Taeyong doesn't mention anything to his brother or to anyone, even though he's been really infuriated at the Royal Family now more than ever. He would never forget how the King personally told him that he was a bad influence to Jaehyun that one time he visited the Palace. That was way back when he and Jaehyun were close friends. Since then, Jaehyun never hung out with him.

"Blud, you alright?" Mark comes out of his room with a paper in his hand. He knows that his brother is preparing for the debate competition so he doesn't want to stress him out anymore.

He nods at him. "How's that going?" He points at his paper.

Mark shrugs. "Not good. I've been... disheartened lately."

"By disheartened, do you mean not having any inspiration?" He teases, just to lighten up the mood. "Do you think I don't know that you like Chelsie?"

Mark blinks, hiding his surprise. "W-What?"

He suppresses a laugh. "So why haven't you told her yet? I don't think she's seeing anyone."

Sighing, Mark looks away. "She already likes Jeno. I guess I'm a little too late."

He taps his brother's shoulder. "It's never too late, Mark. Tell her first so you won't have any regrets."

Mark shakes his head. "I don't know. I don't want to ruin my friendship with Jeno either."

This time, it's his turn to sigh. Mark always values other people's feelings over his, kind of like Traze. "It's your choice to make, blud."

****

Taeyong must've been in deep sleep because the moment he hears Mark's voice yelling at him and slapping him to wake him up, his first instinct is to strangle his brother and demand for an acceptable reason as to why he's suddenly waking him up in the middle of the night.

"Traze is missing!"

Those words make him flinch in bed. Almost at an instant, he's already standing up, not even hearing out Mark. He takes his phone from the bed and sees several missed calls from an unknown number. "If you don't come, it might be too late for you to save this girl."

He doesn't even think twice to call the number, but it's already turned off. "Fuck," he yells, glancing at his brother on the side. "It's Miller! I know it's him. He took her. If he wants revenge, he could've just taken me." He starts to ramble, pacing back and forth. "I'm going to kill him with my own hands."

"No!" Mark counters. "Are you hearing yourself now? If you kill him, you'll end up in jail, just like our father. Maybe that's what he wants. He's setting us up."

"What do you want me to do then? He's going to kill her, Mark! Traze is out there alone with him!" He bites his lower lip, trying to control his temper. "I have to find her."

"We're going to the Palace," Mark suddenly says, making him confused.

"What?"

"Jeno called me. They have a plan. Right now, we have to go get Chelsie before Miller gets her as well," Mark explains.

Even though his judgement is clouded right now, he follows what Mark said. His brother immediately calls Chelsie and tells her to wait for them infront of the Halls. Thankfully, Chelsie is safe and sound. When they see her, she's already trembling in tears. "Traze... where is she? Do you know where she is? She's safe, right?"

"Chels, it's alright. We'll go and save your sister," Mark assures her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He opens the door for her and sits next to her in the backseat.

"Who would do this to her?" Chelsie asks, still sobbing.

"We think it's Miller," he finally speaks as he starts the car.

"Who?" She asks again.

"It's our fake dad. We think he's behind all of these," Mark explains.

"But why? I don't... understand," she mumbles.

"Maybe someone from the Palace can enlighten us," Mark answers.

****

The first thing that welcomes their sight is the group of armed guards already in line at the front gate of the Palace. Someone stops them so Taeyong turns off his engine, while Mark calls Jeno. After a while, a guard receives instruction from his phone and lets them in.

When they finally reach the main entrance, a man in uniform greets them and escorts them inside the Palace. They walk through a series of hallways before reaching a door. Inside the room, they finally see the three Princes who seem to be waiting for them. "Thank you for coming," Johnny speaks first.

"Is everyone alright?" Jaehyun asks, looking at each one of them and stopping at the only girl in the room.

Jeno stares at Chelsie and says, "Chelsie, I'm sorry this happened to your sister."

Chelsie just looks down, not really knowing what to say at that point.

"We already located where Patricia is," Jaehyun finally says.

"So what else are we waiting for?" Taeyong's voice erupts.

"But we can't just go there alone. We're setting up guards around the perimeter to make sure we have back up," Johnny tells them.

