FELLOWSHIP || Ateez Fanfiction

Chapter Forty Three: Rebellion

Fifteen minutes later the water is ready. The butler comes to me and tries to undress me. I shy away from him and blush.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"The valet isn't here yet, so I should help you with bathing."
"I can do it on my own!"
"You aren't allowed to."
"You can scrub my back later and help me out of the bathtub."
This compromise seems to be good enough for the butler.
I get undress and hop into the bathtub. The warm water feels nice after all the stress that I have been through. I wish the others could experience this too right now. Luckily everyone seems to be busy with the party, so they will most likely not be tortured for now. The amount of soldiers that patrol the castle will be a problem though. I used to know the route of almost every soldier in the castle. Now it will probably be impossible to get anywhere. I need another plan. I would need an excuse to go to the prison or somewhere near it.
"Should I scrub your back now, your majesty ?"
The butlers question throws me out of my thoughts.
"O-oh, yes thanks."
"What are you thinking about? You aren't planning something, are you?"
"N-no, I was thinking that I don't have a birthday present for my dad."
The butlers scrubs my back. It isn't a gentle scrub like Wooyoung used to do it. It is very forceful. Why do I feel like he is punishing me for misbehaving?
After the bath I put on my pajamas and take a nap while the butler looks through my clothes to find something for the birthday party.

I walk with my dad through large dark corridors. The air feels cold and screams can be heard in the distance. We enter the prison. In the cells are zombie-like creatures, the walls are covered in blood and the smell of rotten flesh lies in the air. The creatures stare at us as we pass by. We halt in front of a seemingly empty cell. Then in the dim light of our torch I can see a person sitting in the corner.
"Hello?", I say.
The figure abruptly stands and comes towards us.
"Yeosang is that you?"
It's Wooyoung's voice. He finally comes close enough to see his face. But what I see shocks me so much that I stumble backwards. His eyes have been removed and his face is burned. He puts out his hand from which two fingers are missing.
"Yeosang help me...", he cries out.
Suddenly we stand in the cell and Wooyoung is tied to a table.
"You have to prove that you are my son. Peel his skin off!", father whispers into my ear. I shake my head and stumble backwards into a wall full of instruments of torture.
A small, thin knife falls down. The king picks it up and puts it into my hand.
"DO IT! RIP HIS SKIN OFF!", he suddenly screams. Cold shivers run down my spine and I feel like I am about to have a heart attack.

I open my eyes but my sight is blurred. I take deep breaths and my heart beat and sight normalize. I sit up and realize that someone is sitting next to my bed.
"Seems like you're awake now. Had a good dream?", mom asks and giggles. She has a very familiar black wooden stick in her hand.
"Haha, nice to see you. Yeah, it was very good. You and dad were dead in it.", I joke.
She grabs me by the back of my head and pulls me closer to her.
"You can be glad that you're not dead yet! Me and your father have known for a long time that you are not suited to be his heir. You're weak. But so easy to manipulate. That's why we keep you around. You're like a dog that keeps getting beaten by his owner but keeps following his orders out of fear. It's so amusing to see you do everything we say to you and getting traumatized by it."
I manage to get out of her grip and slap her across the face. I feel myself burn with anger but try to hold back. She probably provoking me on purpose.
She smiles and shakes her head before she jumps onto my bed and starts beating me with the stick. She can only land a few hits until I am able to rip the stick out of hands and kick her off the bed.
"Ouch!"
She rubs her back while standing up from the floor.
"Don't you need to get ready for the birthday party?", I ask.
"Yeah. I guess we will have to continue this conversation later."
Mother puts out her hand and motions me to give her the stick back.
I reluctantly give it back. She smiles and shakes her head.
"Like a puppy.", I hear her whisper.