V - There is a Traitor Among Us 

"Prince, admiral Yoo of the Alliance would like to speak with you" 

Daehyun froze. He wanted to talk? But why? Daehyun had found himself deep in his thoughts causing the woman admiral in front of him to wave at him.

"Sorry" he cleared his throat and looked back at her. "I'll accept to speak with him. Did he mention what it was for?" 

"He said it was a private matter" 

Daehyun had nodded at the admiral thanking her and made his way to a room which was slightly secluded from the main event. His palms sweated and his ears felt hot. Had Youngjae given him thought? Daehyun had questioned himself. Did Youngjae think of him?

Daehyun knocked on the door and it immediately had opened revealing the admiral. He nodded at the guard that was positioned outside the door before going in.

Youngjae had turned to sit down on a velvety red chair. The room itself was quite old-fashioned with a sentimental feel. There was towers of brown and dark coloured books and a rich patterned carpet that landscaped the room. It sort of suited the looks of the admiral in front of him. Daehyun remained standing, not anywhere close to his enemy. 

"It's our first time meeting in person. What could this be about?" Daehyun crossed his arms and leant against the wall. He liked this idea. Both of them, alone and secluded. 

"I called you alone because I received something unusual earlier. So you could believe me, I wanted to show you first hand" Youngjae proceeded to reach in his pocket revealing a white paper. Daehyun had squinted at it and when he had fully removed it from his pocket, an envelope was revealed. A wave of panic had coursed through his body as he remembered the letter he had wrote, though he knew he hadn't sent it. "This..." he shook the paper before placing it down on the table. "This can't be you" 

"Let me read this letter" he walked to the table and hastily retreived the letter. It indeed had his handwriting on the envelope but Daehyun knew he hadn't sent it. It was still fresh in his mind. He opened it carefully to reveal a message written in a completely foreign handwriting and a forged signature signed beneath. His face had suddenly blushed violently as he scanned the content. 

'I always think of you'

The Prince's eyes skimmed down. 

'Do you know?' 

His breath hitched. 

'I can't seem to stop myself' 

He held the paper tighter. 

'I think you're beautiful' 

His heart pounded against his chest. 

'I might be obsessed...' 

He ran a hand through his hair.

'Love from your enemy' 

Daehyun had scrunched the paper tightly, his knuckles turning white at the strength. This couldn't be. Who could have done this? Daehyun felt as if he was being watched. How did they figure out his thoughts so well?

"So?" Youngjae leaned back into his chair. 

"This was not me" he flipped the envelope and held it up "there is no Empire arms stamp" 

"I could tell that much" he Youngjae sighed. 

"I had intended to send you a letter to inform you it was indeed the Empire that had rescued you" Youngjae had immediately sat forward, his hands placed on the table and his mouth slightly agape. "It was a misunderstanding and I do hope you could move past this as I cleared it up as swifly as I could" 

"I-I see. I thank you but the man who had abducted me...Jongup was a man from your Empire" Youngjae was in disbelief. His suspicions were correct, the Empire had abducted and rescued him. 

"Yes. That admiral is a man very close to me and I can assure you it was very much a misunderstanding. I had found out myself after noticing his disappearance. It was certainly unplanned on my behalf as the Prince of the Empire" 

"I've understood. This situation is only known between myself and members of this Alliance. It has not reached anything other than this" Youngjae paused and was looking at the Prince in front of him for what seemed like forever. "Prince, why would a letter like that be written about you? From what I could decipher, the person was either extremely childish or felt some suspicion about you...but I wouldn't know" he shrugged. Youngjae was testing his limits with the enemy. He thought it may be a little fun since he had him alone. 

"I-I wouldn't know either. None of that was of course true" Daehyun felt like Youngjae could see through his lie. His wit was like none other. Youngjae continued to stare at him which made the Prince uneasy. He decided he couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm taking my leave" he turned around to the door and placed his hand on the knob before he heard Youngjae's voice again. 

"The Prince has a dark secret" he called out and Daehyun's eyes widened as he looked at the ground. He cleared his throat and left shaken. 

*

"Tonight on Joko World News at 10, Choi Junhong, the son of prime minister Choi Jaesan of the Toto plant has found evidence for the death of the Joko civilians. He has linked it to the notorious right wing group the, ZYX League" 

Youngjae was ecstatic about the news he had just heard. It meant that he was closer to busting their corrupt prime minister and his league that he had orchestrated to create terror. Youngjae  would have sounded like a conspiracist to a normal person, but he didn't want to be a part of those who admired him blindly. 

He mentally praised the young Junhong who was next in line to become prime minister for his detective work. His relationship with the Toto government before being ruled by the Empire was good. Now that they were officially an Empire state, they were not allowed to form an alliance without the knowledge of the Empire. Youngjae knew this was great information for him personally but exposing the prime minister wasn't as easy as organising fleet positions in battle. Junhong was his best chance in getting closer. He decided he call him after his closest secretary had acquired his number. He hoped they could secretly make a pact. 

Once he had received his contact details he dialed him. The phone had started to ring and Youngjae fell into his habit of biting his lip when he felt nervous. After a few more seconds the ringing stopped and was followed by a shuffling and a young voice. 

"Hello?" 

"Ah, Mr Choi I've called you regarding a private matter. I am admiral Yoo Youngjae of the Alliance" Youngjae began to play with the spiral phone cord.

