Namjoon stepped towards the exit of the castle, through courtyards. While trying to endure the weight of his already exhausted form, he tried teleporting to the largest valley on their land, but to his dismay, he failed again, due to insufficient requirements of energy needed for the process.

Even though it was considered a nightmare for gumihos to lose their bead, according to some legends there were a bunch of cunning gumihos who gained immense control of their beads that they didn't require it anymore. Making them conceited and pompous, forgetting the existence of a higher power, which only led them towards their horrific endings.

According to their mythology, frequent use of teleportation done without a gumiho's bead was not only a dangerous and energy-succulent act for the gumiho's body but also a horrendous act against nature, because it showcased a gumiho's will to act superior based on their skills, ignoring what's already been provided to them, in front of their deity.

Please! The Lord of heavens! This is the last time, I can't reach there in a limited time, without teleportation! Please!

The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon when Namjoon pleaded in his heart, in front of the deity, whom he once showed ignorant behavior, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.

He closed his eyes once again in the hope that his pleads would be listened to, Y/n's images started flashing in front of his closed orbs, her voice rang inside his mind, blabbering something gibberish, laughing and teasing him with a scowling face, but soon her features reflected her worn out expressions, of terror and agony. "Namjoon!" Her weary monotoned voice cried out for his name inside his mind, and his eyes opened with a shocking gasp as he trembled and landed on his back, on the majestic green lush of Valley of the Violas.

A debilitated small smile played across his dried lips, as he gazed at the sky and thanked the lord of the heavens inside his thumping heart. He took a few moments to assemble his strength as he stood up on his feet and with his wobbling legs, motioned forward without a destination.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

"W-why J-Jihoon?"

Y/n grimaced at him, tears endlessly flew from her eyes as she breathlessly trembled while shaking. Jihoon's eyes softened for a moment while gazing at his brawling friend, whom he never regretted befriending. But to carry on the bloodline he was a part of was more valuable.

"Because you're the chosen one. Blame your ancestors. "

Before Jihoon could reply, a low voice interrupted from behind, and the King of the Min clan walked in front of Y/n. She peered through her reddened eyes, which widened in realisation, making the hairs on her nape rise in terror, the striking familiarity between him and Jihoon was noticeable as they both stood side by side.

"Welcome hyung," Jihoon said.

Yoongi gawked at Y/n through his dark, horrifying gaze. The scar on his left eye sent a shiver in her whole body, as she tried shifting herself a few steps backwards.

"Well done, my cousin," Yoongi proudly announced as he patted Jihoon's back and Y/n felt her whole world shake in disbelief and betrayal.

"Agh!" An oceanic deep-voiced groan filled the eerie atmosphere of the forest. Taehyung opened his eyes and found himself strangled with ropes all over his body. He struggled and finally managed to sit on his knees. Jimin and Jeongguk wasted no seconds and encircled him from both sides, clutching his forearms, to prevent him from teleporting.

"FUCKERS! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!?" Taehyung snarled in anger while glaring at Jimin and Jeongguk, but his jaw dropped in treachery when his eyes met with the men standing in front of him.

"Such a foul mouth for a Prince," Yoongi remarked, and a deadly silence surrounded Taehyung, probably from the baffling thoughts inside his head.

The pale man with a scar smirked at Taehyung's silence.

"Your... Majesty?" Taehyung finally managed to whisper the words out of his flabbergasted mind.

"Yes, Crown Prince, it's me. The face of your death," Yoongi calmly spoke as he gazed at Taehyung with dark eyes, burning with flames of vengeance which was caused by a deep-rooted history shared by their fathers.

An enormous shock wave hit Taehyung right on his face as he grimaced and processed the information that echoed in his ears. Anger fueled in his gut when an increasing level of testosterone was coarse in his veins. The settled animosity inside him arose when the royal blood thumping all across his body, reminded him of its existence.

"FINE. WANNA KILL ME? GO AHEAD!" Taehyung gritted his teeth and growled in anger as he pushed the two gumihos on both sides with a massive thud. With a fiery growl, he tore off the jute fibres on his body, by his achingly strong limbs.

"If you're this eager for your death, then–" Yoongi exclaimed, but he was cut off when suddenly a whirlwind of lightning surrounded Taehyung. He looked down at his hands and saw him morphing into long, clawed appendages covered in sleek fur.

"Huh? Hyung, isn't it impossible for us to change in our gumiho form without our bead?" Jeongguk shockingly blurted while Jimin gulped in realisation, with wide eyes, that the information they were sharing and believing was not the truth but a misunderstanding from the start, including Jihoon.

A leaned, muscular, orange-furred fox figure with large fangs and predatory orbs, standing on its two feet appeared in front of everyone. Its large claws dug the ground beneath as its thick-furred nine tails swayed gracefully behind it.

