Chapter Text
How's one to know?
I'd meet you where the spirit meets the bones
In a faith-forgotten land
On the list of things Jisung thought he would do right after getting married, running away with a gardener who just so happened to also be a forest spirit had been pretty low. Actually, it hadn’t even been on his lists of things that could possibly happen. Ten months ago, he had thought – along with everyone he knew, including imperial historians – that magic was a thing of the past and all types of fairies and spirits were long gone, exterminated by humans. Obviously, he had been wrong.
It all started a little over ten months earlier. Jisung had just met his fiancé and he had been less than impressed with the man. As the third son of the royal family, he was rarely a consideration to his parents or the nobility, not high enough in the succession line to even be considered a spare to either of his elder brothers. It had only gotten worse when the oldest, Chan had gotten his wife, Sana, pregnant. And now that he had an heir of his own, Jisung had been relegated even further down the line.
While the situation usually suited him well enough – sure, he could have done with a little more love and attention growing up, but he’s turned up just fine in his opinion, who cared about trust issues and social anxiety, right? – it didn’t entirely free him from all obligations, unfortunately.
He had always known he would have to marry for diplomatic reasons and not for love, but he had hoped to be able to find some sort of companionship with whoever was to be his wife or husband. Since he didn’t actually need to have children to ensure the continuity of his bloodline, he had been told quite early that he might be married to another man, if the political situation required it. He had made his peace with it years ago, after seeing Chan be forced to marry a woman he barely knew, let alone love. Somehow, the two of them had found their own way to happiness, if they were to be believed, so Jisung had gotten hope from that.
That hope had been severely dented when he had learned he was to marry the second prince from the neighbouring kingdom. Rumours about that prince were commonplace, and none particularly flattering: apparently he was quite the ladies’ man and had a reputation for being quick to anger and very superficial.
Still, rumours were only rumours, and everyone knew that prince was particularly beautiful, so Jisung had thought some of the nastiest things said about him could just be jealousy. Meeting the prince had promptly crushed all of Jisung’s hopes and he had been left to stare in complete dismay as the prince – Hyunjin was his name – first threw a fit when a servant didn’t bring him a drink just quite fast enough, then got upset at the apartments that had been prepared for him and finally barely give him more than a customary look, before he started to openly flirt with Jisung’s own brother. The fact that Changbin had only warily looked his way before he flirted back, had upset him more that he was willing to admit, and he had slipped away from the dinning room as fast as he could without seeming impolite.
He hadn’t had any particular destination in mind, so long as it was somewhere nobody would find him for a while, including his own best friend. He loved Seungmin, but knowing him, he would want to talk things through and that was the last thing Jisung wanted at the moment. Which was how he found himself in one of his mother’s more secluded gardens.
He had been staring at a particularly beautiful flowerbed of white bindweed flowers when he recalled one of the rare conversations he had had with his mother in his early childhood. He was sick at the time, and she had taken him out in an attempt to get him some fresh hair. They were walking around the very same garden Jisung was in now, when they had crossed path with this kind of flowers. She had mentioned those had been used a lot during her own wedding and that they reminded her of one of the happiest days of her life. That had been before everything went wrong between her and Jisung’s father, before she stopped caring about him, or her other sons.
A burst of anger flared up at the reminder of that conversation and the contrast with his own disappointment in his new fiancé, and he couldn’t stop himself from stomping on one flower. And then, as if a dam had been broken, he started kicking and furiously stomping on as many flowers as he could, only stopping when the entire flowerbed was nothing more than a wreck.
At a soft gasp coming from somewhere behind him, Jisung almost jumped out of skin and quickly spun around, coming face to face with a man – boy really – who looked about his age. He was dressed like one of their many gardeners, but his hair seemed to be died an almost silver hue surprisingly. Hair dye was expensive and usually only the nobility could afford it. Still, his clothes and the shovel and watering can in his hands left little doubts as to his occupation.
Looking back at where he was standing, Jisung winced a little at the damage he had caused, and he gingerly stepped back onto the walking path, feeling a little like a kid caught eating candies when he had been told specifically that he couldn’t.
He wracked his brains to find something to say, anything to break the awkward silence between him and the other boy. As he brought a hand up to mess with his hair nervously, the gardener’s eyes jumped from the ruined flowers to him, and they widened almost comically as he really took him in. And then he hurriedly bowed and Jisung had to stop himself from sighing out loud and bashing his head in the nearest tree. Coming here, he had wanted to forget about his duties and his position as a prince for a while, but it seemed there was no escaping it, no matter where he went in this damn castle.
