time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| Empire Of Death |

"I've been here for about 4 years now and I've seen many people trying to escape but, they miserably failed. I know every single person here in these cells—I know how each one of them is scared shitless to even dare to escape. Even though they have nothing left, as they mostly have consecutive life sentences here, they're afraid to die. Daehan is a really religious empire," Hei pointed to a few symbols on the wall that Yeonjun couldn't make anything out from.

"They know the consequences of what will happen in the afterlife. They know how god will punish them for the bad deeds they did on this holy land."

Yeonjun nodded—his lemon-yellow hair bouncing up and down as Hei chuckled, raising her hand to grab a strand. "This is a wild color. I've never seen anyone with hair like this before," she smiled sheepishly as the boy smiled back. 

"I have a plan and now, I understand that you're my only option, Yeonjun."

He nodded, looking over to the other people and nodding towards them. "What about them?"

Hei sighed and grabbed her forehead, "Oh- Lord! Those shackles. They're all bound this wall," she groaned, "I don't know what to do, they're iron and really strong. I can't leave my men like this."

Yeonjun simply shrugged—maybe they wanted to torture the elder ones more?

He walked bravely towards them—as if he was about to use his manpower to pull the iron bounds apart. But, the boy simply sat down in front of them and began examining the iron materials. They're not the ones with keys nor do they have number pads. He was sweating—he did have experience in unlocking stuff but these were more like permanent locks.

But, suddenly, Yeonjun turned to Hei with a frown, "How can I trust you? Maybe you're one of them—you don't even have a shackle."

"Look, Yeonjun, I'm as clueless as you. But, if you're gonna help me and escape with me, I oath that they won't lay a finger on you." She brought a hand over her heart and closed her eyes, opening them right after as they reflected her tears.

Yeonjun sighed looking at her—he had nothing to lose anyway, apart from his life and Astra. Although they were one. He slowly nodded, walking to her and holding her hand to be pulled in for a hug.

Hei hesitated but, she realized that he was the man she had to trust back—her kingdom was in trouble too. These years, she had kept the secret of her being Dong Yue's princess to herself but, if they knew, she would become an object of blackmail and they would have to do what Daehan demanded.

"Okay, look. I have a few people outside ready to help when the right signal is thrown. Do you have somebody out there?"

The boy shook his head as she sighed, "It's fine. When we make our escape, they'll be there to escort us back to Dong Yue. You can then leave to where you belong!"

"I don't think that'd be easy . . ." he meant going back to his time but, to Hei, he was worried about escaping. "Don't worry. Trust me. If you can't or don't have anywhere to go, you can live with us—live with me in Dong Yue forever."

Yeonjun smiled and nodded, now eager to listen to what the princess had in mind for their escape. She cracked her neck and knuckles to trod to the wall which had the window and effortlessly, with a strong grip on the uneven wall, climbed up to it. The boy had his eyes wide, rushing below her with his arms under just in case her hands give up.

But, she, rather easily, jumped back down on her hind legs without a noise. "Okay, here. It's gonna sound real easy so, don't frighten yourself. There might be a few guards outside but, I can take them down pretty easily."

Yeonjun nodded with his mouth parted at her perfect planning. They had about 7 minutes and three seconds when the guards looked away. "What about shifts? Like—don't other guards come in to take up their positions or something?"

"People are, at times, happy being jobless rather than working in these hellhounds."