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24

--

Myungsoo was nervous the entire way back to the castle. It was about a month’s trip back, and the weather was finally getting hotter. It didn’t get too terribly hot in Rivedon, but when most of its inhabitants burned in the sun, when the nights were warm, it was almost unbearable for the dead.

“Oh my lord, it’s so hot, I’m going to melt and die,” Sungyeol said, fanning himself as he sat at the back of the carriage with Myungsoo. Soohyun let them take carriages back so they could save their strength. If the ceremony weren’t important, then he’d have them all walk back.

By carriage, it would only take two weeks of travel to reach the castle of Rivedon.

“You look nervous.” Sungyeol leaned against Myungsoo and let out a long sigh.

“I’m not. I have no reason to be nervous,” Myungsoo said.

“Sure, you do. And it’s hanging around your neck right now.” Myungsoo scowled at Sungyeol and tucked your ring into his shirt.

“Do you always have to bring that up whenever we talk? Don’t you have anything else to talk about?”

Sungyeol frowned before sitting up and turning to face his best friend. “You haven’t been the same since we left for training. I’m worried about you. I want you to be happy, and if she makes you happy, then why wouldn’t I talk about her?”

“Because she’s married, Sungyeol. She married. To Woohyun, no less.” Sungyeol laughed as Myungsoo’s face darkened to the point where it looked like he was going to shoot fire from his eyes. 

“And... she doesn’t remember me.”

--

The carriages arrived early in the morning, just as the sun was rising. Seungho was at the gates to greet the new knights with a smile on his face.

“I can’t say I’ve missed any of you,” he said as Soohyun approached him with a smile on his face.

“We’re all back, alive and well, and mostly in one piece. I might’ve banged them up and scratched them a little bit, but they’ll get over it.”

Seungho beamed as he looked over the new knights. They all looked so different in such a short amount of time. A hundred years isn’t a short amount of time, his mind reminded him. Maybe when you lived as long as he had, a hundred years was short.

Myungsoo especially looked different. He seemed a little bit quieter, a little bit more resigned as he gathered his things and followed Sungyeol into the castle.

Joon led them through the castle to their new rooms since their old dorms were occupied by the new trainees. Sungyeol and Myungsoo would be sharing again, but this time, their room was much larger.

“I’m not cleaning up after you,” Myungsoo said as he threw his things onto his bed. He pressed down on it and felt his hand sink into the mattress. “Wow. The beds are nicer. I could go back to sleeping if the beds are going to feel like this all the time.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I might just take a nap after rehearsal for the ceremony,” Sungyeol said, pulling on his cloak, gloves, and mask. Practice would be during the day, and he didn’t want to risk bursting into flame after a hundred years of hard work.

“Hopefully, you lost that snore.”

--

The rehearsal for the ceremony went smoothly. Seungho watched over it, talking with Soohyun to make sure everything was running as it should. Myungsoo didn’t see you, and assumed you were busy or sleeping.

“She’ll be at the ceremony tonight,” Eli said as a matter of factly, patting Myungsoo on the shoulder. It wasn’t hard to figure out who Myungsoo was looking for whenever he started to search the courtyard.

--

You were wearing an Arch Mage’s ceremonial dress for the ceremony. All you really had to do was stand there and look pretty while Seungho, Byunghee, and Soohyun gave speeches, then when it was time to take away the knight in training capes to give them their full ones, you were supposed to help with presenting them their capes.

Woohyun could be in the ceremony if he wanted to, as the spouse of the Arch Mage, but he opted out of it, saying that he had other things to attend to and people to talk you. You thought his behavior was a little bit odd in the days leading up to the ceremony.

He seemed to be lost in thought more often and was a little bit more irritable whenever you mention the knights. Woohyun always apologized though, saying that he was a little bit cranky and that he would get over it.

In the hundred years you’d been married, you’d never seen him get cranky more than twice, and now, it was almost a daily occurrence. You didn’t have much time to think about it though, because Seungho was pulling you around all hours of the night and day to get things done in time for the ceremony.

And now, you were sitting on a throne chair overlooking the stage in between Seungho and Soohyun as a crowd gathered to watch the ceremony. You played with the small ruffles in your dress and smooth the front of it down before adjusting your braid of hair over your shoulder.

The flag of Rivedon blew gently in the wind as some people fanned themselves, waiting for the knights to enter.

“Alright. And we should be starting soon,” Soohyun said, getting comfortable in his chair. You blinked at him a few times in confusion before a loud explosion made you jump in your chair.

You turned and looked to see dust billowing out from the center of the court yard in a circular motion, going clockwise until it slowed down and blew counterclockwise, spinning out to reveal a knight in his armor.

The old knights of Rivedon sat in chairs on the stage, looking slightly unimpressed. You were at the edge of your seat when the knight disappeared again from your eyes, and two more sped into the courtyard, their movements almost undetectable. 

