Royals. (Prince! Komaeda Nagito x Fem! Reader x Prince! Hajime Hinata)

27. A Dungeon Visit.

((Was having a pretty terrible day so I decided to put my energy into writing a second update for you guys ;) ))

I walked with quiet footsteps down the corridor, clinging to the hope that I would not draw the attention of any passerby. Eventually, I made it to the door to the dungeon, and I slowly turned the handle open, desperately hoping that the sound would not alert anyone.

Thankfully, I was able to slip into the basement without a peep. I made my way down the stairs until I ended up at the narrow corridor I had entered the night before. The memory of running down the hallway to escape replayed in my mind, though it quickly disappeared upon the sound of a voice down the hallway.

"Nagito?" The voice called, unmistakably belonging to Prince Hajime. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end, a chill rushing up my spine. It appeared as if my worst nightmares had become a reality.

"It's me, your majesty," I replied sheepishly, maintaining my pace towards the door.

"Lady (y/n)? What are you doing here?" The prince asked desperately.

"I'm here for you!" I exclaimed in response, taken aback by his question.

"You did not need to endanger yourself in such a way for me," the prince's voice replied.

"Are you serious?" I retorted. "Prince Nagito trapped you down here!"

"I know, I would hate for something bad to happen to you as well," the brunette prince replied. "Besides, if you have come down here to free me, your efforts have been in vain."

It felt as if the air had been pushed out of my lungs. I had finally made it to the door, desperately twisting and turning its rusted knob. Despite my efforts, the handle would not budge.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, feeling my heart rate continue to quicken as I struggled to open the door.

"Lady (y/n), you are going to need to find the key in order to open the door," the prince explained gently, his tone remaining calm and collected despite the unfortunate circumstances. "I doubt the key will be anywhere glaringly obvious, however. You are going to need to look around for it."

"I'll do it!" I cried, frantically looking around the dark dungeon corridor. Unfortunately, it was painfully barren, with no trace of a key in sight. "Where should I look to find it?"

"If I had to guess, lady (y/n), Nagito has it with him," Prince Hajime replied. "I doubt he would let such an important and incriminating item out of his sight."

I began to retrace my memory of the events before, trying to grapple whether or not I had seen the Prince with such an object before. Suddenly, it dawned on me— earlier that day, I had noticed a slight glint of a gold chain around the Prince's neck. I remembered finding it odd, as the prince had not been one to wear much jewelry before, until I realized—

"He's wearing it around his neck," I thought out loud.

"He is?" The prince asked in exasperation from beyond the door. "This is not good."

I paused for a moment, collecting my thoughts. Sure enough, I had not seen whatever object was attached to the chain around his neck, as it was concealed under his shirt. I had been baffled by the entire situation: not only had the prince trapped his brother in the basement dungeon, but he had also decided to wear the key trapping him there as a trophy?

"I will retrieve it from him," I assured him, despite lacking assurance in my own words.

"Are you sure, lady (y/n)? There is no need for you to endanger yourself like that in doing so."

"I will get you out of here, I promise," I replied, my volume falling to a low whisper as I spoke.

Silence followed from behind the door. Until finally, the prince spoke again, his tone more vulnerable than before. "Thank you, Lady (y/n)."

"No need to thank me," I assured him. "Have you discovered anything noteworthy in your time down here?"

"Actually, I have," the prince replied. "It's just as I had expected— Nagito has been working undercover with the Imperial Kingdom."

I felt a rush of blood travel straight to my head. The imperial kingdom? The very same force that trapped me in a dark dungeon for what felt like a lifetime of pain?

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Prince Hajime replied. "If you do not believe me, I encourage you to look at this."

The prince slid a face-down piece of paper under the door. I gingerly picked it up, flipping it over slowly. Despite my pace, I felt a jolt of adrenaline shoot through me upon realizing the paper had the insignia of the Imperial Kingdom at the top of it.

"No.." I breathed in response. I observed the paper, particularly focusing my attention on the purple crest that had been put there. Upon further inspection, the flowers that had been included in the design appeared to be eerily familiar to me.

They were petunias, the very flower Prince Nagito had gifted to me before.

"You are joking me," I replied. "There is no way that the Prince has been collaborating with them this whole time."

"I am afraid he has, Lady (y/n)," The prince replied sadly. "I have been rifling through his documents while I have been down here, and it is finally all adding up. It turns out, the shooting at the ball was premeditated. Prince Nagito had ordered that hit to be placed on me, and the Imperial Kingdom would have been able to consolidate with our kingdom in return. That was the deal he had struck up with them."

Consolidation? Hit? Premeditated? The prince's words swam through my mind, nearly sending me into a state of shock. To think that Prince Nagito, who I had grown to trust and confide in mere days before, was capable of orchestrating such devious plans...

"I am so sorry," was all I could offer in reply.

"What? No! No need to apologize, my lady. None of this was your fault," the prince assured me, his tone comforting despite the physical barrier that separated us. "It all seems to make sense, now, doesn't it?"

"It does," I replied. "I am so sorry, your majesty. I promise you, I will free you from this place."

The prince hesitated, silence trailing from behind the door, before finally offering me a response. "Thank you, Lady (y/n). I will be counting on you."

"I will make sure you do not have to count for very long, then," I added, sliding the paper back under the door to him.

With those words, I turned and began to exit the dungeon, the fiery spark of adrenaline from before fueling me as I made my way to find the white haired prince.