CHAPTER 28
With the morning sun climbing higher, Muwon stepped out from the river, droplets of water sliding down his skin as he toweled off, the guards respectfully turning away. He cast a glance back toward the campsite where Sihyun still sat stubbornly on the ground, looking like a hungover lump of mischief.
Yuhyun was already rolling up his sleeves, clearly fed up.
"Get up. You stink of wine and bad decisions."
Sihyun groaned, flopping dramatically to the side.
"Nooo. I'm part of the earth now. Leave me here to decompose."
Yuhyun grabbed his arm and yanked him up.
"You kissed the Crown Prince. You can at least wash off the shame."
"That's the highlight of my night, thank you very much,"
Sihyun muttered, though he allowed himself to be dragged to the river.
At the riverbank, he whined again.
"It's too cold!"
"You'll survive,"
Yuhyun muttered, pushing him toward the water.
Sihyun slowly waded in, shrieking at the chill like a child.
"Yuhyun! Save me! This is the end!"
Yuhyun rolled his eyes but couldn't help laughing.
"Honestly, how did you survive all those years on your own?"
"Dramatically."
As the two splashed and bickered, Muwon, now fully dressed and standing nearby, caught sight of Sihyun in the water. His eyes lingered—not just on the playful glint in Sihyun's dark eyes, but on the way his wet hair clung to his face, and most notably, the dark tattoo-like marks coiled over his back and shoulders, partially glowing faint red under the sunlight.
There was something dangerous about them, something forbidden… yet beautiful. Muwon's gaze narrowed with curiosity and something deeper, something he didn't yet want to name.
Sihyun caught him staring and smirked mid-splash.
"Like what you see, Your Highness?"
Yuhyun gasped and smacked the back of his head.
"You're hopeless!"
Muwon said nothing—just offered a half-smile and turned away.
But Sihyun saw it. And he didn't miss the way Muwon's ears turned just a little red.
Back at camp, the morning air was calm—too calm for someone like Sihyun. The grass was warm beneath him, and the sun filtered through the trees as the guards prepared for another day of travel.
Muwon stood a short distance away, giving instructions to a few men while adjusting the leather strap on his arm.
Sihyun smirked to himself.
Sihyun discreetly sent a pulse of magic into the underbrush near Muwon. A moment later, several thick vines slithered out from the grass, twisting and coiling like snakes. They crept silently around Muwon's ankles and boots.
Then they moved—sharply.
Muwon startled.
He jumped back, reaching for the blade at his side, his usually composed expression slipping into pure instinct for a split second.
His eyes sharpened.
"What…"
The vines jerked as if about to strike—then fell limp in the dirt.
Silence.
Then: muffled snorts of laughter.
Even a few guards couldn't help but chuckle, covering their mouths awkwardly.
Muwon's eyes narrowed slowly, tracing the air, then locking onto one culprit: Sihyun, lying on the grass with a lazy grin and his chin propped on his palm.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Muwon said coolly.
"Deeply,"
Sihyun replied without hesitation.
"A little morning exercise for your reflexes."
Muwon stepped toward him, shadows catching in his expression.
"You're lucky I don't take your pranks seriously."
Sihyun tilted his head, still smiling.
"You'd miss them if I stopped."
For a long moment, Muwon said nothing—then, against all expectations, his mouth curved into the faintest smile. Just a twitch of his lips. But it was there.
Sihyun noticed.
The guards remained silent, disciplined and still, pretending not to have witnessed anything. None dared speak.
The quiet resumed as though nothing had happened… except for the faint glimmer of satisfaction in Sihyun's eyes.
The group had barely been walking an hour before the peaceful silence of the forest shattered.
A thunderous rumble echoed from above.
"Look out!"
one of the guards yelled—too late.
Large rocks tumbled down the hillside, crashing through trees and throwing up clouds of dirt. Chaos erupted as the guards scrambled to shield the prince. The path was split in a heartbeat, the dust choking the air, trees collapsing like dominoes.
When it cleared, a wide wall of fallen debris now separated the guards from Muwon, Sihyun, and Yuhyun.
"What the hell was that?"
Yuhyun coughed, waving dust from his face.
Sihyun stood completely still, not blinking, not even brushing off the dirt. Muwon turned to him sharply.
"Was this you?"
he asked, voice cool, but firm.
But Sihyun's expression didn't hold its usual smugness or amusement. His brows were furrowed.
"That wasn't me,"
he said quietly.
Muwon narrowed his eyes.
"Then who—"
Sihyun flinched suddenly. The air around them rippled for just a second, a strange hum in the silence. No one else seemed to notice it.
And then—he felt it.
A flicker of familiar magic. Cold, unsettling, darkly smooth. It pulsed like a whisper in his veins.
Sihyun's eyes darted to the left, into the thick trees beyond the broken path. And there—between the gaps in the shadows—he caught a fleeting glimpse.
A figure.
White robes brushing the forest floor, silver hair barely catching the sunlight, a twisted smile too far to be real yet clear enough for Sihyun to recognize.
Ryu Vanyul.
Gone just as quickly as he appeared.
Sihyun's hands tightened into fists at his sides. He didn't speak. Not yet.
"What is it?"
Muwon asked.
"Nothing,"
Sihyun replied flatly, his expression unreadable.
Yuhyun narrowed his eyes at him, clearly not convinced.
"We should find another way around,"
Muwon ordered, already looking for a path.
"The guards will follow when they can."
Sihyun walked a little ahead, silent, distracted. The whisper of Vanyul's magic still tingled in his bones—and it wasn't done with him yet.
Darkness had swallowed the forest by the time the three of them made camp again, miles away from where the path had broken. The guards were still missing, no signals or messages sent. The only sounds were the restless crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl overhead.