You mindlessly fiddle with the necklace sitting around your neck, the once-cool metal is now warm against your fingertips, familiar with your touch. As you sit on the edge of the windowsill peering out at the clear view of the distant village, the continuous drone of shuffling papers and small items clanking together plays monotonously from behind. The white noise pushes you further, deeper, guiding you as you float down the river of never-ending thoughts.
The eldest prince sitting behind you is busy packing away his belongings, sorting through files of old documents, and organizing them neatly for the upcoming move. Yet, as his hands move mindlessly, eyes briefly scanning through each paper's contents, his attention remains focused on you. The early afternoon light filters in through the large windows of his office, shining down on you just right to highlight the beautiful features of your face, leaving your skin sunkissed in the warm light. The back of your body that faces away from the window is hidden within the shadows that frame your figure beautifully. Heeseung wishes he could draw as well as their youngest prince to capture this moment.
"What are you thinking about, love?" Heeseung finally asks, breaking the silence. His voice is so soft and you would have missed his question if it weren't for its beautiful timbre.
"Moving," you shrug rather ambiguously.
"Are you having second thoughts?" The prince frowns and his hands instantly halt in their motions. It's been a couple of days since the princes brought you into the village to visit your family. Since then, you have confirmed that you would like to move to start anew - for their sake but also your sake. Something tells you this is the best option to begin your eternal life with your destined princes.
The princes were elated to learn of your final decision. Sunghoon instantly ran up to you and embraced you in a tight hug before picking you up in a delighted spin. You were startled by his sudden burst of energy but elated nonetheless. It was evident the princes were eager to start anew with you as well. Some of the princes began animatedly naming locations of where they could move to, while others began devising of list of what to pack and how to organize the entire move.
"No, nothing like that," you shake your head reassuringly, finally plucking yourself up off the edge of the windowsill. Heeseung's eyes sparkle when you make your way towards him, opting to settle by standing next to where he's seated on his chair. A muffled giggle slips past your lips when the prince easily guides you to sit in his lap, completely abandoning the previous papers he had been looking at. "I'm just curious about the move and what the new country will be like," you add, reaching a hand behind his neck to twirl the soft strands of hair that meet the nape of his neck.
After confirming you were ready to move, you had assumed the process would take months to even find a new home to reside in. Yet, the princes seem to have many more connections than you accounted for because Heeseung had proposed moving to an old castle that had been left in their names years ago, which garnered unanimous votes of agreement from the other princes. When they took notice of your intrigued expression, Heeseung explained that they had made many friends through the years they've lived thus far. These friends come from a variety of backgrounds, some being vampires while others are simply humans.
One friend group in particular had been the royal descendants of a small country. When the princes first met the royal family, the country had been dealing with bouts of criminal activity in one of the smaller villages that left the residents scared and home-bound. The seven vampire princes graciously offered to step in to lend a helping hand and surely enough, it hadn't taken long before the villagers were returning to their daily lives without leaving their homes in fear. While this event is only the tip of the iceberg of the princes' long-standing relationship with this family, it was clear they had a strong connection.
The princes went on to stay a couple of years within the country, seamlessly blending into a mundane lifestyle. But, as they had still been on the hunt for the princess in her first lifetime, they ultimately decided to move around to search for Her Highness. The day they paid a visit to the royal family before their final departure, the family insisted on gifting them one of their favorite castles that they used frequently for summer vacations, welcoming them back to visit whenever they pleased.
"If nothing has changed too much, then I'd say it's one of the most beautiful places ever. It had always been my favorite place to visit," the prince murmurs before placing an open-mouthed kiss on your pulse point. You shudder at his breath fanning against your skin, teasing you.
"Will the new castle also have a garden?" you ask, only half interested in Heeseung's response. Your eyes, however, remained glued to the prince's lips. Watching intently as he smiles softly with a hum.
"It's Jungwon's favorite garden if that helps you gauge," he nods, very much aware of your newfound interest. "What are you looking at, Princess?" he teases.
"Your lips," you respond breathlessly when his tongue darts out to wet the corners of his lips, an unconscious habit you've noticed of the eldest prince.
