Ella yawned.

Her eyes grew heavy, their constant droop suggested her current fatigue.

The morning light shattered through a broken window on the palace wall, it's littered glass laid beneath it.

Ella clicked her tongue as she passed by it,

What was all the Palace treasure for if they couldn't even fix a broken window?

The winter breeze flew by her, licking her bare arms, a tingle crawled down her spine.

Even though it was unladylike, Ella couldn't care less for her clothing appeal.

She woke up to a pair of dark sleeveless shirt and pants hanging in her cupboard and without a thought, Ella put them on.

Her mind spun trying to get a hold of her surroundings as she strolled around the archery field, dragging her boots along the hard, muddy floor against her will, and her wooden longbow was slung across her body diagonally.

The feeling of grogginess wasn't new to her, she knew what it felt like as if half her brain had numbed out, and any flicking moment of thought crossing it felt like an eternity.

But this time,

This time the feeling was far more dreadful than any of her previous missed hours of slumber.

Ella slid off her longbow and stood a few feet across from a roughly painted shooting target, she lifted her hand and reached for the arrows in the leather-stand placed under the shadow of a lush green tree.

She keenly examined the metallic pointy arrows clutched in her palm.

She should have slept for a longer time.

Her hand carefully balanced one of the sharp arrows between the wooden bow and its string.

She "could" have slept for a longer time.

If the palace halls weren't choked in mass screams and squeals from the maids and the royal guards, that is.

The loud yells and the cries for help had woken her up even before the crack of dawn.

Ella had cursed and muttered all sorts of profanities in her heart as she flipped off her warm bed to check up on the mess.

Whatever all that chaos was for better be something really important or else she was going to leave heads hanging.

She aimed the arrow at the shooting target and closed one of her eyes for finer focus.

As much as Ella wanted to run her blade on the neck of every person who had shouted leading to her disturbed sleep and hang them by the Palace's front door as promised, she couldn't.

Because whatever all that chaos was for did end up being important.

Really important.

Queen Isadora's white nightgown was covered in a glossy, crimson fluid chest to toe.

Blood.

Her tiny frame trembled in fear and the corner of her eyes shone from brimmed tears.

She stood outside her room, her blonde strands were sticky from all the sweat she had generated and her finger constantly pointed at something that was inside her room.

Ella sprinted in the Queen's direction, pushing past the terrified maids and the royal guards, for a closer inspection.

Her heartbeat had dramatically flared in response to the events she had just witnessed.

What does blood on a Queen's nightgown and her horrified expressions tell you?

It tells you that perhaps someone had bled furiously and died.

If it wasn't the Queen's blood on the bed, then it was obviously of the one not standing beside her.

The King.

Ella's breath had hitched, panic rose within her.

He couldn't be back over-night uninformed right?

He can't be dead.

He is the reason why Ella had risked her life and pulled so many daring moves.

He is not "allowed" to die after everything that happened.

She wouldn't let him.

Ella had almost bumped past the Queen when she got to her room, her orbs circled it in frenzy and silent prayers engulfed her heart. Be anyone but him.

Anyone but him.

Ella remembered how she concealed her chuckles at the sight this early morning, she pulled the arrow back and let it go in one swift motion.

The arrow flew to the shooting target, it revolved occasionally in the air before it stuck right on the red spot.

Exactly in the middle.

Bullseye.

A small smile played on Ella's lips as she lowered her bow.

There was a dead body in the King's and the Queen's shared bedroom this morning.

But not that of a king.

But that of a bird.

A black crow.

A dead black crow.

Its little feathers scattered on the bed, torn and ripped apart from its fragile frame.

Left behind were its bleak, beady eyes open in a haunting nightmare, which caused Ella to avert her own.

The stench of the rotting corpse nearly made her hurl.

The bloody stream by its neck dried into purplish-ruby flakes, staining the silk cream-yellow bed sheets and pillowcases into a bright scarlet.

"Quite the shot you have there."

A masculine voice chirped from behind, Ella snapped out of her trance and whipped her head back.

Prince Theodore.

