~Chapter 30~

Protect the Crown Prince

Taemin's POV~

            With a quick wave of my spear, the monsters disintegrate. I yawn as little monsters have been floating in and out the entire night and there’s no end. The palace is dead silent as most of the people have gone to bed and are peacefully asleep while the guards and us clan members kill off the monsters. Luckily the monsters are not a huge threat, just a nuisance. I keep hearing screams and cries from the crown prince’s chambers. Maybe he really does have nightmares about Minho hyung. I sigh to myself as I know I should try to help, but there’s not much I can do. I guess this is why the crown prince was a mess when we met him. He must sleep very deeply when he can sleep since most of the time, he is struggling to. I shake my thoughts away since it isn’t my problem. Like I said before, my only job is to kill monsters and I only need to care of Minho hyung for the time being. After the conversation with me, I told him to go rest and that Kai and I will keep guard tonight. Kai was a great help, but after a few hours of constant slaughtering, I told him to go take a nap as there is still a long night ahead of us. He will be back in an hour or so. As of now, it’s only me who is killing the monsters. I wish the king didn’t make us announce our clan members joining the palace. With the news out, the Peacekeepers and dark clans are sending more monsters here to annoy us. Before we came, at most there were three monsters that roamed the palace. Now look at this! It’s ridiculous!

            “Care for some tea?” Jimin comes out with a pot of tea and two cups.

            “Thanks,” I say and gulp down the hot drink to quench my thirst. “What have you been up to?”

            “As Taehyung’s personal guard. My only job is to be next to him and protect him. He just went back to sleep so I thought I’d pay you a visit.”

            “I see.”

            “Thank you for working so hard. You did a great job making sure you were quiet.”

            “Well, not to brag, but that’s just how I fight. I go for the quickest kill and I am pretty light on my feet. I mean speak for yourself. If I didn’t have such good hearing and can sense energy, I wouldn’t have noticed you either.”

            “You flatter me,” Jimin smiles. “Say, does that spear ever leave your side?”

            “I used to let it rest sometimes, but now that I am in the palace, I need it beside me in case a monster comes. It’s terribly annoying when that eunuch follows me around in the daytime though. We aren’t allowed to touch our weapons and he doesn’t know how to take care of my baby.”

            “Your baby?” He smiles. “I noticed you cleaning your spear after taking it back from the eunuch. I respect how you treat your weapon like a friend.”

            “It honestly is,” I smile at my spear. “It has been with me for so many years and slaughtered many monsters. It’s to the point where my spear is blessed. Before I know it, it might evolve and have powers of its own.”

            “That’s amazing,” Jimin nods. “Unfortunately, people are not allowed to wield weapons in the crown prince’s hall and having you heroes around is already pushing the rules. You’re going to have to deal with the eunuch, unfortunately. Oh, I forgot to apologize for what I said earlier. I was rude for giving a poor first impression and I had terrible welcoming skills. I was too occupied by my own emotions.”

            “Understandable,” I nod. “You are a great friend of the crown prince so of course you would jump onto any chance of helping him. I admire that very much. It takes a lot for a guard to become friends with someone he serves.”

            “Storytime~” He smiles. “Taehyung and I actually grew up together with Minho hyung, the late prince. It wasn’t long after Minho hyung’s death that His Majesty assigned for me to officially be a bodyguard for Taehyung.”

            “Nonetheless, very impressive indeed.” My smile disappears as I sense a monster coming. This time, the monster is much larger and quicker. I get up, spear in hand. “Jimin-ah, you should go back inside.”

            “Mind if I stay and watch?”

            “Uhh sure, as long as you can protect yourself.” The monster swoops in from above and I block its claws by bracing myself with my spear. Its claws grab onto my spear and flies forward, pushing me back to the point where I was sliding on the floor. I hiss as I feel a hole burnt through my shoe due to the friction. I stomp onto the ground to propel myself up and slip my spear out of its grasp. I leap up and run atop its wings. I take off my sash around my waist and tie up its beak before it can squawk. I cannot risk waking up the crown prince. I look away from the monster for a second and see Jimin smiling. I guess he was worried about the bird being loud as well. I throw my monster hunting book to Jimin who catches it with ease. “Do me a favor and look for the bird in the book and tell me its weakness. Some of the birds look alike but have different weaknesses so I can’t remember.”

