"ah-ha!" with a sudden burst of energy, soonyoung knocked the sword out of jisoo's hand. the boy landed on the ground with an oof and smiled up at soonyoung.
"you beat me again youngie," he laughed, shaking his head.
soonyoung puffed his tiny chest. "one day i'm gonna go beat up dragons. just like in the books." soonyoung extended his hand to jisoo. "and you're coming along with me too." grinning, he accepted soonyoung's hand.
"alright soonyoung, ill be right behind you."
the two were inseparable. wherever one went the other was always not far behind. nothing could tear the two apart... well maybe one thing.
social hierarchy.
soonyoung was royal and jisoo was merely just a child of a castle servent.
the fact that soonyoung was heir to the throne was pounded into his head from the day he could walk. the king and queen often brought soonyoung out on the balcony to where he would stare wide eyed at all the people gathering below. "these are the people of reinwa," the queen would often say to soonyoung. "in the future, they'll be your people so make sure you treat them with care."
the tattoo on his left side was yet another constant reminder that he was heir to the throne. he never noticed it until one day he fell while trying to chase jisoo. his shirt slipped up and instead of tearing up from the pain of tripping, soonyoung's attention was caught by a strange tattoo on his skin.
jisoo gasped when he saw soonyoung on the ground and quickly knelt down. "soonyoungie! are you okay? are you hurt?" the little boy stopped talking when he saw what soonyoung was staring at.
"soo-ah, what's this weird thing on my side?" soonyoung said curiously as he poked at the tattoo of a shield surrounded by thorns. in the center was a detailed rose with a crown hanging off the top. "do you have one too?" although at that time, both of them were still little children, jisoo knew exactly what the thing was.
"it won't come off no matter how much you rub it." jisoo said gently, pulling soonyoung's hand away from the tattoo. "that's the royal emblem. it appears on the person who is the rightful heir to the throne." jisoo pulled up his shirt to show his unmarked skin. "see? i don't have one. only you do, you're special, you're the prince."
soonyoung nodded slowly, not really understanding.
prince..
"mommy," soonyoung said, staring up at his mother from his bed. his mother, kwon yoonsun looked down at her child and sat on the edge of the bed.
"yes, my youngie?"
"jisoo says that only the 'rightful heir to the throne' has this thing." he lifted up his flannel shirt and showed his mother the tattoo. the queen looked down at it and rubbed it gently.
"that's right. you're next in line to be king, that's why you have it."
soonyoung dropped his shirt and crossed his arms in thought. "what if a dragon comes and scratches it off?"
"the royal emblem doesn't disappear that easily," yoonsun chuckled. "it will simply appear somewhere else. maybe your back," yoonsun reached over and patted soonyoung's back, "or maybe your neck.." soonyoung giggled and pulled away when his mother tickled his neck.
the queen smiled affectionately and clasped her hands together. "alright, time to get under the covers."
soonyoung scrambled beneath his blankets and looked at yoonsun with eager eyes.
"tell me the story of how you and daddy met!" he said excitedly, messing up the blankets even more. yoonsun smiled and smoothed a few creases. she did feel a little bad about telling soonyoung a made up story but she silently promised to tell him all about arranged marriage when it was the right time.
"well, a long long time ago when i was just a princess..."
"and you got captured by a witch!"
"yes, an ugly and mean one. one who could do magic and cast spells."
"and the witch kept you prisoner in a faraway place!"
"the place was cold and lonely. there were all kinds of monsters lurking around. some of them were small as birds and others were giant!" yoonsun lifted her hands up and tried to imitate one.
"and then daddy came along! right? right?"
"right." she laughed in conformation, "one day he came out of the woods with his clothing all ragged and torn. he saw me and wanted to take me back home.."
"but the witch! was she mad?"
"she was furious. do you remember how i said she could do magic?" soonyoung nodded, completely enticed by the story. "she turned into a huge black dragon."
soonyoung gasped and pulled the blanket to his chest. "what next?"
"your father killed it and returned back to his kingdom with me."
soonyoung smiled in awe, "wow! daddy's so cool!"
when yoonsun giggled and looked down at soonyoung sprawled on the bed. she brought the blankets up to his neck once more before placing a delicate kiss on his forehead. "goodnight, love."
"wait!"
turning her head, yoonsun looked at soonyoung's little hand gripping onto the fabric. "mommy.. do you think i'll rescue a princess from a dragon too?" yoonsun laughed gently and removed soonyoung's hand.
"of course. one day when you're older, i'm sure there will be a princess out there waiting for your help."
