How do you expect me to still smile when every single inch of my skin is on fire?

Taehyung was sat on the Crimson Throne when Inhee and Jimin were thrown at his feet. They gained consciousness about a few minutes ago, and they still couldn't comprehend the situation they were in.

Broken bottles on the blood-red carpet, the dark halves of moons under Taehyung's eyes, and the look plastered on the guards's faces. The anticipation for a pin to drop. A shivering chilly breeze danced in the giant hall.

Taehyung sat there, all in his glory, one arm resting on the throne, the other under his chin. He ordered the guard to remove the cloth from Inhee's mouth.

"My princess, are you okay?" This was the first time she heard his deep voice laced with such concern, it echoed in the dimly lit hall like the beat of the drum. The tension was haunting. Jimin's shouts of protest, muffled by the cloth in his mouth, were like music in the distant background.

She choked on her words, the taste of fabric still lingering in her mouth. "How are you here?" perhaps, 'why' should have been the better question. Blame the burning sensation in her chest and her half-awaken mind for the poor choice of words.

"Didn't I promise you that I would be there for you?" An obvious question. His tone implied that she should have known this and that she should have trusted him some more.

"I," her eyes squinted, barely making sense of the situation. She was still on the ground, her palms resting on the carpet. From below, she noticed the same shine on his black boots as on the crown he was wearing. "Where is my uncle?"

Taehyung raised his brow, again judging her choice of question as if he had expected her to be more clever. "Is that concern I am hearing?" he stroked his chin, "probably taking part in the ongoing battle as the king of this land."

"Why do you have the crown on your head," she shook her head, "No, why are we here?"

"You ask a lot," a boxy grin made a cameo on his calm face, "let's not do this here."

He walked closer, pulling her on her feet by her hand. His warm body engulfed her in a tight embrace. "Tae-"

"Shh," he cradled her arms, "do you not trust me?"

A dizzy spell that his eyes were, a soothing siren's song was his voice, and a hopeful wish was the beating of her heart. She couldn't deny that she did trust him. Like all the people she's loved and trusted, she made him a part of her life she would never let go of.

"Let me take you somewhere," he did not wait for her answer, pulling her right behind him. Jimin grunted, struggling to get up. "Take him as well."

He helped Inhee get inside the royal carriage, Jimin was following right behind, arms held by guards.

"Are we going home? We can't Taehyung. I still have to find the antidote for my brother-" Inhee tried explaining,

"Everything's going to be okay now. Just trust me."

Her head found its spot on his shoulder as all her responsibilities and anxious thoughts did. He was her savior. Though, met not in moments when they were looking for love, love doesn't only come to those who look for it. We all need it. He was that one for her or so she hoped. The person she could run to in the blinding flashes of crisis.

They stopped after 15 minutes or so, the rattling of the carriage coming to an abrupt halt. "Didn't I tell you?" Taehyung beamed in happiness. He took her hand and planted a peck on her knuckles. "I'm benefitting the most from this."

He did, she recalled. Although, it didn't explain what it meant or where they were.

She looked outside in confusion. The grey pavement, dead flowers, and sadness loomed in the countless names of the people who remained alive only through their memories. The home of the dead, or the home of what is left of them.

"Why?" She needn't ask that, but the only part of her mind that was still intact was the one that was questioning everything it possibly could.

Is this Taehyung? Can I trust him? Is he on the plan with Jimin?

Jimin.

She turned back, peeking at the prince who was being dragged by four guards. Taheyung ordered to bring Jimn near them.

Her eyes widened in realization, "Why are the Crimson guards listening to your command?"

He smiled. "A wrong question, once again, my love."

"What is going on, tell me right away," Inhee demanded, trying to free herself of his hold.

"Let's see if our noble and kind prince knows this," he gestured for Jimin's mouth to be uncovered.

"Why would you do this!" the other prince asked, "are you Taehyung? You cannot be."

