Another thrill of amazement runs through him, feeling glad that he is almost close to accomplishing something so seemingly impossible. There has never been any place to seldom any quiet time for reflection because he finds himself in the midst of seeing achievement right in front of his eyes.

“Hyungnim”

He turns around to see Baekhyun wiping the sweat from his brow. Baekhyun comes closer to Woobin and tries to catch his breath. “I was looking everywhere for you hyungnim. I heard that the crown prince’s maid has troubled you and I wondering what could be done for you to put this aside? You shouldn’t be bother with someone as low as a maid.”

Woobin raises a brow in amusement, “Baekhyun, I am surprised that it is you trying to defend this maid. For you to have courage to even come to me and attempt to plead for this maid, this is a lot to process in.”

“I just think if you have a problem with the crown prince then you and him should handle it, why are you bringing in a third person?”

“Silence! Are you perhaps thinking I set this up just to get back at Chanyeol?” His voice is angry, low vibration, menacing and powerful, “My reputation is ruined because of that filthy maid, I am not gaining anything from this. The paid is simply getting what she deserves.”

Baekhyun could see through Woobin, they are all brothers after all. Even if he isn’t blood-related to Woobin, he knows that there is a mocking smile beneath the angry exterior. Woobin has knowledge of many things and he is using it to his advantage of being the one to sit on the throne.

“If you do not wish to excuse her from all this madness then I will not prolong this subject. Good day to you brother.”

This palace is full of greed and those hungry for power, and far too many lives has been lost due to the endless fights. There will never be an end to this madness. Baekhyun walks away from his older brother, accompanied by the frantic beat of his thundering heart. He might have gotten off on a bad start with Chanyeol’s maid but he would be lying if he says he has not grown fond of her.

-----

The garment Kyungsoo is wearing turns red from the blood seeping through his body. He hears the swish once again from the whip through the air, every muscle in his body tense as he closes his eyes tightly. When the whip comes in contact with the old cuts, ripping into his succulent skin, he lets out a whimper of pain. The maids surrounding him pull harder onto his long locks and force him to look at them, “Just confess what you did and the punishment with be less severe.”

If he confessed that he seduced the 2^nd prince, maybe some of his skin and muscle will recover, but how could he confess when he didn’t do any of it? Tears trickles down his cheeks as he shakes his head, unwillingly to confess to doing something so low. “I didn’t do it, I didn’t sleep beside the 2^nd prince and I did not seduce him.”

Kyungsoo lets out a painful scream from the countless hits, his skin is splitting along the left and right side of his back. Sweat breaks out all across his face and he could feel his back, the blood starting to trickle freely.

“Do I have to keep hitting you until you die?” the maid ask, a bit of impatience is edging from her voice.

He clutches onto his garment, trying his best to project some parts of his body. His body is on the verge of giving up from the torture and his throat is dry from his countless screams. Never in his life has he felt this kind of pain and to think it is humans inflicting it on another human being. He waits for the next blow but instead the maid forces him to look at her once again.  

“Will you confess to your lust now?” the maid narrows her eyes, studying Kyungsoo’s face to find any kind of defeat.

They are going to keep torturing him until he dies and he closes his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing but the weight in his chest tightens. The methods of torture will only get much worse and he feels a lack of breath thinking about it.  

A kick lands on his bloodied back, “You will not be able to go unless you confess.”

Kyungsoo sinks further on his knees, his breathing labored. On the floor were his blood, painting up the floor like it was a material for a portrait.  

“It is not our intention to give you pain, but it is necessary and the prince orders to hear the truth.”

The last whip strikes across his back and he falls directly on the floor, darkness taking over him.

-----

“Hyungnim I am impressed. Your archery skills are really top notch.” Jisoo compliments while taking a bow and arrow. “Soon you will be better than the crown prince.”

Jongin laughs a bit, though his face shows no emotion. He won’t deny, Chanyeol is amazing at archery but he has been so distracted in political affairs that he hasn’t practiced. Jongin pulls on the string, the arrow flies with a fast velocity and hits directly in the middle of the target. This is what happens when Chanyeol plagues his thoughts as the target, the aim becomes perfect.

Jisoo eyes widen seeing that Jongin hasn’t missed a shot from their practice.

“I refuse to be swayed by compliments, that’s why I work harder each day to reach my goal.” Jongin meets Jisoo’s gaze, “When I get what I want, I want you to be the one by my side.”

