Chapter #8:

         The Scheme.

I’ll play with you however I want
Play inside my hands
Don’t run away, you’ll forever linger near
You can call me monster.

(MONSTER BY EXO)

   Breaking News: The one day Fiancé of the crown Prince of Exo Kingdom; Byun Baekhyun is reported to be missing. Ladies and Gentlemen, we repeat; Lee Haejin - the only Princess of Moonlight Kingdom and one day Fiancé of Prince Baekhyun ran away.....

“You don’t look shocked?” Chen commented, once Kyungsoo muted the TV anchor.

“You don’t even look angry.” This time, it was Chanyeol who voiced his thoughts out.

“Am I supposed to be angry?” Baekhyun inquired calmly, before returning back to his files.

“Hyung, your fiancé ran away. She has been missing, since last night.” Xiumin stated incredulously and flailed his arms in the air.

“I know.” Baekhyun one word answer pissed his brothers off, but more than that it confused them.

“Are you just going to sit here and do nothing?” Kai asked in an exasperated tone and plopped his down on his brother’s bed.

“Yes.” All the Princes looked at the eldest with a frown decorating their faces.

Why was Baekhyun so calm about it?

…….

“You know where she is.” Kyungsoo deadpanned, after a beat of silence. Baekhyun let out a small sigh when he heard his brother’s statement and closed the file he was studying before his brothers came. He got up from his seat and rolled his eyes at the inquiring gazes his brothers were throwing at him.

“You are smart.” He complemented his wide-eyed brother and patted his shoulder.

“Wait – you know where she is? How?” Suho stepped forward and looked at Baekhyun as if the other had grown two heads.

“You know, Dad and the royal advisors choose me as a crown prince for a reason. One of those many reasons is my ability to stay two steps ahead of everyone.” Baekhyun explained in a duh tone as if it was the most obvious thing.

“What do you mean?” Tao asked word confusion written on his face in capital letters.

“What I mean is – it’s not a rocket science to figure out that my fiancé will try to run away,” Baekhyun replied with a roll of his eyes and went back to his work.

“Why now? She could have run away, before the engagement.” Luhan complained and settled himself on the nearby couch with a huff.

“Luhan, her father is not stupid. He rules a Kingdom. It was an obvious fact that she would try to run away. Her father kept a keen eye on her all this time.” The eldest Prince explained without taking his eyes off the files he was working on.

“Then how did she escape now?” Lay wondered with a frown. He was not getting this whole thing. Good thing, his father decided to make Baekhyun the crown Prince; it was a job that only a clever person can perform.

“Say, did you guys expect her to run away after the engagement?” Baekhyun inquired and gazed towards his brothers with a raised brow. All the guys looked at each other, before hesitantly shaking their head.

“Same was the case with her father. She is smart. She knew, running away before the engagement would be a vain attempt because everyone expects that from her. She purposely played the role of the innocent and helpless Princess, so she can take advantage of the opportunity when it comes; that opportunity came to her just as she expected.”

“What kind of opportunity?” Kris decided to be the one to voice out the question in everyone’s mind.

“Her father thought that she won’t cause any troubles now…so of course, he didn’t keep an eye on her. But, her main problem was me; which was solved when I was informed of a huge problem in front of her. It was her best chance to escape; her father was unaware and I was distracted.” He continued explaining and chuckled when realization dawned on his brother's faces.

“How did you figure that out?”  Sehun asked completely impressed by his eldest brother.

“I would have never even thought about it.” The youngest continued, making Baekhyun smirk.

“Like I said before. I am always two steps ahead.” His smug statement made his brothers scoff.

“So, you have been stalking her all this time?” Chen teased with a small smirk on his face.

“No- I kept an eye on her.” Baekhyun corrected his brother with a scowl.

“It’s same.” Kai joined Chen in teasing the eldest, with a smug smile of his own.

“No, it’s not. You two need to get your vocabulary checked.” The eldest retorted and glared at his smirking brothers.

“If you know where she is, why don’t you bring her back? Hyung, the fact that she escaped is all over the news channels.” Suho cut in frantically before Chen or Kai can further tease Baekhyun.

“What’s the hurry? Let her enjoy some moments of false freedom.” The eldest male played with the chain of his piercing and leaned back in his chair.

“Baekhyun it’s not the right time for jokes.” Xiumin retaliated with a frown on his face. He was the eldest after Baekhyun and it was his job to make sure that the elder was not making any mistake.

“Does it look like I am joking?”

“Baek-”

“I am not bringing her back because I want this news to become viral. I want every single individual to know about it.”

“Why? You do know, that it’s bringing us a bad name?” Xiumin voiced his concerns out, with a worried frown on his face.

“Making a weakness into your strongest point; is what real success is.”

“I am not getting you. How spreading this news will benefit you?” Xiumin gave up with an exasperated sigh, which made Baekhyun smirk at him smugly.

“It’s not simple, okay.” The eldest heaved a huge sigh before continuing.

They are not going to leave me unless I explain this to them…

“Look, an alliance between two Kingdoms is really important and it’s not a secret from the rest of the world. Everybody knows that the marriage between me and Haejin is going to take place due to the alliance the two Kingdoms signed. Breaking an alliance makes even a powerful Kingdom vulnerable to others. In our case, Princess broke the alliance by running away. All odds are against them now. The more this news spreads, the more vulnerable Moonlight Kingdom is going to be. It also gives us the position to take strong actions against them; which we won’t.”

“We won’t take any actions and you would help them by bringing Haejin back; which would place your name in their good books…” Xiumin wondered off, as he slowly but gradually started to get the hang of Baekhyun’s scheme. Baekhyun gave his brother a proud smile before smirking again.

“And they would have no choice, but to hand over the power to me, as soon as I am married to their Princess. After all, I will be saving their Kingdom from the downfall.” The eldest added and grinned when all his brothers except Xiumin looked at him incredulously.

“How do you even think of this?” Luhan asked looking completely dumbfounded.

“I feel like whatever he does is always planned and schemed?” Chen who was sitting beside Luhan shuddered. Unfortunately, both of them were ignored by the rest of their brothers.

“Where is she?” Chanyeol asked the main question; which should have been asked, as soon as they came.

“Her high school friend. He lives in a small apartment in the district, assigne