Chapter 3: The Unknown Boy

The Crown Prince had fallen into a deep slumber since he was poisoned by the Violet Hay poisoning that happened on the night of his thirteenth birthday. He had been in the same position for two whole days which thankfully helped the Prince's vision to return to normal.

His eyes fluttered open.

blink, blink.

He roamed his eyes around the silent chamber, choosing not to move an inch on his extremely comfortable and soft bed.

He paused, realizing it was nighttime. Breathing in stillness that enveloped the surroundings in the peaceful night.

tap! shuffle.. clack-

His brows twitched, raising his cautious nature.

The recently fixed glass pane in his chamber was now being accompanied by mysterious sounds from outside the balcony, arousing his suspicion.

With a swift glance, Jian Li peered at the balcony next to his bed, squinting his eyes in an attempt to discern the looming silhouette. To his astonishment, his heart skipped a beat as the figure stirred, causing him surprise and alertness.

'It wasn't an object after all.' The Prince had his eyes wide open and his heartbeat slightly pacing twice than normal. The dark figure moved with a swift motion, slowly turning the small knob of the balcony door and carefully cracking it open to avoid disturbing the slumbering prince with a sudden rush of air. After silently closing the door, the intruder cautiously placed their boot on the soft carpet of the His Highness' warm chamber.

In the gentle glow of the warm fireplace, the features of the silhouette became more visible.

To the Jian Li's surprise and confusion, it was the body of a young boy that stood before him.

The intruder continued to settle both his feet inside and took a look around, trying not to make a single noise, not even a rustle of his clothes.

As how Jian Li observed despite his lids being half opened, the boy was oddly dressed in a brown clothing that was fastened by a red scarf around his waist, his feet wore black boots and around his shoulder draped a black cloak.

Through his half-opened lids, Jian Li carefully observed the peculiarly dressed boy. The brown clothing, the red scarf tied around his waist, the black boots, and the high-quality black cloak draped over his shoulder hinted at a certain level of refinement which is definitely not of a commoner's way of dressing.

As he analyzed the fabric of the cloak, he was reminded of his own royal robes, which sometimes featured similar luxurious materials. However, he remained certain that he had never seen this boy before.

Their eyes locked in a moment of awkwardness and surprise, both minds momentarily blank as they silently looked each other.

They continued to gaze at each other, caught in a moment of tension, before both blinking twice, as if trying to comprehend the situation unfolding between them.

caw! caw!

Coming back to their senses with an extremely awkward atmosphere, the Prince slowly sat up in his bed, still keeping a curious gaze to the hooded boy standing across his bed.

His mind decided to finally speak: "Who… are you?" He said in a soft but hoarse voice.

After a bit of silence and contemplation, the boy reached up and pulled down the hood that was covering the entirety of his face. "A thief." He calmly replied back, revealing his face whole face towards the chamber owner.

His face features were too different from Jian Li.

Not ugly, but not too beautiful either. It was something in-between. ..but also not in-between?

Jian Li couldn't pick whether it was an average-looking face as his facial features were too captivating. Rather, the boy had a unique set of features. He had thick, black brows, a tall nose, and thin, berry lips. But because of the light of the fireplace, he couldn't ascertain whether the thief's eyes were truly red, or it was just because of the reflection of his fireplace that made his pupils glow red.

An awkward silence was set once again. However, this time, it was broken by the thief. "You are a curious case, eldest Prince of Jian." Said the boy in a casual, carefree tone, like he was talking to a close companion.

Jian Li suddenly paled.

" 'Someone not from the palace had seen my face.' " The thief said in a soft tone, still minimizing his voice.

'His eyes are too easy to read.'

Jian Li jolted and fixed a cautious gaze towards him.

"This whole prince concealing idea is hilarious-..!" Then the thief chuckled softly.

Unsure whether to feel offended at his remark or whether to agree with him, Jian Li just stared at the thief with curious eyes.