“Stop doing that”, he snapped.
The boy hesitantly straightened up, but he still wouldn’t look at him, eyes jumping around everywhere in a clear sign of distress. Jisung exhaled quietly, he had come here to find peace and instead he had only gotten more upset, probably ruined a perfectly good flowerbed and made himself look like a lunatic in front of a gardener, of all people. Better one of their staff than one of Hyunjin’s followers, but still. He’d rather avoid any further rumours about him not acting the part of prince to perfection.
He vaguely gestured towards what was left of the flowers, bringing the boy’s attention back to him, and, trying to muster his most apologetic tone, he apologized. His mother would have his head for this, but it might stop the gardener from talking about him to his friends later. Or he might be making this worse for himself, he wasn’t sure.
“I’m sorry about the flowers. I was pissed off at something. If anyone gives you trouble for it, just tell them it was my fault.”
And where that had come from, Jisung wasn’t sure, but it was too late to take the words back. When the boy didn’t reply and only stared at him, disbelief clear in his eyes, despite the obvious attempt to mask it, Jisung corrected himself. After all, there was no way a young gardener would ever try to blame a prince for anything.
“Nevermind, just say you saw me ride one of the horses around here and I’ll confirm it if necessary.”
The boy slowly nodded, but everything in his attitude screamed his doubts and Jisung didn’t blame him. His parents weren’t known to be kind to their staff and, while he and his brothers weren’t quite as bad, they also never went out of their way to be nice to any commoner. It was no wonder this boy didn’t believe him at all. Jisung didn’t really care, in all likelihood, he would never directly interact with this boy ever again.
Sighing once more, he offered a weak smile to the young gardener, who hurriedly bowed again, and then he almost run off, trying to fight off his own shame. He couldn’t believe he had lost it for anyone to see. Who knew how long that boy had been standing there or what he had heard before Jisung realised he wasn’t alone? He could only pray there wouldn’t be any rumours about him spreading soon. Then again, if there were rumours about today, maybe his new fiancé would reconsider his agreement to the deal.
The moment he reached the castle, one of his parents’ many advisors rushed to him, hurrying him back into the main conference room. Apparently, they had been looking for him. As he braced himself for whatever conversation was to come, he firmly put the past encounter out of his mind, he needed all of his mental energy to stay focused and try to avoid permanently damaging the treaty both kingdoms were intending to seal with the future marriage.
~
Jisung didn’t think of the gardener boy again until he quite literally bumped into him almost two weeks later. He had been once again hiding away from his responsibility and his new fiancé. He had barely known Hyunjin for a few days and he was already driving him up the wall.
Jisung knew he wasn’t the easiest person to befriend, but Hyunjin wasn’t even trying, quite the opposite. It seemed that everytime they were in the same room he was doing his utmost best to piss him off. He had not only kept flirting with Changbin, but with Chan as well, right in front of Sana – the resulting confrontation between the two had been hilarious, and Jisung had found great entertainment in seeing both Hyunjin and Chan being chewed up by a pissed off Sana. He treated Jisung’s personal servants like trash and got angry at the slightest disagreement. The two kept on butting heads on every little thing, and worse of all, he somehow managed to make it seem as if it all was Jisung’s doing and that he was being difficult on purpose. Which meant that Jisung not only had to deal with an impossible fiancé, but also with disappointed parents and brothers. Even Seungmin had suggested he make more of an effort. That had been the last straw, and Jisung had elected to storm off to avoid snapping at his only real friend.
Somehow, he had found himself yet again in one of his mother’s gardens. They were usually quite empty, and the early autumn colours made for some stunning views. This time however, he had elected to roam in one of the orchard gardens as they offered more protection from any prying eyes. Also, he couldn’t possibly stomp over trees in anger and make himself look like an idiot.
He had been aimlessly walking around, when he brutally collided with someone rushing from the opposite direction. The path he was on was lined with sturdy trees and took a sharp turn right in that spot, which meant that neither Jisung, nor the person he had bumped into could have seen one another.
The strength of the collision sent Jisung right to the ground and he groaned as he caught himself on one arm. That would probably bruise. He shook his head slowly, trying to regain his bearings. The other person was already back on their feet and coming closer, so he sat up, trying to make it look like he was doing just fine.
There was a pause in the footsteps and Jisung raised his eyes inquiringly, only to find himself face to face with the gardening boy he had met before. He looked positively horrified and Jisung felt a little sorry for him. While embarrassing for Jisung, the previous encounter and now this one must be downright terrifying for the boy. Rightfully so, if it had been anyone from the royal family other than Jisung, he would have probably been dismissed before sundown.