He clapped his hands together while observing the arrow that had not dodged its target by even the slightest.

An identical Longbow was suspended on his shoulder as well, he had ditched his regular black overalls for loose brown pants and a tightly fitted sleeves shirt, perfectly structuring his well-built muscles.

His hands and fingers were bare of any accessories this time.

Even in an attire that was similar to the commoners, his aura was regal.

He briskly sauntered towards Ella before pulling out an arrow from the same leather-stand positioned under the tree.

"A lovely sight to behold earlier this morning, don't you think?'

Prince Theodore uttered.

He harshly pressed the tip of his thumb on the spiky end of the arrow,

The needle-like edge pricked his skin and punctured a small wound causing a familiar stark-red fluid to seep out.

He let it cascade over his thumb, a smug look plastered over his face.

Blood, again.

"Sharp-

Prince Theodore exhaled in delight.

"-Just the way I like it."

Ella grimaced.

Her brows quirked at Prince Theodore and his almost inhuman behavior.

As much as she wanted to persuade herself that the intentions of Prince Theodore she had been questioning since last night were nothing but the result of her overworking brain,

His ruthless acts had her convinced otherwise.

"If the " Lovely sight from this early morning" you're referring to is that of a dead bird lying in the Queen's bed-

Ella planted her longbow on the ground and rested all her weight on it.

"-Then I fear you're showing some very sinister signs of sadism."

Prince Theodore chuckled at Ella's quirky remark.

He threw her a glance, a brief one; enough to see her hair crafted into a neatly tied ponytail and sweat glued strands on her face.

Prince Theodore adjusted the arrow between the longbow and the stiff yet flexible string.

"Oh, a bloody corpse can't always be that bad."

He directed the arrow at the shooting target and closed one of his eyes for finer focus, just like Ella did.

She sighed.

Everything that he kept saying or has said before, every one of his sentences only added fuel to the fire burning inside Ella's brain.

And the fact that he admires watching blood-soaked remains sprawled on a living woman's bed was the final straw.

He had just proved all the rumors accurate.

If this is who he really was,

Ella should stay cautioned by Prince Theodore at all costs.

This man is not to be trusted.

Ever.

"Are you suggesting that " a bloody corpse" can have a positive meaning?"

Ella furrowed her brows on his perplexing statements, she gripped the remaining two arrows in her hand tightly wanting to get into the depth of his unclear reasoning.

Prince Theodore eased his posture upon Ella's interrogation, he lowered his longbow and stared intensely in her eyes.

"A bloody corpse? Perhaps not-

He ran his pale, veiny hands through his brunette locks and glimpsed at the sealed window on the highest floor of the Palace.

Ella followed his gaze.

As far as she could judge, that sealed window belonged to The King's and Queen's shared bedroom.

The Palace was quick to take security measures like always.

"-A dead crow? Maybe."

Ella rapidly turned her head towards Prince Theodore, her entire body had paused in its actions.

"A dead crow is highly symbolic, a bad omen, it means that someone's death is near. "

Prince Theodore snickered as he peered at Ella and her bewildered state.

"And that is positive, how?"

Ella interrogated further.

He stayed silent for a while, his neatly combed hair danced in the cold wind that disordered and tangled them up.

"Because I don't believe in bad omens-

Prince Theodore lifted his longbow back and leveled it in front of the red mark, he tugged the arrow back with his index and middle finger before he pitched it towards the shooting target. And let go.

The arrow soared past her, grazing her cheek as it flew by.

She shut her eyes when it came too close to her.

Bloody Prince.

It had enough speed to leave gush of a strong wind behind that fluttered the loose strands which hung by Ella's ear.

When she had opened her eyes again, it took everything in her willpower to keep her jaw from dropping,

The arrow did hit its mark,

Yes.

But in a way that had astonished Ella far beyond her expectations.

Prince Theodore's arrow pierced Ella's, splitting it open into two halves before it penetrated past the red- mark in the middle and finally stuck itself in a wooden log placed behind the target.

Ella bit her lip in awe.

Of Course, she was stubborn enough to not show her appreciation for the admirable sight right in front of her eyes.

