Author's POV:
You bid goodbye to your friends after breakfast and returned to the palace. You saw Taehyung playing with his wrist while sitting on the sofa. You sat beside him, tilting your head in confusion until you realized he was playing with the bracelet you gave him.
He looked at you and asked, "Your friends have gone back?"
"Yeah... they did. Now I'm bored."
"Even when I'm sitting beside you?"
"I mean... not that." You sighed.
He hummed, "You like playing video games?"
You raised a brow, "A lot."
He nodded and got up, walking out of the room and making you frown. He brought a box with him and closed the living room door. Wow, now this giant royal living room belonged to you both. Great.
He kept the box on the table, looking at you, "Let's play then."
You looked at the box and then at him, "You play video games too?"
"There isn't a thing I don't do. You're just full of prejudice against me."
You smiled, looking at him setting up everything and asked, "So, you sure you can beat me? I'm good at these."
He scoffed, "Bet."
And thus, the game started.
"You! You! Hey! No!!!"
"Don't scream if you die!"
"You- UGH!"
"Hey! That was my- Ah!"
"You scream so much, oh god."
"Stop pushing me!"
"I'm not. You're being dramatic."
"No! You can't win! AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
"Shameless too."
You glared at Taehyung as he said, "What?"
He tried not to smile seeing your sulking face but you scoffed, "I'll win this time. You wait and watch."
He nodded, as you both started playing again. He could win by setting up one last item but he didn't. Instead, he pretended to fall behind, making you win.
"WOAH! I WON!" You jumped on the couch happily as he smiled a little, you were looking so happy. You never reacted like that before. You grinned and looked down, "I won against you."
"Yeah, you did." He said, trying to sound unbothered. But he felt happy knowing well he'd be teased from now on.
He thought you'd continue celebrating but you just smiled, got down and looked up at him. He was taken aback when you hugged him, patting his back.
"You're nice but I'm not grateful to you for letting me win. You're rather dumb."
"Huh?" He was confused but you looked up at him, your chin against his chest as you stared at him. His eyes were so warm, you sort of realized he was so adorable.
After the kiss yesterday, it was as if you were even more attracted to him, or maybe, something about him was unlocked in your brain and heart. He seemed... different. More understandable, as if he'd connected some sort of wire in you with that kiss.
You backed away and said, "But I still won!"
Your grin made him control a smile as you turned around, "You know we're moving into the same room soon, right?"
"You mean, in a few days."
"Yeah. But before that, we'll be sent far away for some honeymoon as I've heard!" You said, trying not to sound excited but he knew you were.
"Are you excited to go on the honeymoon with me or because it's a faraway place?" His question caught you off-guard as you looked at him, your heart beating louder than before. You looked down, clearing your throat, "Of course the far away place."
He nodded, totally not believing you.
—Time skip
You were roaming around the palace, trying to find a place to hide.
Taehyung, Jungkook and you were sitting in the backyard together when Jungkook said you all could play hide and seek. You agreed immediately. Taehyung sighed, saying it wasn't a very good idea to do that in the palace but who cared? It was democracy you all followed.
So Taehyung was the one counting and you and Jungkook went separate ways to hide. God knows if it'd take Taehyung a day to find you both. But whatever.
You found a huge door nearby and realized it was the King's chamber. You walked near, trying to see if any room or area was nearby. But a frown appeared on your face when you heard some noises coming from inside. One was the King's and the other belonged to a woman... was it the queen?
But the voice sounded quite high-pitched.
You didn't mean to eavesdrop but for some reason, a suspicion worked in you that it wasn't ordinary talking. You wanted to lean in but that was bad manners. So you intended to walk away when you realized what the noise was.
The... adult... noises.
Your body froze and your palms started sweating. What the hell did you just hear?
Oh god these royals needed to control! You quickly ran away, not wanting to get caught in this... weird situation and be misunderstood. A few maids were walking past and they were about to question you but you ran away quickly.
"I thought the Queen was very... quiet. She screams wow." You cringed at the thought, hitting your head to forget them but as you looked up, you saw the Queen.
The Queen.
She was here.
"Princess?" She asked, a soft smile on her face as she reached you. You stared at her, the sky falling on your head. If she was here, who was there?
"Your Highness..." You whispered as she smiled, "You still haven't started calling me Mother. Just call me that!"
"Is the King in the palace?" You asked as she nodded, "Yeah, in his chamber I think. Why?"
You didn't reply, you continued staring at her. Everything was so confusing now.
"No... j-just curious." You said. She frowned a little as you gulped, looking down. What the hell?
Your hands were trembling, "Princess? You look... are you alright? Did you see something?"
The panic in her voice assured you she knew it too. You shook your head, "We were playing hide and seek. If I get caught, I'll be doomed. You know, Prince Taehyung's counting. I'll go hide now."
She chuckled, "of course."
You walked away, bowing politely but as soon as you left the place, you felt tears rushing down your face.
