Yixing was ushered into a chamber at the end of a really long hallway, away from the noise of the palace. The guard nodded at him as he slips inside, heart hammering in his chest when he sees the prince seated on a four poster bed, alone.

"Your Highness?" He stammered, standing awkwardly by the door.

Yifan looks up and smiled at him reassuringly, he patted the space on the duvet next to him, "Sit."

Yixing settled nervously onto the mattress, the prince shifting closer and Yixing could feel the warmth radiating from his skin. He was that close. He gasped when the prince tipped his head up and pressed their lips together. Yifan cupped his face in his long fingers and deepened the kiss. It was fast and hard, enough to make it feel as though Yixing's heart was going to jump right out of his chest. Even more so when he felt a tongue poke at his lips.

Yixing panted heavily against the Prince's lips as they pulled away about a minute later, the prince resting his forehead on Yixing's, their hot breaths mingling.

"That was just in case you changed your mind about marrying me." The prince grinned cheekily as he wrapped an arm around Yixing's waist and pulled him until his head is nestled in the crook of the Prince's neck.

"I..." Yixing stared up at him, eyes blown wide and still panting, body curled around the prince instinctively.

"Before we have a wedding, we need to eradicate the advisor. I cannot order his capture without proof. But, Joonmyun came up with a plan." Yifan explained, even whilst he looked fondly down at the young man pressed against him. "We plan to stage a perfect scenario for the advisor to strike. And we will have guards that are only loyal to me step in before any damage is done."

Yixing felt the colour drain from his face. "But that's too dangerous! What if they don't get there in time?" 

Yifan his hair gently. "I'll be careful. Though, in the meantime, you need to stay out of sight. I don't know what he will do to you if he finds you."

---------

Yixing wandered the hallways of the palace aimlessly, hoping to find Minseok or Chanyeol. He turned a corner and slams straight into something solid, the second time he’d done it while travelling through those winding corridors.

"I am so sorry!" He gasps, fear crossing his face as he looked up. The man curled a hand around his arm and roughly dragged him up from the floor where he had fallen.

It was the king's advisor.

Yixing's blood ran cold where the man clamped a hand over his mouth and pulled him into a nearby room before bolting the door. The man leered over him and Yixing recoiled, he wanted to be no closer to the creator of his most recent miseries.

"I don't know how you failed your last task but you will try again. You will sleep with the prince tonight in his chambers. I will hide a dagger beneath the pillow and you will stab him in the heart. No word of this shall pass your lips to anyone." The advisor paused, hand clenched so tight around Yixing's arm that he swore the circulation was getting cut off. "If you fail, I will not hesitate to murder your brother. Just to ensure that you will not fail, I will be in the room that night, in the Prince's private bathroom." Yixing's eyes widened and he nodded frantically, fear for his brother's life taking over him. The advisor smiled, a terrible sight especially when it was directed at Yixing’s torment, and released his arm. "Glad that we understand each other then. Do your job well and your brother will not be harmed."

He his heel and unbolted the door, leaving as quickly as he could. Yixing peeked out of the door after him, to ensure that he had disappeared before sprinting out of the room in search of the prince.

---------

He found the prince in his private study with his advisor close to him, their heads bent over a plan of some sort.

"Your Highness! I must..." The sentence died on his lips when both men looked up to stare at him. Yifan smiled at him and abandoned the papers, his hand waved in a gesture for him to move closer.

"What is it?"  He questioned, while his hand tugged Yixing down onto his lap, which made the younger blush a ridiculous shade of red. Yixing explained his encounter with the advisor and the colour drained from Joonmyun's face with each word spoken. "Change of plans then. I will assign guards outside your room and inform Chanyeol to stay away and out of sight."

Joonmyun's lips were set in a grim line as he stepped away from the table, his eyes drowning in shame, "I will take my leave, Your Highness."

Yifan nodded, worry lines having etched themselves onto his face. Yixing danced his fingers up Yifan’s body and smoothed the Prince's forehead with them.

"We'll be okay, right?" He whispered tentatively.

Yifan pressed a tender kiss to Yixing's forehead. "I really do hope so."

---------

Everything went according to plan. Yixing slid into the Prince's bed that night. While it felt natural and right to do so, he was plagued with worry.

