You felt a dull ache in your head and a weight next to your side when you slowly started regaining consciousness. Your eyelids felt like they were glued shut, and it took more of an effort to open them than you had expected. When you managed to pull your eyes open, you saw that it was Sanghyuk who had seemingly fallen asleep beside you, his head having dropped to the mattress beside you. Although the fact that you were lying on a mattress confused you for a moment. The last thing you remembered-

“Princess! You’re awake!”

The sound of Jinyoung, one of the surgeon’s assistants, startled you, causing Sanghyuk to jump back to a sitting position, glancing around the room with his hand curled around the sword that you now saw he held in his lap. Jinyoung walked over and reached to gently touch your head, checking a bandage that you had wrapped around your head.

“Princess, are you hurting anywhere? Do you know where you are?” Jinyoung’s voice was pitched in a soothing tone, but the memory of what had happened just before you had lost consciousness caused your heart to race.

“Jaehwan! Where is he? Is he okay?” You tried to move to stand, but the world quickly started to spin when you reached a sitting position. You closed your eyes to try and stop the spinning so you could stand, but a hand on your shoulder was pushing you to lay back down in the bed. You glanced between Sanghyuk and Jinyoung, feeling the panic start to choke you. “Is Jaehwan okay? I need to see him.” Without meaning to, your eyes started to flood with tears, your voice cracking.

“The surgeon has been with him. You need to rest. Keep from worrying yourself overly much.” The attempted soothing tone of Jinyoung’s voice and the way he was refusing to meet your eyes as he continued checking over you for any injuries simply caused your heart to race more. The fear was suffocating and you pushed aside his hands, shifting yourself into a sitting position and forcing yourself to ignore the way the world began to spin again.

“Tell me the truth. If you refuse to let me see him, then tell me the truth. That’s a command.” You tried to steel your voice, hating that you were using your position to get someone else to do what you wanted. But you were determined to find out what had happened to Jaehwan. For better or worse, you had to know.

“The surgeon has been with him. That is the truth. I was sent to watch over you shortly after the prince was carried into the surgeon’s chambers. I don’t know the truth of how he is.” Jinyoung’s voice had dropped to a softer tone that felt more honest.

You shifted to push yourself to stand, ignoring the protests from both Jinyoung and Sanghyuk. “I have to see him. I need to know if he is okay.” You swayed slightly on your feet, but willed yourself to keep standing. “Now take me to him. Please.” You glanced between the two of them, giving them both the closest look to a plea you could. While you knew that it would be foolish and highly dangerous, you were determined to go on your own if they refused to take you.

You heard Sanghyuk sigh before you saw him nod. “You won’t rethink the matter of staying in bed. So of course I must go with you.”

Jinyoung shook his head. “Princess, I can’t allow you to leave. You need to rest. Don’t worry yourself over too much. The prince is being looked after.”

Crossing your arms across your chest, you turned to fix what you hoped was an intimidating glare on the surgeon’s assistant. “I don’t need to remind you of who you’re speaking to, correct?” You hated using your position, but you had to do this. You knew you wouldn’t be able to think properly until you had ensured that Jaehwan was safe.

You watched as you could see the internal debate flicker across Jinyoung’s face. It was obvious that he did not want to let you leave, but he also knew what disobeying a royal command meant. He sighed and dropped his head. “Of course not, princess. I apologise. I am merely focusing on your health and recovery. I can see you will not rest until you have news of your prince. Forgive me.”

You walked over and rested a hand on his arm. “I understand. You were merely doing your job. I’m sorry. I just-”

“You shouldn’t apologise to me, princess. I will go with you to the prince as well. If something were to happen and your knight needed his sword, you would be safer having another person with you.”

The words reminded you of the fact that Sir Wonshik had said the rebels were attacking. “Wait, have you heard word about the rebels? Did we capture them? Is the castle safe?” You felt a ball of worry fall to the pit of your stomach.

Sanghyuk nodded with a bit of a grin. “It’s safe. Sir Taekwoon captured the attempted assassin, and after Sir Wonshik brought you to my chambers, he ran back out and managed to grab your uncle as he was trying to escape the castle. Your guards had closed the gates as soon as the shouts started. Sir Minhyuk had commanded extra precautions for the event, just in case. Luckily he did, otherwise the attack might have been harder to defeat. Sir Wonshik told me that even your mother managed to take care of one of the rebels. It seems she is quite fierce with daggers.” He grinned mischievously.

“Of course she is. She is from one of the northern kingdoms. They don’t adhere to the same sort of ideals about female royals as some of the coastal kingdoms.” You felt a surge of pride for a moment at the idea of your mother managing to fight the people who had killed your father in return. You gave Sanghyuk a smirk. “My preferred weapon is actually the sword, although I am a fair shot with a bow as well.”