The King stood there frozen on his spot before he collected his thoughts and a stroke of light surrounded him as well. Undergoing a mesmerizing transformation, a black gumiho marked its appearance, with fur as black as midnight, stood tall and poised.

His eyes burned with a deadly determination and emitted an aura of raw power. Each of his tails moved with precision, leaving trails of shimmering light in their wake as if they were extensions of his very soul.

Shortly after, Jimin and Jeongguk transformed into their gumiho forms, adorned in a coat of pure white, and exuded an air of elegance and cunning. Their nine tails, silver as moonbeams, moved with fluid grace, curling and twisting in an intricate dance.

Lastly, Jihoon converted to his grey-shaded gumiho form. His eyes, a piercing shade of amber, gleamed with a mixture of excitement and caution, as he glanced at Y/n's terrified form.

The battle commenced, and the forest became a stage for their supernatural prowess. The ground beneath them trembled with each step, as leaves rustled in fear. The air crackled with energy as they circled each other. The clash of their powers created a symphony of light and sound and reached Namjoon's ears who was desperately running in an unknown direction. He turned around, and his steps automatically chased the frequencies coming from a direction.

The black King lunged forward, its claws slashing through the air with blinding speed. Taehyung gracefully evaded the attack, his body twisting and contorting at impossible angles.

Sparks flew through the air, illuminating the forest in a breathtaking display. Trees shuddered under the force of their blows, their ancient trunks groaning in protest.

Y/n's heart thumped at an abnormal rate as she prayed for Taehyung's well-being.

With one final surge of energy, a howl escaped from Taehyung's mouth, he managed to land a devastating blow on Yoongi. The black gumiho staggered backwards, but the two white and grey gumiho were quick enough to hold their King back and attack Taehyung from every direction.

The gingerly furred gumiho struggled to counterattack his three opponents as one scratched the flesh on his face, while the other two held him tight in his position and traumatizingly landed blows and kicks all over his body until his chest heaved with exhaustion as he morphed back to his humanoid form.

Transforming into his humanoid form, Yoongi walked forward towards Taehyung, blood stained his features and peeked out of his ripped clothes as he sat on his knees.

"I lost my father, now it's your father's turn to lose you."

"W-why--" Taehyung coughed out blood, and wiped the tingling iron sensation on his lips by the cloth on his shoulder before he managed to continue, "What d-does this... has to do with o-our fathers?"

"Your father was a traitor," Yoongi bent down on his spine to face Taehyung before he spoke in whispers, "He was involved in a filthy act of adultery, with his closest friend's fiancee."

"MIN YOONGI!" Taehyung yelled with his shiver sending deep humanoid voice as his veins popped from the pressure. The young King named Yoongi grunted while Taehyung continued.

"ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL FORGET YOU'RE A KING. LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW! IT MUST BE YOUR FATHER'S FAULT. Every clan is aware of his tyrant monarchy, but I guess BAD BLOOD RUNS IN YOUR WHOLE ANCESTRY."

"DIE! KIM TAEHYUNG! DIE!" Yoongi growled as he grabbed Taehyung's neck and started gagging him with immense force.

"N-no!" Y/n muttered. The ropes dug into her skin, leaving angry red marks, and she winced with every movement.

"TAEHYUNG!" A familiar voice echoed among the humanoid gumihos, Y/n's eyes met the owner of the voice and for the first time in a while, her heart swelled in relief.

The moment Namjoon first saw the King of Min clan, he knew there was something suspicious about him, and now as he stood in front of his men, it confirmed his instinctive thoughts.

Yoongi's attention shifted towards Namjoon as he glanced at him in pure disbelief before he glared and inquired to his mates.

"Who's behind this? Who's idiotic mistake is this?!" Yoongi exclaimed, but only Jihoon knew that it was not a mistake but an intentional effort to stop this dreadful game of bloodshed and useless vengeance.

"Kill hi--"

"Your Majesty!"

Before Yoongi could order his mates to kill him, Namjoon interrupted making Yoongi approach in his direction.

"Jeongguk. "

Yoongi ordered and Jeongguk landed a punch on Namjoon's features. He jolted backwards, almost falling on the ground, his gaze darted onto the tattoos on Jeongguk's arm before he collected his strength and landed a blow in Jeongguk's gut.

While Jeongguk kept Namjoon busy, Yoongi went back towards Taehyung and proceeded to caress the wounds on his cheekbone by deeply pressing it. Taehyung hissed while Yoongi spoke, "Crown Prince, I've been curious. When did you train and gain so much control over your bead?"

"What are you talking about?"

Yoongi's eyes narrowed as his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Isn't your bead missing? How did you manage to transform without it?" Yoongi exclaimed as he grabbed Taehyung's face with his hand.

