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"Daryun!"
There was no response. Arslan picked up his pace. Of course, it was needless to say that a great warrior like Daryun would not be... killed so easily, but he was only human.
No matter how strong the knight may seem to be.
Having known Daryun for so many years, no doubt the knight was one of the most important figures in Arslan's life. The queen, Tahamine, was cold and indifferent towards her supposed son. The king, Andagoras, hardly gave any of his attention to the prince. Daryun and Vahriz were the only pillars supporting him, and now that Vahriz has passed on, Daryun was the one and only emotional support he had. It would be unimaginable for Daryun to be missing from his life. This was also why Arslan would always fuss over Daryun's injuries, major or minor.
Similarly, so did Daryun.
The mārzban used to chide the prince for being not careful and injuring himself, or if he attempts to hide his injuries.
"It is nothing but a small cut!" Arslan pouted.
"Even so, we cannot rule out the possibility of a wound infection. If you were to attempt to tend to it by yourself or perhaps, had left it alone, the wound would have been infected." Daryun explained while tending to the open wound, leaving the prince no chance to talk back.
It was due to this that Arslan started to do the same for Daryun as a form of revenge.
However, it was definitely a first for the knight to be unresponsive to his call. Arslan mentally laid out the possible scenarios. Perhaps, the knight was in too great a pain to utter a response. Or maybe he had lost consciousness. If not, Daryun may have...
Arslan didn't want to continue that line of thought.
Running across the fountain and towards the black clad figure, the prince hoped that he has made it in time.
"Your Highness..." The black knight groaned as he tried to lift up his head to look at the prince. There was only one thing that flashed across Arslan's mind.
Daryun was alive.
The knight's attempt to stand snapped Arslan out of his own thoughts.
"I apologise... for my incompetence. I have failed to do away with that Silver Mask." Slowly churning out his words, the knight coughed as he spoke.
"Speak no more, Daryun! What matters most is that you are alright. We must attend to your injuries without haste!" Putting an arm over Daryun, Arslan tried to hoist the knight up.
"Your Highness, please do not trouble yourself! I am capable of walking by myself---"
Daryun's sentence was cut off as both of them fell to the ground with a loud 'thump'. Of course, Arslan was too petite to support Daryun and had lost his balance, causing the larger man to fall against the prince. On top of said prince.
"Ouch... That hurt..."
"Y-Your Highness!" Daryun exclaimed as he tried to get off the prince. He must have crushed the prince. Definitely.
"Don't move, Daryun! The last thing I would want is for you to aggravate your wounds!"
"But Your Highness..." Arslan firmly shook his head as he tried to support Daryun again.
"How can I rule a country if I can't even do something as simple as this?" The prince gave a small tight smile as he picked up himself again and supported the injured knight while trudging slowly towards the campsite.
Those eyes were as clear as the sky, reflecting determination. This was not an easy job, considering that Daryun probably weighed twice as much as the prince. Not to mention that both of them are fully armoured. And yet, the prince was trying his best.
Daryun felt something warm burst within him.
'Ah, so this must be...'
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Jaswant took over the job of tending to his wounds as soon as they entered the tent, whereas His Highness was immediately escorted (forced) out of the tent.
"But...!"
"You have my apologies, but this is under Farangis-dono's request. If I remember, her exact words were: 'Your Highness, while I understand your worries, please leave the tending of the injured to Jaswant. Surely, there are important orders that you will need to give out to the troops amidst this chaos.'" Daryun chuckled softly whereas Arslan sighed in defeat.
"... She is right. Jaswant, I'll leave Daryun to you then." Albeit demoralised, Arslan walked to the entrance of the tent, glanced at Daryun for the last time and finally left.
Daryun nodded back, signalling to the prince that he would be fine.
Jaswant watched the exchange in silence.
"His Highness really do care a lot about you, Daryun-dono." Daryun laughed.
"It's not only me; there is no one around him that he does not care for." The Sindurian soldier was about to say something in return, but decided not to anyway.
'Narsus-dono was right; battling is the only thing Daryun-dono excels in...'
