︿︿،، ♡ ⏧·₊̣̇. "
Kim Taehyung, the second prince of Wylan, and the biggest royal brat.
Ever since Taehyung was a child, he had been spoiled, with a snap of his fingers, it was his. He wasn't used to being told no, or any form of being denied. The usual punishment was a harsh beating, by him of course. It was either a public affair or private, whatever Taehyung was in the mood for.
His behavior had harmed the country's view of the palace. Him being the most feared of course, second to his mother.
It was quite odd, the prince taking after the gentleman of their father and taehyung taking after the harsh mother of theirs.
The queens' attitude and actions played a huge role in Taehyungs actions as an adult. Taehyung had always been his mother's favorite, possibly due to him showing signs of her personal very early on.
However, the negative effect of the second prince's attitude was that having friends was hard. Even though his mother, despite her unfriendliness to the other mothers, had tried to get the other children to play with her son. Which only resulted in someone crying, it was always the other child.
It usually made Taehyung feel a certain type of way. Why weren't the kids laughing when he made fun of the way they looked? And why weren't they excited when he bragged about his latest toys?
He pushed it off as they were jealous of him, just like his mother told him that the reason that her friends didn't come over to the palace anymore was that they were jealous.
How silly, childish, he always thought.
His views like that didn't change, even after he met Kim Namjoon.
They had met when a new servant came to the palace after the old one was fired by the queen for making the tea wrong when Taehyung was ten years old.
The servant was an older lady who had brought her son, who was just a tad bit older than the second prince. Taehyung had, for the first time in a long time, looked up to the boy. The first time was when he was six years old and a child he was forced to play with told him he was able to ride a horse.
Kim Namjoon seemed to be immune to the bratty behavior Taehyung had, and as any smart person would do, the queen pointed him to stay with Taehyung to be his servant.
It was quite obvious that Namjoon didnt favor Taehyung in any way but he wasn't able to do much as his mother was working for the queen and him, the second prince of the kingdom. It took a few years, three to be exact, for Namjoon to just get over the brat being a brat.
Taehyung however, was more than happy that Namjoon was assigned to him.
Perhaps it helped that Taehyung had thought Namjoon was his cousin due to them having the same last name... Namjoon, to this day, thinks Taehyung still thinks that.
As they grew together, Namjoon had picked up the title of Head Knight, if he wasn't assigned to Taehyung, namjoon thinks he would have never had gotten the opportunity to grab the title.
If it wasn't also for Taehyung, Namjoon would have never been able to get his hands on the information he had on the "forbidden forest," as he had now.
Namjoon had always had an interest in the creatures of the forest, hiding away banned books, maps, and anything to do with the forest, of course with the help of Taehyung. The interest had only increased when the King had set a ban on anyone and anything crossing the forest line. Punishment being imprisonment for humans, and death for creatures.
Just like everyone else, Taehyung and Namjoon had known about the stories of people going around the river that had to be crossed to get over, to only be drowned and eaten. The bones were found the next day around the waters.
This had eventually stopped anyone from trying to cross over the river or even stand close.
However, it had only fueled the desire to cross for Namjoon.
And who was Taehyung to deny his friend? Namjoon had been with Taehyung through everything, so the Prince could only do what friends did.
Begged the king for permission to cross.
It took a lot of begging, which Taehyung never did. Ever.
He had originally wanted to go to his mother but she was in the garden and when the queen was in the garden, that was a sign to anyone who bothers her was to be punished. Taehyung saw his brother firsthand get slapped and turned away by his mother when the first prince tried to talk to her during her walk in the garden. So, his only option was to go to his father.
At first, it was difficult to even say what he wanted, when taehyung had mentioned the forest, his father shut it down.
It wasn't until the queen heard the request her favorite son was asking. She had argued with the king for hours because, what her son wants, he gets.
Namjoon was nervous, he wanted to go so bad, however, he knew better than to get his hopes up.
The decision was made and Namjoon couldn't help but hug Taehyung in joy.
Taehyung was just happy that Namjoon was happy because, in reality, taehyung had no interest in the forest or the creature there.
The rules were set that Taehyung and Namjoon were to be guarded with the best knights, the best weapons, and the best getaway plans. Along with a bridge that would take little to no effort put up.
The ride to the forest was long, Taehyung wanting nothing more than to get out and mess with the guards. Namjoon on the other hand was practically jumping in his seat. He was ready to go off and explore.
Namjoon looked out the window, from seeing multiple shops and houses to little to nothing as they got closer.
As soon as the Knights had stopped at the bank of the river, they started building the bridge.
Namjoon had suggested that he and Taehyung walk along the bank, looking around.
Taehyung had eventually got tired of Namjoon stopping every so often to look at a random mushroom so he went off on his own. Was it smart? No, certainly not but Taehyung truly didn't care.
Well, he didn't care until he saw a woman standing behind a tree, peeking at his knights.
Taehyung immediately had thought she had been a human who had wandered too far, and him being the great prince he was... yea totally, went to help this poor soul. He had also thought her backside looked a little too human to be a creature, but then again, he's only seen the pictures in the books Namjoon had.
When the woman turned around Taehyung felt like he was struck with something that he couldn't explain. He wanted her. No explanation was needed because what he wants is what he gets.
Namjoons excitement somewhat faded when he saw Taehyung with a woman. Was this why he ran off? Most likely not, no one, no offense, would speak to Taehyung willingly. Especially if they knew what this guy did.
Taehyung had talked to Namjoon about this woman as if he could see her. She was very beautiful, the kind where he would stop and look back if they crossed paths.
He felt a little flustered...
It was until she started yelling and telling them to leave, either it was a warning or she was bat shit crazy. Namjoon only hoped it was a warning.
Much to Namjoons dismay, Taehyung agreed and wanted to leave. When Namjoon tried to explain that the bridge was just put down, Taehyung snapped at Namjoon.
It was a rare case that Taehyung snapped at Namjoon, it made Namjoon feel a little small. All this work just to turn around?
Namjoon didn't even notice how the woman ran from Taehyung until his prince yelled at him to catch her.
It didn't take long for him to snatch her and walk back to the prince... it didn't break him a little to see such a pretty girl cry but... was it wrong for him to feel a certain way? He did feel a little, he wouldn't know how to explain it, but he had a negative feeling when she started calling out names, names that probably belonged to males...
His next order was to take her to the carriage to take her home. At this, he felt like his heart broke. So close to crossing that bridge to turn around for a... very beautiful woman...
He sat and watched as Taehyung tried to flirt with the woman. It was a sight to see as Taehyung was not one to do this... Namjoon had wondered if this was because she was pretty and hopefully so because he just wanted to go back to the forest...
Taehyung felt like he was on cloud nine being so close to the woman. Of course, he felt a little silly taking her and now being all over her but could anyone blame him? She was so cute, he wanted to lock her up so no one else had the chance to take her as he had.
Namjoon felt indifferent about the whole situation... not knowing what to say or do but, then again, he couldn't do much because he has to follow the prince's orders...
Hopefully, the woman gets situated so Namjoon could go back to the forest.
︿︿،، ♡ ⏧·₊̣̇. "
Short and a little repetitive chapter... I promise to get another one out (an actual chapter) in a couple hours