"Why are you here?" Hyunjin finally asked after three days of utter silence. Sungjin could help but sink into the ground when he heard his voice. The voice that used be so happy and charming was now dull, empty, strained and filled with sorrow.

"The Queen ordered me to kill you. I refused."

"So the Queen wants to kill me, huh?" He tried chuckling, ended up choking on blood again. "Should have went through with the order.

"And killed you?"

"Would have ended both of our suffering. I'm not even living anymore. I'm just alive. And what use is that for me?"

"You're the King-"

"I'm the King's son!" Hyunjin raised his voice. It wasn't particularly loud but enough to echo around the room. "I'm just his son. I'm not a King. I was meant to ever take the throne. I'm a disappointment. I'm just his son. There's nothing special about me."

"Don't feed your mind with such negative thoughts."

"I was a mistake, Sungjin. On the night of my birth, I should have died, not my mother. She should have lived and gave birth to someone more worthy. Who am I to even consider becoming King? I'm a worthless mut!"

It was clear to both that that was the end of the conversation. And so, nothing else was said.

That night sleep actually caught up to Hyunjin. It wasn't a pleasant dream, just one about all the ways he could die. Sleep was sleep.

"What's wrong with you?"

The words seemed close to him but he wasn't sure if it was his dream or not.

"Are you just going to lie there and pity yourself?" The voice came again then a sharp pain on the side of his stomach followed, waking him up.

A tall figure stood before him, looking down at what was alert of the boy.

"You're a prince. Are you just going to give up like that?" The person asked. Hyunjin recognised the voice. It was the person who had said everything was going to change. "I've been working twenty-four-seven for the past four years to work things out and all you're going to do is just lie down and wait to die?"

"Who are you anyway?" Hyunjin questioned.

"I'm the one asking questions here, okay? You listen up. I'm out here trying sort things out for you so you can find Alex again and you're waiting to die? The Third Queen is killing your dad as we speak and about to kill your friend's mother! All of your friends are animals and in fact, you are lucky to still be alive with King Naymoor's spirit on the loose. So stand up, fix your hair and do something about the situation you're in!"

"There's nothing left to do."

"Nothing left to do? Well what have you done?"

"...nothing... But in my defense, I'm stuck in a jail cell."

"A nine-hundred years old jail cell. You think it's still sturdy? Nineteen years of your life you've been training to get out of these situations. Do something! Use your brain. And so what if you currently aren't King. You will become one-"

"I'm not ready to become King."

"No one ever is to start with. Not even your father. So don't expect yourself to be. All the knowledge and utensils you have right now are more than enough."

"Even if I do manage to escape, what will I do? March up to the Queen and say 'hey, I want my throne back'?"

Jinyoung shrugged.

"Think. I'm not going to do everything for you." And just like that, the witch teleported away.

Hyunjin sighed before forcing himself up. It was a hard, painful job and took a whole ten minutes but once he was standing, he seemed to regain some energy the whip robbed off him.

"Let's see," he whispered looking around the room. He found a couple of weapons that would do the job but each were too far away. In the end he tried to sit down again. Then he saw his father on one side of the room with JB standing beside him smiling. Hyunjin noted the image. JB was smiling. Not smirking.

He searched his body quickly remembering that Kings always have hidden weapons but there was nothing.

That was when he noticed the rope that was hiding in the back of his cell with a note on it. The note simply had a smiley face on it.

Hyunjin stared at it, knowing the witch had put it there... But why?

Then it hit him.

The perfect escape. He just need a plan. He just needed to think.