~Chapter 31~

Asserting Our Dominance

Taemin's POV~

            It has been a month and everything has been going according to plan. The eunuchs and maids all have their own precautions and roles they must take on top of their normal duties to ensure maximum protection. Kai and a few other guards are always above, surveying the area at all times. I take it in my own hands to look for poison while the poison keeper tries the food so they don’t die for no reason. No one knows I am immune to poison besides Thunder hyung, so I just throw pebbles at the eunuchs when they carry poisonous foods so they spill it ‘accidentally.’ Our traps kill off monsters before they come close to the crown prince’s chambers, so we get to rest more and only fight when large monsters come. As for my hyungs at different areas of the palace, they are also using traps and other means of protection to conserve strength and guards. Finally, the palace is protected against monsters and assassins for the most part. Based on letters from Jong Kook hyungnim, the villagers are still putting up a good fight against monsters and the clan is getting larger and stronger.

            We have gotten closer to Baekhyun hyung and Jimin as we get along very well. The prince still only trusts Jimin and Baekhyun hyung even though we have saved his live many times. I guess it’s because he doesn’t know who to trust. It’s understandable since we’ve only known him for so long. It frustrates me since we still aren’t allowed to carry weapons around him and Gun Tae isn’t allowed in the crown prince’s hall. The crown prince is only cheerful when around his brother and friend, but he is very serious around us. He is paranoid, isn’t he?

            I hear crashing and wrestling from inside the prince’s room. I barge in and see Jimin struggling to hold the prince down. I widen my eyes as I see the crown prince blaring sharp teeth and red eyes. I quickly charge forward and knock him out. Jimin breathes heavily and wipes the sweat off his forehead. “I-I…I can explain.”

            “Is this why only Baekhyun hyung and you are allowed to be around the crown prince at night? You told me he was having nightmares!” I yell, surprised at what I just witnessed.

            “It’s not what it looks like. Please, don’t tell the others. The crown prince’s life can be in danger if they think he is possessed by demons.”

            “You’re telling me he’s not?” I ask. “He’s not a monster, is he?”

            “N-no…I swear he is human. Please, I know you slay monsters all the time, but you cannot harm the crown prince!” Jimin holds onto me, afraid I will charge forward and kill the crown prince.

            “Relax, my job is to protect him. I just need to know what is wrong with him.”

            “Before I was appointed as his bodyguard, Peacekeepers came and attacked the crown prince. After they left, he occasionally has attacks like these and had nightmares of the late crown prince.”

            “You’re telling me this now?!”

            “We didn’t know who to trust and we didn’t think you can help anyways!”

            “Has he turned into a monster before?”

            “Yes and he even howled.” Jimin admits. I sit down and think. I remember Gun Tae telling me that he was also transformed into a wolf. We weren’t able to find a cure and he has been a wolf ever since. Has the prince also been transformed? I call for Gun Tae and he comes to the prince’s room for the first time since our stay.

            “Gun Tae-ah, can you sense anything?”

            He has a bead in him alright, but I know he isn’t a monster himself. Gun Tae explains. I touch the crown prince’s face and can feel my hand tingle at contact.

            “It’s a form of poison?” I ask.

            I don’t know, hyung. When I woke up, I already turned into a wolf.

            “Thank you, Gun Tae-ah. You should leave before the crown prince wakes up.” Gun Tae my hand and runs off. “Jimin-ah, I’m about to tell you a secret too, so you have to keep it for me, like how I’m keeping the secret for the crown prince.”

            “I put my honor on it.”

            “Good. Okay, my wolf was actually a human.” Jimin’s eyes widen. “He was a young boy and he went missing. When he came back, he was a wolf and cannot transform back into a human. We are afraid that the prince is turning into a monster but we cannot confirm it. I can sense that he is poisoned, but I never felt the poison in my wolf so I am not sure.”

            “So what should we do?”

            “As of now—!” I hold back a yell as the crown prince bites down into my forearm. Blood quickly gushes out of his mouth from my arm and I fall back as the prince pounces on me as a half-human half-monster. Jimin tries pulling the crown prince off me, but his teeth have sunk deeply into my forearm. Suddenly, his eyes flicker and turn back to brown and he faints. I pull back my bleeding arm and help Jimin place him back onto his bed. “Well that was annoying,” I grumble. “How does he usually change back into human form?”

            “We chain him down and when the sun rises, he changed back into human form. This is also why he can’t get any rest. He either has nightmares or he changes into a monster.”

            “It’s not even half way through the night yet. Why did he turn back?” I ask.

            “I’m not sure, but this is not the first time he bit someone.” Jimin pulls his collar and reveals his shoulder full of scars.

            “Has he ever turned back after he bit you?”

            “No, I had to knock him out.”

            “Strange…does he remember biting you?”

            “Sometimes.”

            “I see. Now, I’m going to go clean up my wound and dress it. If he ever changes again, come get me.”

