Author's POV:
The King scoffed seeing you and got up, holding his knuckles as if they hurt. Your eyes were glued to Taehyung who was on the floor, looking at you, surprised and worried.
You blankly looked at the King, feeling something in you burn. This man standing nearby while glaring at you looked like he had to murdered by you. You hated him and this hatred was more than at any other time.
"You don't seem to have manners. Barging in the King's chambers..." The King's deep cold voice reached your ears but you didn't care. You ran towards Taehyung, holding his cheeks, "Taehyung..."
Your voice came out wobbly as tears fell from your eyes.
His cheek was bruised. His lips burst and blood came out.
"Taehyung..."
He shuts his eyes, "Get out of here, now."
He said as you let out a huff in disbelief, "I'm not. I'm taking you with me."
"Did I say I was done with him?" The King scoffed.
"Nevermind, I'm not even in the mood to... pests." He walked away as you were sitting on the floor, staring at Taehyung.
"Shh... don't cry."
"Shut the f-ck up!" You said, tightly holding his hands.
"Why would you get beaten up?!"
"I'd be jailed if I beat him up."
"You're so... I..." You had no words. He smiled a little, "You're crying."
"Shut up. Get up. We're going."
You felt fear creeping up in your veins, realizing the King was here. You had barged into the King's chambers and broken rules. But you had no care for that. Taehyung was so hurt.
How could that heartless man do that?
You were enraged. And Taehyung noticed it. He held your hands, "Don't."
"I'll f-cking poison him." You said. He looked down as you realized that if you both got out now, everyone would know.
"Hide that face of his. If this word gets out, you'll be the next one." The King said to you as you looked at him in disbelief.
"Your Majesty." Taehyung's cold voice was heard as you sighed, helping him get up.
"What? Are you gonna protect her now? Boy... tch... one day, when you realize that women are just an infatuation and this woman becomes boring, don't regret your cold voice on me." Taehyung saw your face and knew immediately that you were hurt. He frowned and looked at the King, "Say or do whatever you want to me. But don't you dare target my wife."
The King scoffed as you held Taehyung's hand, "Let's go."
You both were about to exit when you heard the King, "Well... she seems to know a lot more than I think she does."
You looked at the King, confused. He looked at you, smirked and continued, "I believe... there must be a reason for this marriage... is it to become the princess? Or... the fame? Maybe the luxuries?"
You sighed as Taehyung looked at the King, wondering what trick he was pulling. There was something he was trying to do and it all became clear when he uttered the next words,
"But an apple doesn't fall far from its tree. Both his parents are cheaters... he'll be one too, right? In that case, what shall you do, Lady Y/N?"
You looked at Taehyung and then at the King. Taehyung saw the insecurity that showed on your face for a moment and panic struck in his heart. He was manipulating you.
"I don't think that's any of your concern, your Majesty. You might have greater things to be worrying about." Your straight statement brought relief to Taehyung's shaking heart as he held your hand tighter. But his anger was overpowering the insecurity. He looked at the King, his eyes filled with rage as the King smirked.
And that was it.
You dashed out of the room with Taehyung before he could say or do anything. His eyes were red in rage and you were worried.
The maids were whispering but you glared at them, shutting them up.
You entered your room without a word and made Taehyung sit on the bed. Taking out the first aid necessities in a hurry, you quickly sat in front of him, taking a small cotton bud and applying ointment on it.
"It's gonna hurt." You said as he stared at you blankly.
He hissed when you put the ointment on him at first but slowly he held himself back.
"Don't ever get beaten up again." You said, holding back your tears as you stared at his bruised face.
You blew on his wounds lightly as he eased, "I got beaten up for a good reason, trust me."
"What might the good reason be?"
"I recorded everything." He said, making your eyes widen.
"You see... I knew he was going to do something when he called me. He always did. So, this time, I might've taken a recorder with me."
"You're a..."
"Genius." He whispered as you stared at him, surprise evident in your eyes.
"That's why I didn't defend myself. Because if I did, I'd be framed." He said. You looked down, holding his hand, "Still..."
"It's okay. You were there." He whispered, squeezing your hand tighter. You put a band-aid on his cheeks and forehead before keeping the first-aid box aside.
He pulled you closer to him and spoke, "I'm sorry for acting weak there. I should've done something."
"He's the King and your father after all. You chose wisely." You said.
"Still ended up getting hurt." You hissed, seeing him shut his eyes when you gently touched a wound on his forehead.
"I'm embarrassed now. I might've looked like a loser." He said making you laugh.
"Big L you are. But I still love you." You kissed his chest, hugging him as he smiled, caressing your hair.
"I'll expose him soon. Because I can't let this drag on for long."
"Wouldn't he be in huge trouble if all this is exposed?"
"He would be. He might have to step down from the throne or the entire country will start to rebel. No one would accept a corrupt king both politically and personally."
"Politically?" You asked as he smiled, "Yeah, he's corrupt everywhere. Forget it."
You stroked his back and whispered, "You're really intelligent sometimes."
He smiled, "Should we go horse-riding?"
"Now?!"
"Yeah... I want to chill some time away."
"You're hurt."
"My limbs aren't broken."
"What if the maids-"
"I don't care. I'm going with you. Come."
And thus, you spent the next 2 hours horse-riding with him in the forest behind the Palace and then did some archery together. Next thing you knew, both of you were in the backyard, looking at the begonias and chatting.