Jimin and Jihoon carefully listened while tightly clutching the struggling Taehyung. Namjoon's ears twitched from Yoongi's words as he continuously struggled to defend himself against Jeongguk's strong blows.

"You're u-upto no good, Min Yoongi! M-My elixir is inside me. Why would I lose it?"

Yoongi glared at Jihoon as Taehyung's words reached his ears, sending a shiver down Jihoon's spine as he was the one to assume that the Prince of the Kim clan was secretly meeting Hoseok.

The royal brooch of the Kim clan he once saw on the silhouette meeting Hoseok at midnight sparked this assumption, and the silver appearance of the bead as described by Y/n, only solidified his perception that it belonged to someone from the royal ancestry.

"It's my bead, Your Majesty."

Yoongi's eyes pierced in Namjoon's direction as he ordered Jeongguk to stop. He stepped closer to Namjoon, his gaze searching for answers.

"Are you even aware of what you're saying?"

Time seemed to stand still when a sinister silence encircled around everyone as Namjoon nodded.

"The shade of your bead?"

"It was an accident, Your Majesty. I lost it and even failed to glance at it for once, it went out of my reach."

Yoongi's eyes widened as if a realisation hit him. He then grabbed Namjoon's collar and glared at him with his strikingly cold orbs as if observing his every feature.

"Who's Namseon?" Within a matter of seconds, words slipped out of Yoongi's mouth. Upon the unexpected mention of his mother's name, Namjoon's eyes twitched and flickered with hesitation, but he remained silent, which only confirmed Yoongi's thoughts.

He scoffed and let go of Namjoon's coller by pushing him behind, "You survived? How?" The pale man with a scar, muttered under his breath before he chuckled in disbelief.

But before he could say anything further Namjoon proceeded to kneel on his knees, his head facing the uneven ground of the valley, while his palms rested on his knees, as he pleaded in front of the cruel King.

"Your Majesty, please spare the both of them and take my life instead. Even though I still lack clarity over the situation, from what I heard, the owner of the missing bead you're searching for is me, not the Crown Prince."

"N-no!"

"H-hyung, no!"

Both Taehyung and Y/n yelled at the same time.

"BRAVO! Taehyung, your escort or should I say your... half brother, really got some guts." Yoongi commented while side-glancing at Taehyung.

Both Taehyung and Namjoon grimaced at each other, their eyes widened in shock when they fathomed the meaning of Yoongi's sentence.

"Killing two birds with one stone is what I'm gonna do," Yoongi cunningly chuckled at their dumbfounded expressions, his features depicting nothing but pure joy before he spoke again.

"Let's start the game with that useless pawn," Yoongi further added as he pointed towards Y/n. A shiver ran down Y/n's spine as she gasped and gazed at Namjoon with pleading eyes.

Namjoon's mind was a mess. He didn't even have time to process the fact that Taehyung was his stepbrother, and Yoongi again nudged his thoughts while mentioning Y/n, and comparing her to something useless.

The mixed emotions swirling inside his heart settled as his insides raged in animosity, but he remained persistent and firm in his position.

"Please, Your Majesty! Spare her, and take my life instead," Namjoon implored while he tightly folded his hands into fists.

"Eager to meet your deceiver mother?"

Yoongi remarked, irking Namjoon as his eyes now sent daggers in Yoongi's direction. The pathetic labeling of his deceased mother made adrenaline rush in his veins as he jolted upwards and landed himself on the King of the Min clan.

Yoongi fell on his back and tried defending himself against the punches Namjoon continuously threw on his face.

Jimin and Jeongguk quickly came to Yoongi's rescue and started assaulting Namjoon, until his lips became blood-stained, his body became fully covered with bruises and wounds, and his breaths hitched with breathless gasps.

"No! Please stop!" Y/n cried. Namjoon glanced at her and saw her teary, helpless gaze. He flashed a small smile in her direction which failed to reach his eyes filled with sadness.

I didn't even get a chance to properly apologise to you, or tell you how I felt for you. Guess I was always late in knowing and realising things.

"HYUNG! STOP SMILING! FIGHT BACK." Namjoon was bought out of his thoughts when he peered in Taehyung's direction and saw his worn-out form struggling under Jihoon's hold.

Jimin and Jeongguk now held both of Namjoon's arms and waited for Yoongi to take further action. Yoongi morphed back to his gumiho form, and with a flick of his tail, he retaliated and launched a barrage of black energy towards Namjoon. His tails ferociously snaked around Namjoon's neck and cuffed around his gut, squeezing his insides with tremendous force.

Namjoon growled in pain, as tears marked their way from his eyes. Through his blurry gaze, he took the last glance in Y/n's direction before he finally closed his orbs.

✧