The man in the red cloak was running frantically when the royal guards saw him doing something suspicious. The dim light wasn’t really helping him on the runway. And his adrenaline kept making him confused to where he should go. He needed to go to the king’s chamber or he would be dead by tomorrow morning in that old man’s hands. But he would be dead about right now if the royal guards caught him.

“Wait!” Said the guards.

He swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw a dead end. The guards were still there near him. He looked around to find something that could defend him in a fight.

“Perfect!” He saw the curtains which covered the windows. If he couldn’t find the thing that could defend him, than he could use it to run from the place, he thought.

He climbed the curtain and swung his body to the glass. His feet kicked the glass, constantly jabbing it. He smiled when his third kick broke the glass into million pieces. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the end of his problem. Yes, he broke the window. But no, he couldn’t reach the ground. He should think faster, the royal guards’ footsteps could be heard from one or two feet away. He cracked his knuckles and fingers and then he grabbed the curtains harshly, in intention to tear them apart from the holder. He cheered in silent when the curtains ripped apart. He had knotted them into one long rope before he dead knotted it to the edge of a stone sculpture. And thanks to the god, his black horse was there near the tree, so it only took few seconds to ride the horse out of the castle.

***

The holy land of Castelmare will become a battle field as the unwanted one rises from the deepest hole.

When the time comes, the sun will shine from the west of Castelmare. When the time comes, the moon will emit a beautiful blue sapphire light. When the time comes, the earth will send you its human, the purest one. When the time comes, the creature from earth will be your guardian.

The human will turn into the one that you have been longing for. The wise man will rise from his eternal sleep. The commander of war will be back from nowhere. And the friends will be allied, once again.

Moreover, the son of Adam will lead you to the greatest ruler of all era in Castelmare.

The little man woke up in terror. His face was flushed red. Track of tears were evident on his cheeks. He had been having this weird dreams ever since he was a child. He would scream and his body would be aching like something forced to be out the body. He stood on his feet, running the hallway to his father's chamber. Every staff in castle was gathered in front of his father's chamber. They looked terrified, some of them had this shocked face as if the ghosts had scared them.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

His boy attendant was there, he wrapped him tight in his embrace.

"My prince, the king had gone to a better place up there." He said in cracked voice.

"What do you mean?"

"He was found dead in his chamber." He dropped into a puddle of tears. His legs were numb suddenly.

***

Everyone was in sorrow. Children, women, even men were crying out loud. Their great king had left them. The crown prince’s eyes were red. It was clear that he couldn’t shed any tears again. He had cried so much on the night before, the least thing he could do was to stay strong in front of his people.

“People, today we lost our father, uncle, and king, Leeteuk. He was the one who brought peace in this land, and he was the one who gave us this beautiful life. Let us be grateful for his kindness, and pray for him.” Said the king’s advisor.

Whispers of prayers could be heard from everyone’s mouth. They prayed sincerely for their hero. Tears rolled down from more than ten bodies. A wrinkled forehead could be seen on more than thousands bodies. Those indicated how serious they were on their prayer.

"King Leeteuk may rest in peace." They said in unison.

Ryeowook, the crown prince, stood from his chair. He walked to where his father rested. He bit his bottom lip to prevent his sobs. He looked at him for the last time, captured everything so he wouldn't forget how his face was. That angelic smile never left his face even when he died. But he couldn't see that bright eyes again. They were closed forever. His tears were on the edge of his eyes, but he still closed the coffin without them falling. He couldn't drop his tears on his father's flawless face. He would be upset to see how broken his child was. He had to stop making his father worried over him. Now, he was gone peacefully.

***

"Find him!" A high pitched scream alarmed everybody in the castle.

After the ceremony, Ryeowook checked everything in the castle. The guards saw a mysterious man last night. It could be a thief, but the weird things are, first, not long after the man left, his father was found dead in his chamber, second, the guards said he was near the chamber last night.

"But... My prince, we didn't have a chance to see his face." Said the royal guard.

The man's statement was enough to make Ryeowook exploded. Ryeowook threw his hand knife to the board a mere inch near the guard's head. The guard's breath hitched. He thought his eyes played tricks with him, but the hand knife was still there, plunged deeply into the board. He dropped his knees immediately, head deep down to bow to his prince.

"I will try... My prince. In case you didn't know this... Maybe... Maybe his majesty wasn't the right one for the crown." He said.

Words were trembling along with tears of fear.

"Bull!" Ryeowook spat.

"Someone made up that story! It's conspiracy!" He continued to rant.

"Now, leave!" He shouted.

The guard was scrambling on his feet, giving him a slight bow, and proceeding to leave the king's study room. Ryeowook's anger didn't go down. He hit the desk with his fist hardly until the desk drawer opened in sudden. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw a little oval blue stone inside it. It was a beautiful necklace with sapphire as its pendant. He couldn't ignore his curiosity about the existence of the necklace. Well, curiosity killed the cat, but it wouldn't hurt him if he took the necklace and investigated it later, right?

***

"What's the annoucement about?" Asked someone.

