But anyway. Having accepted that there was nothing to be done about the second problem introduced another set of problems, having to do with handling other people's expectations about Mark dating someone.

The third problem was not one Mark cared about, but he knew it would be a big fuss for the council and the court. Whether they would choose to voice it or not remained to be seen, but to be ready for anything, Mark had to prepare good arguments for when he would present his case to the council. The thing was, although the King had explicitly made sure that his children could marry for love, it was still kind of expected that they marry someone high born. Mark's eldest sister had married a lower prince from another kingdom, and his youngest sister had married a noble’s son from their own court. Both marriages had been well approved by the council and the court, and from the way Mark's younger brother was eyeing his childhood crush from one of the princesses of Jackson's home kingdom, it seemed that all of his siblings would marry well and high enough for their position. But the third problem was that Jackson wasn't high born. His father was an anointed knight and widely known fencer in his own kingdom, and Jackson would have become an anointed knight himself if he had not quit to pursue his passion, but that did not make him high born. Mark didn't care, and the law said he could marry anyone he liked, so there was no way anyone could openly object to him choosing a low born. And besides, Mark wasn't even talking about marriage yet, just dating.

But Mark knew he would get underhanded remarks about Jackson’s lower status of birth and complaints related to it disguised as something else, so he made sure to back his case. Anyway, it was for certain the public would love him dating Jackson, a low born. It was like a fairytale story, the low born, honest apprentice getting the beautiful Prince’s first kiss and hand in marriage… Or dating, whatever.

The fourth problem was a relatively small one, but still rang true. The fourth problem was that they were both male. While it wasn't that uncommon at all for people to have same relationships, some backward people still thought it to be unnatural. It was also not something Mark cared about, and he was already known to speak for the rights of same pairs, so it would likely not be that unexpected or outrageous that he would choose to be in a relationship with someone of the same . uality had never been something Mark had spent much thought on, but he wasn't surprised to find that he fell in love with a guy and didn't mind in the least him being male.

But the fifth problem was caused by the fourth problem, and the fifth problem was something Mark really had to concern himself with, because his argument against the fourth problem depended on his solution for the fifth problem. The fifth problem was that as the Crown Prince, Mark was definitely expected to produce an heir to further his lineage. Mark spent weeks buried in books and some more talking to scholars from kingdoms far and near, chasing for a solution from either the law or the magic of science. Within the law he could argue that his lineage would definitely continue - his eldest sister was already pregnant - but it didn't eliminate the problem that his rule would be undermined if it would be clear that he would produce no heir. That wouldn't stop him from dating Jackson and eventually marrying whomever he liked, male or female, but it would influence his status, definitely. If he could present no solution, it might even be that the council would eventually insist on his little brother to take over the role of the crown prince, and Mark knew what Joey thought about ruling the Kingdom - it was something his precious baby brother never wanted. It felt unfair that Mark would doom his brother’s happiness by trying to secure his own. Being the ruler of the Kingdom someday was Mark’s burden to bear.

But the fifth problem wasn't impossible to solve, it just took weeks of research and sending enquiries far and wide, but after hundreds of hours of work Mark found reliable evidence that the rumored method for producing children for same parents had worked in a far away land, and although the method was still unreliable and experimental, it wasn’t dangerous, and it would be enough for Mark to argue that he was taking his responsibilities and the expectations towards him seriously even as he would be dating a man. It wouldn't be a real problem anyway before he intended to marry someone, and although Mark thought that he would probably want to marry Jackson as he simply couldn't see himself with someone else, he didn't want anything set in stone yet. He wanted to be sure, and he wanted Jackson to be sure. He wanted them to be able to take their time.

The sixth problem was more of an insecurity of Mark’s. The sixth problem was that he'd have to reveal all of his cards to the council to get their approval for the practicalities he wanted to arrange to enable him and Jackson see each other more frequently. By doing so he would reveal to the council and everyone his intentions of wanting to date Jackson without any guarantee that Jackson would agree to the arrangements he might be able to make. Jackson had said that day in the garden that he would like to give them a try, but when the opportunity would become reality with a real price, would Jackson really be ready to sacrifice so much just to try if his and Mark’s relationship would work out? Months had gone by and they were still sending letters every day, so that was a good sign about Jackson’s interest, right? Mark tried to convey his worries in his letters to Jackson, but as they still had to keep their communication vague enough that it couldn't be used against them if someone got their hands on their letters, there wasn't much Mark could say about the things troubling him. Jackson kept assuring him that he wouldn't leave his ‘baby bird’, but what were words when push came to shove? Mark could only blindly put his trust into Jackson, and prepare himself for the possibility that Jackson would reject his offer, and Mark would have to explain this in front of the council in the worst case scenario of the sixth problem.

