So Hyukjae left. So Hyukjae became that person. Eunhyuk His Majesty wasted no time to erase all traces of his twin, to wipe out everything about his twin’s existence.

Family tree was altered. Sorry it’s corrected. Sculptures about the royal family history followed the same fate. Old ones with false information were thrown into flames, and the ashes buried in some foreign, desolate land.

All paintings in the palace were torn off and burnt. They were replaced with… better ones.

The name was not to be mentioned. It’s not even to be whispered. If anyone happened to sleep-talk that name, he / she could sleep forever.

No there’s no Lee Hyukjae. There had never been.

As time went by, in the Kingdom knowledge about that person began to fade. People began to forget.

Yet much to His Majesty’s dismay, the nightmare didn’t go away. Tried as he might, magic couldn’t help. And he lost count of how many mirrors he had shattered. Every time he looked, it’s always Lee Hyukjae he saw in the mirror.

His Majesty made everyone forget. His Majesty remembered still.

Whenever His Majesty picked up a mirror fragment, he saw Hyukjae weeping.

……

Kyuhyun kept staring at that person, fidgeting. His eyes flickered to His Majesty’s chamber, and then back to that person.

That person reached out his hand to Jiro, who slowly got on his feet. Moments later that person instructed Jiro to come closer, and then whispered something into Jiro’s ear.

Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed, straining every sense to decipher that whisper. OK he got it. No that couldn’t be. Really? Did he make a mistake? Kyuhyun gasped in shock. His eyes opened wide, finding it hard to take in what he just got.

And then something more unbelievable happened… right before his eyes…

It’s reflex action. Without thinking Kyuhyun’s hands reached into pouches concealed beneath his deep navy blue ninja clothing. All his nerves, all his muscles were immediately set in battle mode.

……

In his room, Donghae’s eyes were squeezed shut as he was fighting against the chill. He embraced himself tight. He shivered. Deep in his head, sounds of rummaging and footsteps rustling were ringing. His heart’s galloping added to all those. He’s sweating even though the chill was eating into his bones. The only warmth he felt were the two streams of tears flowing down his cheeks.

Pinqmeng. Shall we leave?

The next moment, without warning Donghae’s heart felt like stopped. He saw a pair of eyes. More accurately he knew he saw a pair of eyes. Whatever images playing in his head were burnt away by a fierce, scorching white.

And then it’s totally dark. There’s no more image. Only the feelings remained. Cold. Fear. Fluster. Grieve. Loneliness. Helplessness. Emptiness. Lost. Despair.

Donghae struggled to open his eyes, to come back to his waking life. But the memories gripped him. No. Not yet. There’s something more.

A pair of arms wrapped around him. The immediate reaction of Donghae was to stiffen and recoil. But then the warmth tenderly surrounded him, embraced him, touched him and melted him. His body began to lower its guard, began to trust the pair of arms.

Even though his eyes remained closed, Donghae knew someone was looking at him. He knew that someone was coming closer. Donghae was feeling kind of weird. He had never been this close with anyone. Not in terms of physical intimacy. But his soul… was like …

A pair of lips touched his cheeks. And right at that moment, as quickly as a spark faded Donghae was not in fear anymore. Yes he felt like , vulnerable, at the mercy of somebody else. But at the same time he knew he’s protected, treasured, desired. On his cheeks the pair of lips were so soft, so gentle, so lingering, so loving…

Arms holding him tighter…

Lips kissing him deeper…

……

… Your… Majesty…

Taking a sharp breath Donghae’s eyes flickered open.

He’s back in reality, alone in his room, hugging himself tight in a corner, confused.

Donghae frowned. Which one was right? Was he too acquainted with the touches of His Majesty… he imagined His Majesty touching him in his memories? Or… Was it indeed His Majesty who touched him at that time… therefore he was so acquainted with those touches afterwards? Acquainted was too mild a word. Donghae longed for, thirsted for, hungered for those touches of His Majesty…

Was… His Majesty… there?

Slowly Donghae got on his feet.

His feet took him rather than his brain. When Donghae regained enough senses he was at the door of His Majesty’s chamber.

……

Blood.

The blade was cold. It’s the same blade.

It hurt.

To the one who had his flesh sliced open, it hurt.

To the one who had his inner wound ripped open, it hurt.

Die! You have to die! DIE!!!

......

Hesitantly Donghae placed his hand over the door handle.

Donghae thought about knocking. He sighed. His Majesty had not seen him ever since he was brought back from where Mina took him. And Donghae knew it all too well how good an idea it was to disturb His Majesty.

The door was locked. Magic locked. But then… it opened.