But she had to admit,

Prince Theodore's aim was godly.

No matter how hard she squinted her eyes, she couldn't even outline the tail of the arrow, it had sunk so deep that it became almost invisible.

He spun his eyes to look at Ella who was tightly clutching her fists.

"-I only believe in good omens, I believe a dead crow could mean the end of everything evil and the beginning of justice."

Prince Theodore sucked the blood off the wound he had punctured on his thumb from the pointy edge of the arrow.

He wasn't grinning nor was he being as playful as he usually would be.

He was dead serious.

Serious enough to make Ella fidget in her shoes.

"What justice?"

Ella muttered, her voice had dropped down several notches as the atmosphere around her tensed.

"The justice that the Palace people-

He clenched his jaw.

"-And you and I have sought for so long."

What?

Ella held her head, the early morning headache was one thing.

This was another,

she kept her chin high and eyed him down,

Though from within, she felt baffled and confused.

Utterly confused.

Her back hunched as she played with her bowstrings.

She couldn't make sense of what he was saying, he kept piling her with ambiguous revelations, one after and another.

Within all this uncertainty though, there was one thing that Ella could make out.

With the way, Prince Theodore labeled the dead crow as a "good omen",

And with the way not an ounce of remorse or fear lingered in his heart,

Could he be the culprit behind it?

Did Prince Theodore place the dead crow on Queen Isadora's bed?

"I didn't do it."

He giggled.

"Huh?"

Prince Theodore shook his head as he threw his head back with laughter.

His front tooth bit his bottom lip in amusement.

A fazed Ella wasn't a usual sight, heck this was the first time he had seen her without her guards up and Prince Theodore made the most out of it.

"I said I didn't do it."

Ella rolled her eyes, how could she have forgotten?

Her mind rambled back to the time Prince Theodore had clearly read her thoughts aloud when he bandaged her wounded foot.

As mythical as that sounded to be, aside from being a skillful shot, he was an avid mind-reader as well.

"A few more days with you and I'll start to believe you're satanic, your highness."

Ella hoisted her finger towards his arrow that pierced through her's.

"That is some sorcery right there."

Prince Theodore shrugged, a small smile loitered on his lips.

"Oh, what is this? I think I'm still in my sleep."

He softly slapped his cheek repeatedly.

"Is Ella praising me?"

His eyes widened and brows creased.

Ella scoffed.

She raised her longbow and balanced another arrow in it, this time aiming it at Prince Theodore.

"How about we wake you up then?"

The expressions of pretend-shock from Prince Theodore's face completely vanished, he extended his arms mid-air on each side.

The same look of smugness overtook his features.

"All yours."

Shoot him right between his eyes and finish Prince Theodore once and for all.

That was the same mantra that Ella had chanted in her head from the moment they had met until now.

For him, all this probably seemed like a joke.

But if he really could "read minds", he'd know that this time it was Ella who was dead serious.

Was it time to finally kill him and remove him from the face of this earth?

Could she?

Absolutely.

But should she?

This could make her life so much easier, right?

Ella drew the arrow back gradually.

She noticed how Prince Theodore's expressions had changed again.

His look of smug was replaced,

Replaced by something challenging,

Bold

And daring.

Maybe he really could read minds, because to Ella it seemed like he had just read her's again.

Maybe her intentions to kill him became apparent.

Ella smirked at the tension that had re-filled the air just like before.

"Scared?"

Ella questioned.

Prince Theodore poked his tongue inside his cheek.

He extended his arms even further and displayed his entire body without any hindrance.

"I'm offended you had to ask that."

Prince Theodore declared.

"If you have it in you, kill me right here, right now-

He inched closer to her.

-In this very moment."

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶

A/N : I tried to imagine what Prince Theodore aka jungkook would like in a sleeveless shirt and I-

Ya'all cry with me \/

Also just a note, the previous chapters were just laughs and giggles, the real story has just started it.

This tale is about to take a dark turn. * evil laugh*

Also, could Prince Theodore really stain Queen's Isadora aka his own sister's bed with blood?