Jisoo is the closest one to Jongin because they share similar characteristics but Jisoo is more naïve, which is why Chanyeol always preferred him more. Jisoo is excited with Jongin words, knowing his brother will not leave him behind, the new discovery is far greater than any fear. For surely, there is no need for explanations because Jongin is a complicated person.

Jongin is charming and that’s why everyone falls head over heels for him, but deep inside no one knows the real him and the things he is capable of.

At the expression on Jongin’s face, Jisoo scratches his ears to calm his nerves. “Hyungnim, is there something bothering you? It is hard to read your expression.”

“You’re too young and unaware of the things happening in this palace. If you pay attention more, you will find our brothers very remarkable.” Jongin smiles and place a hand on Jisoo’s shoulder, “I have a matter to take care of. I will see you later.”

-----

“And that’s why we need to open more resources to expand our kingdom, providing our primary sources, which is our young crown prince, marrying their princess, that way it will be easier for us to obtain their shares and they will not inflict any damages to us in the future. Having China as our barrier, no one will dare attack us.”

The emperor knows he has held his throne for years, and that it would take long for sufficient prosperity to grow in the region without proper support. He nods and accepts the high official words, “What do you think about his idea Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol snaps back into reality by the sound of his father’s voice. The high-official and government official clears their throat when seeing how angry the emperor looks. The crown prince’s expression is remotely obvious that he has no intent in being in this meeting right now, he isn’t aware of anything they were discussing.

“I apologize, I…I lacked focus.”

When they repeat their strategy to him, his eyes turn big as he shakes his head. “Right now there is a lot on my shoulder, the last thing I want is marriage.”

But as he disagreed, the emperor expression darkens as he points at Chanyeol, wanting to yell at him but he falls on the table. Everyone stands up screaming for the maids to come in and get the physician.

Age is catching up with his father and Chanyeol wants to extend the period of finding an alternative to clear his thoughts. He is oblivious to the officials thinking bad of him and possibly finding a way to assault and stab him in the back in the future.

Just how could he think about marriage with another kingdom when someone he really cares about is trapped in the imperial prison?

-----

Kyungsoo is placed in his own cell, his hair is tangled in all places, the garment he has worn is all bloodied, his lips are bruised with a darkish red and purple color. He coughs in the corner, everywhere in his body is filled with excruciating pain.

When his eyelids become heavy again, he hears a familiar voice in the hall.

“I am the prince here. How dare you disobey me and not let me through?”

“E-Empress Kim said no one could come visit that maid unless she confesses to her crimes. Your highness-” the maid gets on her knees but Jongin ignores her, pushing his way in the cell and pass the guards.

His heart drops when he sees Kyungsoo. “S-Soo…what have they done to you? I-I will have them all killed. H-How is this possible?” He takes a slow, deep breath to calm himself down, trying to speak more comprehensibly.

He forces the guard to open the cell and comes in to pull Kyungsoo in his arms, the weak fragile body that feels like air and if he hugs tighter, he could break it. Kyungsoo’s voice is too raw to speak and Jongin looks at the cracks in the poor boy’s lips. “I told the crown prince about you and to find a plan to get you out but he is too blinded by anger that he neglected you. He really believes you seduced the 2^nd prince. Oh god Soo, please hang on, I will get you out.”

Jongin’s eyes is filled with sincerity, showing his care so intensely and how much he bounds himself to Kyungsoo. Jongin looks into his companion’s eyes, knowing that Kyungsoo is so close to succumbing to him.

“Don’t worry Soo, from now on they will not touch you. I will make sure of it. Just stay in this cell and I will find a way to get you out.” Jongin runs his fingers through Kyungsoo’s long locks, he does feel guilty that Kyungsoo is used as a scapegoat to all this. He will let Kyungsoo recover soon and Kyungsoo will the one falling for him.

When Jongin makes his way out of the cell, he hears other voices in the cell, one that sound so oddly familiar.

“You said you loved me but then you weren’t even here when they tortured me. You played with a young girl heart.” Soojung looks completely beaten down, a much different look than when she was the maid that took care of him. She extends her long arms through the gaps in the cell, “When I die, I will haunt you. You ruined my life Jongin!”

Jongin feels a shock in his chest. He holds his breath and looks at Soojung, a deep menacing look, “I won’t let you die, I will let you live forever in this cell, wanting to die but cannot die. I have dealt with many dumb human beings and you are one of them, a maid falling for a prince” Jongin lets out a deep chuckle, “I am certain that you thought the feeling is mutual? You are foolish and should have seen the outcome.”

