Yunho snapped his head back and forth, ensuring no one was watching the way he was escaping the ship. He had decided to stay awake until he was certain everyone was peacefully asleep before sneaking out. 

The procedure was quite difficult considering some of the people turned and would glance at him for a second before falling back asleep without question.

He wondered if this Yukhei walked at night a lot considering the light sleepers that had spotted him didn't even bat a lash and rolled over as if it was a common occurrence.

With heavy panting from rowing the lifeboat, Yunho scrambled to find his horse. He managed to strip off the more dramatic pieces of clothing and now appeared to look like a regular townsfolk. 

Along the way to find his horse, the tall male spotted the decapitated child and his gut lurched. How could someone have the mind to murder an innocent child? 

The strong smell of iron filled the air and as he urged the horse to gallop through the village, he heard loud wails of anguish from some houses and angry voices from others.

“How could the King not take any action to save our village?!” screamed a male voice into the night.

The tone made Yunho realize that the people wanted war and they wanted action immediately. Exactly what the Captain wanted.

War and a chance to win.

Disgusting.

Yunho wanted it to end and wanted it to end as quickly as possible. If he would have to fight an entire group solo, then so be it. 

His stallion ran through the Palace gates with as much speed as its muscular body could produce and before it even came to a full stop, Yunho was swinging his legs off the beast.

“Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!” Yunho yelled through the quiet Castle.

Rustles from within rooms were heard and soon enough, maids appeared into the halls to see what was wrong with their Prince. Relief flowed through most of them upon seeing the tall male home but concern overpowered the feeling of relief.

They knew Yunho didn't like his Uncle and never would. So the sight of seeing the Prince willingly look for the king was concerning.

“How may we help you, Prince?” one of the maids asked, taking a step forward to show she was willing to help.

“Please get my Uncle. It’s urgent.”

Nodding in understanding, the maid dashed off and moments later, the sleepy and angry King appeared before them.

“What the fuck do you want, bastard?”

Yunho ignored the rude words and spilled out what he knew.

“Uncle the Pirates are really here and they killed a child in order to declare war. They wish to take over the Kingdom and murder everyone in the way and they plan to kidnap all the women.”

The King scanned his nephew up and down and snorted in disgust.

“Did I not tell you to offer yourself as a treaty? Stupid bitch, do as you’re told.”

Yunho began shaking. He shook in anger and aggressively punched an iron suit on display. The metal pieces clashed and fell to the ground in a loud heap.

The King stared at him in hatred and the maids anxiously glanced back and forth between the two.

"Come here," the King instructed, causing panic to set within the Prince.

The maids’ eyes widened and Yunho swallowed heavily. He did not want to listen.

"Will you not obey me, boy?" the King asked, irritation evident on his face.

Yunho stood firm and glared into the man’s eyes.

"I will not listen to you."

With a snap of the King’s fingers, a pair of guards seized the tall male and dragged him to the awaiting King. Sudden realization coursed through him and he wanted to cry. 

Why did this have to happen now of all times?

The guards dragged the struggling male to the room where the King wanted him and before Yunho could even think of escaping, his trousers were yanked off and a horrid pain shot through his rear end.

A shriek exited his mouth, causing the King to send a punch to his jaw which made Yunho cry out and let out muffled sobs.

The mixture of pain, disgust, and anger was so overwhelming the Prince’s vision began to swim. His world went fuzzy and before he knew it, his world went dark as he was being abused.

Unfortunately, he was forcefully slapped awake a few minutes later and he cried out in agony.

He wanted to escape and he wanted to die. There was no way he wished to stay in the same place as the man who was supposed to be his relative.

Yunho's weak body was discarded to the side and he was thrown out of the room a few minutes later. Pain shot through his weakened body and he could barely bring himself to get up.

The worst part, he had to find his way back to the ship before people would start waking up. He didn't know how but he would have to do it.

If the King wasn't going to listen to him, then so be it. The Kingdom would simply crumble and he would probably end up decapitated along with hundreds of others by the Pirates. 

Yunho sat on the ground for a moment longer trying to figure out what he would do. Placing a hand to delicately touch his rear end, a whimper escaped his mouth upon feeling liquid.

Not just blood but secretion from the vile King. 

A maid carefully approached the tall male and draped a sheet over his figure, hiding his naked body from all who could possibly see.

“I'll just ask them to kill me,” Yunho whispered, dropping his head and staring at his hands. 

“Prince Yunho, you can't give up now,” a maid whispered, placing a hand on the male’s shoulder. “We believe in you and all hope that you will bring justice and set this kingdom on the right path. Please don't do something foolish and get killed.”

“But you don't understand!” Yunho cried, tears clouding his eyes as he stared at the woman.

“I might not and I probably never will but I just know you are strong and you will bring happiness to all. Please hold on and don't lose hope.”

Yunho sniffled and shook his head.

“I won't offer myself but don't expect me to stay alive. Don't be surprised if I turn up dead, alright?”

