It took time to plan, two months to be exact but the timing had to be right in order for it to work. The dreams he had of Eijun were the only things that kept him sane throughout the process. Miyuki longed for his prince to come home and Chris still kept quiet about the child since the plan needed the king's full concentration.

The Festival of Fools was fast approaching and it was to be held in Inashiro, a perfect chance for any royal to attend and the same goes for any bystander traveling pass. The master scheme was that King Shunshin, Marquis Amahisa, and Lord Sanada talk and distract Mei with the festivities while Raichi, Umemiya, and the scouts sneak into his castle and try to find Sawamura and his friends.

During their time in Inashiro, Nabe was able to provide a layout of the kingdom and Ono was able to make a list of Mei's closest servants, Seto observed the guards and their mannerisms and Okumura watched for any signs for Sawamura given how close they were in the past year and would be able to pick up if he was there but so far had no luck.

On the eve of their departure to the festival, the king wished them luck and hoped that everything will go well especially for Sawamura's sake.

Sawamura was four months in as the doctor explained while doing his routine check-up on the boy. Mei was observing on the side as the doctor prescribed another herb to the pregnant prince since heartburn was common in the second trimester. Things were better now the morning sickness had lessened, but the weight gain was increasing making it harder for him to move. If he didn't believe he was pregnant before he certainly believed it now.

"Now remember to keep eating your diet and get rest and the child will keep growing healthy and strong."

"Thank you, sir." Eijun uttered.

He nodded and left as Mei approached, "So everything is going well. Which means, I can leave for the time being."

"How long will you be gone?"

He snorted, "If you're thinking of escaping I advise against it given your condition right now. Do you really want to risk a miscarriage?"

Eijun frowned and turned his head away. Mei took that as a silent agreement.

"I thought so. And as it is I won't be gone long, my kingdom is hosting the Festival of Fools this year so it'll only be for a few days."

Sawamura huffed, "As much as I hate to admit it but you have been taking good care of me and my friends since we got here…"

"Aw, does that mean you'll miss me?" he smirked.

"Hardly…" he rolled his eyes and sighed, "It just won't be the same without you here."

"How touching… Does this mean you're considering my proposal?"

"I didn't say that! I just like your company is all even though I shouldn't."

"How sweet."

"I still hate you for kidnapping us."

"Naturally. I can't blame you."

"I love Miyuki and nothing will change that."

"Well we'll see about that soon enough…" he smirked again.

Sawamura just crossed his arms and humphed.

"Once I'm gone you and your friends are allowed to move around again but remember my warning or else."

"Yeah, yeah, we know…"

Mei went to the door and said, "You know at first I just wanted to marry you to get back at Miyuki but now I understand why he fell for you. You're quite the interesting specimen, Prince Sawamura Eijun that I just want you for myself now."

Eijun gawked at him making the other prince chuckle.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am, it happened rather suddenly one day after watching you with your friends. Despite your circumstances you always seem to have a smile on your face… it's endearing." making half-lidded eyes at him.

Eijun felt a shiver down his spine, lost for words on how to reply.

"And so I want us to marry and have children of our own, wouldn't that be nice?"

Sawamura shivered again at the thought of carrying Mei's children, it disturbed him greatly since the only family he wanted was with the man he loved.

"Well it's just an idea for now, so think about it over time." he said and went out.

Eijun covered his face as Mei closed the door behind him.

The blond cursed under his breath, "Damn you Miyuki Kazuya for keeping that handsome treasure to yourself and tainting him with your seed beforehand. One way or another I will make him mine…" he vowed as he walked down the hall.

The Festival of Fools was in full energy as performers and musicians were entertaining the townspeople all over with some of them dancing to the music. There was all sorts of tents, booths, and food with drinks to sample. It was just one giant party.

Raichi was in awe to the spectacle as Sanada had to gently remind him of why they were here.

"Here he comes." Shunshin motioned to the blonde prince with his guards, Carlos, Shirakawa, Yabe, and Tadano walking to a platform with a throne set up for his highness.

The nobles approached and exchanged greetings with him. Mei then offer them seats which Shunshin, Sanada, and Amahisa accepted while Raichi and Umemiya headed out to what it seems them enjoying the festivities and met up with Ono and the other scouts and they headed to the castle.

Thanks to the festival it was easy to sneak in and seemed the servants had the day off to enjoy the event that they started searching rooms in hopes to find Sawamura, Haruichi, and Furuya. So far they weren't having any luck and it seemed they weren't here much to their dismay.

Suddenly Inashiro's captain of guard found them making them freeze and braced themselves for the worst.

Harada Masatoshi spoke, "I figure that you would try to find King Miyuki's intended and his knights on this day…" He sighed, "I warned him not to do this it was way too risky for the kingdom… Look, I'm willing to make a deal, if you can get them back without Mei knowing then I'll make sure he doesn't pull something like this ever again."

They were confused, not sure if he could be trusted till Okumura asked, "Do you know where they are?"

"Mei took them to his lakeside castle that's south of here. It's heavily guarded though so it will be difficult to penetrate it."

"We'll make due, what's important is getting our friends back."

Nabe bowed, "Thank you sir. We are grateful for your assistance."

Harada nodded, "I've done everything I can at this point; the rest is up to you."

After thanking him once more, the group headed out to rejoin the festival knowing a small celebration was order given they were now one step closer to bringing their friends home.

That evening Miyuki received the report viva carrier pigeon with a smile growing his face. Finally, he knew where his beloved was and Nabe said they were going to scope the place out and that it was going to take time to get inside that castle. But as long as he knew where Sawamura was he could wait a little longer.

Just hold on, it's almost time, we'll be back together…

Okumura eyed the castle that was a short distance from them. The scouts had made camp and began to plan so they can find a way inside and to get the captives out.

This was a hard thing to do since the months had passed quickly by but they had to be precise and keep the promise they made to Harada. The wall surrounding the lake was the difficult part to overcome since climbing over it wasn't an option. It was like a fortress.

But they refused to give up and agreed they wouldn't come back to the castle until they had them, it was just a matter of when…