A few days spent in Daegu was more than sufficient, in Chaeyoung's opinion. It was a bittersweet feeling, leaving such a loving community, but the place and all of its people served as constant reminders of the life she desperately wanted – the life she could only dream for herself. And the longer they stayed, the harder it was to leave. For everyone.
"Aw, I'm going to miss them," Lisa pouted, staring longingly at a family of white cats that ran past Chaeyoung's horse.
With a sigh, Chaeyoung looked up from the bag she was packing full of food to glance a few feet away at all the people who had gathered to bid farewell to Taehyung and Yoongi, "me too."
"Hey, how are you doing?" Jisoo glanced over from her horse at Chaeyoung, her expression a cross between sympathy and pity, "you know, after the break up and everything?"
Chaeyoung groaned in exasperation, "for the last time, we were not dating."
"Maybe not officially, but –"
"I'm fine," she replied curtly, attaching her leather bag to Midnight's saddle with what some would consider 'aggressive' force, "we have more important matters to attend to. Defeating a corrupt king and saving the country, to name a few. So, it doesn't matter how I'm feeling. Queens are not allowed to feel."
Lisa squeezed her hand reassuringly, "That's not fair, you two are perfect –"
"Guys, please," Chaeyoung pleaded, looking up at the pale-blue sky and blinking rapidly to clear her eyes of the burning fluid that seemed to continuously pour out of her these days, "I can't do this right now."
No matter how irrational it was, a part of her was hoping the longer she avoided the topic, the sooner she would move on. Dwelling on the matter always ended with the same outcome: tears, pain, and more tears. And what she was not about to do was break down in front of Taehyung and all his people. That would only hurt him.
Thus, as always, Chaeyoung needed to be strong.
"Your majesty," Mr. Kim's voice caused Chaeyoung to clear her throat and pull herself together quickly before turning around to face Taehyung's father, "I wanted to thank you. With your help, we were able to produce enough medicine to treat the majority of our patients and host an excellent lantern festival at the same time."
"It was our pleasure, Mr. Kim," she smiled politely at him, trying not to think about how much the older man resembled his son.
He smiled and beckoned at someone behind her, "and, a deal is a deal, so here comes our present to you for your assistance."
Chaeyoung turned around curiously, her eyes growing wide when she saw Jimin walking towards her, fully suited in protective armour, and dragging along a very reluctant Jennie by her sleeve.
"I promised you our best archers, and since you already have 2 of them by your side, we thought you could use two more skilled warriors to aid your quest."
"That is very generous of you," Chaeyoung replied, though a part of her felt guilty for tearing two more people away from their home to aid her dangerous journey, "but, I wouldn't want to steal any more of your warriors from their families. I know how much they are needed here."
Mr. Kim gazed at her warmly, "well then I guess that means you must promise they will return to us safely."
Chaeyoung gulped, her stomach turning anxiously at the weight of such a request, "I promise they will come back. All of them, Taehyung and Yoongi included."
"Thank you," he nodded, his eyes shining with understanding.
At that moment Jimin and Jennie reached them. Jennie was practically scowling, but Chaeyoung could've sworn she saw Jimin flash Lisa a grin before he bowed deeply in front of the ladies.
"Park Jimin at your service, your majesty," he said politely.
She smiled warmly in return, "please, call me Chaeyoung."
Taehyung and Yoongi also finished their farewells at that time, making their way over towards the rest of the group and waving to the large group that had gathered at the town gates to see them off.
"Oh, look who has decided to tread on the path of righteousness and do some good in the world," Taehyung said sarcastically, nudging Jennie's shoulder lightly as he passed by her to untie Crystal's reins from the tree next to Chaeyoung.
The Princess froze as he neared but managed to avoid eye contact when he came to stand next to her, her heart clenching simply from the deep sound of his voice. Telling herself that everything would get better with time and that she would not pine for him forever, she continued to silently pack her belongings.
"As if," Jennie scoffed, her arms crossed over her chest defiantly, "the only reason I'm doing this is because your father asked, and it's impossible to say no to him."
