『 chapter i 』

It is a normal day inside the castle of the Catalina Kingdom. It's a busy yet peaceful morning for all the people who are inside the castle. The sentinels were already in their morning routine as soon as the sun rises, exercising and eating their breakfast. Led by Minho, the sentinels were placed on their own areas of jurisdiction in order to secure the castle, and especially the members of the royal family.

On the other side of the castle, Chan walked sternly towards the room of Jeongin, the second Prince to wake him up. Although he was not tasked to do so, he knew that the prince was a heavy sleeper and could not wake up on his own. The prince could not be late for the family breakfast, a must daily activity for the royal family. Upon facing the door to the room, Chan knocked four times before entering the room.

Chan observed the prince's room, curtains were closed and the room had a faint cold feeling. Walking to the windows, he opened the curtains and let the sunshine inside the room, beaming its light in front of the prince's face. Chan stared at the prince for any movement, but it did not any show signs of waking up. Determined to wake up the prince, he sat at the side of the bed looking at the prince.

What a cute human. Chan laughed at himself at the thought of it.

Chan squished Jeongin's cheeks at both sides as much as he can. Not long after several pinches at the cheeks, the prince finally woke up with swollen cheeks.

"Yah! I told you not to do that every time you wake me up!" Jeongin lectured Chan. He did not like the fact that his cheeks were swollen every time the family had their breakfast. The king and queen had asked him about his red cheeks every morning, but his answer was that he fell from his bed every morning.

Chan only smiled at the prince and stood at the side of the bed. He walked to the prince's closet while still hearing complaints from Jeongin, about how he should wake him up every morning. Not caring about the words of the prince, he picked the prince's outfit for the day and settled it in the chair in front of a big mirror.

"Good morning, Prince Jeongin. Please arrange yourself by taking a bath and let's get you dressed up for your family breakfast." Chan stated while looking at Jeongin who was still sitting in bed, frowning at him. He stood up from his bed, and went on to prepare himself for the day.

~

Sitting at the family's dining table, Jeongin took his breakfast slowly, alongside with the King and the Queen and his brother, the first prince, Jin. Chan and Minho were standing on the sides of the second prince, while two other guards stayed on the first prince's side. It was the daily routine for the royal family to start their day with a breakfast before going to their own tasks.

It was the usual scenario, the king and queen were talking to one another, but the siblings did not communicate anyway. The two princes were relatively close to one another, but due to the pressure of being next in line of being the King, Jin had devoted himself in preparing for the succession of the throne, which could happen anytime. As a result, Jeongin have always spent his time with Chan and Minho who were his most respected and the closest within the castle. 

At a glance, Jeongin looked at the other side of the table where Jin was sitting. He was more pale than usual, and there were scratches on his neck, possibly due to his combat training. As he was trying to talk with his older brother, the King stood up from the table.

"As you may know, our Kingdom's festival is being held in two weeks time. The Queen and I are already starting preparations for the feast, and we would like the cooperation from the both of you." The King stated while looking at both princes.

"Jin," the King looked at the first prince, "I would like you to go to the town and do negotiations with the people. Inform and help them with the activities that should be done for the feast." The first prince only nodded. Earning a reaction from Jeongin, he voiced out his idea to the King.

"King, I would like to volunteer for that! I want to go the town and meet our people. I think I can negotiate with them for the festival." Jeongin fidgeted on his seat while his eyes meet the King's.

"As much as the townsmen love you Jeongin, I cannot give you that task. Jin knows more a lot about our people and I have already advised the townsmen that Jin would be handling negotiations within the town," Jeongin's face crept up with sadness but he cannot do anything. It was true that the older brother knew more everything about their people, and he can't hide the fact that his brother was more capable of the job.

"My orders for you Jeongin is to stay within the castle until further notice. Chan and Minho will be again with you throughout the day to start with your combat training." Jeongin only nodded at his father's orders and continued to proceed with his food.

~

Finished with their food, the members of the royal family went to their own tasks. The King and Queen went to their meeting with the council, Jin was heading for the courtyard before going into town, Jeongin followed his brother, while Chan and Minho followed the siblings.

"Jeongin," Jin faced his brother and tapped his head, "I know that you liked going to the town, but I cannot break our father's orders. You know what happens if he knew that I let you join me in the negotiations with the townsmen." Jin said while messing with Jeongin's hair.

"I just really want to go the town, but yeah, we should follow father's orders. Just don't forget to bring home some bread from my favorite bakery, okay?" Jeongin pleaded while clasping his hands.

"Okay, I won't forget. I'll bring you lots, okay?" Jin smiled at his younger brother. He's cute while he's pleading. Jin thought to himself. Looking at the Jeongin's guards, he gestured Minho to come in front of him.

"Minho, please prepare me a horse, and ask two sentinels to accompany me in town. I will be waiting at the courtyard." Jin ordered with authority. Minho bowed accepting the order and went to fulfill the prince's command. The three who were left went to the courtyard.

After a few moments of waiting, Minho arrived in the courtyard with a horse and two other sentinels who had their own horses. Minho went down the horse and helped the first prince ride at the back of the horse.

"Prince Jin, I have also prepared water for you for your travel and your sword is attached at the left side of the saddle. In case of rain, a cape is placed in a bag attached to the right side of the saddle." Minho informed the first prince while he was adjusting to his seat.

