Perched upon the edge of the bed within his cell, the husk of the traitor didn’t even look up at Asahi as he addressed him. He hadn’t wished to show him how exhausted and drained he had become: the prince didn’t need to see anything that would make him feel more guilty that he’d been captured. 

In all honesty, he had expected the approaching footsteps to be that of the guards once more, returning to begin some more ‘gentle coercion’ to make the former knight reveal secrets about the rebellion. True, he knew he might not have been the best liar - preferring to bend the truth than break it - but one thing he could exercise when necessary was his ability to remain silent. Not a word to betray the rebellion had passed his lips, and he figured they must have been getting tired of their fruitless efforts. 

He’d remained silent for a while, just listening to Asahi’s words, before lifeless amber eyes looked over to the prince, a tired smile upon his face, “You shouldn’t be painting me as some kind of hero Asahi. I’m the one who orchestrated taking you from here, I’m the one who betrayed you and put you in a situation to get hurt. I’m a rebel, I’m one of the bad guys. They’re only keeping me alive for information, and they ain’t getting it. The rebels ain’t gonna save me, so that’s that. 

It was safe to say that the rebel knight was at the end of his patience, exhausted as he was. Things had been taking far too long, and they couldn’t figure out why the King had yet to relent and give into their demands. It was his son on the line. Certainly they hadn’t hurt him yet, but surely the King wouldn’t have wanted to test their patience with his own kin on the line? They couldn’t understand it.... so much that the others were itching to up the stakes. A bit of bloodied clothing from their bargaining chip should sweeten the deal. 

But Noya refused to allow it. 

He was now the only one to refuse to allow it. 

And there was only so much he could handle before he snapped, and it seemed like the captured Prince was getting the brunt of his exhausted frustration. 

“What do you know about me!? When I was a knight, I was just a knight to you: a pawn that you could have run into harm’s way while you and the King cowered and counted your money. Now I’m just a rebel to you, I ain’t anything important, just one of the bad guys right!? You ain’t ever thought about if I wanted to do this did you? About why I had to do this!? You’ve always thought little of me and everyone else here because you can’t stop selfishly worrying about how well off you are!”

If he could at the time, the knight might have burst out laughing at how naive the prince truly was. But he couldn’t, not then. His cover would be completely blown if he did. Instead he offered a smile as he approached Asahi, hand staying on the hilt of his sword as he allowed the quiet of the garden to lull the pair of them into a false air of calm and serenity. 

“You never know your Highness, the rebellion’s become bold lately. His Majesty didn’t like the idea of you being out here alone.” The smile formed into a grin instead, “At least it’s me, right? I mean Sir Daichi was free so...”