The Crown Prince (Taegi AU)

Chapter 47 (Last chapter)

The plague continued and soon, even the royal food stalks started running out. There were just too many mouths to feed. 

At the peak of the misfortune, there was a day when the food started to run out. 

Yoongi and Taehyung, like every other day, were handing out food and the last packet they held was given away. 

There was a young boy standing in front of Taehyung. The boy looked poor and malnourished. He was so small that he couldn't even reach up to Taehyung's torso. He wore torn-up clothes and his white face that would have otherwise looked to be cute was covered in dirt with tear stains clearly visible. 

Taehyung gulped as he looked at the boy who looked up at him with eyes that seemed to be filled with hope. 

The boy held out his hands in front of him as if asking for food but Taehyung had nothing to give him. 

Taehyung crouched down and shook his head as he patted the boy's head, "Come back tomorrow."

The boy's face seemed to have dropped as he heard this. 

With much regret, Taehyung stood and turned around, not having the heart to continue watching. 

He was about to walk away but he suddenly felt someone tugging on his clothes. 

Taehyung turned to see the boy clutching tightly onto him. 

There were tears trailing down the boy's dirty face as he clung close to Taehyung and looked at him with a pair of pitiful eyes that seemed to be begging him. 

Taehyung gulped as he looked at the boy. 

He crouched down to the boy's level once again and mustered up a smile as he asked, "Are you really hungry?" 

The boy immediately bobbed his head up and down. 

Taehyung held onto the boy's arm that was so thin that it felt more like a stick than a human hand, "How long has it been since you've last eaten?"  

The boy hung his head low and didn't give a response. 

"Has it been too long?" Taehyung asked softly. 

The boy lifted his head and opened his mouth to speak up, but what he said shocked Taehyung even more. The boy was deaf and hence, he could not hear Taehyung's question while at the same time, whatever he had said came out as nothing more than incomprehensible blabbering sounds. 

Taehyung felt his heart breaking. This was a bit too much for him who was suddenly made aware of how bad the situation really was. 

Yoongi who looked at the boy trying to shout something but not sounding comprehensible sighed as he ordered a guard to take the kid away and give him some of the food arranged for Yoongi and Taehyung. 

Taehyung hugged the boy one last time before letting him go with the guard in order to get some food.

Once the boy was out of sight, Yoongi hugged Taehyung from behind and assured him that it was going to be all okay soon. 

Although Taehyung nodded his head and agreed with Yoongi, in his heart, he believed that nothing was ever going to be okay. 

He would definitely be a fool to not realize what the future held for them. 

As if the plague wasn't bad enough, the neighboring country Gim decided to take this chance and attacked once again. 

The royal court was in a disarray and most of the officials had refused to send their army with Yoongi simply because they had lost faith in their crown prince.