            I pass by Minho hyung’s room and hear him whimpering in his sleep. I open the door and see that he is sweating and shaking in his sleep, muttering words. He must be having a nightmare. I reach for his shoulder and he grabs me, screaming, “Taemin!” with tears streaming down his face. I hold my breath since I was shocked, thinking that he found out I was Taemin this entire time. “U-Uh White Masked Hero…s-sorry…I didn’t mean to…”

            “It’s okay,” I say and pull away my arm. I put it behind my back and start unraveling the bandaging. “Nightmare?”

            “Yeah…” Minho hyung gets up and pours himself a cup of tea. “I just saw him in my nightmare, slowly dying and calling out for me to save him.”

            “Wow, sorry hyung. That must have been hard on you.”

            “I’m sorry you had to see me like this. How embarrassing,” Minho hyung covers his face with his hands. I take the bandage I just removed and show it into my shoes so he cannot see it as they are covered by the long clothing. I flex my arm and cause it to bleed.

            “It’s fine; I would be crying too,” I smile and pat his head. “Say, want to do me a favor since you’re up?”

            ‘Sure, what is it?” I raise my bleeding arm and he quickly gets up and grabs it. “What happened?!” He yells as he rummages and grabs his supplies. “You were just casually talking to me while you were bleeding?!” Minho hyung is distracted from his nightmare and focuses on my bleeding arm. I smile to myself as my plan to distract him worked. I was very careful when I dressed my injury earlier, but I didn’t want him to think about the nightmare so I had to do something.

            “Sorry, I guess I was distracted.”

            “How can you just casually chill while you’re bleeding?”

            “Hehe, guess it’s not as bad as it looks.”

            “You’re kidding.” He says and starts cleaning my bleeding forearm. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

            “A monster broke through the walls, that’s all,” I lie. “Wrap it up nicely~”

            “Can you please take care of yourself?” Minho hyung shakes his head. “You’re so careless.”

            “Whoops~”

            “And you’re still fooling around!” Minho hyung pokes my side and I giggle.

            “Okay, I’m sorry~”

            “Hold still, you want me to do a good job, no?”

            “But you just—” Minho hyung raises his hand and gesture that he’ll poke me again. “Okay, okay I’m sorry~” I pout behind the mask as he smiles to himself. After gently dressing my injury, Minho hyung walks to me to my room and tells me that he will be on duty since I got hurt. I agree and use this chance to get some good sleep.

            The next night, the prince once again has an attack. I charge into the room and before he was able to bite Jimin, I shove my arm in front and let him bite into my arm. As he drinks my blood, his eyes change back into brown and he falls asleep. “Well, that solves that mystery,” I say. “Guess my blood can help him.”

            “How?” Jimin asks.

            “I have my ways,” I smile. I figured that since I am immune to poison, my body is an antidote and my blood can help control the poison inside of him. Each night, I am on standby and I run in and let him bite my arm. It’s been hard to fight since I use both hands to fight with my spear, but it’s fine since there aren’t many monsters that survive pass the traps on the walls. We found out that he has been fed the same poison in his breakfast tea. After stopping him from consuming the tea, he stopped transforming. He does not know that he drinks my blood to sleep and Minho hyung doesn’t get why my arm hasn’t healed yet. I mean it is surprising to him because my arm hasn’t made any progress but got even worse in the past month.

            Today, His Majesty summoned all of us to the celebration along with his subjects. It is our job to entertain them as the king is trying to win over their hearts. During the ceremony, we demonstrate our skills in both entertainment and martial arts to show off to them. We head outside for a bit as Onew hyung shows us how he shoots targets. He dominates all with his fast, soundless, and surprising shooting angles. His arrows are hard to follow as you cannot predict where they will go. He did not miss any target, even while horseback. Minho hyung pulls out his sword and bows. His movements are so swift and powerful. At first, he seems like he is a gentle warrior, but the more the moves, the quicker he gets. His movements are very quick, not flashy, and very precise. He receives lots of claps as well.

            It is finally my turn to show them my skills. I have bandaged my arm tightly before this and gave it many layers so the blood won’t seep through my uniform. I bow with my spear and start with a quick twirl. I fly up and spin in the air. I flip in the air and spin my spear back around as I bend backward, killing the imaginary enemy behind me. As I swirl and stab the air, they clap as my moves look complicated, yet very smooth. When I fight, it reminds me of my trainee days where I would dance in front of others and train to become an idol. All of this is in the past now, but fighting to me is now like dancing. It’s an art. I end the performance with a stab and the crowd claps. I look down and see my arm shaking from using too much strength. I quickly put my arm down and hold my spear with my other arm. I bow once more and stand next to Minho hyung. Minho hyung looks at me and leans to my ear and whispers, “you should’ve gone easy on yourself. You’re already an amazing fighter. Even if you half-assed it, no one would notice.”

            “Too late now…” I whisper back and he sighs. He grabs my spear from me and takes my shaking hand with the other one, supporting it.