"Can I ask one thing Your Highness?" He spoke again, the Prince nodded slightly. "Unlike any other people I've robbed to, why are you not screaming?" The boy grinned a little, then it sank to the Prince's head.

Exactly. Why isn't he calling the royal guards?

After a bit of a thinking, he replies with rather a dignified tone: "What can a boy do to me?" The taller boy giggled at the royal's answer and then leisurely walked towards his bedside.

In a split second, a blade was pressing on his neck. His body flinched on the coldness of the dagger on his neck, sending shivers down his spine. He felt the other's cloak drape over his leg, making his breath hitch.

With a hint of amusement, the boy remarked, "We come from such different worlds, don't we?" The prince's eyes trembled with a mix of fear and interest as he gazed up at the face of the thief, marveling at how his eyes glowed like radiant rubies.

His heart seemed to calm down when he saw those pair of wild eyes.

The thief's eyes changed to deep red. "I am unlike all the person that you have met. And I can always do things my way if you try to draw attention. I wonder what moves faster.. your guard's feet,-" He pressed the blade onto his neck harder. "—or my dagger?" He said in a calmed voice, but for Jian Li, his words felt like they were an irresistible threat that made the his system panic.

His voice was almost in a whisper, "You.. do you intend to hurt me?" The Prince gulps, asking a stupid question as he tries to find reassurance of his treasured life.

The boy withdrew his dagger, "Ah no, of course not. I would like to settle this at the most peaceful way."

The thief laughed absentmindedly again, "Believe me, I was trying to be as quiet as possible on moving around your chambers. But I really did not expect a sick Prince being awake at this ungodly hour." He then walked around, scanning the room with his eyes.

The question that were inside the Prince's mind were as to how did the boy knew he was sick when sharing information about the kingdom's Princes to the outside was something that was strictly prohibited against the servants and officers.

Then the thief spoke again, "You do have a mountains of presents. I haven't had one in my entire life." He walked towards the pile of gifts, touching the expensive wrappers.

Jian Li lifted his legs and went out of his bed that were decorated in golden tassels and rich embroidery. He walked barefoot, while his body wore his white sleeping robes, carefully trailing the boy's steps after.

Asking with curious courage, the Prince opens his mouth, "Where did you come from?"

The boy turned around to face Jian Li, pointing at the side, "At your balcony." He smiles innocently, making the tense atmosphere vanish slightly.

"Pfft- I kid, Your Highness. This handsome boy came from out there, I'm from a far village, away from the royal capital." Jian Li's excitement arose from what he said.

With wide, sparkling eyes, he leaned closer, "Hey- hey! can you tell me what your village is like? Or how does the Royal capital look?" Completely forgetting the life and death situation just a second ago, the cold Prince suddenly became talkative which made the other boy grin.

"If I tell you, would you be quiet and allow me to steal this?" the cloaked boy raised his hand and showed the Prince a small box, wrapped in red paper.

With no patience, Jian Li fastly answers, "Yes!— now tell me how it looks like!" the Prince scooted over in front of the boy.

The grinning thief placed the box inside his black cloak, and then looked at the Crown Prince, his both arms folded infront of him.

"The Royal Capital is always lighted in bright orange lanterns. From there, you can see hundreds of clothing stores, and many food stalls selling delicious foods at the street." The thief was having fun with how the Prince's face is lighting up. He continues; "The Royal Capital is a very lively place and it's the place where mostly all the nobles live." Jian Li's face brightened even more, as though pleading to tell him about his village.

The boy chuckled at his sparkling expression. "My village, is a place for evil people."

gloom.

The boy's serious expression conveyed a grim reality that struck the prince deeply. He spoke of a world filled with suffering – sickness, homeless children, thieves, and murderers lurking at every corner of the streets. He also mentioned the low-class people being forced to serve as slaves to the nobility.

