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"Good night, my Prince." The huntsman says.
"Good night." The Prince answers as he rolls on his other side, his back now facing the other man.
All Seungmin can hear are his breathing and the cracking of the fire at his feet. He is engulfed in a few layers of fur covers, because the weather outside is deadly cold. However, he is used to it, he slept in the dungeon of his own castle for twelve years. So being forced to sleep out in the open, because he is being chased by the current Queen of what used to be his father's kingdom, is something he doesn't mind at all. His goal is to reach his father's allies in the kingdom right next to theirs. Fortunately, his son, Prince Felix, found them earlier that day.
Felix and Seungmin used to be best friends when they were younger, before Seungmin's castle fell to the hand of his father's wife. She used him to get to the throne and succeeded the night she killed him in his sleep. Seungmin perfectly remembers that tragic night. The loss of his father before his own eyes, the chaos gaining the castle, Felix running away with his father and their people, and the portcullis falling right before he could escape too. He cried so much that night, and the following nights too. He prayed everyday for someone to come back and save him, but nobody ever came. He never blamed anyone though, he had seen enough to know that his mother-in-law was a witch with really strong and frightening powers.
On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, he felt something odd deep inside him, so he took his precautions and hid a rusted nail - he found out of the window of his cell - under his head as he laid down on his mediocre bed. The right-hand man of the Queen came into his cell a few minutes after and something in his eyes was making Seungmin grow more anxious. The man took a seat right next to him and brushed Seungmin's hair out of his face.
"Even with all the mud on your face and clothes, you're still the fairest of them all." He said with a crazy tone and a scoff. "The Queen needs you, now."
Seungmin felt his blood freeze in his veins as his survival instinct finally took the lead over everything else. He quickly grabbed the keys from the man's hand and scratched him across the face with the nail. Then he rushed out of the cell and locked it, before he started running for his life.
His journey had been a long and tough one. He had to go through a dangerous forest, where he almost died if it wasn't for Chan, the huntsman, finding him. Chan had his life between his hands too. He was sent by the Queen to bring Seungmin back to the castle, in exchange for the Queen to make his wife come back from the dead. It was obviously impossible, so the huntsman killed all the guards before him and Seungmin started running away. Chan begrudgingly promised to take Seungmin out of the land and to the other kingdom, and then he would go back to his house and live alone again. Actually, Seungmin couldn't care less at that time and now Felix was back at his side. They talked all day long about how Felix's kingdom tried to help and find solutions to kill the Queen, but never found a good one. Felix also told him how much he missed him, how he believed that Seungmin was still alive.
"My father won't believe it." He said with a bright smile as they were walking in the snow.
That was right before they set up their camp. The dwarfs made sure Seungmin had the most comfortable bed made out of leaves and even gave him their fur covers because : 'we are tough, we don't need those.', one of them said.
Later, as Seungmin was preparing himself to sleep, the huntsman came up to him. The Prince smiled at him, but Chan didn't smile back.
"I'm gonna leave tomorrow. I'll spend the night here, and then I'll go back to my place." He announced, avoiding Seungmin's gaze.
The Prince looked at him, before a frown formed on his face.
"But… You promised to take me to-"
"Well, the plan has changed. You have a Prince now to take care of you." Chan cut him. "It's better that way, trust me."
"If you think so." Seungmin replies as his eyes fall on the wet cloth he was washing his face with, a gift from Felix.
Seungmin doesn't know why, but his heart clenched when Chan said he was leaving. He felt hurt even though he knew it would happen sooner or later. He should be happy to be with Felix again. After that, Seungmin and Chan both laid down and that's when they exchanged their good nights.
🍎
The next morning, Seungmin is woken up by someone lightly shaking his shoulder. When he opens his eyes, he sees Felix and his usual sweet smile above his face.
"Come with me ! I have something to show you !" He whispers excitedly.
Seungmin smiles and nods as he gets out of his covers. Then, he follows Felix in the forest, which is entirely covered by snow. The scenery is just so beautiful that he is a bit taken aback by it, him who has only seen landscapes in despair for the past twelve years of his life.
"Watch out !" Felix says when they're far enough from the camp so he can speak loudly.
He throws an apple in Seungmin's direction and the Prince catches it in his hands. He smirks, a memory suddenly comes back to him as Felix walks towards him.
"Remember how you tricked me when we were younger ?" He asks the Prince as he takes a step back.
Felix leans his head on the side, apparently confused.
"You were about to give me an apple, but you just took a bite instead." Seungmin giggles as he takes a big bite in the bright red apple.
Felix smirks as he keeps walking towards him. Seungmin smiles back at him, but he suddenly feels out of breath. He tries to inhale and exhale, but it's like his trachea has been stuffed with sand. He suddenly realizes that he has been poisoned. His now watery eyes go up to Felix's face as he feels his back hitting the cold floor. He wants to scream for help, but he can't make any sound.
