"Young Master, you must listen to me. There is only so much I can do for you now. Once we have stepped foot on the enemy territory, I have no power to protect you." The approximately 35-year-old man says, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"I never asked for your protection," Taehyung replies casually as he picks up a poorly crafted wooden bracelet from one of the street stalls.
"Please do not go looking for trouble." The man snatched the bracelet and placed it back on the shelf where it came from, "You are not safe here as it is. I'm sure the ruler is very much eager to find a reason to harm you so I beg you, please do not go and ask for an early death."
"The ruler? Ah! I was indeed curious about that. What's the deal with the king here?" Taehyung asks enthusiastically with a smile, a breathtaking smile that would cause anyone to feel at ease but having known the young prince for his entire life, not only does the servant not feel assured but a sense of foreboding rises up in his stomach.
'It's that mischievous smile again. Ahhh! He's definitely planning something!!'
"Young master, I'm not kidding. Digging up about this ruler will do you no good. He's a demon, a devil in human skin." The servant warns. A feeling of worry, helplessness, and fear could be seen etched across his face.
"You're quite funny Shao Lan. Only seconds ago, you were warning me about watching my behavior and you dare criticize the king in his own territory....?" Taehyung asks teasingly, wanting to bully the innocent servant.
He knew he wasn't favored but to think that he was sent to the enemy as a bargaining chip with nothing more than a servant. A single servant who could be considered just like him; useless. This was indeed a bit shocking for Taehyung. Shocking, but not totally unbelievable.
"I.... I indeed let my mouth run wild. My apologies...." A trace of great fear could be seen on his face making Taehyung want to bully him more.
'Who asked this attendant to be so easily bullied?'
"I'll accept your apology but only if you tell me more about the king." He pouted in a playful manner.
"Young master, I'm doing this for your own sake. The more you'd know, the more you'd suffer."
"Now you're just making me more curious. Out with it, tell me already."
"I guess it can't be helped. If I don't tell you now, you'd probably go looking for more trouble and find it out from elsewhere."
"Now you're starting to get how things work around here," Taehyung smirked in satisfaction.
"This country is ruled by a crown prince."
"A crown prince? Why not the king?"
"This..... It's just too tragic." Shao Lan spoke as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his reaction made it seem as if he was a suspect being questioned under threatening conditions. "This country indeed used to have its king, the supreme ruler who ruled this land fairly and efficiently. He could be considered a great ruler only if it weren't for his one mistake, the one thing he overlooked in his life. At his death bed, he realized that he would be passing on without any possible descendants to the throne. He only had one son and the king was adamant on not making him the next king."
"Why would he not be willing to let his own son inherit his throne? Was there any bad blood between them? And also, why would he have only one son?"
"He was an excellent ruler as well as an excellent husband every woman dreamt of. He had vowed to only love one woman in his entire life and even after the queen passed away, he refused to take in any concubines or marry again. But the queen had only given him one son, who, since birth, was the one and only crown prince of this nation."
"This makes it even more unbelievable why the king would not want his son on the throne. If he was such a loving husband, shouldn't he also be a doting father?"
"As I said before, this is just too tragic... You are indeed right, young master. If all was well, the crown prince should have been thoroughly spoiled and raised with the purest love and affection but this was not the case. He was born under an ominous star and upon his birth, even the heavens were angered. There was a prophet who looked into the boy's future and stated that he would surely bring misfortune to the whole kingdom and would be the reason behind the downfall of the whole nation. The king had always been worried about this prophecy, so much so that he even tried to take the life of the little crown prince but not only did he fail to do it, he had also accidentally taken the life of his beloved whose body had shielded the crown prince."
"The crown prince indirectly caused the death of his own mother?"
"A monster since birth, destined to bring misfortune. Now do you understand the reason why the king didn't wanna pass on the throne to him?"
"What rubbish. The little prince was surely innocent in all of this. Just a bunch of adults bullying a child, if you ask me. " Taehyung spoke offensively.
Unknown to them, there was already a stranger eavesdropping on their conversation, and once he heard this comment, there was an amused smirk on his face.
"Call it what you may but that crown prince is anything but innocent." Shao Lan continued ignorantly, "The king had already stated his wish, 'to not make the crown prince Mingyu's king. There would be no coronation held.' but the prince was cunning and was not foreign to such treatment from his father. Upon the king's death, the crown prince did not waste even a day before proclaiming himself as the new ruler."