            “You are now on probation. No using your arm until it heals,” he continues whispering while looking forward. I smile to myself at his kind gesture and continue watching the performances. Joon hyung continues to dominate the ceremony as his swordsmanship is the best in our country. Next up is Key hyung. He gracefully opens his fan and starts performing. His fighting is like he’s dancing as his fan complements his look well. He tosses the fan around, like it has a mind of its own. As he spins and slices in the air, his movements flow like the wind, vicious yet hard to anticipate. Every move is different from the last and at different paces. He’s amazing. Jonghyun hyung follows and is also impressive. His duel axes glisten at every move. He isn’t as graceful as Key hyung, but he was majestic in his own way. At first glance, you would think that he was only brute force, but every move has so much control that you cannot look away.

            Eventually the other well-known fighters also perform. Then, the beautiful dancers come in and lighten the atmosphere as the food is served. I pout to myself as the fighters aren’t allowed to eat, only the royal family and the diplomats. I’m am internally crying right now as this is great torture for me. I’m so hungry…From under the table, the crown prince slips a few food items to Jimin and Baekhyun hyung who are swiftly eating them without anyone noticing. I scoff as I know the prince doesn’t trust us or adore us enough to give us food. Jimin looks over and sees me. Obviously, he cannot see my face, but quite possibly, my eyes were begging him for food. He smiles and shuffles over in front of me. He puts his hand behind his back and passes me some food. I nearly cry out loud as I take the food and shove it behind my mask and into my mouth. Sorry Minho hyung, I like you a lot but food is life.

            The performances halt as His Majesty converses with his subjects. Apparently amongst the officials is Jimin’s father who is known to be one of the king’s best friends. I’m surprise his friend isn’t offended that his best friend made his son become the crown prince’s body guard. Either way, they start complimenting the crown prince and Jimin’s friendship. Then, he points out Kai, Minho hyung, and I who are the only masked people in the ceremony. The officials start joking about how our medical conditions are not an issue and that masks can allow assassins to dress up like us. I have a bad feeling about this…

Baekhyun’s POV~

            I look over at the White Masked Hero whose eyes are telling me that he is getting uncomfortable. His Majesty needs his subject’s loyalty so e is very lenient. I’m afraid that if they continue to talk, they’ll embarrass our heroes. I can see Taehyung is also bothered by their jokes. His hands under the table are forming fists and he has stopped eating. “How bad can it be anyways?” one of them laughs. “Take off your mask and show us. We can’t accept this rude behavior. Your Highness, you allow such unknown men to follow you around all day?” I look over at all the clan members who are at the ceremony and I can see them all tense up. The White Masked Hero is famous for never taking off his mask. No clan member beside his best friends have seen his real face. By challenging him, the officials are forcing him to go against his policy. I see Taehyung try to get up but I quickly stop him by pulling the hemp of his sleeve. As their master, he is allowed to stand up for them, but it’s not worth offending the officials and their families that may serve him in the future. If I stand up for them, it will cause a bigger uproar. At this point, we all have to bite our tongues and entertain the men. But then again, the White Masked Hero is also a loyal subject of Taehyung, should I allow him to stand up for him?

            “Although it is not contagious, his face is very hard on the eyes. I believe that it will only be right to leave him as is since I wouldn’t want to spoil your moods.” Taehyung finally says.

            “You haven’t seen it yourself have you, crown prince?” Jimin’s father speaks up. “Of course, they are only having a little fun. You don’t think a little peak would ruin our moods. If anything, we are offended that you think we can’t handle such a futile issue.”

            “Of course, he is not belittling you,” His Majesty speaks up. “Young hero, I’m sure you won’t mind showing us your face.” His Majesty is afraid that the officials will be offended as he has made this ceremony very grand to please everyone, hoping that they will be on his side. By speaking up, Taehyung did nothing wrong, but it has them. I look at the White Masked Hero who is frozen where he is. I can see Minho hyung’s eyes pleading him to not step forward, but he must. If he takes any longer, the officials will be angry.

            The White Masked Hero reaches for his mask. With his other hand, he pulls the strap loose and all the clan members bow their head down, not looking to show respect. With sluggish arms, he pulls off his mask and reveals a hideous face. The palace is known for only housing the most beautiful people of our country. His face is the ugliest thing in this entire palace, sadly. I can’t seem to look away from his raw skin as my eyes trace the bloody cracks and red scale-like patches of scarred skin. The ceremony turns dead silent as the officials must have been surprised themselves. I take this moment to write down everything that is. Jimin looks over at his father and the official clears his throat. “Alright, now uh what does His Majesty have in store for us next?”

            “Next, we shall have dessert and more dancing from our most beautiful dancers,” the king’s eunuch claps and the music starts as the fine plates of desserts are served. The White Masked Hero quickly puts his mask back on and Minho hyung takes his hand again, this time patting it to show his support. I see Kai’s nails slowly turn into claws as he is enraged. He is known to adore the White Masked Hero to the point where he would rather die than let the hero get hurt on his behalf. He can’t act up now with everyone looking. I quickly throw one of my brushes at him and he glares at me. I look at him and shake my head, signaling for him to calm down. He looks away from me and puts away his claws.