"The prince was looking for a man in red cloak. It said that he was the murder of the king! What do you think about that?" Answered the little man in yellow cloak.

"Huh? The red cloak wearers were long gone! Is he crazy? I think the king is just another victim of the crown." Said the stranger.

"That's what i thought! By the way, i need to go. Later." He said in rush.

He walked away from the capital city of Castelmare. His eyes were looking everywhere, searching for nothing. He felt really insecure. He couldn’t get caught off guard or his biggest fear would turn into reality. He had to be there as soon as possible. His master needed protection. The thought of his master made him angry. That man was the only read cloak wearer and yet he still wore that cloak outside. That man really wanted to be killed!

***

“What the hell was wrong with you?” The little man’s scream could be heard throughout the mansion.

“What?” Said the other.

“I read the announcement in the capital city. The prince is looking for you!” He said through clenched teeth.

“That’s good.”

“Excuse me?” He asked in disbelief.

“If the prince is looking for me, then i don’t have to do the small works.” He answered.

He didn’t get the point of his words. But still, he thought about the words over and over until something clicked in his mind.

“Wait… I got your point, but didn’t you think that the rats would probably move along with the prince too?”

“Chill! We have many cats too!”

“That makes sense… The problems are, first, the prince doesn’t know his true self, and second, the prince doesn’t know about the cats!”

“I will find that damned sandman!” He continued again.

“I said chill, Sungmin! He had been having his past as a dream from the very beginning.” The taller man said.

“How did you know?” The little man, Sungmin, asked.

The taller man smiled bitterly. His index finger was pointing to where his heart should be. That was the time where Sungmin’s jaw dropped. He would never understand the way his master thinking.

“Right.. You have been suffering long enough.” He sighed.

“We have been suffering long enough. It’s time to bring back what’s ours.”

“Yeah… Where is our first stop?”

“The wise man was sleeping; the commander was nowhere to be found. So, your first stop is the prince’s eldest brother.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“No. I will control the redeemer trio from here. You know, I don’t have much energy to perform my magic out of here.” Sungmin nodded as a sign that he understood the instruction.

So, he should meet the first cat few days before the prince. He would need few days to wake the first’s cat memories. Before that, he must give a letter to the prince. He was worried with his master condition. He was the one who woke him up from his deathbed. He knew that the wise man was slowly losing his power, and the commander was nowhere to be found hundreds years ago. That meant no one controlled the rats. He couldn’t control them; he didn’t have much power like the redeemer trio or his master. So, that was the reason why he woke his master though his master had only half of his power. His master died when he saved his significant other. He gave his heart to him. While he slept eternally, he waited for his significant other to come back to his embrace and gave him back his power. Like he had said before, he would never understand his master’s way of thinking. Who did want to give his heart to his significant other? Not in romantically meaning? Absolutely, no one.

“Good luck, Cho.” He said from the front door of the mansion.

***

Ryeowook woke up in darkness. His face paled when he looked at his surroundings. He knew that this wasn’t the reality. He was in one of his endless nightmare again.

“Ryeowook!”

A man grabbed both of his forearms. He looked up to see the man’s eyes. The stunning big brown eyes broke him into tears. He didn’t know who this man was. He always came up in his dreams. Every time he saw the man, he had the urge to hug him and cried.

He couldn’t see the man’s face. He was wearing the usual red cloak. He was taller than himself. He had dark brown hair, coming out a bit from under his cloak.

“The war is near, Ryeowook.” He said.

“What war?”

Instead of answering Ryeowook, the taller man smiled widely at his question. He turned his heels away from Ryeowook.

“Don’t go! Stay with me!” Ryeowook shouted

“Soon, my love. I promise.” He said again.

Ryeowook woke up from his deep sleep. He rubbed the sleepiness away from him. He was fully awake, and he didn’t want to go back to his sleep.

“My prince…” Said someone from outside of his chamber.

“Come.” He replied.

His maid was there, holding a small letter. Her face was showing that she was afraid of something. Clearly because of, he had flipped the castle all day. He should be scaring the out of her.

“Just put them on the nightstand.” Ryeowook said softly.

The maid put the letter and walked to the door quickly. After that, the prince grabbed the letter, and slowly read what the contents were.

Dear the crown prince, Kim Ryeowook

I will tell you where am I, if you want to find me. First thing first, I have a request for you before you come here. My request is, you need to come alone all the way to here. I don’t want you to bring any of your guards.

You need to go through the forbidden forest, and at the end of the forbidden forest, there is a mansion. I will be waiting for you there. Be careful on  your journey.

Yours only,

The man in red cloak.

His eyes popped out from their socket. He ran from his chamber to the main hall of the castle where the royal guards were at the moment. He was run out of breath, and his hair was still out of the place. He didn’t care; he only wanted to confirm what was in his mind right now. The man in the red cloak in his dreams couldn’t be the same man who was the murder suspect of his father! If it was true, the man would break his heart for a second time.

***

I’m sorry if this is not good enough. I’m still a newbie in writing a story :(( a penny for your thoughts?