"Yixing!" The one called for looked up from admiring the ring in his hand, the ring from the prince, to watch as Chanyeol hurtled towards his cell.

"Yeol?" He rose to his feet and the taller male skidded to a stop in front of the bars.

"Are you okay?" Chanyeol frowned in concern for his stepbrother, eyes raking over Yixing's body to check for injuries.

"Where's Minseok?" Yixing questions without answering the other man, twisting the ring on his finger nervously.

"He's at the ball with the prince. Keeping an eye on him."

---------

Yifan nodded and smiled as the guests around him swarm towards him, hoping to get a chance to dance with him. He picked up his pace, hoping that he would be able to escape to see his father before anyone knew he was missing but with all eyes on him, it would be difficult.

Joonmyun kept close to him, hand curled loosely around the dagger strapped to his hip. He was searching the crowd for his father nervously, having no idea what the older man was capable of.

Yifan managed to slip away when a waiter dropped a plate across the room. He dashed up the stairs and broke into a full sprint towards his father's room once the floor levelled out. The king's chambers are always heavily guarded but the guards allow him in with a nod.

"Father, we have a situation..." He froze at what he saw, the King’s advisor crouched at the side of his father's bed. His eyes glinted with something dark and Yifan was full of dread within a second.

"Dad? Father!" Yifan moved to the side of the bed and touched the sick king’s face. To his relief, he is still breathing, chest rising up and down with each breath. He flicked his eyes open a little when he heard his son speak.

"He is fine, Your Highness." The advisor smiled thinly at him, Yifan fought not to recoil at the thought that this man wanted him dead and tried to suppress the feeling of hatred that he had used Yixing’s vulnerability against him.

He nodded stiffly and settled at his father's bedside. The old king awakened slowly, more of his irises coming into view, and Yifan took his hand in his own. "Dad."

"Yifan." The King gazed up at his son fondly. "Did you meet anyone at the balls? You know I wish to see you married before I pass." Yifan nodded, Yixing's face filling his mind. "Is he of noble blood?" Yifan nodded but the advisor chipped in.

"No, he is nothing but a servant boy of a rich lady."

The king only took one look at Yifan and the protest died before it even reached his tongue. His son looked radiant. As if he was a star that had been eclipsed by the moon for too long. "He is so enchantingly beautiful." Yifan said. “Just thinking about him makes me happy."

The advisor gave him a sharp look but said nothing, not that Yifan cared anyway,

"If he makes you happy son, then go for it." The king murmured, Yifan's hand gently. Yifan blinked in surprise but he knew a good thing when he heard one.

Unlike some.

"But milord! He is a prince!" The advisor protested, narrowing his eyes.

"He is also my son and I want him to be happy." Yifan did not miss the poisonous look the advisor shot him but kept it in mind to tell Joonmyun later, it may help them in their case.

---------

Joonmyun startled from his position outside the door when it opened and his father stepped out.

"Father." He murmured and inclined his head.

"The execution will proceed tomorrow. Hurry it along will you?" Joonmyun's eyes widened.

"Have you gotten the King's permission? This is a big thing father." Joonmyun kept his eyes on the floor as he spoke. “Treason is something only a royal can rule over.”

"The King's condition is not getting any better. I will have to sign in his stead. Just make sure the prince is busy, I wouldn’t want to expose him to such a thing, afterall."

Joonmyun nodded, his mind spinning. He had half a reason to argue that Yifan would never allow it, but he had never gone against his father before and it would surely strike suspicion if he did it seemingly unannounced.  He twisted the handle of his dagger in his hands nervously as he watched as his father walked away. He still couldn’t believe that the man who raised him could have tried such a thing.

---------

The next morning, Yixing was rudely awakened by the guards slamming open the door of his cell. "Get up." He was hauled up roughly and his arms bound behind his back. The guards wrestled him out of the dungeon and into a large hall. The king's advisor sat directly at the front of the hall, flanked by guards.

Yixing felt a prickle of fear at the base of his spine and looked around desperately for any sign of the prince. He fought against the guards holding him as they force him into submission on his knees. The advisor smirked at him with an evil glint before he unrolled a piece of parchment in his hands. "By the decree of the King, you have committed treason against the royal family by attempting to take the life of the crowned prince. You will face the death penalty for your treachery and it will proceed today, at sundown."

Yixing jerked and thrashed against the guards, screaming out and trying to rise up to his feet. "You, you insidious human being! You made me do it. Let me go. This wasn’t my fault!"

Standing outside the door, Yifan nodded to his own advisor and Joonmyun opened the door obediently. Yifan strode into the room, his tall figure commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "What is going on here?" His voice directed at Joonmyun’s father, the younger Kim wandered into the room behind him, looking sombre. The elder advisor looked surprised to see him as he had asked his son to keep the prince busy while he went through with the proclamation.

Yixing cried out in pain when one of the guards kicked him back down onto his knees, drawing the Prince's attention to him. The Prince's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed in anger.

“If you do not unhand him, you will be the ones getting beheaded." The guards hurriedly removed their grip from Yixing, who slumped onto the red carpet, wincing at the burn the friction left.

Yifan turned to the advisor and held a hand out for the parchment in his hands, a demand for the decree to be given to him. "I did not authorize this execution. Neither did the king. And, I am almost certain of this, that when my father is ill, all proceedings are supposed to be passed through me. Perhaps I missed the memo in that law amendment?"

Eyes glowing with hatred, the advisor handed the parchment over to the Prince who promptly tears the paper into shreds. "Unchain him. I want him in my chambers. I need to speak with him. Alone." He walked out without a backward glance.

Joonmyun gave Yixing a reassuring smile as he rushed out after the Prince.