            Taehyung flips his desk over with rage. He cannot believe that the officials have looked down on him so much to the point where they embarrass his people. Although it may not seem like it, the crown prince has started to treasure his heroes who have protected him and those in the palace. Before the heroes joined the palace, I have already told him all tales I have collected so the crown prince developed respect for them well before their arrival. After many weeks of being together, he has finally started to trust them. Now that the officials have embarrassed the White Masked Hero, Taehyung is frustrated as he knows apologizing cannot mend what has happened and unfortunately, he cannot even do so. Because he is the crown prince, he is always being watched which is why he is so cold in person. Only behind closed doors will he loose, yet the heroes have not seen that side of his. If he makes one wrong move his image may be tainted and no one will respect him. If he apologizes to the White Masked Hero, that means he is openly admitting at the king’s people are rude men. He is in a tight spot.

            I sneak out of the crown prince’s hall and find Onew who is known to be one of the most diplomatic and kind person amongst the heroes. I greet him and explain that his highness wants to make up for the embarrassment the White Masked Hero faced but he cannot openly apologize. He gently smiles at me and explains that the White Masked Hero has a wolf that can communicate with him. As the wolf can fight itself, any message that the crown prince would like to relay be it hand written or verbal will be well protected and delivered accordingly. I thank him and run off to one of the gardens and find the wolf huddled in a bush, hiding as it is not allowed in the palace. As I approach it, the wolf opens its eyes and readies itself to run away.

            “W-wait, please,” I put my hands out to gesture for it to stop in case it cannot understand me. “I’m afraid we have never properly introduced ourselves. My name is Baekhyun and I am the crown prince’s brother, the royal scribe. I need you to relay a message to your master as it cannot be seen by other set of eyes. Can you check if anyone is around?” The wolf nods and I nearly laugh out of excitement. It understands me! “Thank you, great hero,” I say and hand the wolf a bamboo tube with the letter tucked inside. “Please deliver this to your master.” The wolf carefully bites the tube and runs off. Simply amazing.

            I smile to myself and start recording my encounter with the wolf. “Boo,” Kai says and I nearly scream. “Shh, they’re going to hear you.”

            “What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised as he is literally hanging off the roof.

            “Here to see what you’re up to,” he says. “You ran off after the crown prince fell asleep and I was checking to see if you’ve been eaten by monsters yet.”

            “Caring about me now, are you?” I raise my eyebrow.

            “Nope, just bored,” he shrugs. “So where are you going now?”

            “Back to my room.”

            “What?! You have a room!?”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I always see you at the crown prince’s room that I didn’t know you had one yourself.”

            “I guess you’re right,” I chuckle. “Do you need anything from me?”

            “Well, I wanted to thank you for earlier. I would’ve lost control if I didn’t calm down.” Kai says without looking at me. I guess he’s embarrassed.

            “No problem,” I say. “By the way, do you always get claws when you fight?”

            “Uhh sometimes. I do have an axe that I fight with but I guess I just lost it a bit back there.”

            “You really adore the White Masked Hero, don’t you?”

            “He’s my purpose,” he says. “he’s my life.” I have no idea how I should react to this. I heard rumors that the heroes are so close to one another that they can all practically pull off being lovers, but I did not believe it until I see these interactions myself. They all love each other so much. When I came to Onew, he helped me take care of the White Masked Hero and even his wolf is so loyal. I wish someone is able to care for me as much they care for one another…

            “I see. Well, I have to go back to my room now. I need to organize some files.”

            “At this hour?”

            “In the daytime, I follow his highness around and at night I am able to research and organize data.”

            “When do you sleep?”

            “When I can’t stay up anymore.” I admit.

            “Then I’ll let you to it then.” Kai nods and runs off on the roof.

            “Arf-arf!” I hear some people fake bark at me. I sigh as I know what is about to come next. Some palace officials send their sons to roam the palace to prepare them when they do join. We all know the exams are rigged anyways. These imbeciles will actually join the officials one day and work for Taehyung. My book get knocked out of my hand as the guys circle me. “What’s the crown prince’s dog doing here? Why aren’t you kissing his back in his room?” Their leader kicks the back of my knee and it buckles, sending me to the ground. “What are you, mute? Or did your master teach you not to bark around foolishly?”

            “Master Kim, I unfortunately have some duties to complete. Can you please let me off easily this time?” I sigh.

            “But I don’t feel like it,” he says and stomps on my right hand. I bit down on my lip and try to mask my yell. The more I react the happier they get.

            “He’s pretending it doesn’t hurt,” another one says. They all laugh. Their maknae picks up my book and start flipping the pages. I quickly get up to grab it and get punched in the abdomen. I fall over, clutching to the book. There is a lot of confidential information in the books I write so I cannot let them see. They try pulling the book away from me but I hold on like my life depended on it. They push me over and start stomping on my hand many times. I hold back my cries as it would only entertain them.

            “Seeing you protect the trash you write is making me even madder. What are you going to do, go running to your dongsaeng? You think that your brother is going to protect you? How does it feel to be down-graded from being a hyung to a servant? Please, you are nothing but a dog and even if we beat you to death here and now, you will get no justice.”

            “If you dare harm even another hair on his body, you’ll have to answer to my axe.” I look up and see Kai standing from above holding his weapon out. “Scram.” The guys surprisingly walk away. Since he is wearing his uniform, they know he is one of the heroes. Since heroes aren’t part of the palace staff, they know that he doesn’t care for hierarchy or their fathers. If they stayed any longer, they would’ve been rightfully beaten up.