"Admiral Yoo? But you aren't supposed to make private advances. We are now allies with the Empire" 

"I understand but I truly needed your help. It is about ZYX league and the death of our civilians. I heard about your findings on the news and think I might be able to direction this situation" 

"Hmm. What are you suspicions? But I'm not making any promises. I cant guarantee my fate if I were to be caught" 

"Whatever happens to you, I will make sure to take the blame. My suspicions are that the ZYX league are a group created by our prime minister. It's ironic how they emerged shortly after his election" 

"The ZYX are being pushed to be investigated but the prime minister is delaying his decision to co-operate. That is moderately suspicious I guess"

"The former prime minister was also murdered suddenly after the election, a man who has opposed the extreme opinions of Go Yeongil in parliament" 

"We could look into it but we'd need more ground evidence if it was to be taken further" 

"Can you trust me on this?"

"For now, it seems believable. So I will accept your request. I will keep a close eye on him and call you back if I have found anything." 

"Thank you. Until then" 

"Goodbye" 

Youngjae was in a good mood. He was finally able to put his words into practice and was thankful for Junhong's co-operation. Youngjae didn't particularly like carrying things out in private but it was necessary. On Toto, which was recently seized by the Empire, troops were ordered in which marked their territory. The government system was forced to either vanish completely or continue with their politics but with heavy military influence. Historically, it marked the shift of what was a free planet to Imperial/military rule. The people and government of Toto had unwillingly accepted their new fate in the end. The battle was called off behalf of the Alliance due to a missing admiral, which the Alliance had convinced the government and people that the Empire had threatened biological weapons so the risk was not for the greater good. 

On the Empire, the air was tense. The new Prince had returned and the halls were filled with whispers and glances by those who dared. His closest secretary turned and whispered to him.

"It seems there are rumours about our Prince bubbling. Not only about this 'favouritism' of admiral Moon but that our Prince has become weaker ever since we were faced with our new enemy" 

The Prince had come to an abrupt halt and looked firmly into the eyes of his secretary. He hoped it was untrue. 

"Admiral, these rumours do not appear on their own. There is a traitor among us and I suspect it is the same man who forged my letter"  

The Prince had increasingly become furious throughout the day. Becoming a Prince had meant new responsibilities which were added to those he already had. It was even worse now that a rumour had plagued his Empire which gave those in the military a chance to revolt. Jongup had noticed it from afar and couldn't help but feel worried, after all they were still childhood best friends no matter what hardships they went through.

Jongup knocked on the Prince's door with hope that he'd be okay to talk despite their last encounter. The Prince's secretary had opened the door and informed the Prince of Jongup's presence. The secretary left and Jongup had entered. 

"Daehyun I-" 

"It's fine. I'm well" he sighed. Jongup could see just how overwhelmed he had become.

"No. I want you tell me everything. Everthing that's bothering you. You need to get things off your chest, thats why you've become like this...and why people think you've become weaker" Jongup took a seat in front of him. If there was any way to prevent Daehyun losing control, it was for him to clear his mind and to come to terms with himself. 

"There are men in my ranks who are against me" he took a deep breath. He knew revealing his private encounter with the enemy would change Jongup's stance but it was necessary for him to come clean and strengthen himself again. Right now he was weak and only Jongup could see him like this. "I know this because there was a letter that was supposed to be sent to our enemy regarding the recent kidnapping event but the contents were changed"

"Changed how?" 

"Before the new year celebration, I left the envelope unsent and without a stamp on my desk. During the event, admiral Yoo had asked to speak with me regarding this letter"

"So someone has changed the content and sent it on your behalf?"

"Yes. Here's the letter" 

Daehyun handed over the scrunched paper for Jongup to see. He was embarrassed but it felt better to release everything to Jongup. Jongup had frowned at the paper in front of him, his mouth slightly agape. 

"I believe it was someone among our ranks. It makes sense for these rumours to circulate now. It is coming from the same source" 

"I see..." Jongup looked into space caught in his own thoughts. Daehyun was stressed because one of their own men were attempting to tarnish his reputation by playing silly tricks on him. 

"All members of the military will have a close eye on them. This will remain until the culprit is caught" 

A knock had filled the room. Daehyun called for his secretary to enter with the drink he had requested. It was his usual deep red wine he confided in when he needed to rest. The secretary rested the tray on the table and the Prince had requested another glass for Jongup. Tonight they'd drink together. Once Jongup was served, the sipped briefly in silence. 

"Firstly, Daehyun I wanted to congratulate you on becoming a Prince. You worked very hard" Jongup refilled his glass, shooting a smile at him.

 "Ah, it just means more work. I just hope I don't lose my hair in the process of this" he chuckled 

"Oh and Daehyun, I wanted to apologise. I have been unfair to you and wanted you to forgive me" Daehyun's eyes widened and Jongup's sudden apology. Jongup continued to look into space sipping slowly. 

"You don't have to apologise. I'm happy we can move past this. So, are we back to being best friends?" he held his glass up smiling at the other. 

"Absolutely" Jongup laughed meeting his glass with Daehyun's, but before they could touch Jongup had let go causing it to it smash on the table with wine splattering on both men. The Prince rose in panic as Jongup had slowed slumped into his chair his eyes fluttering shut. 

"No no no Jongup! Wake up please" he rushed over to him holding his face "This can't happen right now please Jongup don't die" his breathing was erratic and he shook whilst locating the phone and calling for aid. The Prince had slammed the phone down and rushed to Jongup once more in hopes to awaken him. When he saw Jongup was unresponsive he slowly knelt down in failure, tears streaming down his face. Jongup was dead and Daehyun couldn't breathe. 

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A/N

Hey everyone! 

I'm truly sorry it's been so long but I've just been so so busy. Unfortunately it'll be this slow until I actually have a break so I hope you don't lose interest. 

Thanks for reading up until now...Until the next chapter :)