"Thanks, Minho," Jin bowed at Minho, and looked at Jeongin who was staring at him, "I'll be back before midnight, okay?" Jeongin agreed with a nod and smiled at his brother.

Jin took off with his sentinels and disappeared in the courtyard within a few moments. Jeongin took a deep breath and faced the two people who were waiting for him, Chan and Minho.

"So, where do we start?" Jeongin raised an eyebrow to his sentinels, while Chan and Minho just smiled at one another. "Please, it's my first day, make it easy for me."

"Yes, Prince Jeongin. Let us proceed at the training grounds at the back of the castle." Chan answered and lead the way with Minho to the training grounds.

~

"Yahhh! Chan! I need water!" Jeongin shouted and breathed heavily. He was tasked by the two to run to the whole castle. He actually went against the idea, but he did not have any choice as for sure that the two would report to his father he did not follow combat training orders, which he was supposed to have since 15 years old.

"Prince Jeongin, this is just the start of the training, how much more if you would undergo close combat training?" Chan said with authority, overfilled with joy that he was able to order the prince what he wants. Minho, on the other side, just gave him water to alleviate the prince's thirst. Chan glared at Minho's gesture, but the other just sneered at him.

"CHRISTOPHER!" Jeongin shouted after drinking a glass of water. Uh oh. Minho thought. Chan did not like when he was called Christopher. Both did not know about the story of Chan's hate against his English name, but they knew that he went nuts when he was called by that name.

Jeongin realized what he said to Chan. He knelt and clasped his hands hoping for Chan's mercy at him, but his plead won't let Chan let him go. Chan balled his fists and threw out a fit.

"Jeongin! Run 20 laps in the maze garden! NOW!" Jeongin stood up as straight as possible and saluted Chan and went on his way to the garden. Minho went to Chan's side and tapped him at the shoulder, looking at Jeongin's back side fading to the garden.

"Don't you think that you're exerting Jeongin too much? It's his first day of combat training." Minho worried at Jeongin who was evidently exhausted earlier. He can't bear the thought of Jeongin passing out due to exhaustion, and the king and queen getting mad at them.

Chan sighed at what Minho said. "I know, but he's two years late with his training. We have to prepare him while there are still no troubles within the kingdom. The first prince can't protect him when the time comes."

"That's why we are here, Chan. We are his protectors. Jeongin wouldn't succeed in line, unless something happens with the other members of the royal family. The King still has 10 years of reign in the kingdom and by the time the first prince succeeds the throne, Jeongin would be 27 years of age. After that, the first prince would have found his wife in his reign and their children would succeed the throne. Jeongin doesn't have much of a chance in the throne. We should just train the prince in a slow pace, for now." Minho stated looking at Chan's reaction. Chan looked at Minho while smiling.

"I'm impressed that your brain works in that way. Continue that." Chan patted Minho's shoulder and walked his way to the garden while leaving Minho dumbfounded.

"That punk," Minho scoffed, "Hey! My brain processes more in a million times than what yours can process!"

~

After Jeongin's combat training, which finished after the sunset, the second prince rested on his bed, complaining about his body ache after training the whole day. He was looking at his room's ceiling when he heard a knock in his room's door.

He lifted his body, faced the door, and waited for someone to come in. Judging by the pale arm that he saw first, it was Chan.

"Prince Jeongin, here's your set of change of clothes. After you clean yourself up, I'll be waiting here for you, before you eat your dinner at the dining area." Jeongin went in front of Chan and got his change of clothes. He was heading for the bathroom, when Chan grabbed his arm.

"Umm, I think I may have overexerted you for today's training. I'm really sorry, Jeonginie." Chan  bowed and sadness was evident in his voice. It was the first time in a while that Jeongin heard his nickname from Chan. Jeongin lifted up Chan's head, and hugged the older.

Looking at Chan, Jeongin smiled and went on his way to the bathroom.

~

Upon finishing his bath, Jeongin wore his new set of clothes, and folded his worn clothes properly. It's a habit for him to fold his worn clothes because he wanted orderliness when it comes to his things.

Arranging himself, Jeongin went up to his room expecting that Chan was in there, but to no avail. His room did not have any candles lit within and it was unusual because as far as he know, he left the room with the candles on. It feels weird in here, I should go to down to the dining area Maybe Chan's already there. Jeongin thought.

Placing his clothes in his bed, his eyes revolved around the room but before he was able to grab the door's handle, someone grabbed his neck and pushed him to the ground.

Jeongin was trying to get a glimpse of the intruder's face but he can't due to the darkness that consumed the room. The intruder started choking the prince, but Jeongin wasn't able o fight back to his low strength. Jeongin's breathing was halted and he was striving to get air. He grabbed the arms of the person who was choking him, but his strength cannot move his arms even a centimeter. 

Luckily, the intruder eased up it's grip on Jeongin's neck and he was able to escape the grip, breathing fast due to the lack of air. After regaining his stature, Jeongin went to proceed to door, but he was pushed back to his bed by the intruder.

Trying to stand up before the intruder could get him, the intruder drew out a sword and directed it at Jeongin's throat. Jeongin could not move due to fear. Seconds passed, he felt the cold sword touching his neck. Second by second, he felt the sword penetrating the skin of his neck.

Blood gushed slowly from his neck.