            I get up and clean my book with my uninjured hand. I keep my head low as I am embarrassed that Kai had to save me. Everyone in the palace knows that the officials’ sons look down on me, but luckily the crown prince has not caught the news. I guess that’s best for them since Taehyung would take my side if he knew. I just didn’t expect Kai to catch me like this. “Uhh, thank you,” I mutter and try leaving.

            “Stop, where do you think you are running off to?” Kai says and I surprisingly stop on my tracks. He jumps down and lands next to me. He grabs onto my hand and I wince as he pulled on the injured one. He looks down and sees that my hand is bleeding and swollen. “Come on,” he says and takes my book with his right hand and takes my uninjured hand with his left. We walk to his room and he closes the door. He lights up a candle and sits me down. “If you want to hide this from the crown prince, at least we’ll have to help make it less injured.” He places his hand on my injured one and I feel a warm surge of energy engulf my hand. The pain starts to fade away and my hand stops hurting. I look at him in awe and notice that he is very focused. His eyebrows are furrowed as he stares at my hand. Strangely enough, I can feel the cuts start to close up and my swelling lessen. He lets out a breath and releases my hand. It’s just slightly red and its movement is a bit awkward, but my hand is basically fully healed.

            “Thank you for your kindness.” I bow.

            “No need to thank me. It would be trouble if His Highness sees your injury.”

            “B-but…you shouldn’t be using your energy aimlessly. Don’t forget about your…condition.” I do not want to bring up the fact that he is dying. Last time, he really scared me.

            “Your hand is literally your life. If I let your hand stay injured that like, how would you write? No worries, I’m not that weak. Now if you excuse me, I have to go guard the walls,” He gets up and I bow again, following him out his room. “Don’t stay up too late,” he says and flies up to the top of the roof.

            “You too,” I smile and wave. “Really…thank you,” I mutter and walk to my room.

Minho’s POV~

            I sit in silence as I stare at the White Masked Hero who is cleaning his mask. He must have been really hurt when the officials made a joke out of his condition. I really wanted to teach all the men a lesson, but I knew I can’t do that. I am not the crown prince and even then, speaking up for him would be difficult. I understand the crown prince, but I really wish that we can turn back time so he can stand up for him. The White Masked Hero’s wolf delivered a letter the crown prince personally wrote to apologize, but he hasn’t commented on it yet. He most definitely is not okay. Would invading their houses and stealing back some delicious food for you make you happier? Should I go to their houses myself and give them a piece of my mind?

            I hear the bells ring, indicating that a monster has passed through the walls. The White Masked Hero looks at me and I nod, agreeing to go. I run out and join Kai who is slicing away. Before I reach him, the monster disintegrates. I see a flicker of light in Kai’s hand and then it disappears. “What do you have there?” I ask, pointing at the hidden hand.

            “Nothing, I was just scratching myself,” he says and ways his empty hand for me to see. Maybe I was just imagining things. “I’m going to get back on the roof.”

            “Okay, take care,” I pay him on the back and walk back to the White Masked Hero’s room. I notice the room is no longer lit and the doors are closed. I knock a few times and I hear the White Masked Hero’s voice telling me that he is going to sleep. “Uhh, okay, goodnight.” I guess he wanted to sleep it off…This is my chance to get back at the officials. Since they are a bunch of old jerks, I guess stealing some things for them isn’t going to do them much harm…

            I escape the palace without anyone noticing and change into all black. My face is covered and I am using a weapon I got from a regular shop so I cannot be identified. Honestly, as heroes, we are so easy to identify since we basically wear the same clothing and our weapons are iconic. If I don’t disguise myself well, they’d identify me without even a second thought. I slipped into each official’s manor and tried to steal food. Unfortunately, they do not have leftovers since they just end up trashing it, so I decided to steal their riches. I took items that cannot be identifiable since I decided to give some to the public so the houses in need can use the money. The very rare items were also stolen by me, but I decided to bring them all to the mountain where the White Masked Hero’s and Heechul hyung’s master lives so he can collect them. I don’t have any use for them anyways. I just want to mess with them. Since the Peacekeeper taught me a few things back when I was a kid, I was able to knock out the guards by playing a spell on my flute. Luckily none of them have internal energy or are great fighters. If they were, it would be difficult to make them unconscious. Before the sun rises, I return to the palace and hide my disguise.

            A few days passed and the crown prince cannot hide his happiness. The rumor that a thief stole from the court officials have spread to the palace and he is celebrating their share of karma. Surprisingly, there was more than one incident that night. Not only were they missing some of their treasures— eh hem, that was me— all of their faces were drawn on. Rumors say that they all claimed to be sick and didn’t go to the palace the morning after since the ink did not entirely wash off. I wonder who it was…no matter what, they’ll think it was us heroes since they messed with the White Masked Hero. Oh well. I dare them to mess with us. It’s not like any clues were left behind so they have nothing but accusations if they were to challenge us.

