Kyuhyun returned to his chamber and flopped down into his bed. The bitterness didn’t go away. It only got more intense. Even the air he’s breathing smelled bitter.

That Donghae didn’t do anything! Kyuhyun had been through so much for His Majesty. Kyuhyun risked his life so many times for Eunhyun. Kyuhyun had never uttered a word no matter how difficult or dangerous the tasks he was given…

Like Donghae, Kyuhyun was an orphan. He witnessed death too many times, even before he became an assassin, it came to a point he no longer had any feeling towards death or grief or sorrow. He no longer had a heart.

And that’s exactly what His Majesty saw in Kyuhyun. That’s why Eunhyuk picked Kyuhyun. That’s something Kyuhyun was proud of.

He still remembered the day when death almost claimed him...

……

Kyuhyun, still a teenage boy at that time, was staggering aimlessly forward on the parched land. The sun showed no mercy. All clouds had fled from her rage. There’s also no tree to shield Kyuhyun from her wrath.

The taste of food was something Kyuhyun could no longer recall. He hadn’t eaten since long enough to lose that piece of memory. Yet he wouldn’t forget how it felt when refreshing water travelled down his throat. The sun was making sure Kyuhyun would remember that.

There’s nothing in sight. No end to this parched, cursed land. No living creature. Not even dead bodies. Nothing.

His legs had become impossibly heavy. The spirits of death had tightened the chains locking his ankles to the ground. Kyuhyun looked around. Here… his graveyard…

Kyuhyun collapsed, surrendering his body to the burning heat coming from above and below. He let out a bitter smile. Why bother? Having narrowly escaped from the army of assassins who laid siege to the capital, Kyuhyun made it here just to accept the same fate and perish.

Closing his eyes, Kyuhyun bade farewell to the world. Maybe soon he would see his family and friends again… That’s not too bad…

One thing he would miss though. Water…

……

His tongue tasted something sweet. His cracked throat was soothed. Kyuhyun woke up with a jolt. Opening his eyes he saw a blurred figure. Before his eyes could register that image Kyuhyun was rolled over. Someone grabbed his hands and tied them behind his back. Kyuhyun was too weak to struggle. The next thing he knew was he’s carried onto a cart. And then darkness overtook him.

Reality was brutal. People wouldn’t save you for the sake of it. They saved you for the sake of money. Kyuhyun was taken to the market. He returned every slave shopper with disdainful stares. His grudge filled eyes didn’t make him a good bargain.

He knew he’d probably be killed if no money could be made out of him. So what? He should have been dead already right?

That day the atmosphere in the market felt different. Kyuhyun, in his cage, didn’t pay any attention… until someone threw a tiny stone to hit his face. He took a deep breath; summoned annoyance into his eyes before turning his head to glare at the one who just mocked him.

Upon seeing Kyuhyun, that person’s mouth curled up to form a derisive smile. He’s dressed all in black. Moments later that person shrugged, losing interest. “They’re all disappointing. Let’s go!”

“No wait. We should buy him.” Another person appeared, also dressed in black. Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. They are…

“You gotta be kidding.” The 1^stperson turned to face the 2^nd, gently caressed the other’s face and took his hand. “Come on Eunhyuk.”

At that time His Majesty was still a teenager. Eunhyuk didn’t move, forcing the other to look back. Softly but firmly Eunhyuk gazed at the other. “I want to buy him.”

The other person was a bit surprised. Tenderly he stared at Eunhyuk, whose gaze didn’t waver. After some time the other person gave in. “OK whatever you like.”

Eunhyuk smiled brightly, elicited the same from the other person. As far as Kyuhyun could remember, that was the only time Kyuhyun saw a smile like that on Eunhyuk’s face.

Kyuhyun thought he would be serving Eunhyuk like a retinue. Instead Eunhyuk just gave him 2 sentences before handing him over to the royal assassins, from whom he received trainings of alchemy, assassination and poison use. “I see no heart in you; which would make you the best assassin. Do not let me down.”