The prince's face was replaced with genuine concern, and he felt his heart ache at the mere thought of his people enduring such cruelty. The large contrast between his privileged life, filled with comfort and abundance, and the struggles faced by his subjects weighed heavily on his conscience. The encounter with the thief served as reminder of the inequalities that existed within his kingdom, and it left the prince questioning the fairness of his own circumstances, and on how he will be able to solve this one day.

The boy had wore his hood back on and turned his heels to the balcony, "I have obtained my objective. I shall go now."

In an impulse to stop the thief from leaving, he reached out and grabbed the thief's wrist.

"Wait!" His grip shook the thief, making the hood fall back down. "I order you to take me outside the palace walls! I oath that I will turn a blind eye at this robbery! I'll never say anything of you towards the Royal Knights!" Determined, he adds, "A-and I'll give another thing for you to rob, a plus pay to bring me back here!.." In his mind, Jian Li bit his tongue. A very poor bargain, the thief could only chuckle and raise his brows.

After a minute of trying to figure out whether the Prince were trying to outwit him, he replies, "Then, would you please give me the smallest black box over the bottom pile?"

Upon feeling the prince's firm grip on his wrist, the thief didn't resist but rather accepted the unexpected invitation. He saw something in the prince, something worth exploring, a potential for excitement and adventure. Curiosity and intrigue stirred within him as he decided to accompany the prince, eager to see what this encounter might lead to.

The Prince gasped in excitement and immediately walks towards the pile of gifts and fetched the box for him.

"Why get the small box when you could just get the largest?" asked the Prince.

The thief wanted to laugh so bad at the prince at first but he chose to explain; "Well, big ones are hard to carry and to sneak under this cloak. And, smaller presents tend to have things like expensive jewelries such as necklaces, and also rare gems." The Prince nodded with his mouth in gape as he learns a lesson from a thief. He handed the boy the box, which the thief placed away inside his cloak.

"I think you'll need to wear this." The thief picked up the Prince's white boots.

Jian Li looks at down, ah. barefoot.

The Prince sits at his bed and sighs with a laugh.

"Don't break the law without footwear, it's gonna be hard to run." The boy said laughing quietly.

The other knelt down, offering Jian Li to wear a pair of socks on which Jian Li nodded to. "Let me, My Majesty." He informed with such a teasing face, making their constrained snicker go out. With the boy's assistance, the two finally finished the boot-wearing session.

Seeing the other fully dressed up in white, the thief raised one of his brows, then shook his head, thinking they'll get caught if he ran around wearing white clothes at night.

Taking off his own cloak, he made the Prince wear it and pulled the hood down to reach his forehead, almost covering the eyes too.

The two couldn't help but laugh again, seeing how long the black cloak extends down to the Prince's ankles.

"Ah- you look like one of those floating ghosts." He wheezed silently like he was having an asthma attack, while the Prince felt shocked at the idea of someone teasing his height despite having only a few inches gap, but he doesn't know how the cloak was definitely looking a bit longer for him.

The boy opened the balcony door, "Come."

Jian Li did so.

The thief came looking out for guards on patrol from the high balcony, then faced the Prince who he saw wearing a visibly anxious expression, which made the boy feel the immediate urge to laugh at his appearance.

The prince whispers: "How? While every door is guarded?"

The other failed to stop his laughs in disbelief, "Who said anything about a door?" He tugged down the rope that were hanging at the Prince's balcony.

Jian Li gasped. "What? We're going down by that?" The thief claimed a face of ridicule towards the clueless Prince.

"Where do you think I came from, My Majesty? I'm no spider, I don't climb walls." Then the boy clutches on the rope and crossed the other side of the balcony, the Prince standing nervously in front of his eyes.

"Scared already?" His raven black hair would blow to the direction of the gentle night breeze. The other's face finally looked clearer to Jian Li. He had very handsome, refreshing features with a strong and confident smile.

Despite being night and cold, he would notice the surroundings would always feel warmer when he tends to get close to the thief.