            The past few days, the crown prince ordered to have extra food sent to his hall. He gifted us food for our nigh patrol and the food is extravagant. I guess this is his way of saying sorry to the White Masked Hero since everyone knows that he enjoys food. “Did the letter get to you well, White Masked Hero?” Baekhyun asks during the crown prince’s breakfast. We are all standing guard while the crown prince, Baekhyun, and Jimin are eating.

            “Yes, thank you,” he replies. “I’m not going to let a bunch of rude old men get the best of me. Besides, they got punished enough.” He finally talked! I bet the stolen items and painted faces really got him happy. It’s like a weight has lifted off my shoulders. I’m glad he isn’t as upset anymore.

            “Baekhyun hyung, make sure to record what happened down,” the crown prince says.

            “Noted.” I see Kai looking intently at Baekhyun who is recording in his book. Since when has Kai cared for Baekhyun? I remember that he didn’t even give him a second look when we first met and I’m sure they haven’t talked this entire time. Maybe I’m overthinking. I see the White Masked Hero turn his face toward one of the walls and I finally sense something off. Before I can react, a few monsters swoop in and nearly claws the crown prince. Since Jimin is the closest to the crown prince, he was able to move him before anything happened. The eunuchs holding our weapons are far away as we are not allowed to fetch our weapons until nightfall. AT first, they allowed us to walk about with our weapons, but now we can’t see them until the sun sets. This is extremely frustrating. Normal weapons are already difficult to slay monsters with, not to mention being weaponless.

            Jimin takes the crown prince and Baekhyun to his chambers while we continue to fight. Kai finally blares his claws since no one is around. Thanks to all the training, I am finally able to use my internal energy to heal people and the White Masked Hero further taught me to send my energy to my palms to use as weapons. This makes our hands able to hurt the monsters. I grab the crown prince’s pair of chopsticks and try using them to fight with. I stab through the bird but I missed its vital point. I try again but I can’t seem to get it right. “It’s a different species,” the White Masked Hero confirms. We continue to fight while trying to figure out its vital point. The White Masked Hero also grabs chopsticks and uses them to fight. “Why haven’t we thought about this before? My fingers feel like they’re about to fall off!”

            “I know right? I’m so smart~” I pat myself on the back and continue fighting. I hiss as one of its claws slice my arm. They keep on coming. There are about a dozen flying around. I look at my arm and see blood gushing out of the cut. “Darn.”

            “Why the hell does the crown price ban weapons?!” the White Masked Hero growls.

            “What?! He’s the one not allowing us to have weapons?! Not the freaking king?!” Kai yells.

            “People are not allowed to wield weapons in his hall. Apparently, he can’t trust anyone.”

            “I think I might quit this job if they keep making it hard on us. Ever since the ceremony, we aren’t allowed to be with our weapons,” Kai yells.

            “Hey, lucky for you that you have claws. We are using chopsticks!” I complain. We stop talking as the bird-monsters are starting to double in numbers. I finally stab the bird-monster in a spot near its and it disintegrates. I quickly scream the spot and we start killing them. I look over and see Kai’s hands glowing. He…isn’t taking the beads, is he? No, I must be overthinking again. Since it’s his hands, the dust might get on his hands. That has to be it.

            Finally, all the bird-monsters die. We look at each other and notice that we all have at least one cut. Their claws were long and sharp and we were weaponless. This is ridiculous.

Kai’s POV~

            Every day, bird-monsters of different species would come and attack the crown prince. We continue to battle them weaponless and the chopsticks are starting to be low in stock since Minho hyung and Taemin hyung keep breaking them. Each day, we would get more injuries since the birds not only claw at us, but some spit out fire, poison, and even feathers. Today was terrible. A few types of bird-monsters attacked at once and without weapons, it was difficult to dodge and kill all at once. Taemin hyung was lucky to have his mask on as the bird-monster spit out acid at him. Although still terrible, it only sprayed at the side so only part of his shoulder and next caught the splatter. He is currently covered up in medical herbs to help the healing. I was sliced so deep that you can see my bone and I have multiple cuts where the feathers graze me. Minho hyung’s clothing caught fire during the fight and we were lucky enough to extinguish it before he got any major burns. We all are upset since this all could be avoided with our weapons. The monsters wouldn’t have overpowered us as easily since our weapons can kill monsters. My claws can only reach so far into their bodies and chopsticks are so little that they can easily miss the vital point.

            We sent some people to ask for some assistance for tonight. We are clearly not in the best condition to fight. Although I am a monster, my healing is simply quicker than humans, but I don’t just magically heal. I’ll have to deal with using my non-dominant hand for a few days. I decide to go back to my room so Minho hyung and Taemin hyung can talk. When they have deep conversations, they sometimes forget about me anyways. I lay in my bed and hear knocking. I open the door with my left hand and see Baekhyun holding a large box.

Baekhyun’s POV~

            Kai reaches out and grabs the box of food from me. I immediately look at his arm since he’s right-handed, but he is holding the box with his left. I look down at the arm hanging by his side and see it wrapped up. Blood is seeping through the bandaging. “Just a small accident,” He says, noticing my gaze. “Come in.” I thank him as he pours me a cup of tea. I continue looking at his injured arm and he finally explains how the heroes were injured today.