"Look at you… All scared and at my mercy." Felix says as he puts a hand around Seungmin's neck.
The Prince can't fight back, his whole body is now paralyzed and his horror only grows more when Felix's face disappears to reveal the face of the Queen. She's saying something he can't decipher and a second later, she is holding a dagger above her head, ready to bury it in Seungmin's chest. But the hurt never comes. And the last thing he sees is Felix's frightened face above him, shouting something he can't hear. And then it's black.
Pitch black surrounding him.
He doesn't know how much time passes, with his soul just wandering in this dark place. It felt even more lonely than when he was still in the dungeon. He isn't dead yet, he still feels something keeping him from crossing the bridge to the other side. He wants to wake up. He wants to live. He is so angry right now. His only wish is to kill the Queen himself to make sure she will never cause anymore trouble. She destroyed a whole country and ruined people's lives.
Suddenly, he feels a warmth over his hand. He blinks a few times to try to see what's the source of it, but then a whole room appears before his eyes. However, instead of him waking up in his own body, he is just the witness of a scene where his body is lying on a white cloth. He is dressed in white linen clothes, bare-footed, his hair neatly placed on his forehead. His face looks so pale, but his lips are still bright pink, almost red. It feels strange to see his own self on his deathbed.
"What are we going to do now ?…" He hears next to him.
He turns his head and sees Felix, a hand over one of his -that's where the warmth is coming from- and his cheeks tainted with dried tears.
"We just found each other again… Y-you shouldn't be leaving so soon…" Felix cries. "I hope you're feeling good up here, that you're happy…"
After whispering those words, the blonde prince leans closer to Seungmin's face. Seungmin looks away at that, he can't watch it. He always had doubts about Felix's feelings towards him, but he never thought he would have waited for him for so long. He thought he was married now, he should be married. And then he feels it, the warmth against his lips. It's short, but the feeling lingers for a bit. He doesn't know how to react, but he waits for Felix to leave to finally look up again.
His body is still lying in the middle of the room. Seungmin notices now that there are tons of flowers surrounding the table he is lying on. All whites. He smiles. He told one of the dwarfs that his favorite color was white, maybe they took that into consideration.
As he crouches down to take a better look at the flowers, a familiar face enters the room. One that Seungmin thought he would never see again. He gets up hastily and makes himself presentable, as if Chan can see him. The huntsman is wearing his usual outfit, except there isn't any weapon on him. He has a flower in hand, a white rose. Chan stops in the middle of the room, a few meters away from Seungmin's body, and takes a deep breath. He looks down and then up to the ceiling, and that's when Seungmin notices that his eyes are shining.
"You're here…" Chan starts talking as he walks around the room, without looking at Seungmin. "Dressed in beautiful white clothes… And I'm here… looking even more miserable than before I met you."
The huntsman leans on a pillar in the room, before taking another deep breath and making his way towards Seungmin's body. He stands up beside him and looks at him all over, from his hair, to his feet, as if he doesn't believe what's before his eyes. As if Seungmin is not dead, as if he will magically wake up.
"You had a whole life waiting for you… I was… I-I was supposed to protect you…" The huntsman wipes a stray tear falling from his eye. "I failed you…"
Chan brings up the rose to his nose, before putting it above Seungmin's hands.
"You know… All my life, I lost all the people I've loved… I should have seen this one coming…" The huntsman says. "I should have… treasured you like you deserved… I should have taken better care of you…"
Then, the silence falls upon them. The room grows quiet. Seungmin notices another tear rolling down Chan's cheek, before it falls on the white sheet of his bed.
"I'm sure you'll rule heaven perfectly with your stubborn and strong minded personality. You'll treat people like you'd treat family…" Chan smiles. "You would have been the perfect king."
The huntsman sighs as his eyes stop on Seungmin's face.
"You know… even with the dirt all over your face… You always looked pretty…" Chan smiles. "But now… you look like an angel… The fairest of them all."
The huntsman wipes another tear on his cheek. Then, his eyes fall on Seungmin's lips. They look as good as the last time Seungmin smiled at him. Still bright despite the rest of his body being as pale as the snow. Chan leans closer, like Felix a while ago, but this time, Seungmin doesn't look away. The Prince's eyes widen a bit as he feels the warmth of Chan's lips on his. It feels heavenly and it warms up his whole body in a strange way. Something in him is making him feel dizzy and fuzzy at the same time.
Then, Chan straightens himself up, takes one last look at Seungmin's peaceful face and walks toward the exit of the room. Silence falls on the room again. But then a sound. A breath. And Seungmin blinks the death away.