On the way that the boy's red eyes lands upon his blue ones, or when the confidence when he speaks floats over, can't ever decide what draws him in more towards this stranger.

"No. I'm not scared." Jian Li calmly said. The other boy scoffed lowly and slicked back his flowing hair with his palms.

"Barter with your fate." Was the last words he heard from the boy as he suddenly disappeared to the darkness, the prince gasps as the thief's body fastly slid down the rope.

His eyes glowed red, seeking greater thrill. "You must become a free man." He whispers to the wind.

Jian Li peeked down and checked whether the other was safe, seeing the boy's feet successfully had reached the ground, his heart tightened.

This just clearly means its his turn to leap. Frightened and shaking, he bit his lip. "Let's take a risk with my life shall we?"

Remembering what the other just told him, he nodded courageously, bravely going to the other side of the balcony and grabbing the rope.

His body was slowly sliding down, gripping the rope tightly in his shaky palms, and going down as carefully as possible, checking the boy at the ground time to time.

Moments later of slow descending, the other boy whisper-yelled in great panic. "My Majesty! There are night patrolling guards coming this way! You have to jump!" The Prince trembled at what he heard and looked at the far area, squinting his eyes.

Seeing about two soldiers holding torches, he blinks hard and sweats a river. He is only at the half length of the rope.

"We have to go now! Jump and I'll catch you!" The thief repeated. "But- but! you'll break your legs! Its so high!" Jian Li whisper-yelled back.

"It's not like you weigh so much! So come on and jump! I promise I'll catch you!" The Prince who was full of doubts ignored what the boy just said and continued descending in a turtle-like speed. The guards are slowly closing the distance between them that made the other one at the ground panic even more, getting caught here meant trouble for his master.

"Stupid prince! Do you trust me?!" The boy breathed out a whisper to him. If he doesn't jump yet, the guards will end up arresting him for robbery and abduction, but in this case, a royal blood and the crown prince of the realm. So yeah, he'll probably be hanged publicly tomorrow.

"What did you just say?!" The cloak of the Prince were flapping around as he whisper-yelled back to the other.

"What? the 'stupid' or the 'do you trust me?' " Muttered the boy at the ground. He inhales, and repeats: "Do you trust me..?" Anyone's common sense would tell all the reasons why he should not trust a thief, yet just a single glance to the other makes him feel a strong sense of reliability.

He gulps. "You leave me of no choice!" He looked down and blinked rapidly.

Shutting both eyes tightly, "I'll let go now." Finally removing the energy within his deadly grip, he felt himself fall.

Cold wind blows hard on his face and the feeling of waves rushing in throughout his body sent a deep thrill in his bones. In an instant, his thin body was caught between the boy's sturdy arms.

When he opened his eyes, the boy's grinning face looked even more irritating closer. "Heh, you look terrified." The other boy showed his fangs at him in a wide smile.

"Don't call me 'stupid prince' ever again, you ugly boy." Bickered Jian Li, while the other scoffed at the Prince's 'ugly' remark.

Seconds after jumping down, the thief let him use his feet to walk on the ground and fixed his cloak for him. The rope that was connected at the balcony was gathered by the boy and was strapped back around his waist.

"Let's go, let's go."

Both thrill and sheer fear were running throughout their blood, but with this new companion of the Prince, he felt like everything will go just fine. Putting everything at this boy's palms, Jian Li joined to run with him.

The night went on as the two ran across the Royal palace's grounds. All they hear was their clothes rustling as they run, and their heavy breaths.

Stopping and advancing, the boys were avoiding as many soldiers as possible as they take the route of where the thief entered earlier.

"Don't let go okay?... You suck at running." The thief commented, making sure to grab the prince's wrist tightly as they run together at the palace's darkest spots.

"As if I'd let go, you fast running monster." He pants.

"I'll show you the whole world outside the palace walls, My Royal Highness."