Studying was just a tad easier the next day, which Ryeowook stoically reasoned with a good night’s sleep and knowing that Minjeong’s family had gotten the message and were doing as good as possible under the given circumstances. His mind was set: studying had to remain his highest priority. If he couldn’t be a ruler, he would certainly still have to help his brothers with some matters, so these studies were of utmost importance!

And still, he found himself sitting by his opened window that night, his gaze fixed on the outside world and thoughts wandering to forbidden places until he couldn’t bear it any longer.

When he was certain that no one would come to his room anymore, he grabbed a light, dark-colored coat and slipped out into the darkness. Once he was safely under the cherry trees' shadows, he looked around, trying to spot Kyuhyun, but his heart sank when dark shadows were all he could find. Should he call out for the fire artist? Would Kyuhyun even show up? Maybe he had actually run into a guard that night. Yes, that had to be the case. That meant that their security problem was fixed. Which was a good thing.

“Missing me, little prince?”

Ryeowook’s heart skipped a beat before it doubled its pace, excitement running through his veins. “You sneaked past our guards once again.”

“I’m becoming better at it.” A human silhouette emerged from the shadows.

Despite knowing better, Ryeowook couldn’t suppress the smile that appeared on his lips when Kyuhyun finally stepped into sight.

☆ ☆ ☆

Shortly after lunch the next day, Ryeowook found himself neither in class as he should have nor at the hospital where he wanted to be, but instead in one of the court rooms for an emergency meeting regarding the new disease. His three older brothers, his father, their historian, the hospital doctor, and quite a few other high-ranking officials had been called in for the meeting, so Ryeowook was almost surprised that his two eldest brothers did not attend.

“Dear gentlemen,” the King started once everyone had arrived in the court rooms. Some of their servants were still going back and forth, making sure everyone had a drink and fresh fruits were well-prepared for all their guests to take. Ryeowook sat next to Jungsu once again who in turn sat next to their father; the twins were seated on their father’s other side. “I have called upon you urgently today not because of a new physical enemy but because of the disease that all of you have surely heard of by now. Doctor Kim, please give us a brief explanation.”

The hospital’s doctor rose to his feet and bowed towards the discussion participants before he spoke. “Following my patients’ rapports, this disease begins with a throat-ache that develops into fever and a cough. This process can take two to three weeks; after one-and-a-half to two weeks, there’s usually a small section at which the patients seem to be getting better before their symptoms become worse. After this small break, they have all started to speak of difficulty breathing. The combination of these symptoms will persist until the patients succumb to the disease.”

“And you said that neither cure nor origin has been found so far, am I correct?” the King added and doctor Kim nodded in confirmation.

“Correct, Your Majesty. Furthermore, the first patients with this disease have entered the hospital in the beginning of the spring festival. Since then, the number of patients with this disease has increased severely.”

“Then it must be that wandering folk!” one of the officials inferred immediately, earning agreeing hums.

“Yes, one of those must have brought the disease into the capital.”

Ryeowook frowned at the direction the discussion was taking right from the start. While it wasn’t unusual for the wandering folk to be blamed for any bad, the accusations didn’t sit right with him.

“It was probably that freakshow.”

“But we can’t be sure. There are so many of them.”

“Doctor Kim,” Ryeowook started, feeling all eyes going to him in an instant. It didn’t happen often that one of the princes spoke up and hearing the youngest one raise his voice had to be very surprising for the officials who were all much older and certainly wiser than he was. Ryeowook straightened his back a little more, keeping his eyes on the doctor. “If I remember correctly, none of the wandering folk have been admitted to the hospital, have they?”

“No, my prince, not as far as I know. However, there have been so many new patients these days that I cannot be sure anymore.”

“But among the first patients wasn’t a single one of the wandering folk.”

“Correct, my prince.”

“They might not have gone to the hospital.” A different official voiced out and some more agreed with murmurs. Ryeowook frowned at the insistence on the wandering artists having brought the disease into the capital.

“The mean people don’t travel so much, the wandering folk must have gotten it somewhere and carried it all the way to us.”

“Excuse my bluntness, but you just contradicted yourself: saying that a non-artist would not have started the disease and yet that one of the artists would have gotten the disease from a non-artist,” Ryeowook dared to add on, but he was waved off quickly.

“Who knows, with how those freaks are travelling.”

“I heard they’re eating rats.”

“Not only that, they eat them just like they caught them, hair and all!”

Ryeowook tried not to imagine the scenarios that the other officials painted into his mind and that caused several exclamations of disgust to rise while still others spun the thought even further. How sick were these people’s mind that they so easily came up with such things?

He glanced at Jungsu, but the other merely watched the officials, his expression neutral though Ryeowook could see the dissatisfaction in the other’s eyes. But of course his peace-seeking brother wouldn’t help him, he wasn’t that bold. Ryeowook’s eyes moved further to his father and he swallowed dryly against a sudden wave of disgust. The King was sitting rather comfortably and seemed to enjoy the officials’ talk! Of course, Ryeowook knew that his father didn’t think highly of wandering artists and was quick to blame them for whatever bad situation arose, but he couldn’t let their officials blame a deadly disease on them!

Ryeowook looked back towards the doctor, expecting at least him to defend the wandering artists, but anger began to boil inside him when the doctor leaned back, not seeming to want to take an actual part of the discussion.