"Is there something on my lips?" Heeseung feigns innocence, choosing to act coy until he can get you to admit what's on your mind.
"No," you shake your head, bringing a hand up to thumb at his bottom lip. Your breath hitches when he matches your motions by placing a kiss on the pad of your finger. "May I kiss you?"
There it is. Heeseung preens, nodding silently. When you lean forward, your eyelashes flutter close as your lips naturally find his. This kiss is sweet and soft. There's no rush as if you're both savoring the moment.
"I could kiss you for eternity," Heeseung mumbles against your lips when you pull back slightly. You chuckle fondly and nuzzle the tip of your nose against his.
"I would like that," you hum, leaving one last peck before pulling back entirely. Heeseung frowns, fighting every urge in his body to pull you back into him. "Do you have a lot to pack?" you ask, glancing at the papers long forgotten on his desk. There are piles strewn everywhere and you briefly wonder if the prince is regressing in progress. His desk had appeared in pristine condition when you first followed him into the room a couple of hours ago.
"There's not much left. I just need to organize them," he shrugs. "Are you finished packing your things? We'll need to have most of our things ready by the time the movers arrive at the end of the week even though we're leaving next week. This way, our items will be at the new castle by the time we arrive."
"I'm done packing my things," you nod in assurance. "There wasn't much to pack anyway. Mainly my clothes," you add with a soft chuckle.
"We'll have to change that when we arrive in the new country. We'll go shopping for whatever you please the first day we get there," Heeseung announces determinedly.
"There's no need-" you flush, flattered that the princes are willing to give you more than what you're asking for. But the eldest prince cuts you off gently.
"Let me spoil you, love," he purrs. There's something so silky soft about his voice, it reminds you of your first time in this office. Moments prior to asking Heeseung to bite you, his voice had sounded so distant and serene – melodious like a siren's call. You felt as if you would do anything he asked you to.
"Alright," you hum, causing the prince to grin in delight. "Can I help you with anything?" you ask, rising from your comfortable seat on the prince's lap to look around the office. Heeseung frowns when the cool air rushes to replace where the warmth of your body had been pressed up against him.
"Sure," he agrees, replacing his frown with a small smile when you turn around to meet his gaze. "That means I get to spend more time with you." Oh, does Heeseung recognize that he's completely smitten with you - but he wouldn't have it any other way.
You have to bite back your own smile as you round his desk, making your way over to the remaining bookshelf that has yet to be touched. The shelves stand tall, much taller than you can reach. You scan the titles of the books briefly before grazing your fingers against the line of book spines. Just as you're about to pull out some books to bring over to the packing boxes, something catches your attention. There's a white canvas wedged in behind the bookshelf, one of its corners sticking out at an odd angle like it was shoved in a hurry.
When you pull curiously at the dusty material, there's a bit of resistance as it's stuck in between the bookshelf and the wall very well. But after wiggling it around a bit, you manage to slip it out of the tight space. Your breath catches in your throat when you turn the canvas around to examine what it holds. It's a rough sketch, an unfinished work void of any colors except for darkness. The pencil lines are harsh and vary in terms of strokes and pressure. The pencil marks dash about in every direction, making the artwork look almost frantic. A dark ominous shadow fills up the majority of the canvas. There's a figure sitting on the bottom left corner of the drawing, its posture defeated, head hanging low as the wall of shadow looks like an ocean wave consuming it. The setting of the piece is rather unclear, but the subtle hints are enough to tell you it's somewhere in this castle. There's only one faint light source in the very top right of the drawing. A faint moonlight shines down from above, but the source is so tiny it almost seems pointless.
"Heeseung? What is this?" you turn around to ask the eldest prince. Since you've begun organizing by the bookshelf, he's returned to reading through the documents lying on his desk. When he lifts his head to examine what you're holding, you notice an evident drop in his expression.
"I almost forgot about that," he chuckles dryly, rising from his seat and making his way over to you. When he stops beside you, one of his hands reaches down to trace the harsh pencil lines scattered across the canvas. "It's a drawing Riki started. Back when we were still waiting for your return. I think this was some time past the hundred-year mark."
Your heart lurches in your chest. Suddenly, the emotion of this unfinished sketch all makes sense. The feeling of emptiness, the dark shadows clouding the figure, and the overbearing feeling of defeat.
