The sun had barely peeked above the horizon, but Yunho was already standing outside, cold whipping through his silver hair.
The orange glow of sunrise reflected in his crisp, blue eyes.
His chest rose as he took in a deep breath to clear his head.
"So this is it."
—
Earlier-
Yunho was peacefully sleeping in his bed when…
*Knock knock*
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Yunho stirred in his bed. There seemed to be a loud noise coming from nearby, but he couldn't bring himself to get up.
In both the hospital and in this world, Yunho had hardly felt rushed to wake up, so he always slept deeply and woke up on his own accord. That didn't mean that he slept in late, but he wasn't the type that alarms worked on.
"Ah, it's probably just a bird. Mm… it'll leave soon," Yunho groggily mumbled to himself before he went back to sleep.
Then…
He felt a hand shake his shoulder.
"Ah… Jangmi? Is it…"
Wait, I'm not in the hospital anymore.
"Oh, it's probably just Rizer…" Yunho thought, but…
The hand shook him harder as if they were getting impatient. The butler or any of the servants had never done that.
Who is this?
Yunho quickly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.
There, in front of him, was an unfamiliar person. They were dressed in all black and were standing at the side of his bed.
"You're finally awake… I have something for you…" The stranger continued to speak, but Yunho couldn't even focus on the words.
"This is the end of me isn't it… Did I make someone so mad with me that they called for an assassin? Maybe I'm not fated to ever live a long life."
The stranger reached into their bag and began to pull something out. Yunho closed his eyes and barely mustered a few words.
"Please don't!"
But… nothing happened?
"Huh? Why are you closing your eyes? Just take it. His Grace told me to do this quickly."
His Grace…? Did they mean the Grand Duke?
After a moment, Yunho slowly opened his eyes, and he saw the thing the stranger pulled out from their bag…
was a letter?
"Please, my arms are going to get tired," the mysterious person said with exhaustion. There seemed to be no malicious intent in their voice.
"Ah, sorry…" Yunho took the letter from their hands and opened it.
The letter read:
"Due to recent escalations, we're going to have to go sooner than I had initially planned. Unfortunately, it seems that any delay of action could be grave, so I wasn't able to give you a reasonable period of preparation. If you haven't changed your mind, please follow the carrier I sent to deliver this letter as soon as possible. He should have a scar on his right eyebrow."
It was stamped with the Duke's seal and had the same rushed handwriting as the letter from before.
Yunho looked back at the stranger and saw the large scar that ran through their right eyebrow, stopping right before the eye.
It wasn't something that could be easily faked, so Yunho felt more at ease.
"So… he wasn't here to kill me," Yunho said under his breath with an exhale.
He was still shaking from the leftover fear.
The stranger's eyebrows furrowed. He had clearly heard the mumbled words.
"What? No. I'm sorry for coming in unexpectedly, but you would not wake up no matter how much I knocked at the window. And this is a pretty important assignment I was given. So, I just forced the window open. But… I'm sorry again."
Yunho suddenly remembered the loud knocking noises that he had heard but ignored earlier.
So, that's what it was…
Thinking about it, how long was this guy out there while Yunho was sleeping like a log? The realization made Yunho feel a little apologetic.
But, really, the Grand Duke couldn't choose a less scary method of delivery???
What would've happened if Yunho were like one of those guys from the cheap action movies that the hospital would sometimes play? The type that talked with their fists first and with their mouths later?
That would've been disastrous…
Yunho was still in his pajamas and had to get dressed and pack a bag to leave while it was still dark outside.
He took some essentials, including clothes, hygiene items, snacks, and a few sheets of paper and a pen with ink.
He was about to leave with the messenger when he remembered something important.
Yunho grabbed another sheet of paper and wrote a lengthy explanation for the servants who were going to be left behind in the lodge.
Since Yunho would be gone for what would likely be at least months, they were allowed to go back to their hometowns. He felt a bitter feeling about having to leave the people who had basically become his family in this world, but Yunho knew he'd see them again.
