Act 3 : The Living Sorcerer

After eating his breakfast and a bit of scolding from his papa, Heeseung went back to the library and took out the notes he made before heading to the stables.

"Prince Heeseung,"

Soobin called when he saw Heeseung in front of his horse stable. The prince turned to the stable keeper, "Tomorrow I have to trim the hooves of these horses, so I'm afraid you can't use your horses for... you know..." Soobin explained, Heeseung nodded, "I understand, no problem, I'll tell him, thank you Soobin-ssi," replied Heeseung, Soobin nodded.

Heeseung then took his horse out of its stable and galloped the horse out of the palace area. Heeseung looked at the map he took from one of the books in the library, "I hope this map is accurate," Heeseung muttered looking at the map.

Without the prince knowing, a crow flew not far behind him and followed where Heeseung's horse ran. "It seems the prince wants to go to the ruins of the former Chaconne Kingdom," Sunoo said in a lotus position and his eyes closed, Jake frowned when he heard that, "Chaconne? The swan prince's kingdom? What does he want? That place is nothing but no man's barren wasteland," said Jake, Sunoo shrugged his shoulders, "I think he found something..." Sunoo replied. Jake put his index finger on his chin, thinking, "Keep watching him, Sunoo, we might be able to find out something..." Jake said, Sunoo nodded.

A few hours later, Heeseung arrived at a clearing he had never known was outside the borders of his kingdom, "The former kingdom should be near here," said Heeseung looking around the place, until he saw something at one point, Heeseung directed his horse to walk towards the object. The object that Heeseung saw turned out to be a ruined gate made of marble. Heeseung got off his horse and approached the ruins to see it better.

Heeseung brushed off the dust that covered the writing on the ruins of the gate, "Chaconne...." Heeseung read the writing, "This is the kingdom ruin," said Heeseung then stood up and looked at the ash land dotted with traces of buildings in front of him.

Heeseung pulled his horse to enter the area as he looked at the traces of burnt buildings. He looked around as he walked, "The incident must be bigger than I thought," Heeseung muttered.

The eldest prince continued walking, until he found a building that caught his attention. Heeseung pulled his horse closer to the building which looked still intact even though it looked burnt in several parts.

Heeseung tied his horse to one of the charred wooden posts before entering the building.

While inside, Heeseung was surprised to see that the inside of the building was not as burnt as the outside and could be said to be neatly arranged. "What the..." muttered the prince as he walked across the room with a confused expression.

"Who's there?!" A voice startled Heeseung, before he had time to turn around, suddenly his feet were pulled up by a rope so that the prince was hanging upside down. While Heeseung was trying to free himself, a figure appeared from the room on the top floor of the building and slowly come down the stairs.

Heeseung stopped moving when he saw the person. "What's your purpose here?" The man asked when he reached the bottom of the stairs. Heeseung just stared at the man silently, his appearance looked like he was probably the same age as his fathers, his long blonde hair was neatly tucked behind his ears and he seemed to take good care of it considering the condition of this building which was supposed to be abandoned.

The man approached Heeseung, "I ask you once again, what is the purpose of—" the man stopped talking when he saw the royal emblem on Heeseung's clothes, The Dark Moon Emblem? The man thought, "Who are you?" The man asked changing his question. "My name is Heeseung, the eldest prince of the Dark Moon kingdom," answered Heeseung introducing himself, "Prince?" The man muttered, he thought for a moment then smiled, "Ha, who would have thought..." He said before taking out the dagger from his waist and cutting the rope that hanging Heeseung, the prince fell with his head hitting the floor.

Heeseung groaned holding his aching head while trying to sit up.

"I never thought I would be approached by the child of my guinea pig," said the man then sat down on one of the sofas in the room. Heeseung frowned, "Guinea pig?" Heeseung asked as he stood up, the man nodded, "Both of your fathers wanted a child to inherit the royal throne, but because they were both men, there was nothing they could do but adopt a child, but your grandfather was against it, so he suggested that they consult with me," explained the man, recalling the events of the past.

