“Father has been having an affair for...for who knows how long? And mother has known! I feel I have just upset the balance of things even more - surely, she had a plan in place. Mother always knows what to do,” Luhan was inconsolable, even when he was being embraced by Sehun; it was maybe the first time the older man had ever seen him without his armor. Plain clothing suited him well, however. Just as his armor did.
“That being said, she probably has something in mind right now...for us...” Luhan mumbled to himself; he knew his mother, and he knew she wouldn't let this go without a fight. She was probably plotting something as they spoke.
“Then we will take things as they come. If it happens that she sends guards - my own men - to fight against me, then so be it,” Sehun's voice was firm, but there was a grimace etched onto his face as he spoke. He didn't want to fight against the men he had trained for such a long time, but what choice did he have? It was all or nothing at this point. Either he got out of here with Luhan, or...he died? Possibly. The empress would find a way to make it seem like his death was an accident.
But he refused to die here. And especially not by “accident”.

“You know there is no coming back from this. She will never be happy as long as you and I are in the same palace,” Sehun murmured; if Luhan mentioned him to the royal family, then surely that meant he was ready to take the general up on his offer? He wasn't sure. Just because he was strong emotionally, it didn't mean the emperor's son was the same. In fact, he was rather ill-willed and had too much of a conscience. Still, that was why Sehun had fallen for him in the first place. However, Luhan's emotions would only hold him back in the long run.
“I know,” Luhan sighed, “I know that. I will...find a way for us to be okay,”
He thought about it for a moment, then looked up at the general with a slight smile, “maybe we will be taking that trip to Korea after all,”

Luhan's strong tidal waves of emotions had been calmed, especially since no one came to his room other than Sehun. He didn't know why, but he'd be finding out soon enough.
The general stayed with him, allowing him to cuddle up to the taller one once they were laying down together - this newfound peace wouldn't last long, but at least they could rest together, even if it was just for an hour or so.

“How long have you known?” Yifan asked as he let his hair down; the servants were ordered home for the night without explanation, but that wasn't needed since everyone knew what had happened anyway. The maidens had gossip for the next few weeks, at least.
“Long enough. You have embarrassed this family, and for what? What did you hope to accomplish by cuddling up with the doctor? To put a stain on my name?” His wife replied, and the icy tone she had been working to hide all these weeks finally came out.
“It is not as if I planned it. Regardless, I will not discuss such things with you,” Still, the emperor was indifferent to her.
“Have you no shame? You have been caught with the biggest disgrace for a husband and wife, and you do not shed one tear?” She couldn't believe it - he didn't sound or look like he felt even a small sliver of sadness or guilt.
“What did you expect? We were not married out of love, we were married to produce heirs. I would not be surprised if you fell in love with another man - or woman - since there is no love between us. Even you know that,” He waved dismissively, then turned to her, “this discussion is done. There is nothing you can do. We will live like this from now on,”
“And be the laughing stock of all towns? I will kill myself rather than have this be the rest of my life!” She nearly shrieked.
“I am not allowing you to control me!” He said curtly, “I refuse to bow to you. Between being married to you and having two sons to guide as well as control the throne, I think I deserve some guilty pleasures. Someone to drink tea with and discuss poetry is not much of a crime, is it? To you it is,”
He then moved towards the bed.
“Now enough of this. I am going to sleep, and we will not discuss this further!”
She stared with hard eyes as he turned his back on her, then relaxed.
“No. Because soon enough, there will be nothing to discuss,”
He said nothing.

Sehun left Luhan's bedroom about ten minutes after the emperor's son had fallen asleep to return to the military house; it was pretty late, so there was barely anyone still awake on his way back to his bed. Thankfully. He was sure he would be the topic of many whispers and gossip for a while - that wasn't such a problem, he was used to it. Especially since the very soldiers he had trained had gossiped about him the moment he set foot here.
Still, that didn't prepare him for what would come next.