There was a loud crash as their swords collided, and everyone cheered as they showed off their sword fighting across the courtyard. Dust blew up again, and they were gone, replaced with a line of knight walking into the courtyard in full armor, their trainee capes billowing behind them.

They changed formation into a circle, and there were bursts of elements swirling around them, blending together to form a wave of elements. The crowd ooh’d and awe’d while you jaw dropped, taking in the sight.

Suddenly, the elements withdrew, pulling towards one knight in the middle of the circle. He pulled them into a ball between his hands and threw it up into the air, causing the ball to explode and rain down on the crowd as harmless sparkles.

Everyone cheered and screamed as the lined up and stood in a row in front of the stage. Seungho stood up and the crowd got silent as he and Seungho made his way down to the stage.

The new knights kneeled and bowed their heads as Seungho smiled and started his speech. You blinked a few times, watching the kneeled knights.

Soon, Seungho’s speech was done, and it was time for Byunghee’s. Then Soohyun spoke, and all eyes were on you. You snapped out of your daze and stood up, making a small steps with water to walk straight down to the stage.

The old knights stood up and held out official knights’ capes to you as Soohyun pulled off the trainee’s capes one by one. When he was done, he barked out an order that you couldn’t understand, and the knights removed their helmets in sync, tucking them underneath their arms.

Myungsoo held his breath when your eyes swept across the new knights and let it out when yours eyes moved past him towards the end of the line. So it was true. You really didn’t remember him after all.

Each knight stood up, one by one as you presented them with a cape. They held it in their hands as you went down the line, bowing and handing it to them until you got to the end of the line. When you handed Myungsoo his, he watched your facial expression for something, anything, but you just smiled politely at him like the rest and moved on.

Soohyun called out another order as you stepped back and stood on the stage next to Seungho as the old knights stood behind you. In unison, they grabbed the top of the cap with one hand and unfurled it before swinging it behind them and tucking it into their armor.

You heard them recite the pledge of fidelity to Rivedon, and cheers erupted again as you clapped. Suddenly, there was another explosion, followed by screams, making Seungho furrow his eyebrows.

“Seungho? What’s going on?”

“That’s not part of the show,” he said as he pushed you back and the old knights surrounded you, looking cautious. Myungsoo and the new knights whipped around, eyes searching for whatever it was.

Myungsoo heard screaming, and then he saw it. A blade flying through the air. He threw his hands up, and stopped it, encasing it in water as it flew above his head. he followed the trajectory with his eyes and saw it land right on you.

“Get the people to safety! Protect the Arch Mage!” Seungho yelled, disappearing into the crowd. You felt the knights grab you and start to push you back when you saw Woohyun in the crowd, his face bleeding as he made his way towards you, limping.

“Woohyun! Woohyun!” you yelled, shoving at the knights. They were surprised by your strength as you broke through them and ran towards him. Soldiers usered the people to safety, cutting down anyone they didn’t recognize with weapons.

“Woohyun!” you yelled, reaching your arm out for him. You were almost there when one of the knights stepped in front of you, holding you back as he held up his sword, cape fluttering slightly.

“What are you doing?! That’s my husband!” you yelled, shoving at him.

“That’s not your husband.”

“Honey, it’s me. Don’t let him tell you that. I need help, come help me,” Woohyun said, stumbling slightly. You shoved at the knight again, but he was stronger than you, something you weren’t used to.

“Listen to me. That is not your husband. He’s a vampire, right? He should be healed by now.” You stopped and blinked a few times, staring at Woohyun’s bleeding face.

The knight took a few steps forward and swing his sword up.

The illusion shattered, and you saw a dead corpse fall to the ground, lifeless once more.

You took a few steps back, eyes widening in surprise. The knight was by your side again in an instant, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards the castle. You heard your name being called and saw the real Woohyun, eyes wide with worry.

“Woohyun!”

The knight let go of you, and you ran towards him as he wrapped his arms around you. “Are you okay? No one’s sure what’s going on! What are you thinking running out there like that?” he demanded, gripping your arms.

“I-I thought I saw you out there and-and-” You couldn’t finish your sentence and buried your face into his chest as he held you. The knight watched for a moment before turning away and heading back into the battle field.

Woohyun watched him leave and squeezed you harder in his arms for a moment.

Thank you for saving her, Myungsoo...

--

“The High Priest has been working overtime since we were gone,” Soohyun said as he cut down a few more corpses. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Myungsoo’s movements faltered for half a second before he cut down another corpse.

“It was quiet for the last hundred years,” Seungho said, using his magic to send a few more corpses back to the earth.

“What is this anyway? Some sort of illusion spell?”

“I suppose. Made to show you the person you love the most in danger, probably to make you hesitate long enough so they can stick you with something poisonous.”

“Who do you see then?” Soohyun asked, slicing a few more heads.

“Is this really a conversation we should be having now?”

“You could’ve just said you didn’t want to tell me.”

--

Myungsoo stared at the corpses coming towards him, all in your image. Bleeding, broken, with a pleading look on their faces.

