A group of knights in their horses along with a raven-haired prince galloped through the gates of the Castle in the Busan Kingdom. The prince that fell in love with the sorcerer did not dare to look at the body of the man he loved. The sorcerer's head was covered; his body leaned horizontally on Prince Namjoon's horse. Taehyung didn't flinch his eyes from Jungkook's back; he worried for the prince.
Cheers erupted from every corner in the palace; the prince had returned home safely. The horses came to a stop and the knights got off their horses followed by both princes. Jungkook watched as Namjoon carried Jimin like a sack of potatoes and his heart clenched. "How does it feel to be back home?" Taehyung broke the trance the younger was in but Jungkook ignored his question.
"Don't talk to me so casually Taehyung. Know your place" Jungkook answered coldly as he began walking in direction of Namjoon and stopped the other prince. "Let me deliver him to my father" Jungkook insisted with determination.
It took a few seconds for the Ilsan Prince to let Jungkook carry Jimin; and so, the raven-haired prince wrapped his arms around Jimin's waist and below his knees, just like how he carried him to bed the past days. "Jungkook...?" Jimin whispered very low; his body growing weak every second; he hadn't eaten anything or drank anything.
"Shut up." Jungkook continued carrying Jimin through the hallways of the Castle in direction of the Royal Throne Room where his father was waiting for them. The two lovers felt each other's pain, Jungkook was still mad at Jimin and Jimin's body was getting weaker by the second. The prince stopped in front of the big doors of the Throne Room; he knew that once those doors opened, everything would change.
"I love you. Don't...be afraid..." Jimin's mind became unstable; his eyes were closed and even if he opened, he would only see black. The sorcerer had whispered, hoping the man he loved still cared for him; leaning his covered head against the prince's chest. Jungkook did not say a word; instead he breathed in deeply and sighed. The doors opened revealing the King seated on his throne along with his mother and the room filled with nobles and knights. With curiosity, his eyes travelled across the room in search for the Librarian but he didn't find him; instead, he walked forward with the sorcerer in his arms.
The prince walked with the sorcerer on his arms and placed him on the floor just below the steps of the thrones. Jungkook bowed to his father and greeted him. "Father" The prince kept his head bowed until the voice of the King stopped him. "Jungkook! Thank goodness you're okay!" The King sighed contentedly and motioned for his son to go to him. The prince glanced at Jimin briefly before walking up the steps and return the embrace his father hoped to have. "Now sit beside me" King Jeon's voice turned very serious and the young prince obeyed. Once the prince had sat down in his throne, the king waved his hand for Prince Namjoon. The Ilsan prince walked behind the sorcerer and waited for the king to begin his speech.
"Gentlemen, we are gathered here to celebrate my son's safe return from the hands of the last sorcerer alive." King Jeon began while looking at the different faces around the room.
Jimin's eyes were on the verge of closing and his body will soon give in to slumber. His head was palpitating with every second, his insides were screaming for any type of food, he felt nauseous but knew that his body wouldn't expulse anything since he hadn't eaten or drank anything. The sorcerer heard the distant speech of Jeon, his mind was somewhere else, besides being weak, Jimin was thinking back to everything he did with Jungkook.
"Show me the face of the last sorcerer alive" The King stated and Prince Namjoon obeyed; he took off the sack that was covering the sorcerer's face. The silver bangs on Jimin's face were sweaty, his forehead looked so pale, his eyes were red, his nose was pink and his lips were so thin and they looked parched. Jimin's eyes were almost closed but he didn't close them, not yet. Jungkook's heart clenched when he looked at how weak Jimin was, he wanted to comfort him but why couldn't he say anything? He was contradicting himself and he hated it. The sorcerer slowly raised his head and kept his gaze on the raven-haired prince; he didn't blink.
Jungkook maintained a straight face and stared back at Jimin, he was trying to hide every ounce of emotion he had. "Park Jimin" King Jeon gritted his teeth as he spoke. The sorcerer ignored the king and kept maintaining eye contact with the raven-haired prince. "How dare you ignore me?! Face me you lowly peasant! How dare you disrespect the King? Dirty peasant! " King Jeon raised his voice at the sorcerer.