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The sun has long set and the stars were out, illuminating the cloudless sky. It has been a long day for the Parsian troops as the soldiers were exhausted from both the battle and from the cleaning up that had to be done after the battle. Many had concussed from fatigue upon entering their sleeping quarters and most would have been asleep by this hour.
Daryun was no exception, though sleep was not coming to him at all. As an injured, he was relieved of guard duty for the prince tonight. Not used to such a sleeping schedule, the knight found himself tossing and turning, brain still active. The campsite was silent, save for the soft clinking of armour when watch guards would walk past his tent. This gave the knight some space to think about today's events. Or more specifically... The prince.
While Daryun was indeed aware of how protective and loyal he was to His Highness (thanks to a certain red head by the name of Gieve who could not stop harping on that), he definitely didn't expect it to turn into... affection.
Affection. Liking someone. Love.
Having dedicated his life thus far to the military, Daryun has had only one relationship thus far. Which did not work out for various reasons. Said female happens to be a princess, too. Or perhaps that was why it didn't work out. Now, it was a prince... Daryun could feel an incoming migraine.
'For now, until things have settled down, is to set aside these feelings---'
"Daryun...!"
Daryun is starting to think that he is hallucinating. Did he perhaps hit his head somewhere?
The small figure tiptoeing quietly into his tent was none other than His Highness, of course. This prompted Daryun to sit up immediately.
"His Highness...! What are you doing here at this hour?"
Arslan smiled sheepishly.
"I... wanted to talk to you for a bit, Daryun." The prince sat beside Daryun on his makeshift bed, smiling nervously.
'His Highness is acting a bit weird...' Daryun mused as he shifted his body slightly to face the prince. The latter scrunched his eyebrows as he placed a hand over the knight's wounded waist, trailing his fingers over it.
'So it was about my wound...' The prince could be a real worrywart at times, Daryun thought. They kept at this position for a while until Daryun noticed that Arslan was... crying.
"What is the matter, Your Highness?!" Clearly alarmed, Daryun gently cupped the prince's face and wiped the tears away with his thumb. Moments later, the black knight immediately regretted his decision. With glassy eyes and slightly swollen eyes, Daryun found Arslan's crying face to be extremely... irresistible.
'Ah, this is bad in many ways...' As if to prove that sentence correct, Arslan threw his arms around Daryun, burying his face into his shoulder.
"I was so afraid that you will be gone, Daryun...! You have put yourself in danger so many times for my sake, and yet I cannot do a single thing for you...!"
Uncertainty, helplessness and worries. This indeed seemed to be too much for a fifteen year old boy, who is set on the path to become the ruler of a country. Rubbing circles around the prince's back to comfort the teen, Daryun shook his head.
"That is not true; I have said this many times and I will, Your Highness. You are my liege and I pledge to protect you at all costs. You have grown so much since your virgin battle at Atropatene, and I am blessed to have been by your side to witness this growth."
This seemed to do the trick as the hiccups started to progress into small sobs and after what seemed like eternity to Daryun, Arslan finally lifted his head up.
"Ah! You shirt is soaked with my tears..." Embarrassed, the tip of his ears turned red and the prince apologised profusely. Daryun was amused.
"This is not the first time after all; it is alright, Your Highness. I am glad that I was able to relief some of your concerns. In fact, please do not hesitate to approach me to share your burdens." Arslan nodded and smiled, eyes twinkling in happiness.
Before Daryun could react, the prince had already leaned forward and the knight could feel soft lips on his cheeks.
"Thank you, Daryun. I really appreciate it." Said boy blushed shyly. Daryun could only remain shell shocked. Arslan waved a hand in front of Daryun.
"Are you alright, Daryun?" How could he be alright and remain composure after that? Daryun rubbed his temples and sighed.
'His Highness really knows how to push my buttons...'
With that, Daryun leaned forward to place a kiss on the prince's forehead. There was a moment of silence as both parties withdrew away from one another, blushing furiously.
"I-I shall head back to my quarters now! Have a good night's sleep, Daryun!"
And the prince was gone.
Daryun raised his hand to trace over the area where Arslan had kissed him.
'This was is more than just 'bad', this is...' The black knight groaned, burying his face into his hands.