Inside… there’s nobody…

……

Jiro was shocked, deep in pain. Not because of the sword suddenly punctured into his body. But because of what he just heard…

That person whispered to Jiro. “I’m Eunhyuk.”

It took his mind some seconds to comprehend the whisper.

Master… Hyukjae…

Jiro’s trembling, regretting. Tears flooded his eyes. Just why… Why did he let this happen to his master? He felt what his master felt at that moment… when the same blade forced itself into his flesh… slicing through muscles and tendons… cutting across veins and nerves…

Betrayed.

Heart broken.

Regret.

Bitterness.

Eunhyuk looked into Jiro’s eyes. He saw his twin’s accusing glare. Gripping the hilt of the sword tighter Eunhyuk it deeper into Jiro’s body. Blood kept splattering onto the ground.

Whatever, whoever reminds me of him should die! DIE!!!

Those arrogant and ruthless eyes of Eunhyuk frosted Jiro’s heart. When despair in the form of death seeped into his body, Jiro sneered. A spark of hope flashed in his eyes.

He’s the world’s best alchemist.

He’s his master’s most loyal servant.

Those would never change.

Even if he’s going to die, Jiro would die for his master. He would revenge his master with his own life!

Clasping Eunhyuk’s sword holding hand in his, Jiro summoned all remaining alchemistic power within…

That’s the most unbelievable scene Kyuhyun had ever witnessed, an alchemist transforming his own body into the most deadly venom.

In the blink of an eye Jiro’s body had liquefied. It retained the form of his body for another blink. And then those sticky, disgusting pile of fluid disintegrated and splashed onto the ground.

The robed figure staggered a few steps backward, finding it hard to take in what just happened. Stunned, reluctant to accept, the figure collapsed.

Hyukjae was derisively laughing. Eunhyuk heard his twin. Illusion or not, he couldn’t tell.

When Eunhyuk was lying there, his eyes were hollow. This shouldn’t be the case. This shouldn’t happen. This was not the plan. He heard footsteps rush towards him. He heard his alchemist Kyuhyun. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!” All sounds were muffled. It’s like he’s underwater and was sinking deeper. Chill began to creep over him.

Moments later he saw Kyuhyun’s eyes, dripping with concern and worries and horror. He glimpsed light. Kyuhyun just drew a rune on his forehead. Eunhyuk felt Kyuhyun stuff something into his mouth. He couldn’t taste it.

Eunhyuk heard Kyuhyun again. The alchemist’s voice was so desperate it haunted Eunhyuk. “Your Majesty! Swallow! Please! Swallow! Quickly! Your Majesty!”

Eunhyuk tried. But he couldn’t feel his mouth or tongue or throat. His whole body felt limp. Just some time ago he’s the one sitting on the throne, having the power and authority to command everyone, to summon magic. Yet now… he couldn’t even get his own body to obey him.

It’s hard to take in what just happened. It’s even harder to take in what’s going to happen.

I am… going to… die…

Memories flashed back. So this was how death looked like, what Hyukjae felt at that moment… The moment when Eunhyuk pushed the sword all the way through into Hyukjae’s heart…

Hyukjae… Hyukjae…

Forgive me Hyukjae…

I thought… after you die… the nightmare will go away…

I thought… I won’t fear anymore…

Hyukjae…

Eunhyuk heard the derisive laughs again. Yes he’s an idiot. If he’s to wipe off all traces of Hyukjae… he had to kill himself… Right…?

For the first time Kyuhyun saw fear and helplessness in His Majesty’s eyes. Looking down at His Majesty’s hand, he gasped seeing it had turned black. A few black lines like blood worms were dancing up His Majesty’s forearm, at a gradual yet terrifying pace. Without wasting another second Kyuhyun drew another rune with his gloved hand.

The rune could slow the worms… but there’s no way to stop them…

“No Your Majesty… No…” His Majesty said Kyuhyun didn’t have a heart. Yes that was almost true. Kyuhyun had almost forgot about the feeling. For the first time after no idea how long… Kyuhyun felt something weeping inside him…

Bewildered in His Majesty’s chamber, Donghae felt his heart jump out of his chest as he heard… the royal alchemist’s agonizing cry penetrating into the chamber…

“YOUR MAJESTY!!!!!!!”

------------------------------

A/N: YOUR MAJESTY!!!!!! What am I doing?!!!

A/N2: This was a difficult chapter. But because of this I enjoyed writing (and it took quite long, sorry). I'm taking you here and there and here and there... I hope I didn't confuse you too much? If you have questions just ask OK?

A/N3: I have started a blog where I will put my non-Eunhae stories. If you are interested you can find it here. You can see I've borrowed one Eunhae idea and put it there. Haha~~ Talk to me!!! THANK YOU!!!