Inhee felt the cold sweats breaking out in her skin. "Tae- Taehyung," she distanced herself from him. "What does that-"

Taehyung clicked his tongue. "Too many questions and not one was right. Who else could I be if not Taehyung?"

"I gave you Inhee's brooch to return it to her then why was it in the Crimson Palace?" Jimin questioned, his knees bruised and covered in dirt. A stronghold on his shoulders by the guards was keeping him down.

"And what?" He sighed, "Does it matter, a brooch? Let me explain. Well, to answer your questions, if that is what you are curious about, this is a graveyard. And why are we here? We are here to give life to my wonderful plan and promises that I have made to my dear princess."

"I don't get it," she tried once again to free herself, "let go of me first!"

He put his palms out, "As you wish." Sitting on the grave, he ran a lazy gaze from her head to toe, "It seems as if you never really trusted me." A conclusion he made to himself. "Perhaps, I never gave you a good reason for that. Let me do that now, Inhee."

"What are you on about Taehyung?" she shook her head in exasperation, "My brother needs me. I need to go back with the antidote!"

"Oh, right," he froze, a shocking turn of expression from his devilish grin to a concerned face. "How can I forget about the king? The sweet and naive king Seokjin. You know, he never questioned why the apple juice tasted so bitter. He is like you, Inhee, a soft trusting soul. Drank poison from my hands with a kind smile on his face."

It was as if her life was knocked out of her for a moment there. A sickening bitter fluid she gulped down. It can't be! No, no, no. He could never!

"You-" her nails tightened into a fist, drawing blood from her skin, "How dare you!"

Firm hold around her shoulder and waist, she felt. The reason why she couldn't catch him in her hands and rip his heart out. The guards were on her before she could get to her lover to tear him apart into pieces.

"Like a cat wanting to scratch my face," He laughed, "Jimin was right. You do look like that. Well, seems like you did trust me after all. Why? Because we talked and made plans for our future together? Don't worry, I don't go back on my words. I still plan to marry you and as I promised I will make you the happiest girl in the world with all the world bowing down to us. You will be my queen. The queen of the king who rules the four kingdoms."

"How do you plan to do that?" Jimin growled, struggling to free the hold on him, "Nobody has ruled the four kingdoms at once in ages and that was when-"

"I know, cousin, I know. That was when the queen of the Crimson Kingdom asked the shadows to help her," he looked at Inhee, "Let me tell you the story of your ancestors, " he got up from the grave, crouching in front of her. "The queen of this kingdom was made to go through hell as her husband killed their daughter because he wanted a boy to be the heir to his throne. After birthing a boy, she couldn't take the loss of her daughter. People say she used to sit alone in the dark for hours, lifeless, with the ghosts of her misery."

He trailed a finger down her cheek, smiling at the glare she was gracing him with. He continued, "It was said that she asked for the help of the dead when the alive treated her as a mad woman. Those spirits hunted the whole kingdom, ate the king's soul, and made her their queen. She started the war in all four kingdoms with the help of those spirits and she won, but her son stabbed her when she took him in her motherly embrace. With her gone, her helpers, the dead, went back to where they came from."

She huffed in disbelief. "Tell me you don't believe in that. That is made up for the kids!"

"That is what your uncle said," he mused, shoulders shaking with a giggle, "Hence he ordered me to kill you, but I had to convince him otherwise. He almost ruined my plan, remember Min Yoongi?"

She shook her head in disbelief once again. "I cannot believe you were behind everything! What did you do with Yoongi?"

"Oh, well, remember the spell, Jimin?" he looked at him with a tight-lipped smile, "You were right. The glint you saw in his eyes was indeed a spell. You almost caught me there.

"Why are you doing this?" Jimin asked.

"Oh? Like you don't already know," he laughed, "You left me no other choice."

Jimin squinted his eyes in confusion. "What did I do?"