"No, it's not," Yoongi retorted, "Taehyung does it all the time."
"Oh, how I wish that wasn't true," Mr. Kim sighed just as Mrs. Kim came running down the street, her skirt swaying with the wind as she practically ran into Taehyung's arms.
"Go make a change, protect the people you love, save the world," she said as she hugged him tightly, causing Chaeyoung to smile warmly despite everything. She had never had a true family, but she was glad that he had such a wonderful one, "but no matter what you do, you must come back alive."
He chuckled lightly in response, "I will."
"Here, take this," she pulled back, bringing her hands up to the base of her neck to pull off a thin, gold necklace with a coin-sized, intricately designed jade pendant in the middle. She reached up to tie it around his neck, her eyes glistening with tears, "that way I will be with you every step of the way."
She tip-toed up to also whisper something into his ear to which Taehyung smiled warmly. At this point, Chaeyoung had already looked away, the sweet moment only aggravating the guilt she harboured for forcing him to help her.
"Thank you," he said softly, pressing a kiss to his mother's cheek.
After he had bid farewell to both parents, the group began to mount their horses simultaneously. In an organized line, they began to exit through Daegu's gates one-by-one, leaving their emotions behind and taking a week's worth of memories along with them.
"You know what they say," Jimin turned his head to glance over his shoulder from the front of the pack, his expression enthusiastic, "no road is too long with good company."
"Oh shit, this road is going be endless then," Yoongi remarked sarcastically.
Jimin shook his head in disappointment, "a guy can't even try to lighten up the mood around here."
"Wait," Seokjin stopped suddenly, causing a row of horses to crash into his with loud grunts of protest, his tone bordering on panic.
"What is it?" Chaeyoung asked with concern, "did you forget something behind?"
"Does this mean we have to change the group name?" he asked with wide eyes, "now that there's 9 of us."
"Technically 10, if we count the hostage," Jennie added.
"Who the fuck cares about the hostage?" Yoongi turned to look at her as if she was crazy.
Taehyung groaned in exasperation, "is that really why you stopped, Seokjin?"
"It's an important issue!" he exclaimed as they all began moving along through the twisted forest path again.
"Should we brainstorm?" Chaeyoung asked, trying to help the situation.
"No!" everyone, except Seokjin and Namjoon, turned towards her sharply to exclaim at the same time, immediately silencing both of them.
"Everyone sucks," Seokjin muttered with a pout, causing Chaeyoung to chuckle lightly.
Perhaps Jimin was right. With a dynamic group like this, they were bound to embark on a wild, unpredictable journey. She just hoped she would be able to keep her promise to Mr. Kim and keep them all alive.
~{❀}~
Jimin was wrong.
It took them a full day's journey to reach Donggyeong and the trip was anything but short and far from enjoyable. From the scorching summer heat to the group's constant bickering and the lack of adequate drinking water – it was safe conclude no one was having a good time. Well, except for Jimin, but he was always having a good time.
It didn't help that Taehyung and Chaeyoung spent the whole time pointedly ignoring each other, thereby rendering smooth conversation between the entire group nearly impossible. The problem wasn't that they were angry with one another. In fact, it was the complete opposite. They cared for each other with such vehemence that a single glance could be enough to shatter their resolve and bring them right back to square one. For everyone's sake, they needed to stay as far away from each other as possible.
After the long, exhausting journey, Chaeyoung was glad to finally step through the gates of Donggyeong, or as Namjoon liked to call it, 'the city of steel'. It was a much larger town than Daegu with a heavier, sleeker metal gate and grand, multilevel houses that could be seen from miles away. The scent of fresh flowers lingered in the air as the group entered the large city. Several pink and white cherry blossom trees stood proudly in the entrance, greeting them with its gently falling petals. It would have been a pleasant sight to behold, except there was one problem.
The place was completely empty.
Slowly, the group began to roam the abandoned streets, the pounding of their horses' hooves echoing through the otherwise silent area. The market was filled with steel stands and organized merchandise, but there was no one to sell them. It was so quiet that Chaeyoung could practically hear herself blink.