            “Want me to help you change bandages? The blood is making it too damp,” I point out. Ever since he helped me with the bullies, he checks on me every night and escorts me to my room. We started developing a friendship and it isn’t as difficult talking to him. I do not feel that he is as scary as I thought before.

            “Sure, I would’ve done a sloppy job if I were to do it myself,” he admits. He pulls out his supplies and roughly tears the wet bandages off his arm. I gasp as I see how deep the injury actually is. He must be in a lot of pain.

            “This is not a small injury,” I say. “Why did you act like it’s no big deal?”

            “I mean Minho hyung got burned and the White Masked Hero has some of his skin melted. Who am I to complain?” 

            “What?! How can they get so injured? You guys are the best monster slayers—”

            “Well you can thank your damn brother.” He huffs. I look down as the reason clicks. It’s because Taehyung doesn’t allow any weapons in his hall so they can’t kill the monsters as easily.

            “I’m sorry.” I say and continue bandaging him.

            “It’s not your fault,” he says, sounding a bit angry. “You always act like everything is your fault.”

            “Sorry—”

            “If you say that again I’m going to kick you out,” he says.

            “Sor— okay. I’m glad other heroes can take your place. It would have been terrible if you three had to stay up.”

            “Jonghyun hyung offered since Key hyung and he tend to just chill all night since there are never attacks where he is. Since we still have some traps up, he just needs to worry about the bigger threats. Onew hyung even offered to shoot at the birds if they come near our area. It should be a quiet night.”

            “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you injured. At least…not this badly…”

            “Yeah. I only get injured from the daytime monster slaying. I am usually pretty quick.” I look down again since I feel guilty. If only he had the weapons in the daytime too— he wouldn’t be injured. “So, why’d you come?”

            “Oh, I almost forgot. Please enjoy~” I open the box and set the food on the table. I cooked the food myself at this hour to give to him. He stays up a lot too so I don’t want him to be hungry…I wince as he brutally stabs food I prepared. I tried my best to make it look pretty too…

            “Don’t look so upset. I can’t use chopsticks with my left hand and I have no idea what nasty stuff is on my fingers so I’m not going to eat with my hands,” he smiles, embarrassed. “Uhh…It looks really pretty, thanks.” He nods and stabs the food again. I hesitate, but reach forward.

            “May I?” I gesture at the chopsticks. He looks at me in confusion before it clicks. He shrugs and gives me the chopsticks. Gently, I pick up the food and feed him. It makes me feel warm inside watching him enjoy my food.

            “You made the food very well. Thank you.”

            “How’d you know it was me?” I widen my eyes. I didn’t tell him that I prepared the food.

            “I’ve eaten at the palace long enough to tell when the food is different. Only you can prepare food that suits my taste exactly. I remember you used to give me samples sometimes, remember?” I shyly blush as I realize that I did try my best to make the food suit his taste. I also plate the food differently compared to the chefs. “I really appreciate it.”

            “Don’t mention it,” I smile. “Take this as a ‘thank you’ for walking me every day and sending away the officials’ sons.”

            “No problem. You actually mind if I share with the White Masked Hero? He loves good food.” For some reason, I feel a bit sad that he asked.

            “Of course! The White Masked Hero works very hard. I’ll cook more next time as well!”

            “Thank you!” Kai packs the food back in the box.

            “Uhh, you go ahead and bring him the food. I’m going to go check on the crown prince.”

            “Okay, thanks!” He runs off, leaving me in his room. I close the doors behind me and walk to Taehyung. He has been sleeping pretty well ever since the heroes came, but I still make sure he’s doing okay. He doesn’t talk to us much, so I cannot tell if anything bothers him. The most I can do for him is watch over him.

            “They’re hurt!” I hear Jimin’s voice from behind the door.

            “I am not going to change the rules! Did you forget how often I would get assassinated because weapons were in the hall?” Taehyung argues back. I’m not sure if I should enter just yet…

            “Why can’t you just trust them!?” Jimin screams and opens the door. He stops and looks at me, steaming. Without a second glance, he storms off. I’ve never seen Jimin angry at Taehyung before.

            “May I come in?” I ask.

            “Sure,” Taehyung replies, still clearly upset.

            “What happened?” I sit down in front of him.

            “He stormed in here demanding me to let the heroes use their weapons. He told me that the heroes are terribly hurt and it’s because I can’t trust people.”

            “I see.”           

            “Can you believe him?” He asks. He looks at me and his eyes flicker as he notices the discomfort in my face. “You…agree too, don’t you?”

            “They’re here to protect you,” I say. “If they wanted to harm you, they would’ve done so already. I know you were nearly killed many times and you are tired of people trying to kill you and use you, but maybe you should give them a break.”

            “I can’t believe you’re siding with them.”

            “Taehyung, you know I have your best interest in mind. If you mistreat them like that, they’re going to be tired of being here. Would you be happy if you were them?”      

            “I give them good food, I don’t yell at them, I let them roam around the palace as they please. How am I mistreating them?”

