CHAPTER 10
"You're up."
Sihyun turned to see Yuhyun, seated casually beside him, arms crossed.
"How are you feeling?"
Yuhyun asked, eyes scanning Sihyun's expression.
Sihyun stretched long like a cat, yawned, and then sat up with his usual energy, brushing his hair back with a grin.
"Like a baby who slept without the world chasing him. I'm fine."
Yuhyun smiled—partly relieved, but not fully convinced.
Sihyun looked around the room.
"Where's Muwon?"
Yuhyun hesitated a second before replying, softening his tone.
"He's being congratulated. All morning. Seems everyone's proud of your 'yes.'"
Sihyun clicked his tongue, his smirk fading slightly, but he didn't comment further.
Yuhyun stood up and casually added, adjusting his robe,
"I'm heading to the library."
Sihyun raised a brow, clearly amused.
"Since when did you start reading?"
Yuhyun smirked.
"Since I figured out knowledge might help me stay alive around demon sorcerers and dramatic princes. Wanna come?"
Sihyun swung his legs off the bed and stood, walking toward the window.
"Nah. I want to talk to our mother for a bit."
Yuhyun blinked in surprise.
"Wait—you can do that?"
Sihyun smiled faintly and looked out at the sky, his voice softer now.
"No. I just want to look up and believe she's there."
Yuhyun followed his gaze. The sky was a brilliant blue, clouds floating lazily.
"She's watching,"
Yuhyun said.
"Always. You're not alone."
Sihyun nodded slowly, the calm in his features more real now than before.
Yuhyun walked to the door, but before stepping out, he turned around.
"Congrats again, fiancé,"
he teased with a playful wink.
Sihyun groaned dramatically, throwing a pillow in Yuhyun's direction—but missed.
"Shut up."
Yuhyun laughed and exited.
Left alone, Sihyun looked up once more, whispering under his breath.
"Did you see it, mom? I said yes."
His hand gently touched his chest where one of the glowing tattoos had settled the night before, now dormant.
"Just stay with me… a little longer."
The dew still clung to the petals, and the breeze carried a gentle hush through the palace garden. Sihyun sat alone beneath the ancient tree where the moonlight used to pool, though now only sunlight filtered in gently. Dressed in a soft ivory robe, his fingers toyed absently with the silver crescent moon pendant hanging just above his heart.
He let out a soft sigh and looked up at the sky—vast and clear.
"Mother…"
he whispered, his voice calm but filled with weight.
"Do you see me now?"
His fingers gripped the pendant gently.
"I didn't plan this. I only wanted to survive. Help him. Then leave."
"But then… he made it hard."
"He looked at me like I was someone worth holding onto. Like I wasn't cursed."
"And now… I'm betrothed. To a crown prince."
he chuckled faintly
"What a ridiculous twist, huh? I bet you'd laugh at me."
He smiled softly, his eyes warm but distant as he stared upward.
"But if you're really watching… I hope I made you proud, even just a little."
A quiet rustle behind him made him flinch. He turned sharply—only to find Muwon, standing just a few steps away, arms crossed and eyes gentle.
"She is proud of you,"
Muwon said softly.
"She already gave us her blessing."
Sihyun's lips parted in surprise.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Muwon walked forward with a slow smile and sat beside him.
"Long enough to know you still doubt you're worthy of love,"
he said, eyes on the sky.
"But you are."
Sihyun looked down at the pendant and then back at Muwon.
"What about your mother?"
he asked quietly.
There was a pause.
"She died… the moment I was born,"
Muwon said.
"I never knew her. Only stories. They say she had a soft smile like yours. Gentle hands. Brave."
Sihyun's eyes softened.
"Maybe she and my mother are watching together,"
he murmured.
Muwon took his hand in his, lacing their fingers together, both of them staring at the sky—quiet and still, but feeling held in something greater than just sunlight.
The garden was still, a quiet breeze moving the leaves above as Sihyun and Muwon sat side by side beneath the morning sky. Their joined hands rested lightly on Muwon's lap, the silver crescent pendant on Sihyun's chest catching a faint glimmer of light.
Muwon turned to him, his voice low and thoughtful.
"You know… it would make both our mothers happier if we adopted a child."
Sihyun's head turned slowly, his brows rising. He stared at Muwon, mouth slightly open—clearly caught off guard.
"A child?"
he echoed, as if the word itself felt foreign.
Muwon didn't back down. He simply smiled, soft and unwavering.
"For the sake of the throne,"
he said,
"but more importantly… for us. For the future."
Sihyun sighed and looked down at their intertwined fingers. He shook his head lightly, a faint smirk on his lips despite himself.
"You're relentless,"
he murmured.
"Whenever I'm ready."
Muwon laughed under his breath, leaning closer.
"You're never going to be ready,"
he whispered, eyes gleaming.
Sihyun gave him a long look, and then—finally—said softly,
"Whenever you're ready."
There was a heartbeat of silence.
Then Muwon squeezed Sihyun's hand and said, with a smile so sincere it made the moment feel eternal:
"I'm ready now."
Sihyun didn't answer right away. He looked away—eyes shimmering just slightly, not with fear but with something unspoken. Then he laughed softly, and Muwon pulled him into a hug, both of them staying there quietly in the soft morning air.
Their future, it seemed, had already begun.
The vast palace library was quiet, dust motes swirling gently in the slant of morning light. Yuhyun moved quickly between the ancient shelves, his eyes scanning spines of forgotten scrolls and leather-bound tomes. His fingers paused as he spotted it — the scroll with the crescent-shaped emblem burned into its casing. The Prophecy of the 20th Mark.
Just as he reached for it—
"And where exactly are you sneaking off to?"
Dohyun's voice cut through the silence like a blade of teasing wind.
Taejin appeared beside him, arms folded lazily.
"You're up to something, aren't you?"
Yuhyun sighed.
"I'm not sneaking anywhere. I came to find the prophecy scroll about the 20th mark."
Dohyun blinked.
"The one no one's allowed to read?"
"That one,"
Yuhyun answered, pulling it free from the shelf.
The three of them sat by the reading table, unrolling the scroll with care. The text, written in archaic script,
told of a demon sorcerer whose 20th mark would awaken with fire and ruin, leading to madness and destruction. It foretold that "no heart of gold can tame the crimson wrath", and that "only blood will cleanse the path of the marked."