“—and they live off of what we earn respectfully!”

“But how are their shows not proper work?” Ryeowook raised his voice once more. Everyone looked at him again, their irritation and annoyance almost palpable, yet Ryeowook refused to back down for their comfort. “They work hard for those performances. But that’s not the point of today’s discussion. The point is this strange disease that broke out and that we don’t have a cure for. How is the origin that might potentially lie with the wandering artists more important than finding a cure?”

“Ryeowook,” the King interrupted him in a strident tone.

“Doctor Kim, you said it yourself: the first patients that arrived at the hospital with this disease were not the wandering artists. Quite contrary to that, the patients seem to be mainly the weak and the elderly. One of the wandering artists who are currently blamed is even helping you, how can you not speak up to get an actual result? This—“

“Ryeowook, enough!”

Ryeowook flinched at his father’s tone and lowered his head, biting his tongue. He wasn’t done yet. No, he was far from done! If he didn’t speak up for people who were wrongfully accused, who else would? None of those stuck-up officials spoke in favor of the wandering folk and his brothers wouldn’t dare to raise their voices either, and if he couldn’t even rely on his father to call for justice, who else should he hope for then?

“Gentlemen, please continue the discussion,” the King urged the officials on and Ryeowook felt his heart beat faster, pushing scornful fire through his veins. He clenched the fabric of his outer wear to stop the his hands from trembling while everything inside him screamed to get up and call for the justice that no one else wanted to serve. He, too, had sworn to take on his duty as the prince under the Heavens and to work for greater justice! If all of this wasn’t also what Confucius called for, then what did he even study the Classics for?

As soon as he was allowed to, he left the court room, striding outside with steps that were just a hint away from running. Why? Why was he asked to attend and learn about justice if he then wasn’t allowed to call for it actively? Why did all those old men refuse to listen to facts?

The sweet fragrance of a sea of flowers hit him along with sunshine that seemed too bright, too happy, too pure and beautiful for this unjust world. His feet moved on their own, but it was only when he let himself fall onto a bench that he realized he had arrived at a small sitting area, one of several that had been implemented into the garden structure. Ryeowook wanted to hit something, wanted to run, wanted to force the doctor to take him outside so he could help, wanted to cry… He put his elbows on the table and let his head fall into his hands, burying his fingers in his hair. He closed his eyes, focusing only on his breathing and banning everything else from his mind. In and out. In—and out. What could he smell? Which flowers exactly? The sweet scents mixed, creating a colorful canvas of sweetness that didn’t help against the vortex of his thoughts.

He had no idea for how long he had sat there in that same position, trying to calm down and then not to lose that fragile peace, when a soft, clinking noise made him raise his head and look back into the direction he had come from. An involuntary smile tugged at the corners of his lips when he found his third-oldest brother approach with a small tray that held the tea set that Ryeowook had bought at the spring festival.

Jungsu carefully set the tray down on the table before he took a seat, so Ryeowook took on his position as the younger brother to fill their tea cups, placing one cup with its small plate in front of each of them, then he set the tea pot back down on the tray.

“Thank you, hyung.”

“You looked like you could need it.”

Ryeowook’s face fell and he averted his eyes. His shoulders hunched over as his hands played with the small plate. “I should have done a better job at the discussion. For father, I mean.”

“You had no chance against them.”

“Not all on my own, no.”

“You know that I couldn’t have—“

“I know. I had just hoped that father would help me or that doctor Kim would be on my side. But that was naïve, of course.”

A gentle hand came to rest on top of Ryeowook’s, finally prompting the young prince to raise his gaze again. Jungsu smiled at him, finally providing some of the comfort that Ryeowook had been searching for since the discussion conference. “Tell me, is this still about that fire artist?” Ryeowook felt the smile slip off his face, making his brother laugh softly. “Don’t be surprised; just because I’m not out there with you doesn’t mean that I don’t know what’s going on in your life. I know that you two have been spending a lot of time together—and that he’s the reason why mother and father fired Minhee and Minkyung.”

Ryeowook’s gaze drifted away at the mention of his two maids and his heart felt heavy for them. “I don’t know why, something about him was really captivating. But it seems like I won’t be able to see him again anyway…” This time, it would be a goodbye-for-good. No secret, nightly meet-ups, not with the new enforcements that would be set into place within the next few days. Would they even still get the chance to meet that night? Or had the night before ended with their final goodbye?

“It’s better like this.”

“I know. But that doesn’t make today’s discussion decisions feel right.”

“I know, Ryeowook. Believe me, I know. And if my voice had mattered and our father’s argument didn’t weigh so much more than ours, I would have done my best to support you. Maybe not all the way, but at least to a certain extent.”

The younger prince raised his gaze again and smiled gratefully at his brother. “Thank you.” Maybe those words couldn’t change anything, but knowing that his brother was on his side still made Ryeowook’s heart feel a little lighter and like he wasn’t as wrong as those officials had made him feel.

“So, what do you think will be the next step regarding the disease.”

“Aside from closing the gates and having to find a cure as soon as possible?” Jungsu nodded, so Ryeowook let his fantasy run wild. “We have to educate the people. Maybe proper medicine in the early stages could aid in the fight against this disease.” He received another nod of encouragement, so he continued to talk, all of his hopes, fears, worries, and maybe-strategies spilling out of him.