"Seonghwa?"

A sigh got muffled in Seonghwa's hands. The elf had buried his face in them to shield his strained eyes from the light and their exhaustion. When they traced down his cheeks so he could look up, he exposed the dark circles under his eyes.

Hongjoong closed the flap of the tent so no sunlight would reach the tormented prince. Gratitude washed over Seonghwa, but it was soon replaced by the prior dread.

"Any news from the front? They said more attacks hailed upon our civilians and my father is rushing for reinforcements."

Hongjoong shrugged. He had dragged Seonghwa away from Yeosang, where he insisted on holding him and have an eye on the dryad at all times. By the time Yeosang wound himself because he felt stifled, the sorcerer separated them for some space. Instead, he demanded Seonghwa to rest on his cot. Not that he could. The war around them haunted him.

"I am not your admiral. I wouldn't know."

Of course, he knew. Hongjoong knew it all. And he knew for the anguish in Seonghwa's heart, which was the reason for his silence.

Seonghwa rubbed his temples. A migraine throbbed behind his eyes and he felt stifled in the armour he had to wear in case of an emergency.

When the elf sunk into his ball of despair once more, the sorcerer left the entrance. His boots crossed the soft grass to come to kneel before Seonghwa. Gentle hands pried apart the fingers worrying his skin.

Their eyes met: gold and amethyst. Both were dulled with the dread of their crisis, but the former lacked their usual sparkle.

Hongjoong's brows drew together. This time, the tables reversed. Seonghwa wasn't the one to tend to his husbands' every whim. They had become pillars of strength by his side.

"Do you need me to be your husband right now or your strategist?" Hongjoong asked. There was nothing Seonghwa could do at this moment. They waited for the path to the northern village to clear so Seonghwa could visit the wounded victims of the dryads' attacks. Until their scouts returned with news, they had to sit in wait.

Seonghwa struggled. His duty mandated him to show no vulnerability and to strive assuredly for their victory while spilling as little blood as possible. On the other hand, Hongjoong knelt before him with understanding eyes, and he offered the private solace Seonghwa needed to drop the facade.

War was dreadful. Being the sole commanding voice over a camp was dreadful. Not having his father to hide behind anymore was dreadful.

Seonghwa gave in, if just for a few moments. Just as his father had his entourage and his close friends to support his back, Seonghwa had his husbands with him.

"I need you as my husband." His voice was small, afraid of showing weakness, of being perceived as unworthy of a crown prince.

But Hongjoong knew. Hongjoong had shown him his fragile heart, so he accepted Seonghwa's with the same compassion. When he stood to wrap Seonghwa into his embrace, the elf sunk into him with a shuddering breath. The hug eased the burden on his shoulders and he could breathe again to bask in Hongjoong's scent. Ever so mysterious, the herbs and smoke clinging to the sorcerer made Seonghwa's head spin in a good way.

They stayed like that for as long as Seonghwa needed. By the time he shyly untucked himself from Hongjoong because voices drew near outside, he felt much better.

"Thank you," he whispered.

With a warm chuckle, Hongjoong tucked a strand of Seonghwa's hair behind his ear. He withdrew when the admiral announced himself.

"Your Highness, the road to the village is clear. You may embark on your journey now," he called. Seonghwa stood to leave the tent and Hongjoong trailed behind him. The few curious glances that marvelled at their close relationship were quickly distracted by more pressing preparations.

"Extend my gratitude to your soldiers. We will make haste to be back before sundown." Seonghwa grabbed onto his unicorn when it came trotting over by itself. As soon as Yeosang emerged from his tent and the knights accompanying them had gathered, they raced out into the fields. Above them circled two large birds.

Seonghwa was back to his frigid perseverance. As they chased through the open landscape to avoid dwelling where the dryads might attack, nothing reminded of his earlier spell of weakness. The brilliance of his armour shone in the rays of sun that broke through the wintry clouds.

They arrived without a hitch. Since the guards expected them, they let them pass through their tightly knitted ranks. Reinforcements from the Kingdom of Man had arrived, and their sturdy armour was easy to tell from the petite elves.

A healer rushed in their direction when they dismounted in the middle of the village. Most streets were abandoned, but the soldiers bustled around the larger buildings.

With the wood elf came two mages and they bowed before Seonghwa when he took off his helmet.

"This way, Your Highness. Our warriors gained hope after hearing of your coming." They scurried ahead, and he followed, Yeosang and Hongjoong flanking him left and right. The sight of the dryad would have made the soldiers restless, but since everyone knew Yeosang by Seonghwa's side since his childhood, they trusted no danger stirred from him.

Or, perhaps, they heard how fiercely Seonghwa defended him, betrayal or not.

Seonghwa ducked into the biggest manor of the village, priorly the residence of the overseer. Now, the many rooms and halls were filled with sick beds instead of grand administrations. Blankets harbouring the injured bodies of their fighters lined the floor, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and vomit. Seonghwa trod carefully on the narrow tracks between those writhing in pain and his heart ached with them.

The few who were awake and seated on the benches with minor injuries spotted him first.

"It's the crown prince! His Highness has come to bless our cause!" They scrambled to bow and Seonghwa beckoned them and all those who fell quiet in their groans to stay put.