The Queen's face appeared in your mind and more tears streamed down your face. You crouched down in the middle of the empty hallway.
She knew.
Is that why everyone hated the King? God, you hated him now. You despised any thoughts that came into your mind.
You had seen a few women entering the palace this morning but had no idea who they could be. Now, it was clear.
The King was cheating on the Queen, in this palace.
How did word never get out?
Or maybe it had. People with power could suppress the media. You had heard rumours before in the US about the royal family's affairs but you never paid attention. After all, you had no idea you'd be marrying into this palace but now, you had to know. At least something that'd let you know about the secrets you needed.
"Y/N?" You heard a familiar deep voice as you wiped your tears, standing up. Behind you, footsteps approached and you felt your heart shaking. You gulped and turned around, smiling, "You caught me."
But he didn't smile. He was frowning. He noticed your flushed nose and glistening eyelashes.
"You're crying." He spoke, his face looking cold yet worry filled his eyes.
"I thought I was lost..."
"You know the way of this hallway." He said, confused.
"I forgot..." You said. He walked closer to you, lifting your chin and asked, "What happened?"
You shook your head, "N-Nothing... I told you I thought I was lost."
He held your shoulders, staring at you deeply for a moment before hugging you. Seeing your tears made him quiet. You didn't know how he was feeling but he didn't seem to be normal.
He could feel something heavy in his chest when he saw you cry.
"It's okay. I'm here." He whispered, hugging you tightly as you hugged him back. You felt your heart ripping apart at the thought of his family.
How could no one say a thing knowing well the literal King of the country was such a disgusting piece of sh-t?
"Let's not play anymore." He said, placing a soft kiss on your forehead as you buried your face in his chest. Your heart hurt for him.
You wondered what he had to undergo for him to become like this. Things made more sense now. Not only was he a failed husband and a father, but he was also a failed King who couldn't even prove his loyalty to someone. How was this man a king?
Your grip on him tightened as Taehyung sighed. He didn't know why you were crying but he doubted the reason.
—Time skip
"You got lost?" Jungkook asked, frowning. You cleared your throat as he sighed, "I'm so sorry! I had no idea. Should've taken you with me."
"It's alright. I just... kind of got confused."
"Let's not play those games anymore," Taehyung said as both of you thinned your lips. Jungkook sighed, nodding.
"Alright. Not until sister-in-law has it all memorized!"
You chuckled, realizing how well they had grown up despite that.
Soon, you were in your room as you took out your laptop, looking out for articles.
Many articles from a few years ago came rushing.
'The King seems to have changed.'
'Random women were seen entering the palace.'
'Is the King cheating?'
But the comments under the articles were mostly reported and deleted. So, he had them handle this.
You saw Taehyung and Jungkook's education articles later on and realized that the King had been cheating for years now. He brought women into the palace whenever he wanted and even disguised them as workers. Some as massagers and some as guests but in reality, they were just people he called.
The Queen had been appearing depressed in many photos after Taehyung was born. You noticed how Taehyung was far away from his parents in a photo. Jungkook hadn't been born at that time, he was still in the Queen's womb when the picture was taken.
Both his parents, stared at the camera with nothing but fake smiles while their child was standing far away, looking like a lost puppy.
You held your forehead, feeling yourself hurting for Taehyung. This picture clearly showed how neglected he was as a child. And the only one to blame for all this was the King. The Queen herself had been suffering from mental health problems and ended up neglecting Taehyung.
—On the other hand
"What?" Taehyung frowned as Jungkook sighed, "The maids said they saw her running from the King's quarters."
"How could she even go there-"
"She doesn't know anything, right?" Jungkook's panicked voice made Taehyung look down. Your tears, the excuse and how you hugged him tightly, patting his back like you were comforting him though you were the one crying.
He looked down, feeling like he'd been punched in the chest.
"She can't know." Taehyung shook his head as Jungkook gulped, "Don't let our mother know. Why do we have to live like this?"
Taehyung held Jungkook's shoulder, "This will be over. Once that old man dies, I swear."
"You're still praying for his death?"
"No. I'm praying for the day we all will let go of this pain." Taehyung said. Jungkook looked down, feeling tears rush down his face as Taehyung comforted him.
He admired Jungkook and was grateful that unlike him, his brother turned out different. Jungkook was able to smile and cry despite having this broken family. Something Taehyung failed at. And he believed that Jungkook was 10 times stronger than him. And he was grateful for that.
As long as the Queen and Jungkook held it well, he'd be fine too.
—At night
You heard a knock on your door making you frown. You opened the door to see Taehyung standing there. You looked at him surprised as he walked inside your room.
Again his bad habit of barging in.
He sat on the couch of your room, looking at you blankly as you stood in front of him, "What brings you here?"
He stared at you for a moment before pulling your arm, making you land on his lap as you gasped. You wanted to wriggle free but he held you closer, tightening his hold on you.
"You went to the King's chamber, didn't you?"