“Then why are you here? Is it to seduce that other maid and then crush her heart? You’re pathetic. Because of your rotten heart, you will never have a good outcome. You will always be lower than your 3^rd brother, you will remain a shadow and you will never get close to the throne. You have no compassion for anyone and your sword will be the one to stab you back.”

Jongin’s grips on his finger tightly, his knuckles turning white. Then he laughs uncontrollably, a laughter that makes Soojung puzzled. He calls the guard over, “cut her tongue. She doesn’t need it.”

-----

The situation was becoming ridiculous and Chanyeol should be able to confront the emperor about it, knowing he is the only one that could untangle this mess. Woobin is using Soo over him and if he makes the slightest movement, Woobin will keep on torturing Soo. Chanyeol makes Joohyuk keep an eye on Woobin and his mother and reports everything back to him, it is hard for Joohyuk because it is like betraying his family but he doesn’t want his family to dig a deeper hole for themselves.

Annoyance flares again when he sees the high-officials start to bring up the marriage with him. Yes as the upcoming emperor, he does need a companion and deep down, he feels like he has found one. Everyone keeps on hindering this marriage to him to find a queen, knowing the emperor’s life is hanging on a thin thread right now.

He holds in a deep breath and enters the emperor’s residence. He orders all the maids to leave and approaches his sick father on the bed.

“Father, are you feeling better?”

The other looks at him over a moment before responding. “Perhaps I will die at any night now. Sometimes I feel fear but also I know that I can look down from heaven and see you succeeding as the emperor.” Again a pause, and finally the deep voice continue, “I-I just hope to see you find a woman before I take my last breath and close my eyes.”

Many things are striking Chanyeol these days, the sadness in his father’s voice and how desperate he is to see Soo again. Sweat clings to his face and he attempts to see the broken down emperor.

“Father, right now it is hard to think of marriage when there are other things on my mind. You might already know about this, but all your sons are just damaging themselves at the moment over this throne.”

“I will slip into unconsciousness soon and the best gift is for you to be on the throne. It has been decided when I made you the crown price. There will be various struggles and that’s why with a companion, your kingdom will be larger and no one will dare be a hindrance towards you.”

Chanyeol wants to ignore this attempt to bring forth this topic because it is proposing a marriage idea again, but he also doesn’t want to be an unfilial son, especially to his father that doesn’t have much time left. 

“Father, there is a favor I want to ask of you.” It is bad that he is resulting to this resort as a mend of protecting Soo but he has no other choice, they will continue to punish the poor maid in prison and she has no power to do anything. If he waits to become emperor to take care of Soo, the high-officials will start to talk and possibly trouble Soo some more, and Soo might have lost his life by then by the amount of torture.

“What favor do you speak of?”

“There is a maid of mine, she takes care of me well and now is being framed by the 2^nd prince. I know he’s doing it to get me angry but I am powerless knowing he had many witnesses on his side.”

The emperor looks at Chanyeol in confusion for a moment, “You are asking me to save your maid? Chanyeol, the important thing is that you will be the emperor soon and many people are eyeing the position. A maid’s life is nothing to argue with your brother over. It doesn’t matter who is wrong and who is right, the maid’s life is none of your concern. There are hundreds of other maids in the palace.”

Chanyeol hesitates for a moment before answering, “She’s not just any maid. She gives me encouragement and strategies to become a good emperor. There are many people in this palace and I don’t trust any of them, but I trust her.”

Anger would be an understatement in the emperor’s face. “Are you trying to tell me that you value a maid over your family? Right now if the maid tells you to marry the princess from China you would go ahead and follow through?”

The emperor’s breathing gets heavy and Chanyeol panics and holds onto his father’s arm. The emperor closes his eyes for a moment and lets his thoughts depart from his sorrow and turns to his son. The days are now short and he has managed many battles, endured many hardships, and overcame so many evils to keep the throne till now and pass it on to his son, his devotion will not be put to waste.

For the sake of this palace future, there had to be a resolution. “Fine, I will get your maid out of prison, all you have to do is agree to marry the princess from China.”

-----

A/N: It actually takes me around a week to even write one chapter, even if it is short because I have a lot of work on top of that. It just makes me happy to see this getting a lot of support so I will try not to disappoint even if I am not a good writer ^^’’