The journey ahead would be long, the edge of winter prolonging their journey as the horses grew cold and stiff. The carousel was made of beautiful caramel colored wood, the arch, keeping the snow from falling on it's passengers detailed with elegant organic swirls.
The royals had warm thick hides wrapped around them while Iseul sat in the back with a small simple blanket wrapped around his shoulders, his nearly blueish purple fingers clinging onto it to keep his body warmth inside.
The princess felt bad for the boy as she was tempted giving her hide to him, but she knew her brother would disapprove; She never understood why, he used to be so kind to everyone.
The travel was quiet, only the horse's hoof hitting on the roads that gradually grew whiter and whiter from the snow. The only human thing being heard being Iseul's shiver and uncomfortable breathing as his chest grew tighter and tighter.
The princess nudged her older brother's side as she looked at Iseul with a visible frown on her face, making the prince roll his eyes before reaching his arm behind him towards Iseul's shoulder.
Iseul who felt the firm grip on him began to immediately say every apologetic sentence he could find, together with his eyes firmly shut. What did he do wrong now? Was he breathing too loud for him to be obnoxious to the prince?
To his surprise, he suddenly felt warmth covering his body as he slowly opened his eyes, looking at his knees and slightly touched that of the baby blue robes of the prince. Was he under his arm? He carefully looked to the right, seeing the slightly rosy detailed strong hand resting on his shoulder.
His eyes then traveled up to meet the beautiful chocolate brown eyes of the princess who gave him a small nod. Iseul mouthed 'thank you' to her as he held his hands together to blow into his palms to warm them.
The prince noticed the trembling the smaller man had going through his body, though this time he didn't seem scared; Just this once making him feel relieved, not aggravated.
Eventually, the farther they went away from their estate, Iseul's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, so heavy to the point he fell asleep quietly. He had a long night and his hands were full of cuts of the sharp thread.
Jun-Suk felt Iseul lean into his side which made him slightly higher his arm to look at him before he looked slightly surprised, his eyes slightly widened and his teeth slightly showing through his slightly departed lips. His eyes quickly traveled towards the princess who chuckled sweetly.
She thought the sleeping Iseul looked adorable, but she was not the only one; Jun-Suk had grown weak at the sight of his sweet peaceful face once more as he gently wrapped his arm around the boy once more.
The siblings conversed with each other quietly, they didn't want to possibly wake the sweet looking exhausted weaver up. He deserved his rest.
Every now and then when the carousel would fall quiet, the siblings' eyes would fall down onto Iseul, checking up on him, was he still sound asleep? Was he still comfortable and warm? That's all the princess could care about.
The prince would be lying if he'd say he didn't feel the slightest bit of care to this boy, though he couldn't explain for himself why. This weaver manages to get on his nerves for the slightest thing, yet also appears in his mind nearly every second of the day, was this weaver actually an evil spirited demon feasting off of him?
He sure didn't have the face of one, if any, he looked more like an angel.
After the long travel, the three ended up in a small cozy town with medium height walls protecting it from any predator hunters.
The royal siblings were soon greeted by formal attired dressed groups of people who looked slightly confused at the boy the prince was holding in his arms, he nearly looked passed away by how still he was.
"Did you find that boy out in the cold on your way here, milord?" A lady asked which the prince quickly cut off "No, this is our personal weaver, lets go inside so he stays warm" he ordered. Once inside, the prince pointed at the person behind the counter.
If the prince recalled correctly, Iseul and Tae Kim were drinking ginseng tea, so he figured he'd order that exact flavor as they'd settle down on the comfortable cusions.
Eventually, Iseul woke up by the clear smell of ginseng tea, opening his eyes slowly as he looked up at the jaw of the prince who was cradling him. "Lord..?" Iseul nervously spoke before the man looked down at him.
"You're awake, your tea is waiting for you," the prince said as he put Iseul to sit by his side, between him and his sister who was carefully drinking from the hot tea.
"Who would've thought our young lord enjoyed ginseng tea?" an attendee said to which the prince responded, though it was clear he thought deeply about what he'd say "Our weaver recommended it."
The attendees looked over at Iseul who could just sink in a little puddle on the floor, why out of everyone would the prince put attention on him? This was a bad idea.
Under the low risen table, the prince's hand slid up to that of Iseul's thigh, resting it on there as Iseul flinched, slightly hitting his elbows into the table, knocking some tea over his cup and onto his fingers.
Iseul yelped at the warm water burning his skin before he bowed his head "Apologies... I got a shiver," Iseul excused himself before moving his hands under the table to grab onto Jun-Suk's hand and push it away.
The prince grew a grin before he pulled his hand back, then listened to what the officials had to say about their trading contract. Could this be one of their contracts that made them so wealthy? Iseul thought as he carefully listened.
So far, it didn't sound so intriguing or out of the ordinary, until the mention of another family's name...