Seven Deadly Sins || OT7

Chapter Twenty Eight

Again, he didn't flinch when I reached to unbutton his shirt and it broke my heart, because it made me realize how out of touch he was with reality. Even removing his pants and undergarments he said nothing, so I did my best to look away and steer him towards the bathtub, slowly helping him over the edge and easing him down into the warm water.

This was not how I wanted to be in an intimate position with Jimin for the first time, with his mental state in disarray and unaware that I was even by his side. But it was important that I disregarded the fact that he was naked and instead concentrated on bringing him back to reality.

As I gently splashed water over his skin, leaning against the side of the tub, I murmured softly to him, "You're safe. No one's going to hurt you. You're going to be okay. You're safe."

His head rested itself against the head of the tub as his eyelids fluttered shut after a while and the water didn't turn murky as he had said it did when he usually took a bath. Of course it wouldn't, because he was clean. He was always clean, because he was always bathing. It was all in his mind.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me", was the whisper that barely made it from his lips as he breathed shallowly.

"It's not your fault", I hummed back as I brushed a lock of blonde hair out of his face.

Gazing down at him I couldn't believe this was the same man that had run into me the first day I met him and cursed at me. How could I have ever guessed that underneath the layers the alcohol provided was a young broken boy. Yoongi was right all along and it made me feel bad for having riled him up all this time.

I wondered if Jimin would be able to heal, could maybe turn into that sweet young man I had had very little conversations with. The glimpses of what Jimin was like underneath all of the trauma he had been through was too kind to forget and I didn't like the direction my heart was heading at all. Maybe if Jimin got out of Mnemosyne once and for all he would be able to heal, but no matter if I married him or not there was no way of preventing him to become the heir to the throne in his country.

It was funny how Jimin had spoken the truth. It was ironic that us, two powerless individuals, were deemed some of the most powerful people to walk the continent. Weren't we all just powerless in the end?

The time I spent in Mnemosyne bordered on being nightmarish. I tried to stay locked up in Jimin's room for as long as we could to avoid Kang, but when the king called us for dinner the next day there was no way to decline.

Considering the king was already drinking himself beyond common sense when we arrived, the dining hall wasn't as filled as it usually was. To my dismay however, Kang was one of the guests seated at the large table, glancing around with a smug expression like he owned the place. I stayed as close to Jimin's side as I could and didn't blame him in the slightest when he gulped down a few glasses of wine. Anything that prevented him from having a meltdown at dinner was a good thing at that point.

The king eventually turned to his son with a small chuckle halfway through the meal, "Jimin, I understand that you must be very excited, but let's try not to spend all day in bed with the Princess, yes?"

Jimin choked on his drink and his father began laughing. If I wasn't so horrified with how oblivious the king was to Jimin's mental state, the thought may have caused me to blush. But instead I noticed the way Kang's expression soured from across the table as he looked at the blonde with displeased eyes.

When dinner was over and the king was stumbling out of the hall with some woman that was definitely not the queen, I didn't let Jimin out of my sight. I knew that Kang was going to approach him, so it came as no surprise when he stepped out in front of us in the hallway as we were leaving.

"Where have you been, Jimin?", his tone was dangerously suggestive as he moved closer, "You didn't even come out to train in the field today."

"I-I was b-busy", Jimin took a few steps back and ended up bumping into me, but I just raised my hands and placed them lightly against his back to keep him steady on his feet.

Kang chuckled darkly as he glanced from me back to the blonde, "Busy? Ah yes, you've found a new whore to play with. You're no different from your father really."

If I didn't know any better I would say that the fear in Jimin's eyes was replaced by fury for a moment. His fists clenched, but he was still shaking all the same.

"Well, as long as you know that no woman will ever be able to pleasure you, I suppose you can keep as busy as you like", Kang continued bitterly, "But Jimin..."

I tightened my hold on the young man in front of me as Kang leaned in much too close for comfort. His mouth was almost right by Jimin's ear and I too could feel his breath on my skin from where I was standing.

So I most certainly heard when he whispered, "...You and I both know the only way you can be pleasured."

When he withdrew and started to move down the corridor, he called out once more, "So make sure to come and see me before you head back!"

Jimin spent the rest of that night crying in my arms and repeatedly telling me that he hated everything Kang did to him and that everything he said was a lie. I comforted him and was simply baffled that Jimin would think I would believe a word that man said.

For the rest of our days there, Jimin just couldn't catch a break. We went from locking ourselves in his room to attending the occasional dinner and from meltdown to meltdown. No, Jimin couldn't even catch a breath until we were sitting in the carriage on our way back to Coeus. I didn't even leave him alone then, too afraid of what he might do if he was in his own carriage.

"I'm sorry, Milou", was what he whispered out, slouched on the velvet bench across from me as the scenery passed us by at dusk.

"Jimin, don't-"

"No, it's not just about this trip", he interrupted before I could start lecturing him again, "It's not just about... what you had to experience in Mnemosyne. It's about all the horrible things I've said to you since I've met you. I just... I don't know why I acted that way towards you and I just ended up making you feel as miserable as I was feeling."

"Maybe... that was your goal?", I said quietly, knowing he didn't want to hurt me anymore, but that it had probably been the reason for all of his previous jabs.

"In some sick and twisted way I think it was", he grimaced as he agreed, "But I don't want that. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"I don't want you to hurt either", I told him with knitted eyebrows.

"I...", he paused as he examined my features with those beautiful dark eyes of his, "I'm a mess and it's affected you this whole time and I'm sorry about that. I'm a mess and I don't know how to fix it."

He looked out the window at the trees whizzing by as I hung onto his every word. A deep sigh made its way past his lips before he could turn to me again.

"I think you should just... let me go. You should leave me be. For your own sake", his irises glistened with sorrow as he spoke, like he didn't want to be saying his words as much as I didn't want to be hearing them.

"I can't do that", my head shook involuntarily in response as I couldn't look away from his gaze.

"Why not?", he whispered again.

The crickets that came out in spring could be heard chirping alongside the steady rattling of the carriage wheels against the dirt pavement. And I had no answer to his question.

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