The joyous moment that they had dimmed as Kai and Donghae followed a stubborn Jonghyun and a maid through the halls in the direction of the court-room.

Nudging Kai hard, Donghae voiced his worries, ‘’This is such a bad idea…’’ He sneered under his breath. Kai shrugged, ‘’Maybe it isn’t that bad?’’

Donghae stared at him in disbelief, ‘’Dude have you ever seen Jinki angry?’’ Kai frowned at him, ‘’Why would he be angry, Jonghyun is only going to sit with him.’’ The other shook his head, ‘’Not necessary at Jonghyun but he is gonna kick our asses for disobeying his orders.’’

A snort came from Kai and a small chuckle left him right after, ‘’Is that all? It wouldn’t be our first time.’’ He said with a sarcastic tone, the older guard threw his hands up in the air and gave up since his warnings weren’t taken seriously.

Jonghyun looked over his shoulder, noticing Donghae’s uneasiness. ‘’What’s up?’’ He asked curiously, decreasing the pace so he was walking next to the guard instead. Donghae offered a shaky smile, ‘’Are you sure you want to visit them? I just have a bad feeling.’’

The blond thought about it, lips pursing into a thin line and eyebrows furrowing together. Maybe Jinki had said to them it was best to bring him to the chambers so he was safe and secure but what about Jinki’s safety? He wanted to be with Jinki as means of support and to protect him too, wasn’t that like real love he had spoken about this morning?

He protects me and I protect him?

‘’I also want to know what is amiss and protect the one I care about.’’ Jonghyun corrected, quickly combing fingers through his hair to get it back into position so he appeared proper enough.

Donghae knew where he was coming from, he was showing the same loyalty that Jinki possessed and what made many people admire the amazing Crown Prince. He placed a sturdy hand on Jonghyun’s bicep, ‘’If you must, do it in silence, don’t draw attention to yourself.’’ He advised. Advisors and the council will be there who will not take kindly to anyone disrupting the meeting, whether it was a court-meeting or a regular one.

Jonghyun’s thoughts screeched to a halt and he blinked. Where was that suggestion coming from? ‘’Why not?’’ He bit his lip, rolling on the soles of his feet, ‘’If I know something that could benefit the situation then why can’t I voice it?’’

Donghae smiled at him solemnly, ‘’You didn’t train for things like this, your friends might appreciate it but people like Advisors and the Council might not.’’ It was the hard truth but he didn’t want Jonghyun to get embarrassed first-hand in front of everyone.

‘’I don’t need political training to come up with an idea,’’ Jonghyun said with a stubborn tone. Donghae said nothing, not even trying to argue, it wasn’t his place and hoped that Jonghyun will get around to taking his advice sooner or later.

They arrived before an archway without a door, the maid stopped there and turned around to address Jonghyun, ‘’This is the court-room, sir.’’ She informed quietly, her voice soft and her eyes down politely. ‘’There is an empty chair next to General Minho…’’

Jonghyun nodded and thanked her kindly before taking a step into the room, unlike the one in Valmerys, this one was airy with white columns supporting a regal white ceiling and high windows with green decorations at the top. It allowed the sunlight to come in and shine on a round table where everyone was sitting.

Guards were standing by each column and he noticed a few patrolling around the giant area. It almost was like they were having a meeting outside in their garden which Jonghyun had yet to explore.

Quietly he approached, his feet lightly tapping off the floor and his breathing stilled as if that helped him get over unnoticed. This wasn’t the case for Jinki, Jessica and a few others who were instantly aware of his arrival.
 

Jessica blinked in wonder then glanced at Jinki across from her who was just as surprised as she was. Jonghyun offered them a modest smile as he slipped into the empty chair just as Minho turned to look at him with questioning eyes.

Jonghyun shrugged, focusing on an Advisor who was speaking at that moment. ‘’We need to lock the Castle-doors, no one in or out-’’ The man said, scowling at the Queen, ‘’-and we need to provide the Royal family as well as the council with bodyguards so the killer has no chance of striking one of us…’’

‘’You don’t understand my lord, no one has visited our castle for the past few days.’’ General Chanyeol spoke up, looking at the Advisor with a serious gaze and his hands balled on the table, ‘’Expect for Royalty of Valmerys-’’ He gestured to Jinki and Taemin, ‘’-I don’t think the Assassin came from the front if that makes sense.’’

The Advisor huffed, ‘’Are you pointing out that there is treason amongst our men?’’ Chanyeol shook his head in annoyance. ‘’Not at all, I’m only saying we shouldn’t focus on the front gates and who comes in from there or not…’’ He trailed off as Queen Boa nodded.

‘’I agree with the General here, the Assassin might be already taking refuge in the castle, keep your eyes open at all times.’’ She ordered sternly, her eyes warning everyone to stay sharp. 

