horns were blared once again but this time, it was focused on the village. the horns nearer to the castle were not blared, so needless to say, everyone was confused. they got out of their houses and were surprised to not only see a swarm of royal purple at the village marketplace, but the prince there as well.
the prince stood on the podium and cleared his throat, and anyone could see that he was trying his best not to cry. murmurs started erupting, everyone wondering what had gotten the prince so sad and crestfallen.
"i am here to find the jung family, kang yeosang, jeong yunho and song mingi." san announced simply and watched as seven people stood away from the crowd, the crowd backing off to give them some space. yeosang immediately saw jongho standing next to san and crashed himself onto him, burying his head into jongho's neck. the guards raised their swords, only for hongjoong to utter a simple charm to disarm them. seonghwa then told them to go away, go wander around town or something — just leave them to be for the time being.
yunho and mingi obviously recognised hongjoong and the two immediately widened their eyes, bowing in respect of the royal sorcerer. hongjoong smiled softly and waved them off dismissively, "please, it's not the time."
mrs jung frowned as mr jung had a protective arm around her shoulder, "your highness, w-what's wrong?"
san smiled sadly and started, "firstly, i want to apologise. you trusted us to keep your son safe when you sent him off to us. it was our fault. it was my fault. i-i should've be the one in his place. if i didn't-"
seonghwa put a reassuring hand on san's shoulder and gestured at kyungmin. the poor boy was holding his mother's hand, huge eyes like wooyoung's doe ones staring up at the prince. san broke a bigger smile as the waterworks started, "wooyoung's at a better place now. he's gone because he was protecting me. and i-i'm so sorry. i should've kept him safe. i should've been the one. i'm so, so sorry."
silence covered them like a thin sheet of blanket, thin enough to break through but thick enough to be felt and acknowledged. mrs jung buried her head into her husband's neck and sobbed, yunho and mingi bowing their heads with their hands intertwined. yeosang—oh, yeosang looked shattered. the arm around yeosang's torso tightened when jongho felt yeosang trembling. hongjoong and seonghwa just stood there, in each other's embrace as they, too, mourned for wooyoung.
"your highness," a soft voice grabbed san's attention. san looked down and saw kyungmin smiling up at him, "you said hyung is at a better place now. if that's so, then why are you apologising? i bet he's smiling down right now, happy that at least we're all here together. we're the ones that hyung cared most about, aren't we?"
kyungmin's words brought a hopeful expression on everyone's face. dong-young scooped kyungmin into his arms and kissed his little brother's temple, "kyungmin's right. you're right, lil bud. he's at a better place now, ma, he wouldn't want to see you cry for him."
mrs jung lifted her head from mr jung's neck and smiled softly when her husband pressed a kiss to her forehead. san smiled at how all these affection the jung family were showering with each other reminded him so painfully of wooyoung. that's probably where wooyoung got all his affection from. and for that, san would be forever thankful to the jung family.
"your highness-"
"it's san, ma'am." san replied, "before your son passed, ma'am, i was his soulmate. but he went up to the moon goddess and asked for her to change our fate. he was still doing good until the very last minute, so i'm sure he'd want you to be proud of him instead of crying for him."
mrs jung just smiled and held her hands gently around san's face, "san ssi, you've done the most you can for my son. when he came back just a weekend ago, i could feel the happiness radiating off of him. i figured it had to be somebody that's making him this happy. i just never, ever thought it would be you. but i'm so glad it is you. you made him the happiest version he ever was. and for that, i thank you." mrs jung pressed a lingering kiss on san's cheek, "thank you, san ah."
