“Where’s Junhong?” Jiyong asked around in search of his son, but no one could answer. “Ah! Baekhyun.” The consort called over to the male servant, spotting him, Chanyeol, Jongin, and Bang walk down the hallway. The four of them immediately bowed. “Yes, your highness?” Baekhyun answered.

“Where’s Junhong?” I haven’t seen him all day. He needs to be here; the party starts in half an hour and people are already arriving.” Jiyong asked. “Yes, your highness. Prince Junhong woke up late. He had been up all night. He’s taking a bath right now.” Baekhyun informed. Jiyong shook his head not surprised in the slightest. “Thank you Baekhyun. Bring him to me when he’s done. I’ll have my hair dressers fix his hair.” He said.

“Yes, your majesty.” Baekhyun bowed his head.

The Consort’s eyes then landed on Yongguk. A slow smile crept his lips, “You look very nice Bang. I knew that suit fit you nicely.” He said with much approval. “Thank you, your majesty.” The said guard bowed his head. “do you have your mannerisms and etiquette packed down?” Jiyong questioned. Presentation and image were highly important to him and Bang was forced to practice for hours every day until Jiyong was satisfied.

“Yes, I’ve practiced all morning with Baekhyun.” Yongguk answered. Chanyeol rolled his eyes at this. Jiyong smiled, pleased. “Good. I will see you and Junhong later, and with that he walked away to double check on the other preparations.

“How come you got to spend all morning with Baekhyun and you didn’t tell me?” Chanyeol frowned at Yongguk once the Consort was gone. “And what use would you have been if you were there with us.” Baekhyun turned to the tall guard, an unimpressed look on his face. Chanyeol immediacy retreated. Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head, “Make yourself useful and help set up for the party, instead of worry about other’s business.” He said before walking off to his next destination. “B-Baekhyun wait!” The tall guard chased after the shorter male.

Jongin chuckled at the scene. “Chanyeol is going to blow Baekhyun’s fuse one day.” He remarked. Yongguk shook my head, honestly feeling bad for the mal servant. “So, I guess this is it.” Jongin said. Yongguk nodded, “You seem less tense than I thought you’d be.”” Jongin noted.

“Huh? Oh…I guess I can actually enjoy myself knowing that plans changed.” Yongguk confessed. A small smile formed on Jongin’s lips as he nodded in understanding. “I just want to get this over with.” He said.

“Isn’t Kyungsoo here?” Yongguk recalled seeing the nurse enter the palace the other night. “yeah. That’s what worries me.” Jongin confessed.

“There’s going to be outcasts everywhere. I don’t want him to be around them. Nor do I want him to see me ‘work’.” His shoulder dropped. “I’ll just have to avoid him and make sure he doesn’t see me.”

“He’ll probably be looking for you.” Yongguk reminded. “He can’t find me Yongguk. We can’t be seen together around all these outcasts. This is my final chance out of this. I don’t want anyone getting any new ideas, especially not Eunhyuk.” Jongin urged. Yongguk nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry. Just focus on our mission and it’ll turn out fine.” He assured him, patting him on the back. Jongin slowly nodded, “I guess I should be heading to my post. I’ll see you later.” He said walking away. “Good luck.” Yongguk called to him. “You too.” He returned the wish before turning the corner.

Bang was about to leave as well, when somebody whispered his name. “Yongguk.”

The said guard looked around, but no one else was in the hallway.

“Yongguk.” The whisper came again.

Yongguk raised an eyebrow, it was coming from one of the large columns. Second later a head popped from behind the thick cylinder wall. “Junhong?” Yongguk said a bit confused. “Shh…no one knows I’m here.” The prince waved the guard over.

Yongguk walked toward the column, “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” He said, seeing that he was dressed in a robe and his hair was still wet. “I know. But I wanted to see you.” Junhong said. Bang shook his head, laughing a little. “You couldn’t have waited until you were dressed and ready?”

“No.” Junhong shrugged. “But you look really nice. Better than I expected.” He grinned. “Thanks, but you need to hurry up and change. Consort Jiyong is looking for you.” Yongguk informed him.