The stares in the palace were visible. And you got almost 50 calls from Jungkook. The Queen was in the King's chamber with Jungkook and you all knew where this would lead to... a mess.
"Should we go?"
"Mother won't do anything rash. She'll just talk to the King about how wrong he was and he'll ignore her. Jungkook will probably stare. That's what happens every time." Taehyung shrugged. You both were on the table in the room beside the backyard. While he was sitting on the chair, you stood beside him. He hugged you, resting his side profile on your belly as you asked, "Are you worried about them?"
He didn't reply. You knew he was.
"Then ask them when they come back. Don't keep it to yourself." You caressed his hair as he hummed, closing his eyes.
Suddenly, you heard the door of the room open as Taehyung let go of you, confused.
"Prince, Princess..." A maid ran inside panting.
"The King's quarters... we heard screams."
—Time skip
"You are the wh-re here! You fell in love with another man first. And what? Confess to me? Apologize? That was only to save your reputation. And now you feed the sons that I'm the bad guy?" The King roared, his humourless laugh echoing in the chamber as Jungkook fisted his hands, "Your Majesty. Whatever you have said right now is a disgrace and disrespect to the Queen of the country and your wife, I'm afraid."
The King scoffed, "3 people... who are supposed to be my followers are now opposing me. One goes his way and what? F-cks around with his so-called wife and the other 2 are here defending him? What an order of the royal family this is!"
"You have said enough, Your Majesty. You have done more than enough. Now, whatever you say or do is unacceptable. Please stop here." The Queen said in a calm voice as the King rolled his eyes, "You all should be grateful I haven't divorced this shameless woman yet and regarded you both illegitimate."
Jungkook froze as those words escaped his father's mouth. He gulped, looking down. The Queen just wiped her tears, "You can torture me all you want. Why do you torture your sons? They're your heirs. Your heritage. You're supposed to love them, not... kill their hopes like this."
"Hopes? One's an emotionless b-stard hated by the public and the other's a totally useless, living and joking around all the time. Darn my hopes. You all embarrass me."
"And you disgust us." A deep voice spoke, entering the room. Taehyung, with his bruised face, upon entering the King's chambers gained some gasps.
The Queen and Jungkook approached him immediately, asking about his wounds as Taehyung kept a hard face. You looked down, not knowing what to do.
Maybe you should leave. But you were too worried.
"Princess..." The Queen whispered as you smiled faintly at her, "Shall I leave?"
"No," Jungkook said.
"Don't even think about it," Taehyung spoke further.
"You shall stay." The Queen's hesitant face turned into a blank one. She sighed, looked down and turned around. Now she also knew that you had known.
"Wow, now the whole team's here, huh? Listen. Don't ever blame me for anything. The love you all claim to get is something you don't even deserve. You all deserve to be illegitimate. But only because I don't have another heir right now, you all are getting this privilege." The King said, rolling his eyes.
No one talked. You knew Taehyung was recording, he had turned it on before entering.
"Maybe, being illegitimate is better than being unacknowledged as a father's son itself. But come to think of it, being called your son seems more embarrassing now." Jungkook said, smiling. The King frowned as Jungkook said, "Whatever you've ever done in your life is only for your reputation. Marrying mother, having us, raising us... shutting down reporters, smuggling things, abusing Hyung... everything. You've hurt them unconditionally. And we all know it. But do you think this will last when your own family speaks up against you? Your reign will end. Already, many people know you're just a loser."
The King frowned, "Jungkook."
"I know it all. I also know that you always beat up Hyung instead of me because people would be more suspicious. You made Hyung look like a punk to people, a cold b-stard who had no feelings so seeing him hurt, people wouldn't bother other than making rumours. He's easy to frame, so you do it, don't you?"
Every head in the room turned to Jungkook.
"Jungkook." The Queen gasped as Taehyung's blood ran cold. You were standing there, not moving a millimetre. What on earth were you hearing?
"Mother liked someone, I know it. But she didn't cheat on you. Instead, she confessed that she fell out of love. You never provided her with the basic respect and love she needed as a wife. You treated her politically yet she remained loyal and confessed. But you... instead of letting her go, just... ruined her life." Jungkook was so done, his tone was conveying that. The Queen was crying as you went to her, comforting her. The King walked towards Jungkook with a deathly glare.
"How dare you speak against me?"
"You're the King. You're also our father. But... have you ever done something a father does? You have not. You will be exposed. We will expose you. And trust me, when we do, your time ends."
"JUNGKOOK!" The King was about to slap Jungkook but Taehyung pushed him away, "Don't you dare."
You gasped as the Queen was standing there. She looked at you and whispered, "Go to my room... call the number 5897. Now."
"What?" You asked. She said, "Say, it's urgent. The work has to be done now."
You didn't know what but you nodded, running outside. You entered the Queen's chamber and quickly called the number. A deep voice had answered. When you said it was urgent, they quickly hung up and you wondered what the story was.
You returned to the King's Quarters to see him about to punch Taehyung but you stood in front of him, making the King halt. He gasped and said, "MOVE AWAY!"
"NO! YOU CAN'T HURT HIM." You shouted back and everyone was dumbstruck. You shouted at the King. He couldn't hurt your Taehyung, he didn't have the right to. Damn his royalty.
The King was about to move further when the guards came rushing in.
"Your Majesty... the internet is.... blown up."