"I know you've probably already heard this countless times from us, but those years without you were truly hell, my love," Heeseung murmurs. When he reaches a hand out to cup one of your cheeks and you automatically lean into his touch, he smiles sadly. "We were trapped so far deep into the darkness every day and it seemed like our memories of you were so distant."
"I'm sorry I kept you all waiting for so long, Hee," you frown.
"Please don't apologize for something that was out of your control," Heeseung soothes. "Those years just made us realize how precious you truly are. You complete us. Without you, we would have gone insane. In fact, I think we did." Heeseung whispers the last part as if he's almost afraid to admit it. Suddenly, you're reminded of your last conversation with your grandmother.
"I knew very well that if the seven princes wanted to harm you, they would have done so already."
"Heeseung?" When you call out his name, your heart is suddenly racing in your chest, anxiously anticipating his response to your next question. He hums in response, eyes gazing deeply into yours. His expression is so calm, so unsuspecting. You almost feel bad for even second-guessing him and the other princes. But you've heard too much to keep these questions at bay. "What did my grandmother mean when she said you would have harmed me if you truly wanted to? Did you and the other princes used to harm others?"
The prince is taken aback by your question and you can see the fleeting panic flash by in his eyes. He swallows thickly and bites on his bottom lip as he contemplates telling you the truth. Heeseung is scared that you'll view the princes differently after hearing the truth - especially when he sometimes still thinks about the way you had called him a monster so easily the first night you reunited with him. But when you look up at him with an expectant gaze, he's reminded of the promise he and the others made with you weeks ago at lunch. The promise to communicate everything candidly in this eternal life.
"Yes, we did," he exhales shakily. "It's not something we're proud of." When he takes a moment to pause, to gauge your reaction, he had mentally braced himself to see an expression of horror or disgust. But the eldest prince is surprised to find a soft expression of encouragement resting on your features, prompting him to continue. You know there is more to the story and you're willing to hear him out until the end. Because deep within your heart, deep within your soul, you know your princes could never do any true harm.
"Shall we sit so you're more comfortable?" you offer when you notice the obvious distress painted on Heeseung's face. The prince is appreciative when you set the drawing back down by the bookshelf before leading him to his chair once again. He smiles softly when you instantly climb into his lap the moment he sits down. "Take your time, Hee," you smile in encouragement, taking one of his hands to hold and rub comforting patterns on.
"I don't even know where to begin," Heeseung sighs. His posture deflates a little, his back slumping into the support of the chair. "We didn't always harm people. We upheld a promise to ourselves and others that we would never do any harm."
"Like the unspoken promise you made with my village all those years ago," you hum in understanding, recalling from previous stories the princes told you when you first woke from the bite. Heeseung nods a couple of times, almost eagerly. "So then when was the first time it happened?"
"Sometime after the first unsuspecting guest ventured into our castle during the never-ending curse."
"The girl that helped you discover that your bite kills any other normal human?" you tilt your head in confusion when the prince nods silently once more. "I thought Jay said you turned away every other person that wandered into the castle thereon after, in fear of taking away their life?"
"We did at first," Heeseung purses his lips in contemplation. "For the next decade or so, we managed to scare away any person who wandered onto our property, before they could even get into the courtyard. But then I guess something in Sunoo just snapped one day."
"Sunno?" you gasp before you even get a chance to process Heeseung's words. The gasp is a sharp intake of air and a sudden chill rips through your body, starting from the top of your head and racing quickly until the tips of your fingers and toes feel numb. Never in a million years can you imagine the bright and cheerful prince to be the first one to snap under pressure. But the longer the thought sits with you, the more everything begins to fall into place. Perhaps, that would explain why Sunoo, to this day, still holds a mysterious aura to him that you can't quite name.
"It was quite hard for all of us to believe, truthfully," the prince nods, relating well to your shock. "Normally, his job was to enchant the wanderers and persuade them to leave the castle premises before they could get inside. But one day, I heard the front door open and close and immediately knew something was wrong. Something in my gut told me it was Sunoo. He had slipped into my office quietly when I was with Riki and enchanted someone from the village who had wandered near the castle and lured them to come inside. The next thing I knew, there was another body completely drained of its blood just lying on the ground in the grand foyer with Sunoo standing over him and blood dripping from his mouth."