"Where is everyone?" Lisa asked quietly from where she was seated behind Chaeyoung.
"I don't know," she responded, her brows furrowed in concern, "Namjoon, are you sure this is the right place?"
"I am certain this is Donggyeong. They are known to make the most efficient weapons in Goryeo and are the major supplier of the royal army's weapons and armours," Namjoon mused, looking around thoughtfully, "although, I am not sure where they have all disappeared to."
Right on cue, a chorus of gasps and cries sounded from a few feet away.
"What was that?" Taehyung asked, advancing further, towards the source of the noise.
He led the group to the centre of the town, where hundreds of citizens had gathered around a wooden stand. A royal officer stood in the middle while an executioner dressed in all black hooked a thick loop of rope around a pole. Fear and anguish prevailed amongst the crowd, with some citizens holding each other for comfort, a handful of them sobbing, and others protesting in anger.
The group collectively jumped off their horses to join the back of the group.
"Well, we found the citizens," Yoongi stated the obvious, "but, what the hell is going on?"
Just then, another police officer walked towards the stand, roughly pushing a young boy who appeared no older than 10 years old, towards the stand. The boy's hands were tied so tightly to each other that his fingers had turned purple and blue. His clothes appeared like they may have been a white colour at some point, but it was smeared in too much dirt and dried dark-red blood to know for certain.
"We are gathered here today," the officer in the middle of the stand announced loudly just as the boy was thrown onto the raised platform beside him, "to discipline one of Donggyeong's residents for committing the unspeakable crime of theft."
Chaeyoung gasped, her heart aching at the sight of the poor boy and the sobbing crowd who were just as opposed to this situation as she was.
"Please don't tell me they are going to hang him," Chaeyoung whispered, her eyes widening in shock.
"This boy was found stealing a bucket of water from the royal supply last night," the officer continued, "the verdict for such a heinous crime, as supported by his Majesty's laws, is death."
Gasps echoed through the crowd. Loud complaints and protests drowned out the sound of quiet whispering and muffled sobs.
One brave middle-aged men yelled over the crowd, "please, he is just a boy!"
"He is old enough to know right from wrong," the officer barked out, not displaying an ounce of empathy, "now unless all of you would like to join him on the stand and face the executioner yourselves, I would advise you to remain quiet."
The fact that the entire crowd began to grow silent after such an empty threat only showed Chaeyoung how treacherous Mingyu's reign had become. His platform was built on fear-mongering and punishment. Chaeyoung's worst nightmare had come true and he had become the power-hungry monster their father had been convinced he would be since the day he was born.
Furious could not even begin to describe the emotion she was feeling in that moment – in which a young boy's life was at stake simply over a bucket of water which should have been given to him for free in the first place.
In moments like this, she understood why she needed to become Queen.
"We need to stop them," she stated firmly just as the officer dragged the boy onto a stool, beginning to loop the rope around his thin, malnourished neck.
She was about to push her way towards the front of the crowd when Taehyung wrapped a hand around her wrist and pulled her back.
"As soon as they look at you, they will recognize you as the princess and you will be the one executed instead," he said matter-of-factly continuing to assess the scene in front of them with his warm hand still wrapped tightly around her wrist as she stared at him in full on panic mode.
"Well we can't just stand by and do nothing!" she exclaimed, thrashing around and trying to free herself from his grip.
He finally looked at her at that point, his eyes burning into hers with an intense sternness, "I didn't say we were going to do nothing, but I need you to calm down right now and think rationally."
"I have a plan," Jimin whispered, interrupting Taehyung and Chaeyoung's glaring match and causing them to whip their heads towards him, "but it will include a lot of violence."
"Oh yes, just how I like it," Jennie smirked.
Within a few seconds, Jimin had assigned everyone a role and outlined the details of his plan. A few seconds later and everyone had casually made their way towards their positions. Yoongi stood in one corner of the crowd while Jennie stood on the opposite side, their bows loaded with an arrow and ready to fire. Jimin stood in the far back, a dagger grasped firmly in his hands. Right when the executioner had secured the rope around the boy's neck, he fired the dagger straight towards his chest in one smooth motion.