"Oh, I see! He became the ruler without changing his title to the king.....?"
"Young master is indeed right. His father had only banned him from becoming king not from becoming the ruler and the situation at that time was dire, there was no other heir and so no other option left but to let the crown prince rule."
"This is just too intelligent. What happened next? What happened to the opposition?"
"There was a lot of opposition faced in this shift of power but it was all subdued by the crown prince alone. He personally beheaded all those who opposed him, striking fear in the hearts of everyone in the kingdom. I even heard that he didn't even blink an eye as the sword struck their necks, a cold-hearted monster indeed," Shao Lan sighed.
"The ruler has the right to subdue opposition, his way is just a bit too forward. What's wrong with that? The people only need to fear him if they are opposing him, right?"
"At first it was only the opposition he had beheaded but after a few weeks when overhearing one of his attendant's comments about that mark on his face, he killed everyone who had laid their eyes on that mark."
"Mark? What mark?"
"People don't usually talk about that mark around here, before speaking they'd shudder in fear. The crown prince is a mystery in himself, nobody knows what he looks like or his personality. The only way to recognize him is by a scar on his right eye. Nobody who saw it lived to tell the tale."
"But I'm still alive," Taehyung commented playfully.
"Ofco- excuse me!?" Shao Lan blurts out too loudly attracting attention from the nearby crowd.
"Keep your voice down."
"Y-you've met his highness, the crown prince??" He asks in complete shock, his eyes wide open, bulging out of his sockets.
"I didn't know it was him but now that you've said it, I seem to recall this certain person who had a scar on his right eye."
"Where did you meet him? When? Are you certain it was him?"
"It looked like it was caused by a sword, are my speculations correct?"
"Could be." Shao Lan shook his head, "Nobody knows the exact reason but there are two widely believed stories. One is that it was a cursed birthmark and had always been there and the other was the story of how he got that scar from when his father tried to kill him and his mother died in his stead."
"No doubt about it, the second one sounds more believable."
"So was it really him? Did you really meet him?"
"Instead of using the word meet, I'd like to say, we bumped into each other. It was only for a split second but I clearly saw his face."
"What...... What was it like? Was it as dangerous as the rumors say?"
"No."
'he looked quite handsome', Taehyung thought in his mind, not daring to say it out loud.
"Was he really ugly?"
"His looks...... I won't comment on them but I'd say this, he wasn't unpleasant to the eyes."
"You........ You have weird preferences." Shao Lan spoke with an unreadable expression.
"Well I'm the only weird one in our kingdom, so I have to live up to the expectations." Taehyung tapped him on his shoulder and kept walking away, leaving Shao Lan to chase after him.
"W-wait..... You didn't tell me, young master. When did you bump into the crown prince?"
"About 20 minutes ago."
"Oh....... W-what?!?!" Shao Lan stared at him with shock, "but haven't we been together ever since we came here? Does that mean.....?"
"You're right. You passed by him too."
"W-when??"
"You remember that stall selling all those talismans?"
"Talismans...? Ah! I remember! Wait..... That guy with the straw hat?"
"Yes. That's him."
"But how can that be? Wasn't he wearing plain white clothes? You must be mistaken. Why would that crown prince pose as a farmer to walk among the common folks? Not everyone is like you, young master." Shao Lan laughed nervously.
"Wasn't it you who said that the crown prince is only recognized by that scar?"
"Even if so...."
"This is his kingdom and he can roam around it all he wants, wearing whatever he prefers. Nor you or I can question it."
"But......" Shao Lan sighed, "Forgive me, young master, I seem to have spoken too much."
"You better watch out for what you say in the future. It's just as you said, we are in somebody else's territory, just like you can't protect me, I can't protect you either."
"I'll keep that in mind, young master."
"But~ something you said did catch my attention." Taehyung beamed.
"Huh??"
"Didn't you just say that not everyone is like me? And I do agree that I am quite different than others but now that we've come to the conclusion that the man we bumped into was indeed the ruler, doesn't that also mean that he might be like me?"
"Huh? Wait..... What are you trying to say, young master?"
Taehyung smirked mischievously, "It seems like I'm gaining interest in someone."
"Young master! You can't! You absolutely must not! Don't think any further!! Absolutely no!!"
"Let's go and greet the crown prince, shall we."
"Absolutely not!! Young master, are you even listening?? The queen told us to stay here quietly. We can't go looking for trouble. Young master, please don't run!!"