"You took over everything I had, Jimin. My brother trusts you more than me, my Kingdom respects you more than me, and even the royal advisors listen to you over me," He stated, chewing on his cheek, "Great Prince Park Jimin, the warrior of light. While people treat me as the brother of the king who cleans the mess made by him."

"I stay with King and help him because I know you don't like that! You said it yourself that you hated being the King's puppet."

"And what you did you do Jimin? Made King your puppet."

"Is that why you are doing this all? Listen to yourself Taehyung! This is not you!"

"Then what am I? Tell me. Your shadow? Your pet?" he chuckled, "don't act as if you are shocked to see that I am doing something wrong. I was raised to do the wrong. I did that all my life. If I am a monster, then I'm the monster you made."

"Your judgment is fogged by hatred and misunderstandings. You know how much I care for you. Everything that I did, was all for you. You are not a monster, Taehyung. Please, it's not too late. Look at Inhee, you are hurting her. How could you do this to her?"

"Didn't I tell you that day? This is not love," he shook his head, "Told you I'm not in love, Jimin. Told you I'm not my brother's priority. Told you he loves you more than me! I told you but you never listen!" He gritted his teeth, standing close to Jimin, only a breath away from losing control.

"Tae-"

He lifted his finger to silence Jimin. Taheyung caught himself, manically running a hand through his hair, taking a moment to calm down his breathing.

"I don't have the time to spare you, friend. I have something to do before the useless talking," he gestured to the guards to bring Inhee forward, on top of a grave. "Love, all you have to do is cry for me. You can do that right?"

Inhee struggled to free herself, she kicked a guard. "Let her go!" Jimin shouted.

"I only need your tears. Don't make this hard for yourself. The tears of the true heir of the Crimson Throne can summon the dead spirits," he turned to Jimin, "only her tears."

"I won't cry no matter what you do to me!" she snarled at him.

He chuckled. "Who says I'm doing anything to you?" He gestured the guards to bring Jimin forward. "Beat the life out of him," he ordered.

"NO!" Inhee writhed in her place, "let him go!"

The guards started with forceful punches in his stomach, which made Jimin's body lunge forward. They took a knife out and got threateningly close to the prince, but Inhee shouted for Taehyung to stop. Blood was dripping out of Jimin's mouth with his frequent coughs.

"Taehyung, please stop! Please!" She sobbed. A tear dropped on the ground followed by another. Taehyung smirked and ordered the guards to stop.

"Thank you," He waited, expectantly looking at the grave.

A guard said, "You Royal Highness. It seems as if the stories were not true, after all."

Taehyung turned to Inhee in fury. "Why is it not working?"

Inhee gave a sad smile. "I told you. Those stories are for kids. Let me and Jimin go, please!"

His confused gaze turned into a sharp stare. He held her jaw with force "Make her cry out of her mind," he ordered and jerked her head on the ground.

The guards complied with his order, but Inhee only whimpered in pain, taking their hits. It wasn't long before some tears slipped her eyes but nothing changed. Jimin was screaming for him to stop hurting Inhee, barely conscious himself. Taehyung yelled in frustration.

"Your Royal Highness, should we stop? It could be just a bedtime tale for the children," the royal guard stated.

Taehyung gritted his teeth. "Leave. All of you, leave me alone!" he ordered the guards to leave back to the palace.

Inhee was on the ground covered in blood and bruises. She whimpered for help, but there was nobody else except her, Jimin, and Taehyung.

Jimin couldn't stand on his feet, despite his constant tries. "So you are of no use to me, huh? There are no reasons to keep my promises now. I should do what your uncle asked of me." Taehyung picked up a sword from the ground.

He lifted it above her head, pulling it down in force, but it crashed into another sword. Taehyung swung on his feet in time to meet the sword once more. The sound of swords rattling echoed in the graveyard.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here," Taehyung grunted, blocking the other's sword with his.

"You will regret every single thing you did to my Hee. I will make sure of it," said the man as he pushed his sword forward, sending Taehyung stumbling backward.