It met its target with a sickening crack and the executioner had slumped to the ground before anyone could even register what had occurred. Without missing a beat, Jennie and Yoongi fired simultaneous arrows, one of them piercing the main officer standing on the podium, while the other slammed into the neck of one of the other officers on standby.
A huge commotion ensued as the citizens screamed at the gory sight of blood and dead bodies, while others rejoiced at the pleasant turn of events, and the other royal officers unsheathed their swords and furiously searched for the source of the arrows.
Using the chaos to their advantage, Taehyung and Chaeyoung took this opportunity to rush towards the stand. In one strong slice, Taehyung sliced through the rope with his longsword while Chaeyoung wrapped her arms around the boy and picked his light body up effortlessly. Meanwhile, arrows constantly flew around their heads, taking down officer after officer while they focused on rescuing the child.
As soon as Chaeyoung had him in her arms, she took off on a full sprint through the town, dodging her way through the hectic crowd as Taehyung covered her back. Bodies crashed into her from all sides, pushing and nudging her in multiple directions as the citizens tried to protect themselves.
She glanced around frantically, her heart pounding in her chest as she noticed the number of officers that had spotted her and were charging towards them. But, the feeling of the little boy's cold arms wrapped around her neck and the quivering of his breath kept her pushing forward, past the crowd and back towards the empty town market
They had almost reached the market when an officer appeared from no where and cut them off. With the sharp movement of his arms, he swung his sword at Chaeyoung, but she managed to dodge him just in time for Taehyung to reach them. With one smooth movement, he wrapped an arm around her hip and turned her around while he moved forward so that she now stood behind him. And with one quick jab of his sword, the officer collapsed to the ground.
"Your reflexes have improved," he commented while wiping the fresh blood from his sword, and Chaeyoung could pick up on the hint of pride in his tone.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to respond because at that moment, several other soldiers caught up to them, the sound of their feet pounding on the gravel becoming progressively louder.
Taehyung glanced over his shoulder quickly before nudging Chaeyoung and the boy forward.
"Go!" he exclaimed as he gripped his sword tightly with both hands, "I'll distract them for now."
For a moment, she hesitated. The prospect of leaving him alone with so many armed enemies caused her heart to become unsettled and distressed, but the rational part of her trusted him to be able to handle it as he always did.
She held a vulnerable victim in her arms who could not protect himself nearly as effectively, thus, he remained her priority.
With one last concerned glance at Taehyung's tense back, she stepped over the crumpled dead body in front of her and sprinted towards the empty marketplace.
She had almost made it to the end of the market when several officers rounded the corner and charged towards them at full speed, torches and a multitude of weapons held in their hands. Chaeyoung's heart felt like it was going to explode when she saw the fire and the number of soldiers that had begun to surround her.
Slowly, she began to back away, tightening her grip on the boy and ignoring the aching sensation searing through her arms.
Luckily, Lisa, Jisoo, and Seokjin had dispersed themselves in the market as part of Jimin's initial plan and came out of their hiding spots just in time for a surprise ambush on the soldiers. Within a few moments, they cleared a path for her to continue running as they continued to fight.
The plan was for Chaeyoung to run a full circle around the market and back to the city center while the rest of the group intervened at multiple locations throughout her journey until all the officers had been defeated. She was supposed to meet Jimin, Yoongi, and Jennie right where they started, and they were supposed to find the boy's family and inquire about buying the town's weapon supply. It was supposed to be a simple mission and she was supposed to emerge alive.
But, Chaeyoung's life had never went according to plan.
Because at the end of the market, far from the rest of her group, and far from any help, stood one of the three devils that had tormented her all her life. The man who had left her to burn in the palace. The man who had torn her brother away from her and created a monster in him that could never be redeemed.
"Do you have any idea how long we have been searching for you, little princess?" Official Yang asked, flashing one of his most hateful smirks.
~{❀}~
A/N: Ahhhh I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! You guys know how much I love my cliffhangers ;) almost as much as my love triangles 😂 Please leave me as many comments as you can! Reading them always makes my days 100x better!