"You will never...be a king in my eyes. A fair king treats his subjects with respect. You, you're just a tyrant who plays the role of a royal. Peasant. Don't make me laugh... just say it...say my species ...sorcerer. Coward" The sound of a loud slap echoed in the throne room. The sorcerer's weak body turned to the left and landed on the floor; his right cheek was painted with the red marks of a hand.
"Jimin!" Jungkook got up his seat and ran towards Jimin's body; he broke seeing his father slap the sorcerer in that weak state.
"Sit. Down. Jeon Jungkook." The King almost growled at his son. Jimin began coughing weakly and Jungkook tried moving his legs but his father's deathly glare made him slowly retract himself and sit down. Prince Namjoon harshly pulled Jimin to bow his head to the king and King Jeon began his final speech.
"Park Jimin, you are hereby sentenced to torture for the next two days and at the third break of dawn, your execution will be held where everyone can see the final breathing moments of the last sorcerer."
Jimin ignored the king and still kept his gaze on the raven-haired prince; he saw how his emotions were crawling back. The sorcerer noticed how the eyes of the prince were almost holding back tears and he grabbed the opportunity to break the contradiction formed in Jungkook's mind.
"Jungkook ah..." Jimin's thin parched lips slowly curved up in a warm smile. The sorcerer knew how much the prince loved his smile.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL THE PRINCE BY HIS NAME AND TALK SO INFORMAL?" The king shouted. The prince's eyes closed for a second and the emotions he was holding back finally broke free. He opened his eyes and stared back at Jimin with the most painful gaze he's ever given anyone and the sorcerer nodded; no one noticed the exchange they had except for one person in the back who's heart broke once again; Taehyung.
'He broke free... He's forgiven me' Jimin's last thought before his body slowly fell forward and collided against the floor; he fainted.
"Take him to the dungeon." The king ordered Prince Namjoon and the prince of Ilsan obeyed after bowing his head. Lifting the sorcerer's unconscious body as a sack of potatoes, Prince Namjoon exited the Throne Room and began heading his way to the dungeon.
"MY SON'S CURSE HAS BEEN BROKEN!" King Jeon shouted in happiness as soon as the prince of Ilsan had taken the sorcerer to the dungeon.
Jungkook stared into space; he couldn't get the gaze Jimin had on him out of his mind, he couldn't get the thought of Jimin experiencing torture out of his mind and most of all, he couldn't get Jimin's execution out of his mind.
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Seokjin had just arrived at the Daegu Kingdom, his body was screaming for rest but he couldn't rest yet. The librarian stopped in front of the gates and a knight interrogated him. "Why have you come to the Citadel? Peasants aren't allowed inside" The knight interrogated.
Seokjin became so relieved that Namjoon had always been so kind to him and he had given him one of his Royal Seals just in case for protection and so he won't be mistreated. The librarian began searching for a golden medal he had in his pants' pocket and showed it to the knight. "T-The Royal Crest of the Ilsan Kingdom. You're highness, please proceed and ignore this knight's rude behavior." The knight felt a sudden deja vú but ignored it as the librarian passed through the gates.
Once Seokjin had stopped the horse in front of the steps on the main entrance, he jumped off the horse and began running up the steps with the small amount of energy he had left. The librarian entered the Citadel and began searching for any person who might be able to help him. "Excuse me!!" The light brown haired male shouted with a sore voice. A maid with blonde hair and braids, with a soft tan bowed her head as she saw the librarian. "How may I help you Sir...?" She asked.
"Sir Kim Seokjin. I need to have an audience immediately with King Min. Please, it's a life and death situation." Seokjin explained and the maid bowed her head in apology.
"I'm very sorry sir, but His Highness is very busy at the moment; perhaps another day for a visit. Now if you'll excuse me..." The maid politely began walking away leaving the librarian to groan in annoyance and frustration. Seokjin began running around the halls in search for the King until he spotted the Dining Room. Two knights were standing just outside the big woodened doors and the librarian just knew that the King was there.