"They finally asked me to make one of them able to bear children without having to adopt, at first I was a little doubtful, but because your father had helped this kingdom, I did it as a form of return, and finally, you were standing in front of me, who would have thought that magic would work very well, " explained the man again while leaning on the sofa.

Heeseung listened to the man's story carefully, until he finally remembered something from the man's story. "So you are the sorcerer of the Chaconne Kingdom that my father told me about?" Heeseung asked approaching the man, "Oh? King Chan still remembers me apparently..." The man said, Heeseung shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, you have been a big influence in my family history, of course my two fathers will remember you, and as you can see, they are happy with your hard work," said Heeseung as he raised his hand to show the meaning of his sentence.

The man looked at Heeseung then chuckled.

The man then stood up and approached Heeseung, "My name is Yongbok, nice to meet you Prince Heeseung," said Yongbok holding out his hand and Heeseung shook his hand. "Then, you haven't answered my first question, and I'm sure you didn't come here to thank me," said Yongbok returning the topic to the beginning before they met.

Heeseung looked at Yongbok before speaking. "I'm sure you know Jungwon, the prince of the Chaconne Kingdom," said Heeseung, Yongbok fell silent hearing Heeseung's statement then sigh. "Of course I know him," said Yongbok approaching the bookshelf in the room, "He is a kind, friendly prince, and I can say, his love for his subjects is very big," said Yongbok as he took one of the books from the shelf it then opens page by page. "I always remember every morning he came to my room and asked to be taught some magic," said the sorcerer then gave Heeseung a book showing a photo of Jungwon and his parents, the prince looked at the photo. "Unfortunately I lost track of him when the incident occurred," said Yongbok, remembering the rebellion carried out by Jake that destroyed his kingdom.

Heeseung is still looking at Jungwon's photos in the book Yongbok gave him.

"By the way, how did you know about Prince Jungwon? "MI don't remember ever telling your father the prince's name," asked Yongbok curiously. Heeseung suddenly looked up from the book and met Yongbok's eyes. Heeseung closed the book, "I found the whereabouts of Jungwon and his subjects," answered Heeseung, Yongbok widened his eyes at Heeseung's answer. "Y-you found Prince Jungwon's whereabouts?" Yongbok asked in surprise, his voice almost shaking from the sudden wave of happiness he felt, Heeseung nodded. "Wh–where is he? I beg you Prince Heeseung, tell me," asked Yongbok approaching Heeseung, but Heesung held his body before he got too close to him, "I'm sorry, but I promise him not to tell anyone his current location," replied Heeseung. Yongbok's shoulders dropped when he heard Heeseung's answer, "I see..." Yongbok said before moving a little away from Heeseung. "Sorry, I was too happy to hear that he was still alive, with his existence, I'm sure Chaconne can stand back up again," said Yongbok smiling bitterly.

Heeseung looked at the sorcerer in front of him, You miss your royalty huh? Heeseung thought. "Well, if you want to help him, I have a request," said Heeseung, Yongbok looked up suddenly, "Anything to help Prince Jungwon," said Yongbok.

Heeseung then explained the situation of Jungwon, Ni-ki, and his people who were with them at their secret lake, his relationship with Jake and the dark sorcerer's purpose, as well as the real reason Heeseung came to the ruins.

"You want a way to break the curse from Jake?" Yongbok asked to confirm, Heeseung nodded.

Yongbok then walked away from Heeseung towards a table near the stairs, he slam the table, "Jake... it's not enough that you destroyed his kingdom, killed his parents, you cursed him too," muttered the sorcerer annoyed. Yongbok then took a deep breath to calm himself, "Prince Heeseung," called Yongbok as he turned to face Heeseung, "I will help you, I've done research to counter Jake's magic, I might be able to give you a way to remove the curse you said," said Yongbok, Heeseung nodded, "That's good, Yongbok–ssi, just take your time and let me know immediately if you find anything," Heeseung asked, Yongbok nodded in understanding.

Heeseung came out of the ruins of the Chaconne Kingdom on his horse, "The sun is almost setting, I'd better go straight to Jungwon's place," said Heeseung spurring his horse towards the lake of the swans.