“Myungsoo... Don’t you love me?” Myungsoo felt his heart twist and gritted his teeth before cutting the corpse down.

--

“Pull the corpses back. They saw through the illusion faster than I thought they would,” the High Priest drawled out, handing his telescope to one of his servants before retreating into the carriage where your sister was sitting, completely worn out.

“Soon. Soon, I will have them in the palm of my hands, and this entire world will belong to me.” Your sister made noises of protest, but the High Priest shushed her as the carriage began to move back towards the land of the living.

--

The castle was a mess after the corpses retreated. It was like watching a herd of cattle leave slowly. Seungho and Soohyun ordered the knights to forget about the corpses and concentrate on finding out what damage was done.

Soohyun was taking reports from the knights when Seungho called Myungsoo over.

“Yes, sir?”

Seungho did a double take and started laughing, despite the circumstances surrounding them at the moment. “Since when do you call me sir? Don’t do that, you’re going to make me die prematurely.”

Myungsoo blinked a few times and gave him a small grin. “I was taught manners. In the most painful way possible.”

“Right. Anyway, good job on stopping that knife from reaching the Arch Mage. I had a near heart attack then, too.” Soohyun called Myungsoo over so he could hear his report, and Seungho sighed.

“Let’s talk in my study later. You know where it is.”

--

Of course, Myungsoo knew where Seungho’s study was. The High Mage’s office had been his for the last few centuries, and Myungsoo wondered what it would be like to try and fill that space.

After cleaning up after the surprise attack, Myungsoo was excused to go talk to Seungho while the others were sent out to patrol one more time, just in case. The gates were closed again, something Myungoo hoped he wouldn’t have to see more than once in his lifetime.

His armor was gone, stripped and placed on a stand in his room. He was in his casual clothes now, hands stuffed in his pockets as he made his way up to Seungho’s study. He passed by a once empty room and heard your voice floating out of it.

“... would’ve been fine! You can’t keep me locked in the castle just because-”

“You could’ve died! If that knight wasn’t there to stop you, you would’ve run right into that trap and died! Don’t you understand that?”

Myungsoo stopped when he heard Woohyun’s voice. The two of you yelled back and forth for a moment before you gave an angry huff.

“Don’t you walk away from me like that!” Woohyun yelled as you slammed the door open to be met by a curious look from one of the new knights. Woohyun grabbed your arm and looked up to see you staring at Myungsoo as he looked away.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just headed up to Seungho’s study,” Myungsoo said slowly. He turned away and kept walking, trying hard not to glance back.

--

Myungsoo opened up the door without knocking and sat down in the familiar seats, noting that one or two of the chairs were new. Other than that, Seungho’s study looked just like it did a hundred years ago.

“You got new seats?” Myungsoo asked curiously, reaching out to press down on the cushion. Seungho looked up and glanced over at the chair before going back to his scrolls.

“Yeah, about five years ago. I thought it would be funny to scare Joon while he was coming in to tell me there was a package for me, and he accidentally destroyed a few chairs in surprise. I forget how strong he is sometimes,” Seungho said, rolling up his scroll and sending it into a cubby behind him.

The two of them sat in silence before Seungho spoke again.

“You’ve matured.”

“I have.”

“Hopefully, you’re still the same old Myungsoo on the inside.”

“I don’t think I am.”

“That’s a shame... That’s a real shame,” Seungho said, tapping his fingers on his arm rests. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the position of High Mage.”

Myungsoo stared at him, waiting for him to continue talking.

“How does it feel being a mage?”

Myungsoo deadpanned and tried not to roll his eyes. He knew what topic Seungho was dancing around, and he had no desire to force Seungho to get straight to the point.

“It feels... fine. It’s not too different from being a warlock, but I never was one so I can’t really tell you if it was any different.” 

Seungho chuckled. There was the snarky Myungsoo he knew. “I’ll train you for High Mage, only if you think you can handle it.”

“Of course I-”

“And I don’t mean handling the actual job itself. I mean being so close to the Arch Mage and being near her. Can you do your job objectively without letting your feelings for her get in the way?”

Myungsoo scoffed and looked way from Seungho. “I don’t have any feelings for her anymore. She’s a married woman now.”

Seungho grinned at Myungsoo before leaning forward onto his desk and resting his chin on his fingers. “Is that so? You’re not a vampire, so I don’t know why you’re not meeting my eyes when you lie.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Alright then. You will be her personal body guard. I don’t feel safe letting her out by herself.”

“Isn’t Woohyun always with her? Why do I need to protect her if that’s what Woohyun is for?”

“Well, from what I’ve been hearing, I don’t think they’ll be in each other’s company willingly for a few days, maybe even a few weeks. Which is a shame. Gyuri and I didn't fight until about three hundred years in. In the meantime, protect her. If you can’t be lovers, why not start over as friends?”

“I don’t think it works that way,” Myungsoo said quietly.