‘Never allow anyone to see you as anything but the prince that you are, least of all a commoner’. That had been one of his earliest lessons, and the one that he had tried so hard to live by his entire life. Suffice to say, he hadn’t been overly successful.
Sighing, Jisung rose back to his feet, immediately sending the gardener boy into a frantic bow while he rushed out an apology.
“I’m so sorry, your Highness. I wasn’t looking where I was going, it won’t happen again. I’m really sorry. I hope you are not injured.”
While the boy was bowing and apologizing over and over again, Jisung tried to pick his jaw from where it had fallen somewhere on the floor. That kid’s voice did not fit his looks at all. He looked all soft and dainty with his pale hair and slender frame, even with the usual gardener drab, but his voice was so deep!
Eventually, the boy stopped apologizing, staring right at his feet while he waited for Jisung’s brain to start working again. By the time Jisung found his voice, he was shuffling nervously, and his hands kept on twisting around one another.
“It’s alright, I’m okay. I didn’t see you either anyway. You’re not hurt, are you?”
And wow, Jisung’s brain must have really forgotten to filter out his thoughts if he was enquiring so directly after a peasant’s well-being. While he didn’t necessarily share in the disdain of his family for anyone not noble, he had also learned to never let that little piece of information be known, lest he get into massive heaps of trouble – and lectures.
If the look on the gardener’s face was anything to go by, then he probably thought Jisung had lost his mind as well, to be asking this. Still, you couldn’t ignore such a direct question from a prince and before Jisung could stop him, he was answering him.
“I’m fine. Thank you for asking, your Majesty.”
He looked like he wanted to say something else but was stopping himself, and Jisung could take an easy guess at the words being held back. ‘Are you certain you didn’t hit your head?’
Trying to diffuse the situation as quickly as he could, he figured asking for directions was the best he could do. At least, if he made it look like he had gotten lost, maybe the other boy would forget about his slip up. Unfortunately, he hadn’t counted on being offered to be escorted back to the castle. It made sense though, if he thought the fall had actually hurt Jisung’s head, then he couldn’t let him walk back on his own. If Jisung was seriously injured and he didn’t do anything to help, he would probably end up sentenced to death.
Sighing, Jisung resigned himself to his lost peace and vaguely gestured at the other boy so he would start walking.
“Alright then, lead the way.”
With another deep bow, the boy turned and started heading right from where Jisung had come from. Silence reigned in for a while, only the sounds of rustling leaves, snapping twigs, and chirping birds could be heard, and Jisung lost himself to his thoughts again.
He really did not want to go back to the castle and all his troubles. He would probably get scolded for disappearing with no warning again, Hyunjin would probably find another way to piss him off, and he would get yet another lecture on the importance of the treaty between their two nations. Gods, Jisung couldn’t wait until the month was over and Hyunjin left to go back to his own kingdom. He would be back during the winter, but at least Jisung would have two months of peace in the meantime.
He was brought out of his thoughts as the gardener boy suddenly stopped walking. Raising his head, he met the eyes of the boy who immediately averted his gaze, once more shuffling a little nervously.
“Uhh… the castle is right over there, your Majesty.”
Right. Jisung felt a little like an idiot for not noticing sooner. The castle was impossible to miss, looming over the trees like it was. Any closer and they would probably be in full view of the walkway leading to the front entrance. No wonder garden-boy had stopped. The last thing he probably wanted was to be seen with Jisung and for questions to be asked. To be honest, that was also the last thing Jisung wanted, so he didn’t blame him.
Jisung was about to nod and walk away when a stray thought crossed his mind. He still needed a quiet place to get away from everything – would probably need it even more in the months to come – and who better to ask than a gardener who probably knew the castle’s grounds like the back of his hands. Besides, by now he was more or less certain garden-boy wouldn’t speak of their encounters to anyone, as embarrassing as they were for Jisung, there could be serious consequences for the other boy if it came to attention. Was that power abuse though?
Chasing the unwanted thought away, Jisung refocused to find that garden-boy was still not looking at him, staring somewhere at his chest, but at least he wasn’t looking at the ground anymore. Improvement, maybe.
“Look, this is going to sound weird, but do you know of a quiet place where no one ever goes?”