Yixing had returned to his natal home which was on the mountain - he could see nearly the whole of the city if he stood on his balcony, especially the palace. It 𝑑𝑖𝑑 take up a rather large space, after all.
He took a deep breath of the crisp night air as he studied the large expanse in front of him; there were a few dim lights from the lanterns that lit up the public spaces, but for the most part, everything was dark. That was until he saw a few sparks which seemed like small fires growing in size around the palace.
He frowned, then stepped a little closer to his banister to have a better look; indeed, they were small fires that would soon unite and create one large flame. And this would all happen within the walls of the palace.
“Father! Uncle! We must make haste for the palace at once! A fire has broken out!”

Sehun was the first to wake up to the blaze. The smoke had begun leaking into the military house, casting a black fog around and on top of many of the beds, including his.
It took him a moment to gather his thoughts amidst his coughing fit, but he soon leaped up and began waking all the other soldiers up. That being the ones that hadn't already passed from inhaling the smoke fumes.
A large fire crackled in front of the main door, effectively sealing it off - this wasn't an accident. This was done on purpose to trap the soldiers.
They proceeded to break the windows to get out just as the blaze began at a few of the bedsheets - in no time, it would devour the whole military house.
The fire crawled from each bed to the next, eating everything in its path, even some of the dead soldiers. Burying was a big ritual in those days, and sadly, some families wouldn't be able to give their sons dignified burials. Not with those charred bodies.
Smoke grew thicker and more restrictive as the remaining soldiers fought to get out, the general helping them; how ironic, the soldiers he was helping from the windows were the same ones that wouldn't hesitate to leave him for dead on the battlefield.
“Get out of here!” He yelled to them all before he covered his mouth and nose with the crook of his elbow to avoid inhaling more smoke - it was already hard to breathe as it was, and he was a little concerned about how much smoke he had already taken in. Still, his job wasn't done. Now that he had managed to save the remaining soldiers, he had to help Luhan and his family.

“Luhan! Luhan!” He cupped his hands by his mouth to call out as loudly as he could, coughing out because of the smoke that clawed and hung onto nearly every wall of the palace along with the fire that grew with every second.
Luhan opened his heavy eyes with a small frown; he could hear screaming, panicked screaming at that, but he couldn't figure out why. He was sure he could even hear Sehun from somewhere. And as he sat up, a large piece of wood that was used to strengthen the ceiling and keep it up came sailing towards him.

It was the yells for water that woke Yifan up, and also the eery shadow of his wife standing by one of the windows.
“What is going on? Why are the people screaming?” He asked, confused, as he jumped out of bed. And that's when he saw it.
The fields leading up to the palace were up in flames, each blade of grass being burnt to a crisp and flying up to the sky as black shadows.
“Th-there is a fire! We must leave! Why are you standing there?!” He yelled at his wife who watched the fires with a terrifying state of calm, almost as if she expected to see them.
“Let us g-”
“Leave me be!” She yelled, then pulled her wrist out of his grasp when he tried to pull her away.
“I said I would die before living with the fact that I would have no choice but to accept you having a consort behind my back. And that is exactly what I plan to do! Except, you will die with me,” The fires hadn't gotten into the palace yet, but they would soon. And then there really be no way for anyone to get out.
He stared at her in disbelief and rage before he shuddered when a devilish smile grew on her face.
“You planned this,” He said, “you arranged for the palace to be burnt down,”
“With us inside, indeed. If we cannot be united in life, then we will be united in death!” She sounded like a girl that couldn't get the boy she wanted, and the emperor took her by the shoulders to shake her.
“What are you talking about?! You did all this just because of the doctor?!” He exclaimed, then felt his eyes widen - Junmyeon! He had to get to him soon so they could get out of here.
“It is no use. He is probably dead already,” She called out when she saw her husband rush for the door. There was a cruel satisfaction in her voice and on her face as the flames rose up behind her, almost as if it were a personal guard for her.
“And if that is so, I will kill you before the fire can!” Yifan yelled as he left the room, looking around in panic as the ceiling began to cave in and fires began to creep into the building. He had to hurry if he wanted to find Junmyeon.
He rushed down the hallways, often narrowly dodging something that came crashing down, towards the doctor's small house.
“Yifan!” Junmyeon exclaimed once the emperor had found him safely outside of his crumbling house.
“Where is the empress? And your sons?” He asked after they had hugged tightly.
“The empress arranged all of this. Tao is not in his room, I have no idea whether he got out yet or not...as for Luhan, his room looks destroyed already. I do not think...” He couldn't admit it, but from his description, they were both sure the youngest son had passed.
“We cannot go back and look. We will die if we do. We must leave!” The emperor looked down at Junmyeon who simply nodded worriedly, allowing himself to be dragged away by the older man to safety.

