Jun grabbed the arm rest to refrain himself from wanting to throw a tantrum in front of the villagers, and from wanting to scream at his father. He was rudely taken away from the prison cells that morning only to realize that his father announced Nino's execution which will take place in three days. To make it worse, he said that they would proudly do it in front of the castle to allow the villagers to watch, and let them know how proud they were of finally catching him. On the other hand, Jun was glad that he sent Nino's mother to her home so this horrible news wouldn't break her heart. He too, was wishing that he can get rid of himself, and just spend his time talking to Nino even if he never responds; but he couldn't, he was the Prince and his presence was important. Sighing, he tried to relax back into the Princely chair, hoping that all this would end soon. However, to make things worse, his father called him up, telling everyone that he would be the one responsible for the thief's death. Jun wanted to protest then and there but all he could do was fake a smile, while his dad was telling him to award the badly injured Sho and Ohno who was helping him from falling down.

He couldn't blame them. They didn't know who the thief was, and him too, until just two days ago. Trying his best not to show a frown on his perfect face, he grabbed the medals from the squire's hands and placed them each on the knight's fancy tunic. Turning around and sighing back into the chair, he could see from the corner of his eyes, a concerned look from his mother's face. She rarely showed it to him, or anyone and even the King, but he knew that she was deeply worried for him. Ignoring everything and everyone else, he let his thoughts wander off to the thief all lonely and cold in the cellar...

It was dark out at night, too dark since the past two days but Jun just went on anyways. His feet found the way to the prison cells almost tripling here and there but thankfully he managed to make it. Nodding his head towards the knight, the huge door leading to the cells were unlocked and soon he was basked in nothing but darkness. He would have to report this later and berate the knights for carelessly letting the lights out. However that didn't bother him and he just went on until he stopped in front of the familiar cell. Just as his hand was about to reach for the keys resting not far from the door, he heard soft murmuring coming from inside followed by a loud sound of skin being slapped. Jun's hand automatically went to the keys, his hand trembling a bit as he opened the door and revealed the thief hitting himself painfully on every parts of his body.

Jun gasped in horror. Despite it being so dark, he could see the discoloration on his skin, and that was all he can see instead of his white skin. And he didn't miss something shining in the dark, glistening as it ran down his forehead.

"Nino! Please stop!" He ordered him as he flew to the man and grabbed his wrists. However the thief pulled his hands away and kept on going like his presence was nothing to him. Jun, no matter what, tried to stop him relentlessly but the thief went on without caring if he was going to die. Having no other choice, Jun grabbed him by the collars and dragged him until his wrists and ankles were shackled to keep him from beating himself without stating his reason.

"Nino," he called for his name in the softest voice be could manage, "Please stop hurting yourself..."

Expectedly, the thief didn't bother to open his mouth to say anything. Jun just kept his eyes on him, hating himself for forcing him to be locked in shackles when he tried his best to keep that from happening. Unexpecting an answer from him, he slowly made his way to the thief until he was finally sitting down next to him, hearing his ragged and deep breathing. He tried to relax just by listening to him but it didn't work. All he could focus on was how violently the iron was shaking and its irritating sound echoing in the closed room. Jun propped his knees up and leaned back into the wall. All he's been doing the past few days was give him light kisses on his lips, but he was never able to touch him again other than that. Closing his eyes, his hands searched for the trembling ones and finally opened his eyes when he felt the familiar warmth on his palm. The noise stopped at the same time the shaking stopped, and Jun was relieved that it had worked. Slowly and carefully, he let his fingers play with the thief's unmoving ones and he linked their fingers together, not caring if the thief still hadn't done the same thing.

He brought the hands up to his face and one by one, he gave them each a little kiss until the thief's hand loosened around his grip. Just when he thought his fingers would finally link with his, a loud clank of iron and then soft footsteps came from outside of the prison cell. Without letting go, he stood up, or crouched wondering who it would be at this time of the night. Thinking that it was just another wild animal, instead he heard loud bangin coming closer and closer every second. Jun suddenly felt afraid. He was wishing that they were more criminals locked up in the castle dungeons, but it was the only two of them in there. With the crime rate simmering down after the thief was caught, their kingdom has been somewhat peaceful.

"Nino, please be quiet," He whispered to the thief. Finally letting go, he silently walked to the wooden door, looking through the little hole on it and saw nothing since the hole only limited him by looking at the wall. Without giving it another thought, he opened the door but luck wasn't with him when a tall man dressed in thin clothing and a white cloak around his neck charged towards him. Being trained a little, silently thanking that he had passed the tests, he swiftly moved to the side, closing the door with him and going back besides the thief. He's heard of him before, the man who goes around in a white cloak, taking children away when someone wasn't looking. When he thought that the man had left, he heard the door open with a swoosh and something hit the back of his head. He thought the world was losing him but the hit wasn't hard enough to knock him down. He saw the man dressed in a white cloak skillfully unlock the shackles around the thief like it was nothing. The thief staggered in the man's arm but to his surprise, he saw him pull away and run towards him with open arms. Using the rest of his energy, he crawled into his arms and let his body fall on his small frame. Jun smiled. This was the second time he saved him and his heart was beating even faster. Digging his head in the crook of his sweaty neck, he allowed himself to be finally knocked out in his arms...

Jun woke up the next morning, feeling sore and pain ripple through his body. He tried stretching a little bit to get rid of the pain but it only worked a little to his liking. Just as he brought his arms back down, he started to remember what happened to him, the man in the cloak, Nino taking him in his arms... Jun looked around thinking that he was taken somewhere very far away from the castle. However, he relaxed a bit seeing that his study table was at the corner, the bookcase with every book he wants or wanted to read was besides it, the lush red curtains pushed aside to let the sun in, the carpet still as purple as his royal clothes, and the wonderful painting besides his bed. He was sent to his room last night, probably by Nino while he was asleep. Swinging his legs to the edge of the bed, he let his feet touch the cold floor and then it hit him hard. Without putting his shoes out, he ran outside the gardens, fled from its wonderful sight and stopped in front of the dungeons. He panted, bending down to catch up with his breath and then finally telling the knights to open the door for him.

Unlike yesterday, the torches had been lit, bringing the light back into the corridors. However that was least of his concerns. Letting his feet do the work for him, he ran on the cold damp floor until it stopped in front of a specific cell. He grabbed the keys from the slow knight and unlocked them himself. Just as he thought, the thief had escaped. He wanted this a long time ago too, but it was just so sudden to happen. His spirit was crushed down at the same time he fell to the ground however, he stopped. Not far away from where he was almost falling to, was the thief resting his sagging body against the wall. His wrists and ankles were shackled again as if last night didn't happen.

Jun closed his eyes, thinking it was just his hallucinations but it wasn't when his hands reached out to the swollen cheeks. He didn't know if there were rules against being happy by seeing the infamous thief, but otherwise he couldn't care less. Swinging his arms around his neck and pulled him closer but gently so the shackles around his limbs wouldn't hurt so much.

"Nino," he whispered in the crook of his neck, his voice already sounding hoarse, "Please don't leave me again. I won't be able to live without you..."

He heard him sigh before saying

"I won't anymore Jun, and I promise."

TBC