Chapter 22: Chapter 19

After a complete day of hiding away in his room, the next day, Taehyung finally decided to see the sun again.

When he opened his door and got out, the bright light stung his eyes for a few seconds but after the few seconds were over, his eyes adapted to it and he walked into the courtyard where Shao Lan was sitting and reading something.

"You know how to read?" Taehyung asked with a bit of shock that he didn't display on his face.

He already knew that this man could read and write but it still came as a shock to him and made him look at Shao Lan with suspicion.

There weren't really any personal attendants who were literate since literacy was for the rich and education made you aware of how wrong you were treated.

Some households were humble enough to let their attendants learn basic words but not everyone was that kind. If their servants learned to read and write, would they still want to work as a servant? Would they not see how many opportunities were opened up for them and be tempted away?

Shao Lan hadn't noticed the arrival of the young man so when he heard Taehyung's voice, his body jolted up and he immediately hid the book away and sat on top of it.

There was no way that Taehyung didn't see this but even if he saw it, didn't mean that he was going to call the man out.

There was always a time to do certain things and right now Taehyung just didn't want to bother doing anything.

He had only come here for a breath of fresh air and to clean out his thoughts. He wasn't looking for trouble or to uncover trouble.

On the courtyard was an old tree that still bore fruits, yet since it was winter, there was no fruit seen on it but even in winters with no fruit, it looked as beautiful as ever due to the soft pink coloured flowers that covered it like leaves. It was winter and the snow that hung on it had already melted away. Under the tree was a stone table that was a bit damp but Taehyung didn't seem to care as he lied down on it.

For some reason, he really liked this seat. If you lied down here, you could see the sun peeking out at you from in between the flowers and it was somehow really calming. There was a small pond encircling the huge sakura tree and inside this pond were fishes and water lilies.

This was indeed a really soothing and calming place but Taehyung would never want to sleep here cause if he did, he was sure that he would toss and turn, resulting to him waking up while drowning in the pond.

"I learned it... Just a bit." Shao Lan answered but although it wasn't exactly true, it wasn't exactly a lie either.

Taehyung side eyed the man as he lay on the damp seat, looking up at the sun that was visible through the branches filled with pink blossoms.

Shao Lan thought the young man would question him further but a minute of silence passed and he sighed in relief as he understood that Taehyung wasn't looking to continue the conversation.

Shao Lan seemed to want to ask something but before the words could roll out of his tongue, he gulped it back down as he heard the young man speaking up.

"Say. I have a question," Taehyung spoke with a blank face, "Let's say that you gifted someone something. Maybe a hairpin or something like that."

"Young master, I'm poor. I will never waste money like that." Shao Lan cut in between as he answered honestly while rubbing his neck.

"..." Taehyung looked at the man and contemplated on whether to kill him or not, "Imagine. Okay? Just imagine that you did."

"But I can't imagine that, young master. I don't have money so I don't know what that is like."

"..." Taehyung didn't know if this man was doing it on purpose or not but no matter what it was, he was annoyed.

He was here for advice, not to hear if his attendant was rich or stingy.

"I'll give you money! Okay? I'll give you money so that you can buy something for someone."

"Young master, if you give me money, I would want to save it to spend on myself. Why would I give it away to someone else?" Shao Lan titled his head as he asked innocently.

Taehyung took a deep breath in as he calmed himself down, "I'll really kill you if you keep the money to yourself. Spend it on someone!"

Shao Lan gulped and stayed silent for a minute but his silence didn't last long as he once again spoke up, "Are you giving me money, Young master?"

Taehyung ignored the man and continued his question, "Let's say that I gave you money and now you're rich. You decided to buy something for someone with that money. Probably a hairpin."

"But-" Shao Lan was ready to once again cut in between but this time, Taehyung was faster.

"Don't interrupt me." Taehyung scolded and tried to pick up from where he left off at, "You probably want them to treasure it, but one day you go over to their house and find that they have thrown it away carelessly and you find it under their bedside table. What would you feel?"

Shao Lan was silent as he heard this question. He seemed to be thinking about the most appropriate answer that he would be choosing. He really thought that this was a tricky question and the young master was trying to test his intelligence.

"Why am I looking under the person's bedside table?"

"Huh?" Taehyung was taken back to hear the response.

"It would seem a bit weird for me to snoop around the person's room, don't you think so?"

Taehyung was speechless as he heard this but he had to say something, "Let's say that you came across it by mistake. You fell over and saw something lying there so you picked it up and found that it was the hairpin that you gifted. Would you be angry? Disheartened? Disappointed?"

"Isn't that to be expected?" Shao Lan answered without wasting any time, "I spent the money you gave me so of course, I would feel disappointed. This is why I said that I would rather spend it on myself than buy a useless hairpin for someone else."

"I should be beaten..." Taehyung sighed.

"Eh?" Shao Lan had no idea what any of this was about and so he naturally didn't see anything wrong with his response.

Taehyung shook his head and didn't say anything any further.

He should be the one beaten for asking this stupid attendant who loved money so much.

But sadly,  he had nobody else to ask.

If he was back in his country, he would've asked his brother and taken his opinion on it but he was truly alone in this country, with not many people he trusted.

If there was someone he trusted wholly in this country, it was the crown prince and since the question was already about the crown prince, there was no way he could just go and ask the man about it.