            “Okay!” Jimin flips through the pages as I stab at the monster. It nearly turns its head completely around and starts pecking at me. I swear to myself as it nearly got my head. I attack the most common vital points but the bird still is not dead.

            “Umm…any time now Jimin…” I struggle to find a spot to stab.

            “It’s not in the book!”

            “You sure?”

            “Yeah, the images here all look like it, but the descriptions don’t match.” I was hoping that someone interacted with this monster before. Unfortunately, I’m out of luck. “Want me to get the other heroes?”

            “It’s okay; I’ll just have to shift to overdrive.” I say and channel all my energy. I point my spear and with a quick breath, I stab at every inch of the bird without a slight pause. Before I realize it, the bird has already disintegrated. Jimin starts clapping and cheering me on. I smile as I find him very adorable. I guess I look cool, hehe.

            I notice a dark, long monster slithering down a tree beside Jimin, I quickly throw my spear like a javelin and impale the snake-monster that nearly took his life. Jimin froze mid-clap and turns his head to face the spear. “Thanks,” he smiles shyly. “I guess I was so impressed that I let my guard down.”

            “It’s okay. Your specialty is fighting humans. Leave the monsters to me.” Jimin pulls my spear out of the tree and passes it to me with both hands. “Thanks.” I smile and take the spear back. My hand tingles and I look down at my spear and notice that the spear is covered in poisonous dust from the monster that just disintegrated. I look back at Jimin and see that his face has quickly turned a sickly pale and his lips are starting to turn purple. He got poisoned. I lean my spear against a tree, sit him down, and quickly transfer energy over to him by placing both my hands onto his back. I try my best to push the poison out as he only recently touched it and it luckily has not reached his heart. After a while, the poison was luckily pushed out of his system.

            “Thank you,” he coughs.

            “Don’t waste any more energy. Although the poison is out of your system, your body has been damaged.”

            “What about you?” Jimin asks. “You’re poisoned too! You touched the spear right after me and you used up your energy to cure me.”

            “Poisoned?” I look at my hand that was tingling earlier.

            “Quick, we have to get you to the other heroes before it’s too late!”

            “He’s fine,” Kai says. “He’s a bit tired, but nothing is wrong with him.”

            “His spear was coated with poison. I touched it slightly and I was already poisoned,” Jimin explains. “How can he be okay?”

            “Trust me, I would know if my hyung was hurt,” Kai reassures. “Hyung, you feel fine, don’t you?”

            “Yeah, nothing is wrong with me.” I agree. My hand tingled only a bit before it got back to normal.

            “Your spear is still laced with poison. We need to clean it up.” Kai says.

            “Okay, I’ll take care of it. Can you switch shifts with me, Kai?”

            “Yes, hyung, take care.” Kai pats the side of my arm and runs off.

Kai’s POV~

            I run to the front of the crown prince’s chambers and see his brother standing outside. “Better get inside,” I say. “A poisonous monster just came by so it’s not safe.”

            “Kai…is your name, correct?” He asks, ignoring my command for him to leave.

            “Yes.”

            “You are known to fight like a beast. You are very quick and go for the kill. Very impressive.”

            “Thank you?”

            “I also know that you joined that clan along with Choi Minho, Lee Jinki, Kim Kibum, and Kim Jonghyun when Lee Taemin came to recruit the four heroes.”

            “How do you know that?”

            “I know a lot more too.”

            “I asked how do you know.” I repeat.

            “I also know you are a werewolf.”

            “Keep your mouth shut,” I say.

            “And that you are dying.” I charge toward him and grab his collar.

            “I told you to shut up,” I say sternly. I rarely get angry, but this stranger just came out saying all of these facts and it creeps me out how he knows so much already. I also can’t let anyone else know. If someone were to know that I am a monster, I would get killed. Also, my bead slowly disappearing to the point where I will return to my animal state needs to be kept a secret. If my hyungs find out my life may be in danger, I will pose more stress onto them.

            “You’re hurting me,” he says and I let go. “Look, I am a scribe. I not only record down things I see, but also things I research. You’d be surprised how little effort it took to get all of this information.” At first glance, the crown prince’s brother seemed very bubbly. I did not think he had this side to him. It’s scary to see him switch. I can see how he survived in the palace. “I told you all this not because I want you to think I am a creep and I did not tell you so you can hate me. I wanted to tell you that I know and that I am here for you,” he says and walks back into the room, closing the door behind him. “You can trust me.”