When Eunhyuk spoke those words Kyuhyun knew immediately how dangerous Eunhyuk was. Unlike Kyuhyun who barely knew any emotion, Eunhyuk knew them very well. He knew them well enough to manipulate others. Unlike Kyuhyun who rarely bothered what others felt or thought, Eunhyuk saw through people’s hearts. He knew what others were thinking or plotting.

However you could never glimpse at Eunhyuk’s heart. You could never see Eunhyuk clearly.

That’s His Majesty. The one and only one Kyuhyun would serve.

Kyuhyun’s the most trusted person beside His Majesty in the kingdom. It’s just frustrating that His Majesty still wouldn’t trust him completely.

……

Eunhyuk was staring down at Donghae, who was lying unconscious in the bed. He knew Kyuhyun was upset. But he also knew that would not drive Kyuhyun away. On the contrary that would make Kyuhyun try even harder to gain Eunhyuk’s trust. There had to be some threat or pressure to summon further hard work and enthusiasm.

This Donghae… would stay in Eunhyuk’s quarter. Kyuhyun protested right away. So far Kyuhyun, the most trusted royal alchemist, was the only person who could enter His Majesty’s quarter without being summoned or granted permission. And if one would like to meet His Majesty, they would have to go via the chief alchemist. Well from this point onwards that’s no longer the case. Now there’s an exception called Donghae.

The reason Eunhyuk gave was… Donghae had to be imprisoned by magical means. Eunhyuk’s quarter was therefore the best prison because then nothing could escape Eunhyuk’s eyes.

Too many flaws in this argument…

“Your Majesty… sorry I really have to ask… why are you treating him differently?” Kyuhyun had inquired.

Eunhyuk still remembered the look on Kyuhyun, soaked with bitterness and pain, when he made that inquiry. It’s obvious it’s taking Kyuhyun a lot of effort to swallow his discontent. And Kyuhyun was finding it difficult to keep his tone steady and soft and polite.

Kyuhyun was hurt. That meant the chief alchemist was loyal. And that made Eunhyuk smile.

Eunhyuk took another look at Donghae, whose innocent face was glowing, reflecting the gentle twilight cast onto him. Assassin… Silently Eunhyuk chuckled. If Eunhyuk wanted to torture Donghae, the best way would be to leave him to the team of assassins. Kyuhyun for sure would give Donghae a hard time. But the funniest part would be to see Donghae’s face when he was asked to his sword into somebody; or simply to demonstrate that in front of Donghae.

Am I treating you differently?

It was impossible for others to peek into Eunhyuk’s heart. Even to Eunhyuk his own heart felt so distant. Even Eunhyuk himself had difficulties reaching into his own heart.

Eunhyuk set his eyes on those of Donghae, which were still closed. What’s behind those eyes? Not long ago those eyes did it right? Those eyes touched Eunhyuk’s heart…

For one moment Eunhyuk felt vulnerable. However for the next he felt warm as his heart yearned for more… The calm… so soothing…

Why am I treating you differently?

……

Donghae’s heart was still aching when he woke up the next morning. Not only his heart. Bruises on his neck were making themselves known. And inside his forearm… dimly the pain was pulsing…

Beneath the pain… was pleasure… when memory of Eunhyuk’s firm grip on his neck, the tenderness of Eunhyuk’s hands brought an awkward sweetness into Donghae’s heart. What’s more awkward was… when the sweetness filled his heart; it made the pain more unbearable…

Weakly Donghae sat up and looked around. His heart was twinged again.

Eunhyuk His Majesty was not there…

… Your Majesty…

Donghae squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his hand over his chest. What’s wrong with me?

That’s not a good idea. The next minute the image of Eunhyuk; smirking, seducing him with his tongue; flashed in Donghae’s mind. The heart melting whisper of Eunhyuk echoed in his head. Donghae felt his cheeks burning.

