A Somewhat Different Fairy Tale

{ Mastermind }

"There was really nothing... Oh, you know what, forget it. What did you want to tell me?" The Prince asked.

Minho stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"I just wanted to ask whether you found out something new. Our time is running out." He said worriedly.

"No we couldn't," said Jonghyun.

"No one noticed something unusual on that day," Kibum added.

"So it was a waste of time again? This is so frustrating." Minho sighed.

"Not really," Key said.

"What do you mean?" Minho asked while Jonghyun looked at Kibum with curious eyes.

"Well, look. It is not what people noticed, but what they didn't. They all said that the day was absolutely normal and there was nothing odd." Key explained.

"I don't understand how this is going to help us," Jonghyun said, confused.

"It does help us since at least we can be sure that the killer wasn't a stranger or someone from the outside because if it was so, somebody would have realized it. That means we're looking for a person who lives in the castle or is often enough here; someone, whose presence wouldn't awake people's attention." Kibum continued.

Minho's jaw dropped, looked at Key with wide opened eyes before turned to Jonghyun who was as surprised as him.

"He is scary good," Minho said to the Prince.

"Yes, he is," Jonghyun whispered back. "What do you think does he do in his free time?"

"Well, for sure it's not drawing or gardening," Minho replied.

"Remind me not to cheat on him ever." The Prince told his best friend quietly.

"Ahm, hello, guys? I'm still here." Kibum said, giving the other boys a deadly glance, causing them to keep silence immediately.

Key nodded in satisfaction before speaking again.

"Shouldn't we better talk to Onew? I mean he is the most important witness."

"Of course we have thought of that. We talked to him millions of times, but he couldn't remember more details." Jonghyun said.

Kibum, then, made a thoughtful expression and suddenly his eyes lit up as something came into his mind.

"I like that smile. He got an idea." Minho said to Jonghyun.

"How about we help to jog his memory?" Kibum asked.

"And how are we going to do that?" The Prince asked and a smirk appeared on Key's face.

"We're going to bring him to the library. Going back there is a good way to help him remember." Kibum said.

"Bummie, did you forget that Onew is arrested. I can't just tell the guard to let him out of his cell, even if I'm the Prince."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of that," replied Key with a smile.

It was late, everyone was sleeping and the silence filled the castle. Under the moonlight, three boys were standing before the prison, hiding in the protective darkness.

"Are you sure this will work?" Minho asked, whispered.

"Trust me, the guard won't notice anything," answered Key with confidence before heading to stairways, going upstairs.

Kibum held his breath nervously as he walked carefully, step by step, to Onew's cell, which was in a separate area of the prison and was closely-guarded all day. He quietly hid behind the wall, scanning every part of the place. It was exactly like Jonghyun had said; in the night, there was only one guard here. It was a young man, maybe only a few years older than Key and he was standing at the end of the stairways.