Jonghyun’s POV~

            I sit up and stretch after peaceful night. Surprisingly, there was not even one monster that entered the princess’ and queen’s chambers. Key and I sat side by side under the stars and told stories of our childhood the entire night. I heard from the palace maids that the crown prince’s hall had lots of monsters, but the heroes kept the slaying very quiet so people could sleep. Quite honestly, Key and I were enjoying our time together that I didn’t even think about going to help my dongsaengs. I heard that Onew hyung and Joon hyung successfully led the guards and there were no dangers in the main halls. They were able to slaughter all monsters and no one was injured. I guess only Key and I had a relaxing night. I hope it stays like this so Key and I can just enjoy each other’s company.

            “Wake up, sleepyhead~” Key knocks on my door. “I’m bored and I honestly can’t wait for you to wake up on your own.”

            “I’m awake~” I say and Key enters, carrying a tray of breakfast and a bowl of water.

            “Use this water to wash up and come eat with me.”

            “Yes, sir!” I salute and do as I was told.

            “You’re in a good mood,” Key points out.

            “Yeah, because us two were the only heroes that had a relaxing night. It was great!”

            “True,” Key smiles. “Say, how about we do a bit of training tonight if no monsters come? We need to stay in shape and prepare for the war.” I pout at the thought. “Don’t pout! We are two of the top clam members; we can’t slack off.”

            “Anything you say.” I nod regrettably.

            “Good, now come eat you sleepyhead.”

Taemin’s POV~

                I look at my hand and sigh. I can’t seem to figure out why I was able to withstand the poison. I defiantly made contact with the poison and yet I was okay. There has to be an explanation for this. We are currently guarding the crown prince as he eats breakfast. Since we are his guards, we have to be up when he is and be up when he’s sleeping to kill monsters. I’m a bit confused to when I should go sleep. I guess at this rate, Minho hyung, Kai, and I will have to rotate every night or else we will fall asleep on the job. The food gets set on the large table for the crown prince who looks half asleep. I get a waft of something and my nose starts tingling. I sneeze and excuse myself. Why did I sneeze? My nose tingled for no reason and I’m not cold so why did I sneeze? The poison tester is currently eating samples of the food to make sure there is no poison in the food. The poison tester takes a sip of the tea and he clutches his throat. Blood starts pouring out of his mouth and before we can help him, he already stopped breathing. I stiffen as I realize that my nose tingled when the tea was passed by in front of me. I must have noticed that there was poison in the tea. When I touched my spear, my hand was tingling but I was okay afterward. Does this mean I can sense poison?

            Later that day, I excused myself and went off to find Thunder hyung who was on his break and told him about the situation. He was confused as he has not heard of people who can sense poison beyond those who are poison users. He took off his gloves that shield his poisonous hand. He waves it in front of me and immediately my nose gets itchy. “I’m going to do something risky, but I have the antidote so you will be fine if you get affected.” He takes a hold of my hand with his poisonous hand and my skin starts tingling. He lets go and within a few seconds, my skin stops tingling and is back to normal. “Are you immune to poison?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “I literally just tried to poison you and you are okay.”

            “You what?!” I clutch onto my hand in shock.

            “I mean you’re not throwing up blood right now so you’re fine.”

            “This is crazy.”

            “That reminds me…I remember you once helped absorb the poison from the bird’s claws to save your hyung. A normal person would have died but you were just weak. It takes a lot of energy and power to do that and at the time I thought you were just strong, but not that I think about it, you would have at least been bed-ridden for a week.”

            “That’s impossible.” How can I be immune to poison? I was literally killed because I was poisoned before. If I was immune, I would have survived the poison and I would have remained as Lee Taemin.

            “I also remember when Mir helped me out when Madame Red’s cloth got my neck. You gave Mir energy so he wasn’t poisoned and you were okay as well. Maybe you have been immune this entire time.” I can see that Thunder hyung is thinking very hard. “Unless…you weren’t always immune.”  

                “What do you mean?”

            “Have you ever died before?”

            “What?” I ask. Has he caught on that I am Taemin?

            “You see, the Lunar Shadow clan has a poison that was able to kill people but if they were to survive it, they would come back stronger. The clan also used the poison on our enemies and since no one knows about the secret to this poison, they would get buried.”

            “What’s your point?”

            “Since they were buried, if the people were to come back to life, they would have suffocated before they could come back. The point of the poison was to make those affected by it suffer and those around them suffer even more. The people would think the person died, burry them, and they would die because they were buried. On the other hand, if they were to survive and come back with powers, the Lunar Shadow clan would collect them and make them a new clan member to get more powerful.”