"Steven Miller, CEO of Green Fox and Kingpin of the biggest drug ring in New Humpshire, is your fake father and the one who threatened your real father, Thomas Lewis to kill his two sons if he doesn't give all his wealth to him," Jaehyun enumerates. "Your real father is the only witness to the murder of Prince Charles and he's the only one who can put Steven Miller to jail."

"Our worlds seem to be connected more than we ever know," Jeno finishes.

****

Taeyong clenches his fists as the car stops infront of a building. All he can think about is Traze. He tries to be positive about it - that Miller won't hurt her. The condition is for him and Jaehyun to show up so that's why he's sitting next to him right now in the backseat. "Your Highness, we're here," the driver speaks.

Jaehyun nods, turning to him. "Are you ready?"

With gritted teeth, he answers, "I am." He taps his chest to check that his bullet-proof vest is properly worn and finally steps out of the car with the prince.

"Your Highness, can you hear me?" Someone speaks from the in-ears that they're wearing.

"Yes," Jaehyun answers, looking at Taeyong. "Can you hear it?" The prince asks and he just nods in return.

The building infront of them doesn't look abandoned. In fact, it looks like it's one of Miller's private residences, which Taeyong never knew about. He presses the door bell and a brawny man opens the door for them. They follow the man into the living room and finally, Taeyong recognizes Miller's back facing them. "They're here, boss," the man says, causing Miller to turn to them. His thick grey beard is shaved off but it doesn't make him less of an evil person.

"Ah, my dear son! It's been a while, eh?" Miller greets him first, then looks at Jaehyun. "And Your Highness, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Where is she?" Taeyong asks, controlling his emotion.

Miller chuckles. "Don't worry, son. She's just resting somewhere right now."

"What do you want from us?" Jaehyun finally questions him.

Miller grimaces, shrugging. "Simple. I don't want to go to jail." He takes a step forward, causing the two to flinch from their positions. "Relax. I just want to make a deal here. Don't rat me out to the police and I don't rat the Royal Family out to the entire country." He points at Jaehyun with his index finger. "You get to keep your reputation..." he pauses, pointing at Taeyong next. "You get to keep the girl..." He flashes a smile. "And I get to keep my freedom. It's a win-win-win situation, don't you reckon?"

"How do we know that Traze is safe?" Taeyong asks, still not convinced by his words.

Miller scoffs. "I knew you'd ask that." He grabs the remote from the table and presses it. The television screen infront of them turns on, showing Traze who is sleeping peacefully on a bed inside a room with no cover in her eyes and no ties in her hands or feet. "Do you believe me now?"

None of them speaks, not until a voice from their in-ears interrupts the silence. "Sire, they got the girl! They're taking her somewhere!"

"What?" Jaehyun exclaims with furrowed brows.

"You're lying!" Taeyong explodes. "She's not here resting!"

"Ah, see. I'm not the only one lying," Miller says, shaking his head. "I told you not to bring any back up, right?" His eyes suddenly change, looking at the two men on the side and gesturing them to move towards them.

Seconds later, he and Jaehyun are being restrained on both arms already as they try to fight back. Miller already walks out of the living room, leaving them there with his men. Fortunately, his boxing practices are enough for him to take down the man who is holding him. It doesn't take a while for him to completely punch the man's face until he bled and passed out.

He's about to help Jaehyun, but he sees the prince already taking care of himself as well, probably with his athletic skills and all the royal training that he's gone through. "I'll go after Miller," he tells Jaehyun, but he stops him.

"You'll need back up! They're coming," Jaehyun answers, but time is running and he can't let Miller get away.

"You go find Traze and I'll deal with the motherfucker," he says, running and not hearing what Jaehyun is telling him.

He proceeds to the stairs and checks the rooms, but sees no sign of Miller. He's about to go back down the stairs, when he sees a door slightly open in the corner of the hallway. So he sprints towards it, leading to an open porch. "I thought I might see you again, son," he hears the voice of Miller from behind him.

But when he turns around, a loud shot of a gun deafens him, making him fall to the ground. He doesn't even know where exactly he got shot, but he feels a stinging feeling on his lower extremity. His vision starts to get hazy as he sees Miller moving closer to him. "Goodbye, son," are the last words he hear before he finally collapses on the ground.