Everyone nodded and a buzz broke out amongst them as they talked meanwhile Minho leaned closer to Jonghyun, ‘’What are you doing here?’’

Jonghyun pouted, ‘’Thanks for making me feel welcome…’’ He whined in a whisper and folded his arms, Minho rolled his eyes, ‘’You know what I mean...didn’t Jinki order Donghae and Kai to bring you back to the guest-chamber?’’

‘’I want to know what is going on too...why is everyone acting like this is top-secret?’’ Jonghyun mumbled fiercely, growing tired of hearing the same thing and being pushed away because he wasn’t ‘trained’ for this as Donghae kindly explained.

Minho noticed his mood change and sighed, ‘’Don’t take it personally.’’ He shook his head then looked away as a council-member took her turn to speak, ‘’Back on the word of the Queen’s Advisor, it would be best to protect the Royal family and have bodyguards with them at all cost, even safeguarding their chambers from now on.’’

A frown creased Jonghyun’s face, the idea wasn’t necessarily bad but it wasn’t rock-solid. ‘’But what about the servants? they deserve protection as well, especially when they have been targeted.’’ The blond spoke up, his heart going out to the two maids who already fell victim.

He glanced at each person at the table, some of them stood open to the idea but there were a few who were displeased with his sudden interference.

‘’Excuse me but who is this boy disrupting the meeting?’’ The woman of the council asked no one in particular, making the blond slightly nervous but he held his ground. ‘’This is Jinki’s future consort, Jonghyun.’’ Jessica introduced, nodding her head to Jinki who was staring at Jonghyun.

‘’I could care less about his name, future consorts have no place here so be quiet.’’ The woman said sharply. Jonghyun winced, not agreeing at all with that and opened his mouth but paused as Jinki gave him a warning look.

He bit his lip instead and looked down at his lap, feeling slightly angry for getting talked down to like that. It made him feel like he was back at the Orphanage and Beatrice was acting like his opinions didn’t matter.

Queen Boa felt pity for Jonghyun and could see his concerns, ‘’I want guards patrolling the halls and a few stationary in the kitchen and the servant quarters just to make sure everyone feels safe and secure.’’ She said this in a tone that demanded no arguments.

Jonghyun looked up at her with timid surprise and a small thankful smile as she winked at him.

The meeting went from one topic to another and Jonghyun had just been listening until the topic of seeking out the Assassin surfaced and Jessica voiced her thoughts. ‘’I think we need to set up camp near the forest, it’s a dense forest, anyone could sneak through there to our castle without being seen.’’

Jinki nodded in agreement, ‘’Yes...we need to go out on the hunt in there in the hopes we find the killer.’’ Jessica flashed him a small smile, happy someone backed-up her idea, Jinki returned the smile warmly, Jonghyun thought they were focusing too fast on the areas around the castle when they hadn't even searched the castle thoroughly.

It brought him back to the time that Taemin showed him this whole secret passage-way underneath the Palace to sneak him into the Banquet.

Jonghyun was already talking before he could stop himself, ‘’Shouldn’t we focus on the layout here in the castle first?’’ He asked unceremoniously, receiving a displeased look from Jinki this time and it made him wonder why Jinki wasn’t pleased with his input, on the contrary, it was like Jinki wasn’t happy to have him here at all! A pang of pain thundered in his chest, he wasn’t used to Jinki like this, disliking his presence.

‘’Jonghyun…’’ Jinki pinched the bridge of his nose in slight irritation, Jonghyun wasn’t having it and sat up, dainty hands flat on the table, ‘’No...wait! Hear me out…’’ The small man spared everyone a glance, ‘’He or she could have taken a secret passageway into the castle, it explains why the guards haven’t seen him or her yet.’’ Taemin’s eyes were flashing in understanding as he pointed this out.  

‘’You mean…’’ Taemin trailed off and Jonghyun nodded rapidly, his brown eyes hopeful that Taemin had the same theory in mind.

Jessica didn’t and looked at him with confusion, ‘’That’s not possible Melon-nin, I’ve lived here my whole life and I have yet to see a secret passage-way.’’

The blond scratched his cheek, ‘’I’m sorry my lady but that’s why it is called a secret passage-way, it’s in the name.’’ He didn’t mean to sound like a smart or have Taemin and a few others chuckle at this and he felt bad when Jessica’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

Jinki wasn’t amused either, ‘’Enough Jonghyun!... I know these halls like the back of my hand, we would be wasting our time finding a sneak route that isn’t there.’’ The Crown Prince said sternly, for the first time that they have met each other, he was glaring at the blond.

''No wait...brother...'' Taemin was about to defend the blond, Jinki held up his hand meanwhile looking at Jonghyun. ‘’Please go back, I will talk to you later.’’

Jonghyun lips