A sad smile spread across the maid’s face and she remained silent, instead of helping the tall male up and to his room. Yunho bid her farewell before taking a shower and sneaking out the castle again.

At least he knew there would be war and hopefully the Pirates would somehow change their minds and leave the Kingdom in peace but that was a bit too much of hopeful thinking.

Sneaking back onto the ship wasn't a problem but walking into the room deemed difficult.

The two who shared a bed, Wooyoung and San, were wide awake and Yunho held himself from gagging once he spotted them heavily having a tongue war. He had never seen anything of the sort and assumed it was normal for the two. 

A bed was empty and Yunho’s stomach dropped once he realized they could have spotted him but he instantly calmed down once he noticed the neighbouring bed had two figures instead of one. 

The tall male identified them as the cooks and smiled. He liked how even though the room was extremely small and even though their lives must have been horrid, they still found someone they could find comfort in. 

His little moment of happiness was ruined once someone came banging on the room's door.

“GET UP, SCALAWAGS!” a voice boomed from the other side and Yunho jumped. 

Wooyoung and San didn't seem fazed and continued doing their business until one of the other crew mates tore them apart and got them out the room. 

Yunho sighed and walked out the room where he saw the Captain standing on the deck, his red hair ruffling in the wind. If it would have been someone else who wasn't trying to murder everyone in the Kingdom, Yunho would have probably admitted he was almost attractive.

But since it wasn't the case, Yunho saw a bloodthirsty monster who only lived to destroy others and gain riches. The male wondered what had happened to the other male to become who he was now or if he just grew up and decided to become a human who would make others suffer.

Was it a psychological disorder or was it of free will? A possession of evil spirit or a natural cold blooded heart? A life of misery and suffering or satisfaction according to one's own pleasure?

Yunho couldn't answer his own question but at that moment, the tall male could only stare at the red haired Captain and look at the way his hair ruffled in the wind and the normally stoic man seemed at ease.

Was the ocean wind his calm source or was the male simply lost in thought? Yunho could answer for himself and say the ocean wind was his calm source but he couldn't tell for the Captain.  

The red haired male sensed someone standing behind him from the time it arrived but he stayed still waiting to see if it would come closer or remain still while burning holes into his back.

“You know I can feel your presence, right?” Mingi calmly said, not turning to face the tall male.

Yunho cleared his throat and decided he had to say something before suspicion would arise.

“I was just wondering why your hair was so red.”

Mingi let out a quiet chuckle like sound and he glanced over his shoulder for a second before looking at the sea once again.

“I was wondering when your regular questions would return, Yukhei. I believe I answered that a few weeks ago but considering your brain is the size of a pea half the time, it's red because I dyed it.”

“You died it?” Yunho asked, puzzled, “How does hair die?”

Mingi sighed and leaned against the railing of the ship, his back hunched over since he was nearly the same height as Yunho.

“Not die as in pass away. Dye as in you find a substance and put it in your hair which permanently changes the colour for a long period of time.”

Yunho nodded and headed to where the kitchen was, hoping he wouldn't have to ever have a conversation with the Captain again. It had been awkward to him and a bit uncomfortable. His rear end still hurt but the throbbing pain had died down significantly.

The male managed to find olive oil which soothed his behind enough to be able to move around much more comfortably. Transport on the horse was horrid and he never wanted to sit on a beast again if it had so much movement and roughness.

Slowly, people began filtering in to find food they could eat without cooking until the cooks came and whipped up some oatmeal.

Grumbles surfaced once everyone realized what they had to eat but nevertheless, ate the only food they had at the moment.

Mingi sat at the head of the table, quietly eating his food. A look of determination sparkled in his brown eyes and Yunho wished he had the ability to read minds.

The look the Captain portrayed was almost cynical and the tall male looked away before he was caught staring again. The expression the red haired male had was one that Yunho could decipher.

He was ready for war.

Hardly twenty minutes after the meal had been devoured, Mingi stood at the bow of the ship and stared at all of his crew mates, Yunho keeping his head down so they wouldn't realize he was, in fact, not Yukhei.

The male did not know how they hadn't realized who he was or mayhaps they all knew and were pretending to not know to see what he was doing. Whatever the reason, he was glad he was alive for the time being and then he would want them to murder him so he wouldn’t suffer anymore once they left.

“We go ashore now,” Mingi stated, authority in his voice. “Murder all in your way and if the King sends an army, we retreat unless you know you can over power them. Even if you're just a tad bit uncertain, retreat anyways.’

“YES SIR!” Everyone yelled.

A sudden rush of movement happened and Yunho was left uncertain on what to do. He headed down the side of the ship and dropped into the small lifeboat along with several others. The little boat was rowed to the shore and even though Yunho figured he should help them since he was larger than most, he stayed put and looked down into the water while the others rowed. 

Oh, how he wished he could dangle his legs in but alas, that wasn't allowed for several reasons.

Quietly, everyone snuck onto the shores and before everyone could take more than three steps, loud shots began getting fired.