“Minho, this is not funny. Open your eyes!” Taemin shook Minho’s unconscious body slightly, afraid to apply too much pressure in case his wound bleed again. Minho showed no sign of stirring and Taemin immediately panicked.

“Oh God, what am I supposed to do… He needs something… A doctor… I don’t…” Taemin felt like crying because he was about to watch the love of his life die in front of his eyes.

The sun was already setting but Taemin could care less about his kingdom right now. No, he wasn’t being an irresponsible prince – he figured that he couldn’t do anything much right now but to take care of Minho. They couldn’t escape because Taemin couldn’t fight for nuts and he couldn’t even support Minho’s weight if they were about to run for it. The bad guys should still be lurking around somewhere.

He scanned the ‘house’ they were in and decided that he should find a clean towel and wipe Minho’s perspiration for starter. He got up, adjusting Minho’s position so that he was lying down comfortably on the floor (if that could be described as comfortable) before going to one of the cabinets.

“Eek!” He screamed as a spider landed on his hand. He quickly slapped it away and the spider scurried away.

“Not afraid, not scared, just a spider…” Taemin chanted, trying to calm himself down as he rummaged through the cabinets. He found some filthy clothes that the trio probably hadn’t worn in years (hence the filthiness) and after a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for. Feeling a sense of achievement, Taemin took the towel out and closed the cabinet.

He hurriedly scrambled to Minho, but his right foot accidentally trip over something.

It looked like a bunch of pipes connected together facing upwards. If Taemin observed close enough, he would notice that there was a hole on the roof parallel to where the pipes were. Absentmindedly, he traced his fingers on the machine and accidentally pressed a button.

The machine let out a growling sound and Taemin yelped as one of the pipes shot something upwards – towards the sky. Since it was sunset, the sky was already slightly dark so Taemin could see clearly what it was.

The freaking pipes were shooting fireworks.

“. . Not good.” Taemin cursed as he dived towards Minho. The bad guys would probably check this place out soon – who in their right mind would play fireworks before the sun completely set? They might get suspicious and come this way!

“Why can’t I do anything right?” Taemin bit his lower lips and hastily pulled Minho up, half dragging half supporting him to move their position under the dining table. At least they wouldn’t be so easy to spot there.

He was shivering now – feeling anxious and scared. He didn’t know what to do except to cling onto Minho and wipe his beads of sweats.

“If we die here, it’s all my fault, Minho.” He murmured and held Minho closer. “I’m sorry.”

-*-

“Look at that.”

“What?”

“The sky.”

A group of seven men stared at the fireworks bursting into the evening sky with interest. “Oh.”

“Don’t you think we should check it out?”

“Why not. The prince and that annoying assistant might be there.”

“I need to pay that tall freak back.” One of them threw punches to a nearby wall. “He freaking punched me in the face. My nose is fractured.”

“Explains why you talk funny.”

“Shut up, Junhyung.”

Junhyung smirked as one of his men glared at him.

“All right, cut the crap. Let’s go.”

-*-

Key clenched his fists as he stared into his own reflection on the mirror. There was this uneasy feeling crawling up on every inch of his skin and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Isn’t Taemin back yet?” Key asked. Jonghyun shook his head.

“I’m screwed. I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Key sighed.

A soft knock was heard from the door. “Kibum?”

“Jinki hyung.”

Jinki entered the room with Yoonhae tailing him.

“Are you ready?”

Jinki seemed as unready as Key – both of them were nicely dressed but their expressions were tense. Both princes were worrying about Taemin.

“We’ll inaugurate you tomorrow first thing in the morning.” Jinki told him. “Are you sure about this?”

Key shifted his gaze. “Do I have any other choice? We can’t let things screw up now. We need a prince to a princess and there’s no one else but me.”

“Don’t be nervous.” Jinki finally gave in, placing a comforting hand on Key’s shoulder. “Princess Sulli is a nice person despite her bratty attitude. I’m sure she’ll be nice to you.”

“Sure she will.” Key scoffed.

“Follow my lead. If you get into trouble or anything, signal to me and I’ll come help you.”

“You need to give me more credits, hyung.” Key grinned. “I’m Almighty Key, remember?”

“Okay. I’m just concerned. Fine.” Jinki managed a smile at the raven.

Meanwhile, Yoonhae and Jonghyun were exchanging ‘words’ and communicating through each other’s eyes (as if it was possible). They were both contemplating whether they should start searching for Taemin and Minho.

“Princess Victoria should be arriving soon. I should go.” Jinki made a move to leave. “See you later and good luck, Key.”

“Have fun, hyung.” Key waved at his older cousin.

The moment Jinki left the room, Key sat on the sofa and started biting his nails.

“Yah, Jagiya, ar