~Chapter 32~

Citizens of Our Country

Taemin's POV~

            “You want to what?” I ask.

            “I want to go visit the civilians and see how they are doing.” The crown prince says as he changes into non-royal clothing.    

            “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Baekhyun hyung, his brother says. “I’m the scribe. I can go do research for you. No need to leave the palace.”

            “I want to. If I don’t take a risk, how can I claim to be the future king? Look, I’m not going to sit around and let these heroes guard me while I get pampered.” The crown prince grabs a bunch of money and shoves it in his pockets. “We are going on a quest to find clues on the dark clans and their plan.”

            “No.” Minho hyung says. “You are not putting yourself in danger. You are the heir to the throne and what better way is there to take over our country than to kill or take the crown prince captive?”

            “I need to do this.”

            “You need to stay put.” Minho hyung says sternly.

            “You are my guard. I am the crown prince. You have no right to tell me what I need to do—” Jimin cuts off the crown prince by putting his hand on his shoulder.

            “Your life is in our hands and if any harm were to go your way, it’s not only us that will be affected. Your country will be at danger.” Jimin says. “Taetae-ah, please, stay in the palace for now.”

            “Jimin-ah, I’m tired of waiting in this palace.”

            “But—”

            “Fine,” I say. “If you really want to go on a trip, I’ll allow it on one condition.”

            “What is it?” he asks. I can’t believe he’s listening to my condition. He’s the crown prince so he could’ve just ordered us to go on the trip with us. He’s not as authoritative as he pretends to be.

            “The minute we deem the situation too dangerous, you’ll have to listen to us so we can you safely back. Got it?”

            “Will do,” he nods enthusiastically. We all get ready and depart the palace in secret.

            Kai, Baekhyun hyung, Jimin, Minho hyung, the crown prince, and I are wearing normal clothes and normal masks. Way to be discrete…I mean we don’t have a choice since Minho hyung’s face needs to be hidden. He looks too similar to his childhood self so the crown prince would recognize him. This takes me back to when we first met. Minho hyung used to have his face covered as well. “Wae?” Minho hyung notices me staring at him and I quickly look away.

            “Nothing~” I reply and bounce away. The crown prince is excitedly looking at different stalls since it is his first time out the palace since he’s been crown prince. Inside the palace, he’s very serious and here he seems like a bubbly kid at an amusement park. Honestly, his duality is confusing me. Maybe he has to put up an act at the palace since everyone is watching him?

            Jimin is taking his bodyguard job seriously. He acts like everything is a threat and protects his crown prince. It’s sweet to think that they just started off as friends and although the crown prince has upgraded in status, their friendship is still pure. The crown prince listens to Jimin well and Jimin is very caring. They have mutual respect.

Baekhyun hyung is following them around and writing in his book. I wonder if he ever enjoys things for himself. He seems to always be observing others and never rests. Kai is quietly walking beside me and Minho hyung who are watching the three from behind. Since we are traveling in different towns far away from the palace, no one noticed us since we are not traveling with our iconic weapons, but with regular ones we bought on the streets. Surprisingly, no one has given us any odd stairs although we are masked and walking in a group.

            The sun eventually sets and we all head to an inn to rest for the night. The crown prince is very pleased with his experience today. The villagers are living well and he’s happy that the people seem safe. Tomorrow, I guess we should bring him to the poorer places so he can see for himself. The innkeeper serves us food but urges us to finish our food quickly. “Why? Is something wrong?” Minho hyung asks.

            “The curfew here is 8 o’clock. At night, the neighboring village is known for having wild monsters roam around. We lock all our doors and are not active at night so we can be safe.” We agree to eat quickly and head to our room, which they lock to ensure full protection. We look out the window and notice that all houses are locked up and no candles are lit. I guess the innkeeper wasn’t lying.

            After a night of rest, we decide to head to the neighboring town to see which monsters are roaming around. Apparently, no one knows what we are talking about and claim that they are a peaceful place. We enter a new inn in and settle down. The people here are very happy and respectful. They gave us a great welcome since everyone in the village know one another and it was obvious that we were travelers. The food then gets served to us and as I draw the cup of tea near my mouth, my nose tingles and I sneeze. I tell everyone to put their cups down and I continue smelling everything served to us. Everything is poisoned. We put money on the table and quickly head down the stairs to leave the tavern.