What would he be asking?

Are you mad?

Do you feel disappointed in me?

Are you disheartened?

Yesterday, Taehyung picked up the hairpin and read the letter that said a single sentence.

'I found this under the table. Take better care of it.'

Taehyung was shocked and embarrassed. This was the hairpin that the crown prince had personally bought for him and he was so careless with it.

It wasn't that he wasn't taking care of it or disliked it and on the contrary, he loved it a bit too much. So much that he would not even want to wear it in fear of it getting lost. This hairpin was always hidden away in his sleeve so he really didn't know how it ended up falling under the table.

When he thought more about it, he could only come up with one thing. That this hairpin had fallen off when he was sick. He hardly remembered all the ruckus he caused so it came as no shock that the hairpin had fallen off at that time.

The worst thing was that this hairpin was found by Yoongi before him and it was embarrassing.

Taehyung was worried.

What was the crown prince thinking about him now?

Did he hate Taehyung for it?

When Taehyung imagined himself in Yoongi's shoes, he was annoyed because if it was the other way around and if he was the one who found the hairpin he gifted to be discarded like that, he would have been angry and disappointed.

The whole day, he had been worried about this. He didn't know how to face the crown prince anymore and it was a bit shocking that even Taehyung could feel this way.

What had happened to his shameless self that was able to handle almost anything?

Taehyung tossed and turned the whole night, getting hardly any sleep as he worried about this and yet he was still not ready to give an answer to the crown prince.

He felt disheartened because he was sure that the crown prince would not even ask about it.

Even if Yoongi felt angry or disappointed, he would never show it and instead, he would just laugh it off as if it were something normal and this really hurt Taehyung.

This made him feel like an outsider. As if he wasn't someone special to the man and he would never be able to break down the high walls the crown prince had built around himself.

Shao Lan could not understand what his young master was so worried about but he was a curious soul and wanted to dig out the secrets this man was trying so desperately to hide from him.

Suddenly, maybe it was a stroke of intelligence when Shao Lan asked, "Did you give someone a hairpin? If not, did someone give it to you?"

Taehyung was taken back to hear this as he never thought this man could be so sharp, "N-no way," He stuttered out.

When Shao Lan saw the man trying to lie, he smiled, feeling proud of himself that he had hit the nail right where he wanted to, "So it is like that. Did the crown prince give you a hairpin?" Shao Lan questioned again as he felt like that was the only possible explanation.

Taehyung had been sick for the two days and the only outsider that visited him was the crown prince so if he was talking about his own self, it would only make sense that the crown prince was the man who gifted him something and he had carelessly thrown it away under his bedside table.

"Stop talking nonsense. Why would he give me a hairpin?" Taehyung didn't know why he was lying so suddenly, but he was embarrassed to admit that the hypothetical situation was about him and the crown prince.

Shao Lan narrowed his eyes at the man as he heard this, his lips turning down in a frown, "Young Master, you can't get attached."

"Huh?"

"You do remember that, don't you?" Shao Lan asked and it was Taehyung who was frowning now, "You might have been sent here as a hostage but you haven't been abandoned. You'll have to go back one day."

It was like a bolt of thunder that had struck down on Taehyung.

He didn't want to go back but he knew that he would have to. That was his fate and if he tried to go against that, who knows what chaos he might trigger.

Taehyung was silent as he heard Shao Lan, but suddenly, there was one more person joining in on their conversation.

"You're already planning on leaving?" It was the cold voice of the crown prince that was hard not to recognize and when the two people heard the man, they froze up on the spot, both for different reasons.

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A/n: So that was what was in the piece of paper?

So if Taehyung has the hairpin, what about the evidence or is Yoongi lying about finding it under the table?

Is Yoongi mad to hear that Taehyung would be leaving one day?

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So yesterday I was mapping out my plan for the next few months and there is a writing competition (on webnovel) I will be joining around April.

For that competition, I have decided to write a masterpiece lol XD

What does that have to do with this book?

Well... I'm planning on freeing up my work around that time so that I can focus on my masterpiece.

Don't be alarmed.

What I'm about to say next isn't something bad. In fact, I'm giving you exciting news.

Since we are 19 chapters in and 2/3 of the story (or more) is left, with weekly updates, it will take us more than five months to complete this book and I want to complete it before April.

It's a bit sad when I think about this book ending but sadly, all good things come to an end. ಥ_ಥ

(Btw, April marks the end of volume 1. We would still have tasty and funny extra chapter after that. The release date of volume two would not be far away, but volume 2 will be shorter than volume 1)

By now, you guys might have already guessed what I'm about to say next.

Your guesses are correct

🎊🎊

We will be having a new updating schedule.

Right now, I'm planning on having 2 chapters per week but I haven't yet decided the days.

*Terms and conditions applied.🙈

*This might not  be a fixed schedule cause I might even pump it up to 3 per week if I feel like it's necessary.

But for now, we are only going to be at 2 per week.

So where is the schedule?

The schedule will be posted with the next update which is on 25 Jan, 2021.

∆

With all that said,

I would like to end my blabbering by thanking all the angels that read this novel✨

Thank you for reading.

Have a nice day 💜💜

Eat healthy, stay hydrated, stay safe and remember that this author loves you

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