Chapter Text
The Crown Prince had taken Mingi to the knights’ training ground.
It was a huge ground, there were straw dummies for practice, weapons of different kinds, wooden and steel both.
The prince walked beside Mingi to the knights.
They bowed to the prince, greeting him and the advisor.
Yunho called for a particular knight.
“Yes your highness?” The knight asked.
“Mingi, he will accompany you to the Northern Temple” the prince said to Mingi beside him.
Mingi looked at the man in front of him.
His name was Choi San. He came to know.
The man was shorter than both Mingi and Yunho, yet carried the aura of someone who could lift four horses with one arm and still have energy left to chase a thief.
At Least Mingi now knows he won't die on the trip.
“Thank you agreeing to accompany me” Mingi said politely to the knight, extended his hand.
The knight smiled, shaking his hand.
“Ofcourse Sir”
He was glad to discover San wasn't as intimidating as he looked.
In fact, the prince had gone back to his study after telling him to pack for tomorrow's early morning departure.
Leaving the two alone. The more he talked with the knight, the more Mingi realised how social he was, and somehow he had the sweetest heart.
“I miss my cat”
“You have a cat?” San nodded.
“Her name's Byeol. But she's my parents cat”
“That’s nice. I have a pet mouse too, her name's Rami”
“Oh?! Can I meet her?”
Mingi chuckled at his childlike enthusiasm.
“Ofcourse you can. Although she's with Martha. I'll introduce you to her after we come back. Though you'll need to introduce to Byeol too”
“Sure. Although it might take a while, knights don't get off duty by their choice”
Mingi nodded. A knight’s work isn't easy afterall.
———
Tomorrow would be the day Mingi would wake up in the Northern Temple instead of Yunho's palace.
It was night, perhaps midnight with the way Moon was hung up outside his balcony. Enveloping everything with its soft silver glaze.
Mingi couldn't sleep.
He sat up in bed, feet touching the cold marble floor. The palace was quiet. The guards were probably half asleep, servants and Martha would be either preparing for next day or catching their Z’s as well.
Yunho was likely busy with paperwork.
San was probably working out in the dead of night, he hoped that guy would be asleep though. And Rami was adorably curled up on the pillow, resting.
His thoughts, however, refused to rest.
He's halfway through regretting about siding with the temple back in the court, he wouldn't be here if he didn't speak that day.
He didn't even know why the Northern Temple despised the Crown Prince. What if they had a valid reason that Mingi failed to see of the prince? What if they refused to speak to him? What if they throw him out and refuse to even hear him out? What if they declared a war? What if-
No no no, happy thoughts Mingi, happy thoughts
Mingi slapped both his cheeks lightly, trying to stop his pessimistic thoughts.
He exhaled, it's best not to panic before a huge thing but Mingi couldn't help himself.
So lost in his head, he didn't notice his door open.
“Are you alright?” A familiar voice asked from behind.
Mingi jumped, his head snapped back to see who it was.
“Oh! It’s just you.”
Yunho raised an eyebrow at that.
“Scared me for a second,” Mingi said, palm pressed against his chest.
“Why aren't you asleep yet?”
Yunho asked as he stepped further into the room.
“You’re meant to depart at sunrise.”
Mingi narrowed his eyes. “Why aren’t you asleep?” he deflected back.
“Wasn’t sleepy”
“Same.”
Yunho sat beside him on the edge of the bed.
“If anything goes wrong” the prince said, “Escape first. I'll handle the aftermath”
Mingi blinked. “How did you know I was thinking that?”
Yunho didn't reply.
The prince spoke up, after a beat passed.
“...Priest Min was known for his kindness, despite being from the enemy kingdom, he was respected by the people here if not the tyrant. It's likely people will recognise your face”
The prince called his father a tyrant. Mingi noticed.
“Do priests here have magic or something? Can they see I'm not really...him?” Mingi asked.
Yunho arched an eyebrow at the question.
“Do priests not exist in your world?”
Oh right
Mingi had never actually explained the details about his transmigration.
“They do, but there's no magic. My world is nothing as lavish as..” Mingi vaguely gestured to the marble floor beneath their feet, silk bed sheet with embroidered corners that they were sitting on, walls and pillars carved in intricate design, and a wide balcony spilling silver light. “this. It's more mundane”
Yunho nodded in understanding.
“I was actually drinking coffee when I ended up here,” Mingi added.
Keeping out the part where he fell into the world of a novel. Mingi doesn't want to give the crown prince an existential crisis yet.
“Yes, the priests do have magic,” Yunho answered Mingi's earlier question.
“But they cannot see others' souls. Some with divine powers can heal others upto a degree. Although bringing back the deceased is not possible”
Mingi nodded along with the information.
“Priest Min had a strong divine power,” Yunho added, “If the divine blessing is of the body, you might have it too. But if it's of the soul, then perhaps not. I don't know much of it”
“Is that how he healed your hands?” Mingi asked, curious.
Mingi remembered when the prince spoke of the priest ever so gently, the time when he had healed the prince's hands.
Yunho nodded, slowly. Gazing towards the open balcony. His expression had softened.
“I met him only once, by accident,” Yunho said quietly, reminiscing.
“I ran away from training that day. He had visited the Central Temple when the war wasn't going on. I collided with him. Tackled him, really.” Mingi heard a faint breath of laughter.
He looked at Yunho.
“My hands were bruised from all the training. After all, a young boy could only do so much. He took them in his. Healed them. Didn’t ask for anything in return, just told me that happy endings exist. That was my driving force for quite some time”
His eyes were sparkling from the moonlight, gazing at something afar.
Oh.
“Right.” Mingi voiced out.
Silence fell.
“Is San awake?” Mingi found himself asking, changing the topic.
Yunho snapped back from his memory of the priest.
“No, why? I can deliver it to him. What do you have to say?”
Mingi looks at him for a moment.
“You're a crown prince”
Yunho looked at him. His silence said, ‘And?’
Mingi sighed.
“Forget it, it's nothing, I'll tell him myself. You should go to sleep”
“You too. Martha will be here in morning to help you with the departure”
Mingi hums in response. Few moments later, Yunho rose and quietly left the room. Closing the door.
Mingi falls behind, back hitting the bed. Rami, still sound asleep on her pillow.
“I should sleep too..” he murmured to himself, best to not think too much.
—