The Black Prince & The White Prince

Black Handkerchief

The muscular male was nowhere to be found in his usual spots. Both the maid and Minhyun were outright confused and the latter was starting to get worried, wondering if Baekho had finally decided to run away since Minhyun hadn't been keeping a keen eye on him. He found his headache getting stronger with each step he took.

"It's okay! I-i will ask around. Baekho will surely be around somewhere," the maid said when she saw Minhyun's dark expression. She also forgot that she probably shouldn't have said the other's name but Minhyun didn't really care at this rate. Finding him was more important. He watched the maid walk up to the knights to talk to them but seeing their heads shaking didn't help him one bit. She came back with a scared expression. 

"They haven't seen him at all today," She said softly.

"Really... Let's go talk to the guards. Maybe they have," Minhyun said, trying to sound and look as calm as he could. He can't have himself screaming at them since they already look so afraid of him. He doubted it was any of their fault either. He breathed in and went to find his guards. The first few hadn't seen him but finally, one of the other maids said she had picked up Minhyun's handkerchief that was just on the floor earlier in the day. She showed it to him and Minhyun checked to see if his own was still in his pocket.

"I still have my handkerchief with me... and I just recently used this one," he muttered, trying to think of a reason why his handkerchief would just be around. He always used them in an order unless it was Baekho messing with his things. He couldn't think of a reason why Baekho would do something like that though. "I'm going to the front gate."

It was just a hunch but he felt as though if anyone knew where Baekho is, the front guards might have at least seen something. The maid followed Minhyun and he didn't say anything about it. He could guess that she was probably on friendly terms with him too and that his sudden disappearance was just unbelievable and worrying.

"Your highness," the guards greeted him when he reached the front doors.

"Good afternoon. Did anything happen during the day today?" He asked. The guards exchanged glances and shook their heads but Minhyun could feel their glances had a different meaning. They seemed uneasy and he noticed one of them nudging the other. "I won't get mad. You can tell me if something happened."

"Sir... You see, Prince Ren was here this morning," one of them finally said. The others uncomfortably looked away.

"Why was he here?" Minhyun asked softly, feeling his insides start to burn with anxiety.

"We don't know but he brought two of his bodyguards with him into the palace."

"He left with a big bundle too," another cut in. Minhyun raised his brow.

"And no one told me?" Minhyun gritted his teeth slightly.

"Well, Prince Ren told us that he had told you about everything so we needn't worry about it."

"Was the bundle about the size of a human?"

"Slightly bigger than a regular human but a human can definitely fit in it."

Minhyun almost cursed but held back. He nodded and tried to calm himself down first. He thanked the guards and headed back to the study room to find his advisor.

"What are you going to do, young master?" The maid asked. Minhyun stopped in his tracks and turned to the maid. He patted her shoulder.

"You can go back to your work. I'll see what I can do, okay? Don't worry. If Ren has him, I'll bring him back," he said with a gentle smile. The maid looked worried but nodded. She bowed before leaving Minhyun alone. He needed that though, at least until he reached the study room. When he reached the room, his advisor looked up at him. His knowing eyes pierced Minhyun's own cold ones.

"Something happened? That was a rather long toilet break," the advisor said.

"Yes. I need to leave for a while. Is that fine?"

"Leave? So suddenly?"

Minhyun nodded, crossing his fingers internally that the advisor would agree.

"Well... It should be fine," the advisor said hesitantly. "When would you be back?"

"I'm not sure... Maybe by nightfall. Please take care of the kingdom while I'm gone. Thank you." The advisor nodded and bowed. Minhyun smiled a little but it wasn't for long. He quickly turned around and headed back to the front gate, ordering his guards to prepare a carriage immediately.

He asked for only one knight escort and no one else to follow. They left for the Pink Rabbit Kingdom at once. Minhyun sat uncomfortably in the carriage, feeling the need to lash out at something but he resorted to just holding onto his hands to keep his own temper in check. He didn't usually get angry but his lack of rest made him rather annoyed especially since he had already told Ren to stay away from Baekho.

He could only guess what the other wanted with Baekho and he was not happy with any of the paths he thought up of. Knowing Ren's sometimes wild personality, anything could happen. He sighed and regulated his breathing. He couldn't concentrate like this. He wondered since when he had such a huge weakness towards Baekho. The guy missing or gone from his life should be more relieving if anything but it wasn't. It only made him more mad and on edge.

The journey to the other's palace would take 30 minutes or so and Minhyun honestly didn't want to wait any longer. He would have rode his horse straight to the palace and that would be much faster but he couldn't show up in such an angered state.

After all, he was still a prince and had an appearance to keep up with as much as he wanted to just give up at times.