You watched as Sanghyuk’s eyes widened for a moment before he burst out laughing. “I would love to see that some time.”

You nodded with a smile. “Deal. But now, I need to see Jaehwan.”

Sanghyuk nodded, his face dropping back to a more serious expression. “Of course. If you would follow me.”

You followed behind Sanghyuk, trying to keep from letting the worry climb back up and choke you again. You had to believe that Jaehwan would be alright. That he would be safe. You had to believe it.

Sanghyuk stopped in front of the surgeon’s chambers sooner than you had realised. He nodded to the door. “Shall I knock?” You didn’t trust your voice, so instead you simply nodded.

A brief moment after Sanghyuk knocked his knuckles against the wood, the door opened and Youngjae glanced around between the three of you before bowing. “Princess. You’re awake, that’s a relief. Although you should be resting. Is everything-”

“I have to see Jaehwan.” You interrupted. While a part of you hated being so harsh with the people you knew were simply doing their jobs, you also knew that you wouldn’t be able to breathe until you were reassured that Jaehwan was going to be okay. You refused to think of any other option.

“He’s asleep.”

The words were simple, but they reassured you and you felt like you could breathe again. Jaehwan was asleep. He was okay. You felt your legs weaken and nearly collapsed to the floor, only barely being caught by Jinyoung.

“Princess! You must rest. You are not fully recovered yourself.”

You ignored the worried words from Jinyoung, instead focusing on Youngjae. “Can I see him? I just need to see that he is going to be okay.”

You felt Jinyoung’s arms stiffen as he kept a tight hold on you to keep you from falling, and you noticed Youngjae bite his lip for a moment before nodding with a slight sigh. “You shouldn’t stay long, Princess. You have yet to fully recover yourself, and the Prince is asleep as well.”

You nodded, pushing yourself to stand straight and on your own. “I just need to see him. Then I can rest easier.” Youngjae nodded before stepping aside, holding the door farther open for you to enter the room.

The surgeon’s chambers had been a part of the castle you were never fond of. The smells of the medicines always too strong and just the inexplicable feel of sickness had always made your stomach queasy.

Jaehwan was laying in a bed along the far wall and you rushed over, dropping to your knees by the bed. He was pale, but less deathly gray than he had been the last time you had seen him. You gently brushed the hair from his face, praying that he would recover and wake soon. Now that you had allowed yourself to accept your true feelings, you didn’t want to let him go. And knowing that he loved you in return made your heart ache.

“Jaehwan, you have to stay with me. I love you.” Your voice was soft, barely a whisper, as the tears welled up in your eyes. “Stay with me. Please.” You leaned over, pressing your lips to his, feeling a few tears slip from your eyes.

“Princess, you must rest.”

The sound of Jinyoung’s voice made you remember that you were not alone. You sighed and moved to sit back, brushing your fingers along Jaehwan’s face again before slowly standing. You could feel the exhaustion settling over you, and for a moment you wondered if you should simply lie down in another bed near Jaehwan. Although you knew you could never truly rest in the surgeon’s chambers.

“Take me back to my chambers please.” Your voice was soft and tired, and you could see the worry on both Sanghyuk and Jinyoung’s faces.

“Which chambers, Princess?” Sanghyuk’s voice was softer too, and you could tell he was worried. It made you want to smile a bit. He might be brash and have a bit of a wild attitude, but it was obvious that he cared and was loyal.

“The royal chambers, please. I am tired and need to sleep. And I need-”

“Of course, Princess. I understand.” Sanghyuk interrupted you with a nod.

You followed Sanghyuk out of the surgeon’s chambers and towards the chambers you shared with Jaehwan. You hadn’t said it, but Sanghyuk seemed to understand that you needed to have something of Jaehwan with you to be able to sleep. You wouldn’t be able to truly rest, without a small reassurance that he was alive.

When you reached the chambers, Sanghyuk followed you inside and walked to a cabinet before pulling out a cloak and carrying it over to you, holding it out gently. “It’s the cloak from the betrothal feast. There’s no bad connections. Take this and rest. I’ll watch over you and keep you safe.”

You took the cloak, pulling it close to your chest, the small bit of comfort helping you to breathe a little easier. You nodded and turned towards the bed, hearing Sanghyuk walk back through the door and closing it behind him. Without bothering to change into a nightgown, you slipped off your shoes and climbed into bed, wrapping the cloak around you and drifted to sleep.

~*~

It felt like only minutes later that you were woken by a loud knocking on the door, and you jumped up, clutching Jaehwan’s cloak tight around you as you called out to Sanghyuk. The door was thrown open and the knight rushed in causing the panic to climb to your throat.

“The Prince is awake!”