Chapter Text
Joshua has always been very observant, especially on the young prince.
His eyes were always on him since young.
He put the excuse that, as a knight, he must always be observant to the many dangers in which the prince can be in. Every suspicious move of possible traitors, the movements of the rivals in order to win on the battlefield.
And when Seokmin came back from his adventure, he knew something happened. Maybe because of the big smile on the prince's face. That was enough for the knight, him being happy was a positive thing.
And when the king enacted the anti-magic rule on all the kingdom, he watched closely. Even if Seokmin tried to hide it, his eyes expressed everything.
Was he angry? Kind of, and he was sad too, his brown eyes suddenly turning as blue and gloomy as the ocean. Joshua then knew something else happened.
Then he asked what was wrong about the new law, and Seokmin got mad.
“What’s wrong? Everything about it is wrong Josh!”
Silence. Seokmin couldn’t believe it.
“They are people like us, they deserve to live here, to be treated as us, and now my dad… everyone in this fucking castle wants to kill them just because they were born?”
Joshua understood that. Joshua knew they were wrong. Joshua observed those people too. He knew they were like them, and not “monsters” at all. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t.
“I’m sorry.” And he left the room that day, without saying another thing. Seokmin understood his position, and didn’t pushed any further on the topic.
Joshua knew that whatever the prince was thinking was wrong, but still loved Seokmin, because since his birth devoted everything to him, without a doubt.
Even if he knew they weren’t on the same side, he helped the prince. When he wanted to learn sword fighting, he taught him without a doubt. And when he wanted a map of the full region, he made a copy for him. He even reunited information for him when asked to do it.
“Thank you, Josh.” And his smile was enough for him to do so.
When he was born, even before learning how to walk, his parents told him that “Everything our family does is for the royal family, for their smiles and the good they will give to our kingdom.”
Even since then, he was devoted to it.
His mission? To protect Seokmin, because he will give the kingdom the greatest of goods.
He was also taught from a very young age that magic was wrong, so he listened and learned. His destiny was to give a fair punishment to magicians, to the monsters, and protect the prince from the spells the evil could attack him with.
Well, he didn’t do that right. Seokmin fell under the spell of love before he even had a chance to “protect” him.
But, the problem was that he was supposed to protect two things: the prince’s smile, and to protect him from magic.
But magic made Seokmin smile like anything else. What was he supposed to do then?
“Joshua, I’m leaving.”
He knew it was happening someday, and after 13 years, his farewell was announced.
“Be safe, my prince.”
“Not trying to stop me?”
“As if I could persuade you to stay.”
The prince chuckled. “You are right.”
After a comfortable silence, Seokmin looked at him with a soft smile. “And I can’t persuade you to come with me, either, right?”
If only I could. “I’m sorry.” He felt something humid rolling down his face, that was the first time he cried in front of anyone, and Seokmin hugged him.
“I don’t blame you, Josh, I know what they taught you.” His words were warm, and that made him cry even more.
Seokmin was taught the same thing as Joshua, but he could fly, while the knight could not. And that hurt, because Joshua wanted to be able to fly too.
So he devoted himself to Seokmin. If he could fly for both of them, it was okay. Maybe in another life they could be both free.
His happiness was on him, on the prince, and the hope he will show him paradise one day.
“Goodbye, see you later Josh.” He didn’t make a promise though, because both of them knew he may break it, his mission wasn’t an easy one. But Joshua was okay with it, as he watched him go with a tiny smile.
Seokmin was not doing this only for him, but for Joshua, for all the people that couldn’t fly, for his love and his people.
With a smile and now out of the castle, he smiled at the moon and talked to her. “Now pretty, where can that black kitty be?”
He looked at the map and his notebook. He needed a fortune teller, or something like that.
The list was big, but one called his attention. “Xu service… The greatest magician will answer your doubts before the bell rings.”
“Sounds good to me. Well miss Moon, accompany me in the search for this Xu.”