“I know. I know.” Junhong said, wiping his hair from his face. “but Yongguk. Remember, you can’t treat me like a kid anymore. I’m 20 now.” He said coming out from behind the wall. “I know. You’ve reminded me every day up till today.” Yongguk said. The elder didn’t understand why the prince didn’t want to be seen as a kid anymore. He’d been extremely adamant about it. “Good.” Junhong nodded pleased. “But are you going to tell me what you want for your birthday?” Yongguk reminded.

“I will~.” Junhong cooed. “I’ll tell you later. I have to go.” He smiled cheekily before running away.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Yoseob said as Youngjae threw up in the bathroom. “We should go back to the fire kingdom.” Yoseob insisted. Kyungsoo went into the bathroom and assisted the snow prince before giving him his medicine.

“We can’t go back now. It’s too far of a trip for him to travel right now.” Kyungsoo said, checking the snow prince’s temperature. “You should probably stay in tonight.” He advised, but Youngjae shook his head. “I have to go. I can’t miss it.” He said. “You can’t go out there like this.” Kyungsoo urged. “I have to go. I’ll be fine. I promise. I feel great already. Really, I do.” Youngjae insisted.

Neither Yoseob nor Kyungsoo were convinced but they had no choice but to obey the prince.

“Fine.” Kyungsoo reluctantly gave in. “But please take care of yourself. If you feel any kind of way, let us know.”

“I will.” Youngjae promised. “You should take a bath. I’m going to ask the servants if they have any special herbs.” Kyungsoo said and stood up and left the room. Yoseob stared at Youngjae who washed his face and rinsed out his mouth. “You’re not okay, are you?” he finally said.

“I’m just hurting a little, but I’m fine.” Youngjae assured him with a convincing smile. But Yoseob didn’t believe him, but he didn’t have a choice other than to pray for the best. “I’ll be right back. I’ll get some towels.” He said.

Youngjae waited until the elder was gone, before falling to his knees. He groaned in pain. His body ached and felt weak. Just one night. He thought to himself. I can make it for one night. I have to represent the fire kingdom well. I can’t fail them. He smiled weakly to himself, “I’ll have fun.”

Though he was in pain, he was excited for the party. Excited to meet new people and hopefully make more friends and celebrate this special day with the Sunshine Prince. He forced himself to his feet and stood up. “I’m not weak. I am strong.

Wonho flipped the dark hood over his head before entering the bar at the edge of the Sunshine kingdom. There was hardly anyone at the bar. Most people were out enjoying the festivities in celebration of their crowned prince’s 20th birthday. And the few people here didn’t pay any attention to him.

Wonho walked to the back of the bar and opened the trap door that led to the underground bar designated for the outcasts.

There weren’t many people at the underground bar either, for most of the dark guild members were out preparing for their capture.

Wonho headed straight o the back room, bursting straight through the doors where Eunhyuk and Lord Changmin were in the back talking. “Who the do you think you are busting in here?” Eunhyuk jumped from his seat, pulling out his dagger. “I need to speak to Lord Changmin.” Wonho remained calm.

“Who-,”

“Eunhyuk leave us.” Changmin said to the guild leader, recognizing Wonho’s voice. Eunhyuk narrowed his eyes before reluctantly leaving the room.

“Ah, funny seeing you here.” Changmin smiled crookedly once the door shut behind Eunhyuk.

Wonho removed his hood. “I’m guessing you’re not here to pay your Uncle a friendly visit, huh?” Changmin said, sipping on his bottle of bear. “I’ve been looking for you all over the kingdom.” Wonho said sternly, ignoring the man’s comment. “Well you found me.” Changmin leaned back in his seat.

“I know about your scheme to kidnap the fertile princes.” Wonho went straight to business. “When was that never our plan?” Changmin said indifferently, puling out a cigar and match from his pocket. Wonho frowned. “You can’t kidnap Prince Kikwang.” He demanded.

The guild lord laughed at this, “Isn’t he the prince that married the crowned prince of the Earth kingdom? Do you know how much he’s worth?”

Wonho gripped his sword angrily, “Do you know how much your head is worth?” he threatened.

