The last time Jun went up the the highest point in their towers as a child, he was asking his father how far wide the kingdom stretched. As he waited for his father’s answer, he glued his face to the bottom of the clear glass, and pressed his hands on it until his heat created a ghost hand on the window. He’s been wondering this since the first time he discovered this place with his mother a month before he turned 6. Since his mother had asked his father to him to the towers, he couldn’t resist asking.

“Well, Prince,” his father called him by his title and bent down so they were the same height, “It’s as wide as your imagination.”

“Really?!” 6 year old Jun gasped, turning his head to the side to see his father smiling under his moustache. If his father was saying is true, then their kingdom is as big as the same sphere, with blue and green colors on it, he had seen in their library.

Till the present, Jun believed his father’s words seeing that they still haven’t come across the first village. The four of them have been trekking on the same road for four days, that even Aiba was whining about how hot it was while Ohno and Sho were telling him plenty of times to be quiet for safety reasons. However Jun didn’t mind. As long as the men around him were doing nothing but being themselves, then this whole journey wouldn’t be so boring as he had thought the night before leaving the castle. When he felt like the road was leading nowhere, they saw a black smoke from somewhere and distant yelling at the same time Aiba stopped whining.

“Oh no,” Aiba gasped, “I think the villagers are being ransacked... Should we go save them?”

Ohno shook his head. “No, not until Jun-sama let’s us”

“Can we?”

“I don’t know,” Jun shrugged, “They might see us with this bastard...”

“Then I’ll go!” Aiba volunteered, “You guys can stay hidden while I’ll go!”

Jun thought it about. It actually wasn’t a bad idea and he would feel guilty if he didn’t let him go. Having no other choice, he nodded his head in agreement and soon, the tall knight was racing away.

“Thank you, sire,” Sho bowed his head, “Masaki’s family lives there, so I’m glad you let him go, but I fear he can’t do it alone.”

Jun was surprised. So Aiba’s family live there? He thought that all the knight’s parents lived near the castle. “Fine,” Jun nodded his head, “Make sure you come back after putting those bastards in jail.”

“Yes sire,” Sho bowed his head before he too headed off, leaving the three of them alone.

Ohno was as quiet as usual but he led them away from the open roads. They weren’t far off from where they had split up, so it was a good thing Ohno was actually useful other than making fire and catching fishes for dinner. After settling down and tying the thief with the horses, the two of them relaxed on the grass while looking up at the clouds in the sky.

It wasn’t different at all with just Ohno besides him being quiet. Soon, he heard light snores from the tan knight, and he couldn’t help but laugh at how fast he can fall asleep. Though he was surprised that he still stuck besides him without having to sleep on his horse. He stretched his arms in the air, wondering if the kingdom was as big as his imagination. He let out a yawn at the same time he heard something thud besides the horses. Sitting up, he saw that the thief was on the floor not moving and he was there in time to take his body away before the horse can step on him.

After retrieving the body from the tree, he was going to walk away but stopped in his tracks when he heard the thief’s unstable breathing. He tried to ignore it as best as he can, but his breathing was even louder than Ohno’s snoring. Annoyed, he went back to the thief and was about to kick him in the guts when the thief’s bounded hand went to his mask. Jun assumed that the thief was having a hard time because of it, so he bent down to take the mask off. He was about to pull it off when the thief’s eyes flew open and the felt a strong grip around his wrist. Jun struggled from the thief’s grips, surprised that the man was actually strong enough to hold him off. He saw him shake his head furiously as if taking off his mask was a bad thing. Finally, when he defeated the thief’s strength, his fingers went to the edge of the mask. It was barely on top of the thief’s lips when he heard a loud gasp from behind them.

“It’s the thief! It’s the thief!”

Jun let go of the man’s mask and turned around. He saw a group of sooted villagers behind him, and the tan knight was on his feet with his hand around the hilt of his sword.

“How did you find us?” Jun hissed as he glared at the woman who screamed the thief’s presence.

“We... ran from the village... we saw your horses so we thought that the knights came to save us...”

“They did come,” Ohno told them in a firm voice.

“You mean the tall knight and the buff knight?” A man dressed in nothing but ashen clothes asked them as he came forward from the group. “They were being surrounded. I doubt that they survived...”

“What?” Jun took an insharp of breath at the news, “You mean their--”

“Jun-sama,” Ohno cut him off at the same time he heard gasps, “I’ll help them. go back to the castle...”

“But--”He wanted to protest but the knight was already on his horse. Once he, the villagers, and the thief were left alone, he heard murmuring which became louder every second.

“You’re the Prince!” They shouted in unison. “So if you have the thief, why don’t you execute him right now?!”

Jun turned around, and glared at the villagers. It seemed to have worked when they all became quiet, and he told them that it wasn’t their business. However, he was pushed aside by the thief who was already on his feet, his hands pointing in their direction. He could see that his mask was on the floor.

“I’ll go,” the thief finally spoke. “As long as you stop bothering him, I’ll go. Prince--”

The thief turned around to face him, and suddenly Jun saw a little boy. He was taken back to the first school he attended, with the same boy before him who never smiled before disappearing. He felt his own hands go up to reach for that boy, who smiled when he touched his cheek. He wanted to say something, something to that boy and tell him he was sorry for letting him disappear, but he went back to reality when he heard shouting.

“Take him away!” They yelled. “Bring him to the castle!”

Jun was unable to do anything as the thief he once knew as his childhood friend was being dragged away from him, the warmth from slowly leaving his trembling hand. He looked up at the sky, asking the gods why they had done this to him. He looked back at the thief, who wasn’t smiling like the child in the portrait did. Instead, he saw the same dull look in his eyes the first time he had met him. He felt as if the gods were punishing him for whatever wrong he did.

“I’m so sorry, Nino,” he whispered to his hand, the warmth that was there already gone. “I’m so sorry...”

TBC