The group stood on the elevated platform that was built right in front of the gallows meant for Ember. The rope hung down from the beam, swaying with the wind as if dancing and inviting death himself to pay a visit and escort the maniac that was to be hung today himself. They stared at the gate from where Ember was to enter. Pearl stood right at the centre, next to her mother and cousin and the Nashiran Royal family. Seonghwa, Yunho and Wooyoung were on guard duty with Hongjoong and the two freshly promoted rookies. San stood with his family, greeting the kings from other nations as they joined them on the platform.

Pearl observed every single one of them as they walked passed them, sending her a polite bow which she returned gracefully. Their expressions showed a range of emotions. Some of the kings were in a reasonably sombre mood while some looked ecstatic as if someone wasn't just about to lose his life. The princess didn't know how to feel about the situation. Ember was someone she knew from when she wasn't even able to talk properly. They grew up together, her, Ember, Mingi and Wooyoung. The Ember from her memories was a kind, thoughtful boy whom she loved dearly. But the reality was wildly different. At what point did this change happen? She wondered to herself. She's been thinking over it ever since that night. When did he change? Why? Was he always like this? Was it all just a big facade? Was the sweet boy she once loved never there, to begin with? There was a storm of questions in her mind that would be forever left unanswered today. She watched as the gates opened and a raging Ember appeared, struggling against the guards as he was being yanked closer to his end like a goat getting dragged to its death by a butcher. One step at a time, he was being walked down towards the gallows where the noose hung swaying with the wind in excitement. As if it was waiting to finally free his soul for the devil to grip and drag down to the deepest hollows of the underworld. Pearl's eyes watered as she watched him struggle to free himself.

His eyes finally landed on the conflicted princess, nostrils flaring like an angry bull ready to strike. He broke free from the guards, yanking one of their swords before he lurched forward to reach the fear-stricken girl. He raised his arms, ready to plunge the weapon through her body. Pearl closed her eyes, cemented to the floor in shock to even move a muscle but the strike never came. Mingi stood in front of her, the sword driven into his abdomen as he held the blade in his bare hands. The princess didn't even get to scream, watching her cousin fall to the ground and the maniac was finally pushed back by the guards, this time wrapped even tighter in ropes and chains. Pearl dropped to the ground, taking her cousin's head in her lap. 'Mingi?' her voice cracked, overwhelmed with fear and pain. She reached out for her brother's wrist, checking for a pulse while San hurriedly covered the wound and put pressure on it. Nothing. It was difficult to breathe for the princess, her voice breaking apart from the screams she was letting out as she held her cousin's hand close to her chest. Ember just laughed like a crazed lunatic, the same way he had laughed when her mother screamed from the pain of losing her husband. The same way he laughed when he heard the screams of the tortured innocent echoing in the dungeons. He hunched down, trying to catch his breath when a hand landed on his collar and he was yanked back to look into the eyes of a seething Yunho.

'Release him.' His commands were short, and curt, which none of the soldiers dared to go against, immediately freeing Ember from all his bounds who took his time straightening his uniform before smirking down at the spy who decided to return the smug smile with a fist right to his face. Then came another, and another and another. The spy didn't let the heinous bastard fight back till his fists were covered in Ember's blood and he was on his last breaths. It was then that he decided to just pin him to the wall and choke him to death. He stared down at the king as his face first turned pink, then red, then blue and then finally a deep dark purple and he no longer felt a pulse under his fingers. This was it. The crazy king of Alhena was dead and gone. This was the end of the delirious ruler who had the blood of countless innocents on his hands.

'Princess!' Seonghwa kneeled down next to the crying princess, scooping her up in his embrace and running his fingers through her hair to calm her down. 'Are you okay, Dove?'

'Mingi-' Pearl pushed back, pointing at the now empty space where Mingi lay before he was taken by the healers to the hospital wing of the palace.

'He'll be fine, Dove. He's stronger than that.' Seonghwa shushed Pearl, pushing the princess' head into the crook of his neck. His eyes landed on Yunho who seemed to be still punching the bloodied, dead and limp body of Ember. When he stabbed Mingi, Seonghwa was standing right next to his partner. He watched his face morph from one filled with shock to horror to anger before it completely hardened into something that Seonghwa has never seen before as Yunho stepped into the field, walking straight to the hysterical man. Seonghwa had known Yunho all his life but never in their eighteen years of training or five years of work had he seen him filled with such murderous intent as he was now. If he were being honest, he'd say he was scaring him. Seonghwa was just praying to whatever power was out there in the universe for Mingi to be alright. Because he knew, if Yunho lost Mingi, he would lose his best friend too. but for now, getting the princess away from here was of priority. He lifted her up, seeking wordless permission from the queen to leave the grounds and he quickly bowed and made a run for the palace.