After writing the letter and placing it in the kitchen, Yunho followed the messenger out of the lodge.
Hidden nearby under a tree was a medium-sized carriage. It was dark blue and blended in with the night sky.
Without a word, the messenger petted the carriage horse and sat in the coachman's seat.
"Let's go."
–
The trip wasn't too long, and soon they had arrived at their destination.
"We're here. The Northern training grounds," the messenger said. Yunho got out of the carriage and looked around.
The training grounds were large and looked like a mix between a military base and a campsite.
There were some beaten roads leading to barracks and a fenced area where some people were already practicing their combat skills.
"Those people are probably a part of the Grand Duke's military force." Yunho thought.
There seemed to be a lot of these soldiers, and they were all over the place.
"Are you looking for His Grace?"
The voice came from behind him, and Yunho whipped his head around in surprise.
It was the man with the scarred eyebrow again.
"Maybe he is trying to kill me, but from a heart attack instead."
Yunho kept the thought to himself.
"His Grace will want to know that you're here. Follow me. He should be in the meeting room."
The man began walking in a direction. He wasn't making sure Yunho was following but was walking slow enough for him to.
Yunho tailed the man, and they entered one of the buildings on the grounds. It was a simple building, clearly made for practicality over aesthetics.
The man stopped at a door and pushed it open a little.
"Sir, I've brought him. He's currently with me."
There was a beat of silence.
The man seemed to have expected this, but suddenly, there was a response.
"Tell him that he can come in."
The man with a scar seemed a little surprised to actually get a response but turned to Yunho and nodded.
"You heard him. I'll leave now."
Now alone, Yunho pushed the door open further and took a step inside.
There, the Grand Duke was seated at a table. There was a large map spread out in front of him, and papers were scattered across the tabletop.
But, what caught Yunho's eye was the fact that it wasn't only the two of them in the room.
There was a second man seated next to the Grand Duke. He looked up from the papers in his hand, and Yunho sucked in his breath.
The man had ruby eyes, the same color as the Grand Duke, and his hair was the same color as golden thread. He was wearing an ivory-colored cape-suit and black boots. Yunho could feel his eyes slowly analyzing him.
The Grand Duke turned to Yunho.
"So you didn't have a change of heart… We'll be leaving here in an hour or so. If you want to rest or prepare in the meantime, there should be a room you can stay in in the westernmost building on the grounds. Ask someone around if you can't find it."
The other man chimed in, "Ah, the last room in that building should already be occupied though, so even if the door's unlocked, don't go in."
Yunho nodded and was about to leave when the other man said something else.
"And you… Do you happen to be Iris? Iris of the Evastine household?"
Yunho looked back and smiled.
"Yes, I am."
Yunho did a small bow, but he felt like his brain was overheating despite the cold weather.
The other man just returned the smile, but there seemed to be a more complicated expression in his eyes.
"Nice to make your acquaintance."
Yunho nodded, "Nice to make your acquaintance as well."
And with that, Yunho quickly left, making it out of the building and into the chilly outside again.
The wind whipped through the air, and Yunho gazed at the blooming tangerine color in the sky. The sun had begun to tiptoe out of the horizon and gazed back at the silver-haired youth. The stars were still twinkling in the fading dark.
It had been a while since he'd seen the sun rise.
"Ah, so this is it…" Yunho thought. His heart was beating hard in his chest.
Because the man back there was the one and only Crown Prince of Lucivia— Nikolai, the male lead of the original novel, someone he'd only seen from afar or in writing from before this point.
Yunho knew he'd be here. Nikolai was an important character during the war arc, so it wouldn't make sense if he weren't here.
But what was really stressing Yunho out was the odd look the Crown Prince gave him.
And, the fact that if Nikolai was already here…
Irene was too.
—
Who knew meeting your brother-in-law would be so scary?
—
End of Chapter 31