… Your Majesty…

His heart refused to stop uttering those 2 words. Donghae wondered if Eunhyuk had indeed cast some spell on him (well to a certain extent yes). Drawing in a deep breath Donghae got up. He had to distract himself or else the pain in his heart would become too overwhelming to bear.

It was a decent room he was in, though it was not big. Milky white ceiling with splendidly carved stucco, walls covered with finely embroidered tapestries, window frames elegantly ornamented with precious stones, tiled floor, the beige of pearl, decorated with beautifully inscribed patterns…

Cozy bed by the window… he slept well last night right?

A well-polished wooden table in the middle of the room… on which a note was placed… Slowly Donghae approached and took the note.

Stay here.

Donghae jumped and turned around. He didn’t only see the words. He heard them. It’s like Eunhyuk was in the room and was speaking right behind him. His heart started pounding hard…

When he saw that His Majesty was not there… Donghae’s heart sank with disappointment. He clapped his hands onto his face. I’m going insane… Stop this!

Things had taken a course which was way beyond imagination. Up until yesterday Donghae had never expected seeing His Majesty, let alone meeting and being captured and being threatened and being seduced and being… charmed… And that happened only within one day. It took only one day (actually even shorter) for Eunhyuk to get Donghae helplessly fallen, surrendered… to make Donghae’s heart hopelessly Eunhyuk’s…

Unbelievable.

Knocks at the door… followed by a click as the latch was lifted…

Donghae was annoyed as his heart danced with anticipation. Yet he couldn’t deny. He’s hoping it’s Eunhyuk His Majesty.

It’s not.

But that’s someone unexpected as well.

Henry.

Both of them froze upon seeing each other.

……

“… Henry? What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? I work here! I was asked to bring clothes and food to this room. What are you doing here?” After saying that Henry went out to get the basket of clothes into the room. Then he placed a tray of food onto the table.

“I…” That’s something Donghae couldn’t answer. What was he doing here?

Henry nevertheless had his own answer for that. “So are you now His Majesty’s…”

The way Henry looked at Donghae made Donghae feel uncomfortably weird and uneasy. “What?”

“Well… you know… bride… concubine… something like that…”

“NO!!” Donghae’s face reddened. He was feeling angry. Not because Henry had misunderstood the whole thing. He’s angry with the part of himself who wished the answer would be yes.

Henry raised both his hands. “OK OK! Sorry! It just looks like… Anyway why are you here then? This is His Majesty’s quarter in the palace. It’s not normal that you are allowed to be here.”

“I… really don’t know. I actually thought… I would die…” Donghae lowered his head.

Henry’s eyes widened. “What? What did His Majesty do to you?”

Well Donghae wasn’t sure if it would do any good to recollect what Eunhyuk did to him. He shook his head.

Henry stared at Donghae and sighed. He sympathized with him. “I’m not finding this funny. And I’m not mocking you here. Just it may happen for real. As I said it’s not normal for His Majesty to keep you here. Honestly if there’s anything I can help let me know. I got to go now but I will visit you whenever possible. OK?”

Donghae nodded. “Thank you.”

As Henry turned to leave Donghae remembered something. “Henry…”

“Yes?”

“Henry do you know… who that person is? By any chance?”

“That person?” Henry was shocked. His eyes opened wide.

“Yes. That person…”

All of a sudden Henry gasped and dashed towards Donghae. Quickly he covered Donghae’s mouth with his hand. Seeing how pathetically clueless Donghae was Henry rolled his eyes. “Oh my God! You really don’t know anything! This is the biggest taboo in the kingdom! Don’t ever mention that person!”

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

A/N: OK guys I have decided. Going forward I will update more often! Another story is forming and I still have a lot to tell u within this story!!! I will try OK? Don't bash me if my schedule doesn't allow~~

A/N2: After writing this chapter I know why this story feels so difficult to me! In RTR (my previous story) the characters are relatively simple. They are good hearted. But here the characters are good and bad at the same time!!! So it's really a challenge. Therefore once again I really want to THANK YOU for ur support!!! *in tears* This is difficult to me but I will try my best!!! THANK YOU!!!!!