“Luhan!” Yixing yelled as he made it to the doorway of Luhan's room which was blocked by a large block of burning wood. Luckily, he had managed to help Tao escape, but he wasn't sure how to get Luhan out.
The one side of the wood was weakened from the fall combined with the fire chewing on it, and so Yixing grabbed one of his guard's swords to slash at the weakened section and send the block falling down beside him.
He stepped into the room, coughing in the process, and found Luhan struggling to free himself from another heavy block that came flying down from the ceiling. He had managed to get away from the one that wanted to crush him in his bed, but he was unlucky and got trapped under another one.
“Yixing!” He exclaimed, half in confusion and half in relief, and watched as he almost single-handedly lifted the block by himself for Luhan to crawl out. At least the wood wasn't on fire.
Yixing turned his attention to the calls from outside, and he looked over the burning banister that sent sparks up to the sky to see Sehun. So, the rumors the poet had heard earlier about the general and youngest royal son was true, then.
He turned to Luhan.
“There is no other way to get out. You will have to jump,” His voice was calm, even though the palace was starting to cave in completely around them. But that was how Yixing was - calm and calculated, even in stressful situations.
“Jump?! I cannot jump! I will die!” Luhan exclaimed, and Yixing brought him to the balcony.
“Sehun is down there, and I am sure he will catch you,” He pointed to the general who almost fell to his knees from relief when he saw Luhan - he wasn't too thrilled to see Yixing, but he had clearly saved the emperor's son, something Sehun couldn't do with the burnt vines he had used countless times to maneuver up and down the balcony. He was powerless to get to Luhan, and he hated it.
“But...but...” Luhan coughed out some fumes, and Yixing grabbed his one shoulder.
“There is no time to be afraid. Come, I will help you,” He kneeled down then, giving the trembling Luhan a boost to jump.

Sehun watched as the older man came sailing over the flames - not that they didn't bite at his robe - and the general moved back a few steps when Luhan came straight towards him in the air to be able to catch him. Both their hearts were racing much faster than usual, both from the fire, and from the sudden pressure as Luhan was sent to Sehun from the sky.
He landed on the general with an audible “oof”, and they both fell onto the grass from the force.
“Well, at least you have an accurate description of how you came crashing into my heart,” Sehun laughed from the relief, then coughed when he inhaled some of the black smoke that dirtied his cheeks and made a home in his lungs.
Luhan smiled slightly, then looked towards the balcony where Yixing and his two guards managed to jump over. Except, there was no soft landing (aka Sehun) for them, and it was obvious they hurt their ankles from the fall. Hopefully just a sprain.

They all moved away from the smoke and fire, and Luhan was sure he could hear his mother's cry of anguish.