            “You’re treating them worse than your dogs and cat,” I say. “Did you once check on them? Did you give them medication when they were hurt? Do you thank them?”

            “I…but I…” his face slowly softens as he realizes that he is at fault. “I’m just afraid, hyung. What if they betray me?”

            “Taehyung-ah, you used to be so loving and kind to everyone. I haven’t seen you smile once ever since you became the crown prince and I’ve never seen you make any friends or try to talk to outsiders. I know you’re weary, but it worries me knowing how much you are changing. They’re here to help and you don’t even act like you care.”

            “I do! I feel so guilty I want to just hide my face from them. They keep getting injured because of me and they barely sleep because they’re taking care of me. You think I don’t know?!” He closes his eyes and breathes in. “I just can’t tell if it’s all an act.”

            “I’m sure you’ll be able to open up to them soon enough,” I say and pat his head. “Taehyung-ah, please, give them a chance.”

            “I just don’t know.”

Taehyung’s POV~

            I look in the mirror and see my face. Have I actually changed? I touch it and notice that bags have formed under my eyes. My face looks very dark and even lifeless. Have I always looked like this? I look down and see the royal dragon embroidered blue robe. Why does this look so pitiful on me? I did not always look like this. I look back up at my reflection and see the straight line my lips are forming. I try to smile and see that my lips are struggling to curl up. My smile is very awkward. I sit back and think hard. What’s wrong with me?

~FLASHBACK~

            “Minho hyung!” I yell, waving as I run toward him. His lips curl into a bright smile and he spreads his arms. I jump right into them and he twirls me into the air, chuckling. We eventually fall onto the ground, laughing and dizzy. Hyung rubs my head and helps me up. I help him brush the dirt off his blue dragon robe. He pulls me into a hug and we pat each other’s butts. We giggle at our greeting and with a quick tag, we chase each other around the garden. The eunuchs are scrambling to follow us as they yell after us to be careful. They’re protective over Minho hyung. He is the crown prince after all.

            Suddenly, the sun seems to disappear as a large cloud covers it. I feel a cold breeze and Minho hyung stops running. He quickly helps me hide in a bush and I notice the eunuchs are no longer in sight. I see a group of people in black robes appear and slowly walk toward Minho hyung. Minho hyung bows down and they laugh, patting his head. “Have you been practicing?” They ask him. He pulls out a flute kept inside his boot and plays a song. My ears ring and I press my small hands again them. “Great young prince. You are ready to show the king and queen. I hope you would play this perfectly for them as well.”

            “I will, mister!” Minho hyung smiles.

            “Great, we’ll see you next time.” Minho hyung bows and they disappear without a trace.

            “Taehyung-ah, you can come out now,” Minho hyung bends down and reaches out.  I grab his hand and get out from the bush.

            “Hyung, who were they?”

            “They’re great people! They taught me how to fight and even how to play the flute. I’m going to show His and Her Majesty what I learn tomorrow.”

            “I don’t like that song…” I pout, looking up at him.

            “Aww but I worked so hard on it. How about this, I’ll show you what they taught me. Sit down; hyung is going to demonstrate some great swordplay!” He sits me down on a stone chair and pulls out a thin sword. I laugh and clap as he jumps around swing his sword. My smile fades as I look around and notice all the beautiful plants in the garden are being sliced and broken.

            “H-hyung! Hyung stop!” I yell. I run forward and try to protect the small plum tree sprout we grew together. I start crying as Minho hyung accidentally cuts my hand with his sword. He immediately drops his sword and holds onto me as I cry. He keeps repeating ‘I’m sorry’ as he cradles me and he starts crying himself out of grief. Minho hyung was always a kind person. He calls for the eunuch and they me to the royal doctor.

            “Make sure to him home,” he says to my servants and waves. I smile back despite my hurt hand to encourage him. He never meant to hurt me.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

            Little did I know, that was the last time I ever saw Minho hyung. The day after, rumors spread that said Minho hyung tried to assassinate the queen and princess in front of the king and he was sent to be executed. I cried myself to sleep that night and I remember having nightmares about the Peacekeepers. Every day, I would come in and care for the plum tree. By the time the tree grew up and blossomed flowers, I was adopted by Minho hyung’s father, the king.

            Did I stop being me after Minho hyung died? Did I change after becoming the crown prince? I lay down on my bed and cover my eyes with my arm. I’m so tired, yet I can’t seem to sleep. I can’t forget Jiminnie’s angry face as he yelled at me to trust people. Can he blame me? Minho hyung was the crown prince I looked up to and he was executed. I had to take his position and people were on my tail as I grew up. People tried to assassinate me, people tried to kiss up to me and earn my favor, people even tried to use me to get close to the king. In all these years, only Baekhyun hyung and Jiminnie stuck by me and didn’t betray me. Ever since weapons were banned from the hall, chances of me getting assassinated decreased and it was much harder for people to get close to me since Jimin protected me while Baekhyun hyung gathered information on them. This helped me scare them away as I knew too many of their secrets. I grew up very lonely and very weary of people. How can I simply change because a bunch of heroes joined the palace? Should I give them a chance?

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