Garden-boy jerked back in alarm, and Jisung frowned. Had he crossed a line? But surely nothing he had asked justified this kind of reaction; garden-boy looked like he thought Jisung was about to murder him… He almost let out a groan when he realised what his question must have sounded to garden-boy. Refraining the urge to rub his eyebrow in frustration, he hurried to reassure him.
“Not like that! Or I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking of, but I just need a place to unwind sometimes. And it needs to be somewhere no one can accidently stumble upon. That’s all, I swear.”
He couldn’t believe he was having to defend his request to one of their gardeners of all people. His mother would have a heart-attack if she ever found out.
Garden-boy still looked wary, but he didn’t look like he was three seconds from running away anymore, which was probably good. He slowly nodded, and Jisung inwardly cheered. Maybe, he would survive the next few months after all. Unfortunately, garden-boy wasn’t speaking up, so Jisung had no choice but to insist.
“Well, do you think you could show me? Not now, of course. I need to get back and you’re probably busy, but tomorrow maybe? I’m usually free right after lunchtime. We could meet here, and you’ll take me to that place?”
“As you wish, your Highness. I am at your disposal.”
Jisung blinked. Right. That was sobering. Sighing, he nodded in agreement - there was no point trying to add anything – and slowly started to make his way towards his own personal hell. At least, he had something to look forward to now.
~
Jisung was late. And he wasn’t even just a little late either, no he was at least a couple of hours late. If garden-boy was still at their agreed meeting place, it would be a miracle.
In his defence though, it hadn’t been his fault. He couldn’t have known that his father would suddenly require his presence to one of his many business meetings. He almost never had to attend these things, never had been considered important enough for it. But Hyunjin was higher in his own line of succession, which meant that technically Jisung’s marriage would improve his social standing, and with it increase his responsibilities. They really should have thought of that earlier in his life because now he was forced to hurryingly catch up with the geopolitical knowledge he had never bothered to pay attention to.
By the time the meeting had ended mid-afternoon had long passed, and the sky was starting to turn that deeper blue indicating the sunset wasn’t very far off. Jisung had still slipped away from the castle, in the vague hope that garden-boy would still be there. Finding a solitary place was quickly becoming a necessity at this point.
And low and behold, garden-boy was indeed at the agreed meeting place. Jisung came to a stop as the pathway he was on made a turn, hiding him from view from anyone in the castle or the castle-grounds. Garden-boy was sitting a little ways away, quietly playing with the few scattered wildflowers sprouting around the trees’ roots.
As he took a step forward, a twig snapped under Jisung’s feet, prompting garden-boy’s head to swivel in his direction. In the blink of an eye, he was on his feet and deeply bowing. Jisung forced himself to not react at that; here he was, so late it was beyond rude and still garden-boy was bowing to him. He knew it was only to be expected, but he still found it a little ridiculous sometime. Only sometime though, because he did enjoy seeing people bow to him, especially the nobles who didn’t bother hiding their disdain for him but were still forced to show deference in public.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he quickly stepped closer to garden-boy, softly gripping his shoulder and forcing him to straighten up. “No need for that, let’s just go. It’s late enough as it is, and I don’t have much time.” He probably should have apologized, but he had already acted less than properly around this boy, he needed to try and salvage whatever he could of his image. ‘Sorry’ and ‘please’ weren’t even supposed to be part of his vocabulary for heaven’s sake.
Soon enough, Jisung was following after garden-boy, down the path twisting around the orchards’ trees. They walked in silence until they reached a crossway, leading directly out of the garden and into the forest that surrounded most of the south-side of the castle. Garden-boy stopped and threw a quick glance at Jisung, eyes averting as soon as they made contact with Jisung’s own. He shuffled around nervously and Jisung waited until he found his words.
“Uhm… it’s uh… it’s down that way. But if…if it’s too late today, then maybe another day would be better for Your Highness?”
Jisung almost shrugged before he remembered that it wouldn’t be proper prince behaviour.
“How far is it? I need to be back by dinner time.”
“It’s uhm… about half an hour, Your Majesty.”
Jisung hesitated for a bit, the smart thing to do would be to turn back, but he had already come this far and wasted garden-boy’s entire afternoon already. He might as well make it worth the while.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
Garden-boy hesitated for a few more seconds, before he nodded and turned toward the path he had been pointing at. Jisung followed and soon they were engulfed in the forest, the massive trees shading them from almost all sunlight. The more they walked, the colder Jisung felt, and he quickly regretted not bringing warmer clothes. So far autumn had been pretty mild, but he knew it wouldn’t last much longer. Hopefully, they still had some time before the first snow hit though.