You shudder at the mere sight that paints itself in your mind. It's so difficult to imagine Sunoo clouded by such a dark aura. Yet, you can't necessarily say it's completely unimaginable. The princes are vampires after all. And just because they're your destinies, it doesn't suddenly mean they're pure to the bone. No one truly is.
"The Sunoo that I saw that day, was someone that I didn't recognize. His eyes were so dark and so hollow. It's like Sunoo wasn't even there," Heeseung recalls, and his voice cracks at the end at the painful nature of this particular memory. "When the other princes came to see the commotion, I could tell some of them were slowly slipping away as well. It didn't take long before we all did," Heeseung laughs bitterly.
"Slipping away," you frown. "Like losing yourself?"
"Yes," he nods. "Before then, the hours without you had dragged by so slowly, love," he adds almost desperately. "It's like we completely forgot what it was like with you around while we were stuck in the monotonous motions of our new daily lives. Everything had turned upside down and it's like we were trapped in a world we didn't even recognize."
"And luring the village people in gave you something distracting to focus on." Everything finally clicks in place and Heeseung can only muster of the courage to give you a pained smile to confirm your suspicion.
"Suddenly, the long dreadful hours felt like minutes. We were so enraptured by the madness of the moment, we became consumed by the darkness." The prince's eyebrows pinch mid-thought and you give his hand a gentle squeeze to ground him. "I think deep down, we recognized that what we were doing was beyond wrong. But it's like something overtook us and just couldn't stop. Somewhere along the way, our need to find you, our love for you, turned into greed and erased itself. Instead, we transformed into these monsters."
The look in Heeseung's eyes is something you can't quite describe. His gaze is cast downward, scared to meet yours, and his eyebrows are pinched together in a mix of worry and fear. There are so many emotions swimming around in his irises and you know just by one glance that this is a dark past he and the other princes wish to bury and erase from their minds. Quite honestly, you're unsure of what you can say at this moment to alleviate even an ounce of the weight that must be bearing down on his shoulders. So, instead, you choose to reach a hand out to lift his chin gently until he's meeting your gaze.
When he does so, it's only then that you notice the clouded shadow hiding behind his eyes. A deep dark abyss lives within him, hollow and empty, waiting for the light to guide him. And there, right in his eyes, if you lean in close enough, you can see your own reflection. You look at Heeseung as if he's a shining star, with nothing but shadowless eyes. The prince instantly leans into your touch, nuzzling his cheek against your palm when you cup his face gently.
"I felt so empty without you, my love," he whispers, allowing his eyelids to flutter close when you lean forward to touch your foreheads together. "And I'm so scared to lose you again."
"You won't lose me again," you reaffirm confidently, moving to plant a kiss on the tip of his nose.
"You can't guarantee that," Heeseung quips back, tone full of doubt.
"Just like how you can't guarantee that you'll lose me again," you refute. There's a small smile resting on your lips when the prince opens his eyes to meet your gaze once again. You don't miss the way Heeseung's eyes dart down to trace your lips.
"May I make a selfish request?" he asks, his voice a little louder than before as if he were struck with a sudden idea.
"Of course, my prince," you nod. Heeseung finally tears his gaze away from your lips to look you in the eyes once more. He bites his bottom lip as he hesitates for a moment, calculating and contemplating.
"Promise me you'll hold me tight forever. You're my savior from the dark abyss and I don't ever want to be trapped there again."
The eldest prince swears to the stars he's in paradise when hears your heartbeat race at the brief yet impactful request. If anything, his ego swells with pride, knowing he has an equal impact on you as you do on him.
"Hee," you coo and watch in delight when the prince visibly preens in response. "You lost me once but you found me again. And now that you have me again, I'm never letting go. You're just as much my savior as I am yours."
"I don't know what I would do without you, Princess. You complete me. You complete all of us, really," the eldest prince beams.
