Prologue:
"Childhood betrothal?" Y/N asked her mother who nodded. She smiled gracefully, fixing her pencil skirt, "Yes, Y/N. You were told about it often in your childhood, weren't you?"
Her mellow voice rang in Y/N's ears she sighed, grabbing her brown hair.
"I thought those were jokes, mother!" She said, confusion all over her face.
"Well... you were in the US for almost 12 years. Now it's been over 3 months since you're back. So..."
"But mothe-" She was cut off by her father's deep coughing.
She looked at her parents and then around the lavish beige interior of the house.
"So we're going to some engagement party with a guy I do not know!" She said as her mother looked at the book in her hand. Her father simply read his newspaper while sitting on the white sofa.
"He's a prince, Y/N. You're getting married into a royal family because the Queen is my very own best friend and due to the political influence our family has. You shall not refuse." Y/N narrowed her eyes at her mother's statement before walking inside her room.
"Whatever. I'm sure the prince will refuse too. Either way, no one in this generation cares about some childhood betrothal."
———
"Prince Taehyung." The Queen spoke as the raven-haired guy looked at the glass table in front of them, fixing his permed hair.
"Mother. You know well I do not agree." Taehyung spoke but the Queen sighed, "The King will be furious. I've seen the girl. She had been studying abroad for 12 years... brought up by her uncle who has a huge influence there. She has etiquette and knowledge and based on her mother, she must have grace too. She's perfect for you."
"Child betrothal with some girl of a high influenced family isn't what I want," Taehyung stated in a firm voice when another voice interrupted, "Hyung. You should agree! Come on."
"Jungkook," Taehyung spoke as the chestnut-haired guy sat in front of them, fixing his royal suit. Taehyung looked at the time, 4:50 pm.
"I have to leave for horse riding. See you then." Taehyung got up, dusting his royal blue pants as he left the Queen's chamber.
"Mother. Why is he so against it?" Jungkook asked as the Queen sighed, "I would have no one to blame but myself for it."
"Brother always opposes the marriage. Every time the child betrothal was brought up, he seemed against it strongly. I wonder if it's because he's arrogant or ignorant or just... scared of women?"
The queen glared at Jungkook who shut up.
"Could be interested in guys too..."
"What?" The Queen gasped in disbelief as Jungkook replied, "I saw it on the internet. I don't know!"
Author's POV || Next day
"Your Highness." Your mother bowed gracefully at the woman in front of you all. She wore a beautiful crown that shone brighter than diamonds. You were mesmerized for a moment by how graceful and beautiful she was. She seemed old, but her face bloomed with beauty and youth.
You bowed next, "Your Highness."
She smiled widely at you, taking in your face. Her eyes wandered from your hair to your shoes.
"You're even prettier than I imagined. Wow... I always thought my son was the best... seems like you're one competitor." She said. Her voice was beautiful and feminine.
You smiled, "Of course. I take after my mother."
"Y/N!" You heard your mom whisper as the Queen laughed a little.
"It's alright. I would prefer her being real instead of showing fake modesty while being arrogant underneath."
"Only you royals could pull that off." Your mother smiled at her and said back, "So could you influencers."
Soon, you all were inside the Palace, sitting in the luxuriously decorated living room. The splashes of sage green and blue, white and beige were attractive to the eye. You wondered when this palace was made, looking around the place.
Your mother had a huge smile plastered on her face while your father sat there, looking at the high-class juice they served.
You didn't find this place very warm. It was decorated beautifully and all, but this lacked warmth. Rich things were nice, but not always did they have the warmth little things in life did.
You missed the US sometimes, even though your uncles were powerful, you lived in a normal house and with a normal upbringing. Of course, there were luxuries and so did your home here, but this Palace was extravagant... too much for you.
The maids served some food and left as the Queen entered not too late. You smiled a little seeing her smile. She was so attractive. You wondered how the King did his duties properly while having such a beautiful wife. Wasn't he just... crazy in love or something? But that wasn't your concern.
"Prince Taehyung shall come soon." The Queen sat down as you looked at the food, nodding. So... his name was Taehyung. Surname? Kim, of course. Kim Taehyung.
You smiled a little, looking down when you heard footsteps entering the room. Was he here?
You looked up when your eyes met a pair of deep brown ones. And a shiver ran down your spine. Gosh... so cold.
Those eyes were the eyes of an icy tiger, not a gentle human. You swallowed and looked at him again. He was staring back at you.
Permed raven hair, a royal black suit laced with off-white silk material, honey-glazed skin and that beautiful pair of eyes... you were quite smitten. He was beautiful.
"Hello. I'm Prince Taehyung." He said, bowing politely to your parents who had gotten up, bowing back. You didn't even take a hint of your surroundings, busy staring at the man in front of you but hearing your mother's coughs, got up and nodded your head a little.
"I'm Y/N... Min Y/N."
The guy had been staring at you for the past 2 minutes the way you had been staring at him. You looked at your clothes, smoothing your sweaty palms over your skirt, suddenly feeling self-aware.
He cleared his throat as the Queen introduced you both, letting him sit across from you. You looked at anywhere but him. On the other hand, Taehyung was staring at you unbothered by the presence of many people in the room.