Mark was ready to argue his case, having studied all the angles he could think of, and he had prepared himself for the six problems that would arise from him wanting to date Jackson Wang. He stood in front of the council with confidence, his chin high and stature noble, not afraid of their reactions as he tackled each of their arguments with well prepared counterarguments.

Unfortunately, Mark had miscalculated. He had one fundamental expectation of how the council would react to him presenting his case, and he was proven wrong about that. A seventh problem arose, and it was not one Mark had prepared for. He argued his case to the best of his ability, but the council stood their ground, adding a clause to Mark's offer that Mark was sure would make Jackson refuse if anything else in the offer wouldn't. It was unfair, because there had been no such terms for his sisters and Mark was sure there wouldn't be such for his brother, no, they were just for Mark because he was the Crown Prince and he wanted to date a low born male. But no matter how he tried, the council wouldn't budge, insisting on “continuity” and “securing the future”, using even Mark’s previous argument about the public likely being very excited about Mark and Jackson getting together against Mark, not giving Mark any choice but to agree to what he was sure would be the point of failure for the whole thing.

The sixth problem became even more of a fear for Mark now, since he would have to present these difficult and unfair terms for Jackson as the only chance for them to be together.

Mark was sure Jackson would reject him.

If there was something Jackson hated, it was being unable to do something when he knew there was a problem. And right now, with all the problems that stood in the way of him and Mark being together, Jackson felt completely useless. He had nothing to contribute. The letters they exchanged were vague, but Jackson knew Mark was working hard on trying to figure something out. The only thing Jackson could do was try to be as encouraging as possible to Mark in their measly amount of communication, and wait.

Jackson also hated waiting.

And the combination of feeling useless and having to wait for Mark to do everything for him frustrated him to no end, especially because it was him bringing the problems into the equation. If he only was someone more suitable for Mark, it would be fine. But he wasn’t, he was far from it. In moments of exasperation Jackson started second guessing himself again, because really, how was it even possible that someone like Mark wanted to be with him so much they would go through so much effort, when they could get literally anyone in the seven kingdoms and from any even beyond those?

Lately Jackson had spent way too much time researching what kind of princes and princesses in the appropriate age and marital status lived in the neighboring kingdoms, and he found most of them gorgeous and perfectly suitable for Mark, much unlike he was. He was short, and his bulky muscles made him look kind of fat, his thighs were too big, and his face was really nothing to be proud of… But when he voiced to Jinyoung that he should really start dieting and maybe mash his face in with a sledgehammer because it wouldn’t make it look any worse, Jinyoung slapped him over the head and sat him down, making him list all of his insecurities and going to great lengths to prove that there was nothing wrong with him, that his face was handsome and his muscular build very attractive, and that his laugh wasn’t too shrill and it wasn’t annoying when he talked too much.

Jackson’s list of insecurities went on and on, but Jinyoung had a bottle of wine and his own insecurities to share, and Jackson felt a lot better afterwards despite the headache he had the next morning, because if someone as handsome, proportional, talented and simply perfect person as Jinyoung could have insecurities about things Jackson found completely ridiculous, perhaps there was some ridiculousness in his own fears, too. It wasn’t like his insecurities could be vanquished in one night, but when Mark sent him a letter saying that in a couple of days he’d send someone over to bring them over to the castle as he would present his solution, Jackson’s first reaction wasn’t to chicken out and hide away just in case Mark would on the sight of him forget why he thought Jackson was worth the trouble, and rescind his offer. That was progress, right?

Sometimes Jackson made Jinyoung feel like a kindergarten teacher instead of a friend. Or perhaps like his mother. In any case, Jinyoung felt like he was telling a kid that they weren’t allowed to run around without pants and yes mommy loved them and no everyone at the new school wouldn’t hate them. Gods it was frustrating.

They were trying to get ready to leave for the castle, but Jackson was being completely impossible. Jinyoung was getting frustrated. After getting Jackson into some actual clothes instead of wearing a burlap sack like the supposedly older and more mature man threatened to, Jinyoung had to actually wash Jackson’s hands to