"We complete each other," you smile back. There are a few beats of a comforting silence as you allow Heeseung to drink you in with his eyes, to re-memorize every feature of your face in this second life. "May I make a request myself?" you ask, breaking the silence cautiously.
"Of course, my love. I would do anything for you," Heeseung nods eagerly, sitting up straighter in his seat.
"Careful with that offering. That's a very powerful statement," you laugh jokingly, tracing random patterns just below the prince's collarbone.
"But I'm a hundred percent serious, love," he frowns, eyebrows pinching together in seriousness. "If I had to give up my eternal life just to ensure your safety, I would do it without any hesitation."
"Let's hope it never comes to that then," you frown at the mere thought of losing Heeseung or any of the other princes. "I wanted to request that you and the other princes train me."
"Train you?"
"Yes, help me develop my combative skills," you nod to clarify. "It's not that I don't trust you and the other princes. Quite the opposite, actually. But I just want to be prepared."
"Prepared? Are you scared something violent will happen again?" Heeseung frowns, muscles suddenly stiffening in alarm. Sure, he and the other princes have been practicing their innate and trained abilities ever since they first lost you to prevent past events from repeating themselves. But the eldest prince hasn't allowed himself to explore the what-ifs in depth. He's always been plagued by fear of the plethora of possible outcomes.
"I'm not sure. It's rather difficult to explain. I suppose we can never truly know what will happen, right? So I think it's better to err on the side of caution. That way, in case something does happen, I won't be sitting around like a damsel in distress. I want to be able to help - to be able to pull my own weight. What if something happens to you and the others? Then what? I could never live with myself if I lost you just because I hadn't been trained."
"You can't lose us, Princess. We have eternal life," Heeseung reminds you softly. Yet, there's no resistance in his tone so you know he's not opposed to the idea of training you.
"I suppose so," you nod contemplatively. "But it's been centuries since you've visited the country we're about to move to, right? Let alone the village. What if the people there have changed and don't take kindly to us? I would have peace of mind knowing I was well trained just for self-protection purposes."
The eldest prince pauses for a moment. His lips press into a straight line as he studies your expression. Something deep within him does not understand why you feel so adamantly about learning self-defense as he and the other princes will always be there to protect you. However, he also recognizes the determination resting on your features and could never bear to decline your requests. Yet, the longer he ponders on the topics, the more he recognizes the benefits of training you. Plus, how cool would it be for him to boast to all of his old friends that his princess can kick ass?
"Alright, we'll begin training tomorrow," he smiles with a definitive nod.
♡ ♡ ♡
I'm back with Chapter 10, Dalgis! I'm so excited, we're finally learning more about the princes' darker backgrounds. There will definitely be more to come after this 😉 Drafting this chapter made me realize how Enha's whole Blood series is the perfect inspiration for my Fate Bound series. Obviously, this storyline was crafted after the release of Dark Blood, but I realized that Orange Blood fits perfectly into this storyline as well. I used so many lyric inspirations from Still Monster for this chapter lol.
Question of the Week: What's the most beautiful place you have visited?
For me, I'd say the most beautiful place I've visited to date is Vienna, Austria. I traveled to Europe for the first time this summer and the architecture and history that's built into each and every street, building, and small detail was all so beautiful. I definitely want to go back to explore more of Europe in the future!
Moving forward, I'm a little worried about my updating schedule. Normally, I have at least one chapter drafted a week ahead. This way, I have a "buffer" for if I ever get writer's block. But I had such a hard time coming up with the plot of Chapter 11, and only just came up with the overall gist two days ago. Not to mention, my academic quarter is now coming down to its last week so my schedule is jam-packed with project deadlines and final exams. As of now, I don't have anything drafted but I plan on knocking out a good portion by the end of tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be able to abide by my weekly updating schedule and have Chapter 11 up by next Sunday. Hopefully, this is only a small roadblock and won't delay any future updates. But I'll keep you guys updated if I do foresee that I will need extra time to draft upcoming chapters, beyond my normal weekly turnaround times. I really don't want to rush anything because I want to ensure that each chapter I release is meaningful to the plot and not just a filler. So, thank you in advance for your patience and understanding!
I hope you're all staying safe, happy, and healthy! I love you so much 💗
Until next time,
Strawberheecake 🍓