He didn't stare at you in a bad way, simply staring blankly. As if he was wondering something... or taking in your face.
He stared at you fiddling with your fingers while your legs shook slightly, but you tried to stop it every time. You wore a beautiful floral frock which was formal. A pearl necklace shone on your neck while your trembling lips were coated in slight pink lipstick.
He noticed everything and looked down, tapping his thigh calmly. He looked away hearing his mother chuckled, "Kids... you could talk among yourselves. I'll let the maid escort you to our new garden. It's beautiful and the aroma of the flowers is pleasing as well."
You got up along with Taehyung, who cleared his throat, nodding. Your mother smiled at you as you sighed.
"Where's His Majesty?" Your father asked as the queen looked down, smiling slightly. Taehyung rolled his eyes, facing the other side. He thought no one saw but you did. You stared at him, blinking cluelessly as he glanced at you, walking away quickly. He was embarrassed... caught in 4K after all.
—Time skip
"This is beautiful." You heard Taehyung whisper to himself while eyeing a begonia. He seemed confused and was trying to examine what flower it was. You walked towards him, "Begonia is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates."
He looked at you, frowning a little. You thinned your lips, raised your brows and walked around. He could have responded.
"How do you know?" You heard his deep voice and smiled a little, remembering all those days you would stay up late studying flowers. You didn't master the study of flowers but you loved it as a pastime.
"I studied it at a time." You said.
He nodded and looked around, "I heard you've been abroad for 12 years. Why did you agree to this marriage?"
You raised a brow at his question and sighed, walking towards him. He frowned when you were just a few steps apart from him. You leaned towards his face, squinting your eyes at him.
"Did you agree?"
His frown deepened as he backed away, shaking his head.
"But you're still here. So am I." You said. He nodded, looking away. He swallowed a lump in his throat, looking at the sky.
You noticed how his sharp jaw flexed and looked away. He was quite luscious, to be honest.
"You shouldn't stare at me like that." He spoke as you looked away, feeling your face heat up.
"As if you didn't do that earlier." You whispered. He looked at you and mumbled, "I do not want to marry."
"Marry me, you mean?"
"Marriage, at all." He clarified. You raised a brow, "Why is that?"
He didn't answer, just shrugged.
"Simply.."
"Hmm..." You thought about it. He noticed how your lips slightly puckered, quite gracefully, as you smiled a little.
"You know what. I don't want to marry either so... I mean, maybe, in the future. But not through some childhood betrothal."
"But they wouldn't listen."
"You're a royal. You don't get listened to or something?" You asked as he said, "I mean..."
You smiled a little when he walked away. You didn't miss the blush on his cheeks.
He was quite icy but he seemed pretty humane too. You followed him around as you both saw some flowers, and talked about some things. He shared about his studies and all, though quite minimal, he didn't seem as cold as you thought. He talked but not necessarily. After all, royals were trained in some kind of way.
He didn't look much cold though. Thank god.
"So, is there any way we could avoid this marriage?"
"How about we think about it at another meeting? If we take too much time here, they'll think otherwise and will become more excited." He said. You nodded, "Intelligent."
You both returned to the Palace chamber, the King was absent. He came later on, for a short moment before leaving. He said he was busy but judging Taehyung's expression, you could sense something was off. Nevertheless, you shrugged it off.
That night, your parents were so happy. They really liked Taehyung but your father didn't say much. He was more of a cold man who spoke less. But you knew he wasn't displeased. You weren't, either. After all, one day wasn't enough to know much about a person. All you knew was his basic formal information.
So you searched in google and got some more information.
You noticed how he never smiled in any pictures. There was only one where he had smiled wholeheartedly... with his family. But his father looked so cold there.
You knew about palace affairs... could be that too. Or maybe he was just reserved.
Never mind, not like you were really going to marry him. You would be planning with him how to get out of this.
———
Taehyung looked at the sky filled with bright stars, sighing. He remembered the events from today.
"How could I cancel this marriage?" He whispered to himself, checking his phone. New rumours about the palace.
The news of Taehyung and your betrothal hadn't been publicized yet. Because of your study abroad, this was kept a secret. But now that you were back, this was going to be published soon.
The engagement would be held in 3 months. He really wanted anything but to marry someone else.
—2 days later
Taehyung stood beside his horse, Maria. He was patting the horse while getting ready to go on horse riding. But he had been waiting for someone as well.
He stood there, looking at the time. 2 minutes late.
"Your Highness. She's here." One of the guards spoke as Taehyung nodded. He turned around, looking at a familiar face, panting.
"Sorry for the delay, your Highness." It was you. In your sage green cardigan and white loose pants, you looked very beautiful. It wasn't fancy attire. In the current royalty, it wasn't as though everyone had to wear uncomfortable gowns all day.
Taehyung hummed, looking at your shoes. You wore simply flats. Unlike that day when you wore heels, you looked shorter now. And somehow, he found it somewhat... adorable?
He looked at his horse and said, "So... you're going to join me?"
"Apparently?" You asked. He nodded and said, "Get ready then. We'll ride to the forest and back. And might as well plan something too."