The silence between him and garden-boy as they walked was a lot less oppressive in the forest than it had been in the orchard garden. Noises were all around them, branches snapping under their feet, fallen leaves crunching, birds chirping, and all those other sounds indicating life in a forest, the rushed pitter-patter of a disturbed animal running away, the occasional call of a wild beast or the buzzing of insects.
Jisung felt peace settle in his chest before they even reached the place garden-boy was taking him to. Whether that was from all those sounds so different from the usual noises of the castle life, from the beauty of the varying autumn hues of the trees’ leaves or even from all the odours assaulting his sense of smell, he didn’t know, and he couldn’t care less. Finally, after weeks of stress and anxiety, he felt like he could breathe again.
They had wandered off from the main walking path a while ago, instead taking ridiculously small trails obviously not taken very often by humans when Jisung suddenly realised he should have paid better attention to where they were walking if he wanted to be able to comeback on his own. Maybe he could leave markers on the way back to the castle later.
And then the path in front of them opened and they were in a massive clearing. There was a house of stone in the middle of it, with animals’ track all around it. From where he was, Jisung could glimpse what he thought were traces of what had probably been a vegetable plot as well as something that looked like an old animal pen. The forest sounds that had accompanied them during the entire walk were muted now, almost as if the clearing was separated from the forest surrounding it. Sunlight reached a small pond to the left of the house, making the water glimmer and adding to the magical aura of the place.
Jisung felt like a lump had stuck itself in his throat, and he actually had to fight back a few tears as he slowly walked forward in the glade. Everywhere he looked, there was something new and beautiful to catch his eye, spots of wildflowers with more colours than he could name, rocks covered in moss, colourful bushes, massive tree roots peaking from the soil, bird feathers scattered here and there, etc. Even the forest chill had disappeared, the whole place warmed by the sunlight falling all around.
As he slowly spun on himself, Jisung caught a glimpse of garden-boy staring at him with something akin to curiosity, and he was brutally brought back to the reality of the situation. So much for acting more princely in front of this boy. Inwardly sighing, he faced him again, and the eyes that were previously staring right at him suddenly fell to the ground.
Jisung wracked his brain to find the proper words, but what was one supposed to say in that situation? It had obviously never been included in one of his many lessons on etiquette and proper attitude.
Just as he was about to speak, garden-boy who had stayed closer to the forest’s edge, was suddenly covered in long shadows, and Jisung turned back to see the sun fast disappearing behind the trees. If he left now and hurried back, he could probably make it back on time to the castle. He was still reluctant to leave though, the place was so peaceful and exactly what he had needed.
Sighing, he faced garden-boy again, offering him a smile. “This place is perfect, thank you.” He knew he wasn’t supposed to say ‘thank you’, but at that point he just didn’t care. This boy had just offered him a priceless gift with this place, and Jisung was still too emotional to hide that entirely.
“I need to get back to the castle, can you walk me back to the orchard? I don’t think I could find my way without getting lost…”
The ghost of a smile appeared on garden-boy’s face before he smothered it down and Jisung felt his heart miss a beat. That had been a very pretty smile. He had the vague thought that he wouldn’t mind seeing more of it, before he ruthlessly shoved it aside. He had enough problems already, no need to add friendship with a commoner to the list.
As garden-boy slowly guided him out of the forest, Jisung carefully marked the trees lining the path, that way he’d be able to comeback without help next time. If garden-boy noticed what he was doing, he didn’t say anything, to Jisung’s relief.
When they finally reached the entrance to the orchard garden, the sun had almost entirely set and Jisung knew he would be late. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to care overly much. He turned towards garden-boy, smiled and thanked him again, before he started walking back towards the castle. And then he stopped and turned right back to garden-boy. This had been the third time they met, and he still didn’t know his actual name. Surely, after today it wouldn’t be too weird to ask? Even his parents knew the names of their personal servants.
Pushing aside his doubts, he forced himself to speak the words out, watching as garden-boy’s expression went from curiosity to shock in the blink of an eye. And all the while, he was still studiously avoiding eye-contact. The silence stretched for so long that Jisung almost gave up on getting an answer, until finally, “My name’s Felix, Your Highness.”
Felix. Uh. That was a strange name, but somehow it suited him. He was a strange boy with his dyed hair and gardener clothes after all.
Sending a last smile at garden-boy – Felix – Jisung hurried down the path towards the castle and all his waiting duties. Hopefully, they’d be a little easier to bear now that he had a safe place to hide in.