"Please, rest yourselves. I will come to each of you." He rounded the ones needing urgent care to talk to the coherent soldiers first. Their eyes sparkled at his sight and demons perched next to seraphim next to humans, all sharing the same goal.

Humbled and honoured to see them come together, though it was such a dark hour for it to happen, Seonghwa joined the soldiers. Their battered, tired frames straightened in pride.

"How are you? Recovering well, I hope?"

The soldier before him nodded. He was an elder elf with greying hair and he leaned into a demon's shoulder despite most people's lingering suspicions after the assassination. An attack from there, now the dryads. Had the seven kingdoms secretly converged to bring down the empire? Did Seonghwa need to fear betrayal amongst his closest?

A shiver ran down his spine. Hongjoong's hand found his lower back immediately, soothing his disturbance.

"Now that we laid eyes on our magnificent prince, how could we not? Our injuries are minor, some are off way worse. Saw some lad getting crushed by a dryad's stomp and live through it. I wouldn't want to be in his skin right now." Though empathetic with the agony of others, the warrior held a meticulous emotional distance. He was old enough to have fought in prior wars, especially in the last one, against the demons he now shared his bench with. He knew not to mourn everyone's loss.

Seonghwa addressed the commander, who hastened over to greet him.

"What is this camp's death toll?"

The man bowed, clutching his injured hand to his waist.

"23 fallen elven warriors and 7 humans. We have yet to count the civilians who were surprised by the initial attack, but well over four dozen found their demise under the agitated trees. More are injured than we can keep track of."

Seonghwa cast saddened eyes towards the ground. A misunderstanding brought them here, and he didn't know how to resolve it. If he handed Yeosang over against his will, the dryads would split from them and they would never see Yeosang again. So long as he was here and the royal family alive, however, the dryads wouldn't rest to punish them.

Yet Seonghwa didn't have the heart to call an all-out retaliation over a feeble mistake. So what if they slaughtered every dryad and reduced the Glistening Walnut Grove to ashes? What made them different? Both sides were wrong.

Seonghwa moved on, greeting and holding the hands of those too weak to stand. Their eyes lit up with hope when their shining prince perched by their side, his beauty gracing them with a relief that washed away their pain.

Hongjoong and Yeosang accompanied him for a while but took their leave when Yeosang couldn't bear the guilt and the stares any longer. While they waited outside, Seonghwa finished his round. The last he told to take care were the exhausted healers. All day, they tended to new fugitives or injured soldiers found in the fields. He promised to send reinforcements soon, now that the march of the dryads mapped out.

By the time he left the halls of misery and death, the skies greyed. The stars hid away as if ashamed such disgrace befell the Crystal Sphere. Seonghwa ripped his eyes away from a motionless body that got transported behind the house, beyond saving.

Hongjoong and Yeosang awaited him.

"What now?" The mage asked. Yeosang looked healthier than before, more coherent now that nature cleared his mind. Though glad to have him back, Seonghwa didn't dare address the two options to him. Forcing him to a decision was much too cruel.

"We await further orders from my father. He may demand I return to the castle so my life isn't endangered out here. Now that our reinforcements arrived, we can shelter all civilians. The doors to the Moon Castle are open to provide sanctuary. In the meantime, we need to find something to appease the dryads. Even if it's a threat to hold them back for long enough to clarify. As of now, they are misinformed of what is going on."

So long as this wasn't collective treason. Please let it not be treason. If someone told Seonghwa his husbands had been installed in the castle to win his trust and kill him when the time was ripe, he would crumble.

"Either way, there won't be a full-out retaliation. We defend and insist on peace with everything we have. And we won't hand over Yeosang," Seonghwa vowed.

A shadow lifted from Yeosang's features. An apprehension, a sneaking fear that he had to face the dryads out of his own conscience.

Seonghwa wouldn't let him. He would lock him up and apologise before he left Yeosang to those who abandoned him and then claimed salvation under a false excuse.

He loved Yeosang too much to let go.

Hongjoong nodded as they swung themselves on their mounts.

"Then let's go. I'm drained from casting such a big portal last night. I would like to know you safe where others can guard you."

They returned to the camp and briefed the admiral of their decision. The Moon Castle was a better place to defend themselves, and the mages there could open portals for an emergency escape into the Crystal Palace if defeat neared.

Seonghwa left the battlegrounds with a heavy heart. Though seeing everyone's suffering depressed him, he wished to stay and ease their distress. Soon, however, the flattened fields and destroyed carts disappeared in the distance as they traced the nightly paths back to the castle. They avoided all dryads, swift to pick up on their presence by their glimmer of magic Hongjoong spotted in the air.

Before he went to sleep, Seonghwa sent more courier birds to his father and brother, briefing them on the situation and the dryads' wrong assumption about Yeosang.

Perhaps it was an excuse.

Perhaps they truly regarded his fate as unfair.

Either way, they didn't listen to Yeosang or the royal family, and that was the largest problem.

They had to be stopped before more died and the empire demanded their extinction. And Seonghwa needed to prioritise his survival as the prince, or else he would go mad from the guilt of not being out there with his soldiers.