It has been a few days since they finally learned the truth. The private investigator that Jaehyun and Johnny hired was no help. It was the King who eventually filled them in with all the details they wanted and needed to hear. Apparently, the King and Queen had been keeping it a secret from everyone - the people of New Humpshire, including them. It wasn't just the fact that their grandfather planned his eldest son's death. There was another secret which can cause a looming drawback.

Jaehyun never expected to be visiting the maximum security prison in his entire life. Sure, he visited some prisons in the past as part of the Royal Family's affairs, but this time, he and his brothers were inside the facility of the most wanted and the most dangerous inmates.

"You won't be seeing him face to face, Your Highness. You don't have to worry. You will be in a separate room wherein he couldn't see or touch you," an officer assures them, which helps a bit, but still causes him worry.

"Thank you," Johnny replies and the officer finally leads them the way inside a room.

The first thing that he notices is the huge transparent glass on the wall, allowing them to see what's inside the other room. That must be where the inmate is going to enter. He exhales a long breath as the officer calls someone on his cell to signal that they're ready.

Few moments later, an old man in grey jumpsuit enters the other room, his hands are tied infront of him. His shaven head is facing down so they can't fully see his face yet. The officer on the other side motions the man to sit on the chair in the middle of the room. When his chin gets tapped by a stick, he finally looks up, his eyes piercing through the glass window as if he can see them from where he is.

Jaehyun gulps down, seeing the face of the man. He doesn't know him, but somehow he reminds him of someone.

"Mr. Thomas Lewis, can you hear me?" The officer begins to speak on the microphone.

The man nods slowly.

The officer turns to them, asking what they want to say. But Jaehyun looks at Johnny who has prepared the questions in advance. "Sir Thomas Lewis?" The eldest prince starts to speak. "Can you still remember what happened that night Prince Charles was murdered?"

The old man suddenly cackles. "Are you asking me to narrate something that has happened thirty years ago?" He pauses, his eyes fall to the ground. "Son, I've told that story a hundred times in the past, but no one believed me. I didn't kill Prince Charles."

Jaehyun taps his older brother's shoulder, gesturing him to give the microphone to him. "Sir, I know that you didn't kill the late prince. I also know the justice system may seem to be unfair to you right now. But we're trying to set things right so if you know something, or you think that it can help you get out of here, then please just tell us."

"I'd rather stay here," the man says without hesitation, which Jaehyun and his brothers find quite odd. A typical prisoner will never say something like that, not unless he's hiding something. "I don't feel well." The man suddenly stands up as the officer tries to sit him down again.

But Jaehyun tells the officer to just let him be, even though Johnny and Jeno both want to continue the interrogation. "I don't think he'll tell us anything today. But at least he already heard our side. I'm sure he'll think about it tonight."

Johnny nods. "Let's visit him another time then."

When they finally reach back the lobby area, they notice a little commotion in the entrance. Jaehyun doesn't pay attention to it, but Jeno suddenly mumbles, "It's Mark and Taeyong," so he looks up and recognizes them straight away. He doesn't really care about them, but it still piques his curiosity. It's not everyday someone sees students lurking around a prison.

"I'll just go check it," Jeno tells them and they don't stop him. He and Mark are close friends after all.

Jaehyun and Johnny wait patiently for Jeno as they watch their younger brother deal with the situation. A few minutes later, Jeno comes back towards their direction with a strange look on his face. "What happened there?" He asks him.

Jeno gives them a hollow stare. "I think... I know how we can get Mr. Lewis to talk."

****

Jaehyun doesn't like Jeno's idea. Neither does Johnny. The more people involved in this, the less likely they will be able to solve the problem and worst, other people might get in danger. Even though they just learned that Taeyong and Mark are Thomas Lewis's real sons, they can't just tell them to convince their father to speak infront of the court and the whole nation about the mess that their grandfather left for the Royal Family.

"It's too risky," he tells his brothers, crossing his arms over his chest from his seat.

"But it's the only way, don't you think?" Jeno asks, turning to his older brother. "If they can convince Mr. Lewis to tell the truth, we'll finally shed light to what really happened to our father. Isn't that why we're doing all of these?"

Johnny stands up from his seat, exhaling a breath. "I'm afraid Jeno is right. We have to at least try that."

"And what if they don't want to agree? Maybe Mark would, but Taeyong?" He shakes his head. "I don't think so."

"Jaehyun, if you don't want to talk to Taeyong, that's fine. I'll do it," Johnny volunteers.

"It's not that." He sighs. "I'll talk to him." He finally gives up, hoping it will turn out for the best.

****

Jaehyun is dreading the day to come that he'll have to ask Taeyong a favour. The last time he did, he couldn't even remember anymore. They used to be close friends in the past, but Taeyong got involved in gang fights and the King and Queen prohibited him from hanging out with him after that, which made Taeyong resent him.

And right now, he's walking up to one of his friends in the cafeteria because he has no clue where to find him. Taking a breath, he flashes Taeyong's friend, Yuta with a small smile, just to appear polite and friendly. He hasn't really talked to the guy so he doesn't know how to approach him, but a simple smile never fails to make up for it. "Hi, sorry to bother you. I'm just wondering if you happen to know where Taeyong is?"

Yuta studies him for a second before answering, "I don't know where he is but he's probably with Traze, Your Highness."