What if the curse came back and he really did kill Yifan?

What would happen when the advisor realised that he wouldn’t harm the prince?

How would the man react?

Yifan gave him a reassuring smile as he wrapped his arms around Yixing loosely, which would not make it too hard for Yixing to reach the dagger under the pillow. He settled into the bed and the couple made small talk for a few minutes before Yifan deepened his breathing, making it seem as if he was asleep.

Yixing slipped out of the Prince's arms carefully while he slid his hand underneath the pillow. In the corner of his eye, he saw the advisor, clothed in black, slipping out of the bathroom. He acted as if it pained him to draw the dagger from its sheath and leaned over the prince. He held the dagger right over the Prince's heart was and ground his teeth together, just so that the advisor would see his 'struggle'.

The advisor drew a line with his finger across his throat and his beady eyes glared menacingly at the innocent young man. A clear indication of what he wanted done and how it should be carried out. Yixing pressed his lips against the Prince's and touched the cold tip against his lover's throat ever so slightly before pulling away. Yifan's eyes fluttered as the advisor hissed in anger. He stormed over to the bed, reaching into his coat to pull out his own silver dagger.

Yixing's eyes widened and he jerked away, the sudden movement startling the prince to flinch. Yifan raised his hands just in time to catch the advisor hovering above him, knifepoint at his chest with barely an inch to spare.

"Guards!" Yifan yelled as he tightened his hold over the advisor, even as the man struggled, his black eyes glaring at Yixing.

Joonmyun shoved open the door and guards pour in from around him, armed to the teeth with weapons of all kinds. Just in case. The advisor snarled and fought, the knife still pointed at Yifan's chest. It wasn’t difficult to work out the situation for all those who witnessed it. Yixing sat at the side, while he watched with his heart in his mouth.

"Father, put down the knife." Joonmyun murmurs quietly, both ashamed and embarrassed that his father could carry through with such a thing.

"You traitor." The advisor does not turn to his son, shoving the prince down onto his back.

Joonmyun moved forward to catch his father by the shoulders but the advisor spun around, one knee pressed firmly against the Prince's chest, knife in hand. He was facing his son and everybody watched the next minute evolve in slow motion

"Joonmyun, move!" Yixing cried out but the knife moves forward anyway, stabbing into Joonmyun's gut without anything to stop it.

Joonmyun jerked, eyes wide in surprise. The advisor turned back to the prince, eyes aglow with hatred. He raised the knife and the guards surged forward to stop him but Yixing is there first, the knife digging into the skin of his shoulder as he lunges forward, shoving the man off the prince.

The guards surrounded the advisor, they stripped him of his weapon and cuffed his hands behind his back. Yixing buried his face into the crook of Yifan's neck as he sat up. "Are you okay?" He whispers against Yifan's jaw.

Yifan nodded, still in shock. He pressed a hand against Yixing's shoulder, feeling the warm liquid beneath his touch, "You're bleeding."

Joonmyun struggled to sit up as the door burst open a second time, only to reveal Chanyeol stood in the doorway with a frantic expression on his face.

He ran straight to Joonmyun's side and lifted him up a little to drive the blood away from the wound, which allowed everybody to see his bleeding stomach. Yifan pulled away from Yixing and crouched on the floor next to his best friend.

"We need to get a physician." He calls, alarmed at the amount of blood Joonmyun was losing. Joonmyun flaps his arm weakly as Chanyeol picks him up completely from the floor. "Put him on my bed and run for a physician."

Chanyeol settled Joonmyun on the bed and disappeared out the door, his long legs carrying him quickly. Yifan hurried to his bathroom, Yixing tagging along behind as he picked up a towel and drenched it in warm water. Yifan worries over his best friend’s laceration as he keeps a hand pressed to his stomach to slow the blood flow. Joonmyun was still conscious but in shock. Especially as Yifan fiddles around him, tucking in blankets and trying to prop him up.

Yixing plopped onto the bed next to Joonmyun and caressed his hair, not even mindful of his own injury. Yifan settled down next to the prince’s advisor when the physician arrived and buried his head into Joonmyun's shoulder sleepily.

The three of them fall asleep like that, one on either side as the physician stitched them up.