______________________________

The first thing Yunho did after returning was check up on Mingi. To everyone's relief, he was still alive and breathing. The sword had somehow managed to avoid all vital organs. The news had made Yunho weak in the knees and he lost all balance, thanking the universe for its kindness with teary eyes. His next few months were spent nursing Mingi back to health and helping him regain his strength back. The physical recovery was going great, the florist had recovered most of his strength in record time. What concerned the blond was the mental recovery of both cousins. Mingi was still doing a bit better but Pearl was in complete contrast to her cousin. Sure Mingi got an occasional nightmare here and there of the day but with Pearl, it was ten times worse. Every night the hallways around her and Seonghwa's room echoed with the loud wails of the princess after being woken up by one of her nightmares yet again. She never stopped blaming herself for what happened to Mingi. When the prince himself once tried to talk her out of the self-blaming spiral, she was sent into a panic. At this point, no one had any idea how to help her out with this. Yunho didn't worry much though, he knew Seonghwa was with her all the time. She'll be fine. He sees her watch Mingi go about her day from the window. Which was exactly why he loved to bring him to her side of the flower garden that surrounded the little fountain. Pearl was recovering, albeit a little slowly but she was. She even smiled at some of their antics too when the rest of the gang decided to join them near the fountain.

It took a long while for Pearl to heal. Seonghwa and she had spent endless nights fighting her nightmares, reminding her that Mingi was alive and happy right next to her. Seonghwa watched his princess return back to her cheery and endearing self once again. He had to thank the rest of the team for that; had they not been around to help the princess out as they did, he doubts Pearl would've ever returned back to how she was. Right now, the said princess was out leading the last leg of the rebellion in her country to take back power from the corrupt ministers that Ember left. Seonghwa was left back at Mingi's shop, having sustained an injury during a fight a few days ago. He insisted that he could still go on; he had done his job with even more severe injuries after all; but the princess firmly refused, going as far as bringing her mother in to give official orders to the spy to stay back and recover first. He looked out of the window for any signs of the familiar mop of fluffy brown hair on the little path that lead to the house. The sun was about to set which meant that Pearl would be back anytime now and just as he had thought, he heard the familiar commotion of overjoyed participants returning to their homes. He greeted some of them, walking into the crowd to reach his girlfriend that was usually at the centre of the chaos during such times. And there she was, grinning once she spotted Seonghwa coming her way.

'How did it go?' Seonghwa hugged Pearl as much as he could without disturbing his poor injured hand.

'The last of the ministers finally surrendered,' The princess shouted over the noise of the crowd. 'We could go back to the castle first thing in the morning.'

'I'm so proud of you, Dove.' Seonghwa gave the overjoyed princess a little peck on her lips.

'I can't believe I'm finally going home.' Pearl looked back at the horizon, the setting sun painting the sky deep orange and gold. Seonghwa could tell she was thinking something, her eyes dazed as she stared into the sunset.

'What are you thinking, Dove?' He placed his chin right on top of her head, swaying them back and forth as a soothing gesture. Pearl hummed at the contact, wrapping her arms around the spy's torso and laying her head against his chest. 'Nothing, it's just,' she sighed, 'We regained our throne, we got back our kingdom.' She started. 'But the people we lost could never come back, Seonghwa. My father, the people Ember got killed, the people he sent to the islands- They're lost, forever.' She broke the hug, finally turning to the spy. 'I just wish we could've prevented this sooner.'

'Who says they're lost?' Seonghwa gently tucked a stray strand of the princess' hair, taking her face in his hands. 'Just because they're gone from this world doesn't mean they're gone from our memories. Of course, we can't bring them back. But that doesn't mean we can't reminisce about the happy memories we shared with them and cheer ourselves again! They're gone from the world, not from our hearts.'

'Besides,' The spy continued, 'who could've known Ember would turn out like that? I mean the little shit was the best actor I've ever seen in my entire life!' The princess huffed out a small puff of air at that. 'We can't undo what's already done, princess. The past has already happened and we have no control over the future, what we can control is the present. So instead of living in the past or getting anxious about what is to come, let's just focus on what we can do now.'

'Dang, that was surprisingly insightful.'

'Yeah, that's what I told my therapist too.'

'I'm glad I met you, Seonghwa.' Pearl beamed at the spy, resting her head on his shoulders and wrapping her arms around him as she turned to face the setting sun once again.'I wouldn't have done it without you guys.'

Seonghwa could only shake his head, setting it on top of his lover's as they watched the sun go down.

'Hey, lovebirds! If you're done staring into the sunset and burning your vision come back inside and help us set the table!' Wooyoung shouted from the door urging the couple to start walking back in, hand in hand as the flaming ball disappeared behind the mountains. 

The End.

Wow, we're finally at the end of it. To be honest I wanted this story to go on forever and ever and ever but I had to end it somewhere didn't I? Big Thank you to all those who stuck around despite the irregular updates and oddly cringe writing. I know this wasn't my best work ever but it was the first one that I put so much effort into. It's Definitely You would forever remain my baby in that sense lmao. With that being said, a Yeosang Fanfic is already in the making. It's a fantasy au that I've been dying to try out for quite a while now. I hope you show it the same, if not more, love that you showed this story.