            “Stop right there!” The door slams shut and we turn around. Everyone in the tavern is holding up something to stand guard. Some are holding chairs, some are holding clubs, and all are prepared to attack us. With their stances and aura, they seem like normal people…They can’t be from the dark clan.

            “No one can leave our town once they have entered.” A male says. “You have been infected and cannot leave.” I look at my group and we all are confused. Infected? Don’t they mean poisoned? We draw our weapons and the crown prince stop us, telling us that we cannot harm civilians. I sigh and put down my wooden spear. I look at Kai and Minho who nod. We run in different directions and jab at people’s acupoints, making them freeze on the spot. Before anyone can make a move, everyone was locked in place. We sit the crown prince down in the middle, letting him talk. Turns out, whoever enters their village will be infected and turn into monsters at night. I look at Jimin and Baekhyun hyung since we had to deal with the crown prince turning into a beast back when he was still poisoned.

            “Did a group of people come to your village and poison you?” I ask.

            “No, we just started changing into beasts one day,” they claim.

            “Then it is up to us to help these people,” the crown prince looks at us.

            “It will soon be nightfall. We need to leave this village before they turn into monsters and harm the crown prince. When daybreaks, we will return,” Minho hyung says and we all agree. As we run past the village well, I stop as my nose starts to tingle.

            “What’s wrong?” Kai asks.

            “Every village has one source of water?”

            “Yes, small villages like this have one well where everyone draws water from. Only richer households have their own well since they have more land.” Baekhyun hyung explains.

            “Great,” I say. “I think I found the source to their predicament.”

Jimin’s POV~

            “You’re not planning to cure them with your blood, are you?” I pull the White Masked Hero aside while everyone was asleep.

            “You have a better idea?” he looks at me. “No one knows where the Peacekeepers are located and we don’t have the ability to find the antidote. If we were able to do that, wouldn’t you guys have cured the crown prince before I came?” He has a point. If it wasn’t for him, the crown prince would still be transforming at night. It’s possible that the poisons differ, but the antidote is all the same since the White Masked Hero is a living cure.

            “You can’t possibly cure an entire village. We also don’t know the severity of their poison. How do we know how much blood you need each person to drink?”

            “The crown prince bit me every day, but the actual blood he drank was not a lot. Besides, since my blood can cure them and we know the source of their poison, I won’t have to feed them every night.”

            “In Taehyung’s place, I thank you for your help,” I bow.

            “Don’t worry about it. Tomorrow near sundown, we will let them consume some of my blood and see what happens.” The White Masked Hero says and heads to his bed.

            “Wait, are you going to tell everyone the truth? If you do, the crown prince will be smart enough to piece the clues together. He’ll know that you saved him and I know you didn’t want him to feel like he owed you anything.”

            “True…well, just tell them that I know how to help them force the poison out. It’s not like I haven’t done it before,” he shrugs and falls asleep.

            The White Masked Hero pulls back his bleeding hand and quickly wraps it up. We distribute the antidote to the villagers. We then join the other heroes and the crown prince who waited outside. The White Masked Hero sure is working hard on his own…Would he accept me if I offered him help?

            Minho hyung looks at The White Masked Hero and I can tell that his eyes show concern. I look at Kai who is also looking at the hero. No words have been said, but I can tell that they are supporting him and care for him. I heard stories of how the White Masked Hero uses his internal energy to heal people and even absorb poisons to save lives. His friends must be worried about his condition. I want to reassure them that he is okay, but it is not my place to speak for him. Taehyung is sitting calmly in the middle of the street, waiting to see if any possessed people run rampage. Although he looks relaxed, I can tell that he is nervous. The hands he is resting on his knees are not still, indicating that he is nervous. Baekhyun hyung places a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder, showing support. The moon has finally risen and the moment of truth is here.

            We silently observe the location for any significant changes. We all lower our weapons as members of the village exit their houses as human beings. They all fall onto their knees and thank us for saving them. A bright smile spreads across Taehyung’s face as he urges them to get up. A party was quickly put together and we spend another night amongst the villagers. I smile to myself as Taehyung’s happiness brings me joy.

~Sorry the update wasn't as long as intended! Comments are loved~