            “Is that what happened to you?” I ask. I remember that Thunder used to be a fighter alongside Joon hyung before he joined the Lunar Shadows and later joined our clan.

            “Yes, I died from the poison but I was saved by the Lunar Shadows and my new power was poison. The clan taught me how to concentrate my poison so I was able to make my hands into poisonous weapons. I was ashamed and didn’t return to Joon hyung. Later when they found me when searching for Lee Taemin’s cure, I finally took a risk and joined Heroes’ Rebellion.”

            “Why didn’t you save Lee Taemin then?”

            “It was too late. They buried him already and he would have suffocated by then. I figured that they would suffer even more if I told them to truth so I took all the backlash for them.” Thunder hyung explains. That means that if Thunder hyung vouched for me, I would have been able to return as Lee Taemin if I wanted to back then. Well, it’s too late now. “That’s why, I asked you if you died before. I was wondering if you became immune after coming back from the dead.”

            “Oh, I am very much alive,” I laugh.

            “Right…you see…I noticed that those who were able to survive the poison were once monsters. Their bead was able to protect their soul so they came back to life when their body healed. That was also the case for me. Since Lee Taemin died back then with part of Kai’s bead, I thought he would have survived. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”

            “I see.”

            “White Masked Hero, I do not know why you are immune to poison, but I hope that you weren’t hiding something from all of us. You know very well what I mean.” Thunder hyung is hinting that I am Lee Taemin and I am hiding my identity from my hyungs. I mean, he is spot on, but I’m not about to start admitting to lying to them for this long.

            “How can I be Lee Taemin? If you haven’t noticed, I am sick myself, hence the mask. If I were to come back from the dead, I would be cured by now.”

            “I guess you’re right,” he says. “It’s time for me to go back to the king. I’m not about to have them flog me for taking a long break.”

            “Thank you Thunder hyung,” I bow.

            “I just helped you confirm that you are immune to poison; it’s nothing.” Thunder hyung waves and walks away. “I just hope you are being truthful to us.”

            “White Masked Hero, where were you?” Minho hyung asks.

            “I went on a short break. Why?”

            “The crown prince was finishing up his meal when a bunch of arrows were shot at the gazebo. Luckily Jimin was quick and protected the crown prince in time. We ran off and tried catching the assassins but we were late,” Kai explains.

“They must be threatening us. They are trying to tell us that although we have heroes in the palace, danger is still here and we can die any time. The palace is full of guards and heroes, yet the enemy can still slip pass us and cause harm. They are already starting to declare war. This is them challenging us heroes,” I say.

            “I’m not afraid of a bunch of cowards who can’t fight me head on,” Kai says.

            “You’re right; we are ready to fight whenever they are. They are trying to wear us down since in the daytime they try to attack us and at nighttime they send monsters. At this rate, we may run out of energy before they come for a duel.” Minho hyung says.

            “If we recruit more clan members to come to the palace, that would leave the clan and the citizen in danger.” Kai says. “That means that no matter what, we are in their grasp.”

            “I guess the best we can do now is scare them off,” I say. “We set up traps, train the palace maids and eunuchs, and make sure they can’t escape if they come attack. It pisses me off knowing that they think they can step all over us. I am not the White Masked Hero for no reason.”

            “You’re right, hyung,” Kai says. “I’m ready to fight. We’ve been too nice.”

            “Tonight, we slaughter all the monsters and during breaks, we think of traps and formations for the maids and eunuchs. Kai, you used to be part of some mountain bandits. You know any traps?” Minho hyung asks.

            “Indeed. I will choose the best ones and set them up with the staff.”

            “Alright, that means that they’ll have to get past Kai from the outer layer and myself when they attack. The crown prince’s hall is so big so this still leaves room for some mistakes. White Masked Hero, since Jimin is the crown prince’s guard, can you be a floater and help Kai and I in the outside and be there for Jimin if the prince is in danger?” Minho hyung asks.

            “Sounds like a good idea. Let me teach you how to lock some acupoints. If you manage to capture anyone, we cannot allow them to kill themselves.” I always see in dramas how those who get captured ill kill themselves or get killed to keep secrets. I can’t risk it.

            “Great,” Minho hyung says. “It’s about time we show the dark clans that we are not easy to pick on.”

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