Once they were all safely out of the reach of the smoke and flames, they coughed out a little more then caught what breath they could.
“I suppose this means we will not be getting married,” Yixing was the first to speak, and his statement was directed at none other than Luhan, “word travels fast, I heard about what happened at dinner,”
“I apologize. You cannot even get your gifts back since they have burnt,” Luhan said as he stared at his home that was in ruins; some people were working on putting the fires out, but the damage was done. The sky was no longer a deep blue, but rather tinged with a red from the fire and mixed in with some ashiness from the smoke.
“No need for that. I was delighted to make your acquaintance, and in truth, I would have preferred us to become poets together instead rather than marriage. But I thank you for the opportunity while it lasted, regardless,” At this, Yixing bowed like most would do to royalty.
“And to Sehun - do take care of him. I am sure you have plans to leave, and if that is so, I will help where I can. Thank you for saving Luhan,” Here, he did something unexpected, and bowed as well. It was well-known that poets had a higher standing than generals, and they were never supposed to bow, but Yixing felt it was only appropriate to do so in order to show his thanks.
The general was stunned into silence for a little bit, then regained himself.
“I had proposed to Luhan that we go to Korea. I think now would be a better time than ever,” He answered, and Yixing his chin in thought.
“I will have a boat arranged at the harbor for you. As you know, not many ships going to Korea are available. But I said I will aid you, and I will do so,” He nodded, and Luhan looked at the palace once again, “my parents...my brother...”
“Tao is safe, currently being taken care of by my home. As for your parents, I had not seen either of them. I apologize,”
Luhan was about to open his mouth to speak when they all turned to the sound of a voice.
“Luhan! Yixing!” Yifan and Junmyeon came hand-in-hand over to the group.
“Father!” His son exclaimed, then greeted him with a tight and relieved hug, “where is mother?”
“She has perished in the fire, I am sure. She is the one that arranged to have the palace burned down because of my secret meetings with Junmyeon...I mean, Suho,” He corrected himself when they all looked at him confused, and Yixing frowned a little bit, “I would not have thought the empress could be so cruel,”
“She was one for appearances, you see. But I thank you for helping my son and...Sehun? Was it?” Yifan seemed happy to see the general.
He nodded once with a bow.
“Yes. Sehun. I thank you for helping them,” The emperor continued, “I heard a guard say Tao was taken to your home. Is this correct?”
“Yes - he seemed to be in bad shape from the fire, so I ordered him to be taken home with my guards. We have a doctor staying near my home,” Yixing explained, then looked at Sehun and Luhan.
“We are planning on going to Korea. There is nothing much for us here anymore,” Luhan said to his father when he caught Yixing's eye, and Yifan glanced at Junmyeon, “well, I am sure the doctor would not object to returning home...”
“What about Tao?” Luhan asked with a slight frown, and Yixing laughed wholeheartedly.
“He and I have always been eager to explore farming. I am sure he will be more than happy to stay with my family and I,” He said - Tao hadn't objected being taken back to Yixing's home either.
“Then it is settled. I am trusting my son with you. I know you will not let me down,” Yifan nodded, then smiled as he wrapped one arm around Junmyeon, “and you and I will be traveling to Korea with the young ones, I assume?”
Junmyeon could only nod shyly; he wasn't used to being able to talk so freely. When he was at the palace, he always had to say things lightly and most of the time, not even speak at all. It was a nice change.
“I still have a large family home there my mother owned, but she has since passed. We could stay there...” He glanced at Luhan and Sehun, “...if you two do not want to venture out on your own yet,”
“All in due time. I am not ready to let my son wander out as a married man yet,” Yifan chuckled; well, at least he seemed happy with the idea.
“As for now, let us go. I am sure people will assume we all perished in the fire if nobody sees us from now on. That is best,” Yifan said.
“By the time you arrive at the harbor, a ship will be waiting for you. It was an honor knowing you all,” Yixing bowed once more, for the last time to the family, then arranged for horses to take them to the harbor.

Once the ship would set sail, they would all begin the new chapters in their lives; one with freedom, with choice, and most importantly, love. Without the empress watching their every move like a hawk, they could express their love freely and choose what they wanted to do; if Sehun decided to continue combat, he could. If Luhan wished to follow in his footsteps, then he would be allowed to. If Yifan wanted to study medicine with Junmyeon, no one could tell them otherwise.

The world was wide and life was short - they were eager to make the most of it. And what made it better, was that they were all together to do so.