Seokjin ran in direction of the knights trying to pass through them, but the knights blocked the entrance. "His Royal Highness is eating supper at this moment, he's not to be disturbed" One of the knights informed.
"Please! I need to talk to him! Just for a moment, it's a matter of life and death situation!" The librarian pleaded once again.
Meanwhile, inside the Dining Room, Min Yoongi was eating supper with his lover, both of them talking a lovely conversation that resulted in them flirting from time to time. "Hobi, you have cream on your cheeks. You're such a messy eater" The King leaned his face closer to the younger male and wiped the cream off Hoseok's cheeks with his thumb and slowly licked the remnants from his finger. The younger male blushing with a light pink continued eating with a smile on his face until his lover's angry voice made him turn his head.
"WHAT?!" Yoongi shouted at a knight who interrupted their peaceful eating.
"Y-Your Highness we hav-" The Dining Room's door burst open and a very mad and tired Seokjin rushed inside the room.
"Your Highness, I need to have a meeting with you. It's really important" The librarian bowed his head as he walked closer until a knight grasped on his arm.
"How dare you interrupt our king's supper? The dungeon is such a suitable place for such a lowly pe-" The librarian groaned for the nth time and glanced back at the table where King Min was about to explode from anger.
"HOSEOK? IS THAT YOU? I HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT PARK JIMIN!!" The librarian shouted and reached his pocket for the letter Dong Hae had written.
The King's face filled with anger vanished and Hoseok stomped out of his seat. "Seokjin? You're the Royal Librarian from the Busan Kingdom!" The younger male ran in direction of the knight and pushed him out of the way of the librarian. "Let us alone. NOW" The King ordered the knight and the knight bowed his head before exiting the Dining Room.
"What did you say about Jimin?" Hoseok's eyes reflected every emotion connected with worry and the King began walking in direction of the other two with very serious face. "I have a letter from Park Dong Hae, the letter has his confession of murdering King Jeon's late lover; I discovered the real reason for the tragedy. It was all a misunderstanding. The letter says that Park Ji Yong's infant, if he survived, that he would need the help of King Min in convincing Jeon of his actions by taking him this letter; if not, chaos will erupt in this Era as the last sorcerer will die and magic will forever be extinct. Right now, Taehyung and Prince Namjoon are on their way to Jimin where he kidnapped Jungkook, or probably they got to them already." Seokjin gave the letter to Hoseok and the younger male began reading it until his mind processed the librarian's last sentence.
"Did you just say Taehyung?" Hoseok's body began to fill with a very known feeling; on that he hasn't felt in years.
"Taehyung found out that Jimin knew he was in love with Jungkook. He stormed off and said Jimin lied to him, the next few days he was gone along with Namjoon. Hoseok, Your Highness, I fear that Jimin and Jungkook are in danger and we need to get to them; Taehyung betrayed Jimin." Seokjin's body was slowly giving up on him.
"We leave at sunrise, for now, Sir Seokjin please eat something" The King motioned the librarian but as soon as Seokjin gave a step, his body fell unconscious because he forced himself too much.
"Seokjin!" Hoseok grabbed onto the librarian's body, he picked him up and placed him on the other end of the table where it was empty.
"What are we going to do Yoongi?" The younger asked his lover for any words; though shock of Taehyung's betrayal was still lingering in his mind and heart.
"Let him rest until tomorrow and at sunrise he leaves with us. He must be exhausted; the black bags under his eyes say it all. But what worries me is that he mentioned Park Dong Hae... if my memory serves me right, Jimin did not know about his existence...my father probably did. Hobi... promise me that when we go there, you won't leave my side. If what Dong Hae wrote and what the seer told my father are true, then I fear for this Era." Yoongi caressed his lover's cheeks with tender and worry; he feared for his lover's life.
"I promise" Hoseok blinked slowly and lifted his hands to cup Yoongi's over his.
"Let's get Seokjin to a room and we can find our sleep"