Changmin raised his hands in surrender. “Even if I didn’t want to take him, I can’t stop it. The men are already out there and it’s not even my guild or plan. I can’t do anything about it.” He flicked the match and lit his cigar. He then leaned further back in his seat and nonchalantly puffed a smoke. Wonho stressfully ran his fingers through his hair, forcing himself from panicking.

“But I’m sure you have interest in the affair otherwise you wouldn’t waste your time here.” He said.

The elder man shrugged, “Yeah. So?”

“So, if they get a hold of him, you’ll let him go.” Wonho said.

Changmin scoffed, “Do you know who I am? What would I look like telling these people to release someone extremely valuable.” Wonho cringed at how his uncle itemized Kikwang. “I’ve done you the favor of not telling my father where you’ve been hiding. This is the least you can do.” He gritted.

Changmin let out an irritated sigh, knowing that his nephew was right. If his brother knew where he was, he’d have him arrested on the spot, or worse. “Fine.” He reluctantly gave in. “But if I were you, I’d try to save my friend before they get their hands on him. Who knows what they might do to him before I reach them.” Changmin smiled crookedly.

“That’s what I plan to do.” Wonho said with much confidence as he flipped his hood back on. “I hope our next meeting will be a friendlier term. Hm?” The guild lord hummed. “It depends on how tonight turns out.” Wonho remarked and with that he left the room.

The noble heir hurried outside and hopped on his horse and went straight to the castle for the party. He took a deep breath. He was going to have to warn Kikwang. He knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. He knew that the elder probably hated him now. But he couldn’t get any closer to him, it’d only put the prince in danger.

He just prayed that ending their friendship hadn’t been too late. He didn’t need the prince to forgive him. He needed him to listen to him.

“Come on. We’re already late.” Kikwang said, running to the ballroom doors. Doojoon trailed behind fiddling with his tie. “Wait. I still have to put on my tie.” He said.

Kikwang stopped and let out a short-irritated huff. He turned around to see the elder struggling. “Do you not know how to put on a tie?” he accused. “I never found the need to wear one.” Doojoon immediately defended.

Kikwang shook his head and walked up to the crowned prince to hilp him. “This is stuff we learned as kids.” He said. Doojoon only scoffed. “Looks like I’m better than you at something. You can survive the wild and I can dress.” Kikwang teased, fixing the tie with ease. “I would’ve been fine without the tie.” Doojoon remarked when the younger finished.

“No. The tie makes it look better. Your mom would even agree.” Kikwang retorted. “Are you my mom now?” Doojoon remarked. “No, but it looks like I’m your stylist.” Kikwang poked the elder’s chest before turning around and walking to the ballroom doors.

The two showed the guards their invitations and they were allowed inside.

It wasn’t long after they entered the ballroom when they were immediately surrounded by the other guests.

“It’s like we’re popular or something.” Kikwang said when they finally pushed through the crowd. “Tch…don’t pretend to be humble.” Doojoon said. “You sound like Bora now.” Kikwang remarked.

“It’s true though. Half of those people were your friends.” Doojoon pointed out. “True, but I’m pretty sure you’re more popular than me. I’m sure you’ve dated over half of the girls here.” Kikwang smiled teasingly. Doojoon actually laughed, “You’re not exactly wrong.” He said. Kikwang playfully rolled his eyes.

The younger prince scanned the area in search of Youngjae. He pouted his lips a little. “Can’t find him?” Doojoon questioned already knowing who he was looking for. Kikwang shook his head, “I doubt he would be late.” He said. Doojoon shrugged, “He might’ve not been late but someone else might be.” Doojoon hinted.

This time Kikwang rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I like to pretend that they’re not together.” He admitted. Doojoon laughed at him, finding it cute how protective the snow prince was over his brother. Just then another crowd formed around the ballroom entrance, people peaking and stretching to get a glimpse of the newly arrived guest. Doojoon raised an eyebrow, noticing the crowd. “Looks like he’s here.”

Youngjae was overwhelmed by the crowd that surrounded him as soon as he entered the room. He smiled and waved, recognizing some of the people he met at his brother’s wedding. However, most of the people in the crowd, he didn’t recognize. He did his best to greet everyone and answer their questions, but it was difficult.

“Are you the mysterious third prince of the snow kingdom?”