Somehow, he expected that already - that he would be with her. Nodding, he says, "I see. Do you mind calling him to ask where he is?"

Yuta blinks again. "This is an odd sight. You've never talked with each other for as long as I can remember."

He purses his lips, preventing himself from spilling any information to him. "My apologies. Thank you, anyway."

"No wait," Yuta stops him, grabbing his phone and pressing something. "Hang on."

He just watches Yuta as he makes a call. A few moments later, Yuta turns to him again. "He's at the lobby of the Halls."

"Thank you," he finally tells him.

Yuta smiles. "Anytime, Your Highness."

He has never gone to the Halls, except for maybe a few times when he had to meet with his classmates, but other than that, the Halls is the one place in Eton which he rarely visited. When he finally sees the building, he recognizes Taeyong standing at the driveway infront of the entrance. At first, he thought he was waiting for him after receiving the call from his friend. But upon closer inspection, he notices that Taeyong is staring at someone from afar. He waves his hand at someone and when Jaehyun looks at the direction Taeyong is looking, he finally sees her - Patricia.

An instant feeling of bitterness reigns over him. He sees her waving back at Taeyong so casually that anyone who sees it will know that the two are probably infatuated with each other. He smiles unconsciously by himself, realizing that he hasn't even gotten the chance to tell her what he feels for her. But right now, seeing that she's happy with him is already enough. He has to move on with his life.

He strides his way purposefully in a slow manner just in time to let Patricia not see him. Shifting his gaze back to Taeyong, he sees him already looking his way. "Your Highness," Taeyong says in a low voice. "Yuta said you needed to talk to me?"

He nods. "Thank you for agreeing."

"What is this about?" Taeyong asks, not beating around the bush. "I assume it's not about Traze?"

Shaking his head, he presses his lips in a thin line before speaking, thinking of how he should convince him to talk to his father and making sure he won't take it negatively. "It's rather... more complicated than that, Taeyong." He takes a breath, pausing and gauging his reaction. Taeyong's brows furrow at him. "Thomas Lewis is your father, right?"

Taeyong clucks his tongue. "So this is what it's all about? Are you going to tell me that I'm not a good person again just because my father is in jail?"

"No, no. That's not it, Taeyong. Hear me out," he says, trying to sound calm. "We know that your father is innocent. We just need him to talk because I think he knows who really killed our father."

Taeyong gapes at him in silence. He knows that he must be confused by now, but he wants him to ask questions instead of telling all the details for him. "What do you mean your father? Is King Connor dead?"

"King Connor is not our real father, Taeyong. The late Prince Charles is. My grandfather hired someone to kill our father. But somehow, your father was wrongfully accused of the murder. We need to find the real murderer."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Taeyong bursts out. "The real murderer is your grandfather." He fakes a laugh, turning his back at him. "So you're telling me that the Royal Family put my father in jail to cover up your own crime? You're all twisted!"

"Taeyong, I know that sounds unfair to you. Believe me, I only learned this a few weeks ago that's why my brothers and I want to set things right," Jaehyun tries to explain, but he understands Taeyong's rage. If he's in his position, he's probably going to do worse.

"By what, huh?" Taeyong turns to him again, the anger still evident on his face. "By talking to my father? You know what you can do? Stand infront of the whole nation and admit what a fucking liar your family is!"

He feels all the nerves in his brain pop out, not in anger but in shame. All the things that Taeyong said was true. He can't even refute that. So when Taeyong walks away, he doesn't stop him anymore. There's nothing else he can say to make the situation better. Maybe it is time the Royal Family owns up to this mistake which they should've done years ago.

****

Jaehyun doesn't even try to close his eyes anymore because he knows he won't even fall asleep no matter what he does. The words of Taeyong keep on ringing in his ears. He wants to talk to the King about it, but judging by his condition, he doesn't want to add to his burden anymore.

Standing up, he proceeds outside his room and finds Johnny walking in the hallway with a book in his hand. "Jaehyun, can't sleep?" His brother asks him and he just nods. "You never told me what happened with your talk with Taeyong."

He shakes his head in disappointment. "It didn't go well."

"He didn't agree?"

"He was furious at us, the whole Royal Family. He said it's our fault that his father is in jail right now, which is true," he explains.

"But you didn't tell him that his father will be set free if he convinces him to talk?" Johnny questions.

"He's enraged, Johnny. He has right to blame us," he says.

Johnny sighs. "You're right. This whole situation is just really frustrating."

"I know," he agrees. "I just hope we can do something about it already."

After wandering around the hallways, he finally goes back to his room and finds a few missed calls on his phone. He looks at it and doesn't recognize the number. He's about to block the number when the unknown number flashes on his screen. Ignoring it, he waits until the caller gives up. He always gets unknown calls like these. It's one of the downsides of being a prince. Everyone just somehow gets hold of his number no matter how many times he changes it.

Setting it down on the bedside table, he goes back to bed and attempts to free his mind from any unwanted thoughts, but fails to do so. When his phone beeps, he reaches for it again and this time, a message comes on. Out of boredom, he clicks it open and he almost drops his phone after seeing a photo of a girl with his eyes covered and hands tied on a chair.

"If you don't come, it might be too late for you to save this girl," a message follows.

"Please... anyone... help me!" The sobbing voice of the girl resonates through the voicemail.

Patricia is in danger.