Official Yul seemed to have quieted down as he heard that. His face turned white as he looked up at the crown prince in disbelief but dare not say anything further.
Yoongi smirked in satisfaction as he saw this reaction and in the next second, he stood up from his seat and went behind the throne to pull Taehyung towards him. In front of the whole audience, he pushed Taehyung down and made him sit on the throne.
The word 'shock' was an understatement of the emotion evident on the faces of the onlookers.
Even Taehyung could not believe or understand what was happening. He simply looked at Yoongi and blinked in confusion with his big dark eyes.
Yoongi smiled at Taehyung as he gestured for him to keep sitting while the crown prince turned around to face the court officials with Taehyung seeming to be hidden behind his back.
"Since you all went out of your way to gather here over nothing, I wouldn't wish to waste your precious time." Yoongi's voice sounded calm yet conniving as if whatever he was going to say next would make everyone regret coming here so early in the morning.
"It's good that you're all here! I was just planning on deciding when to gather everyone over." Yoongi continued as he let his eyes trail around the hall, landing on different officials who were all present, "Since you're already here I guess we can just move on to discuss something more important?"
Nobody dared say anything to that and it wasn't like Yoongi was hoping to get a response.
Official Yul huffed as he bowed in a manner that seemed to show respect and at the same time, it didn't look like he was showing respect, it looked as if he was 'huffing' out his frustration and dissatisfaction with the crown prince who indirectly called Daesung's death as something not important. He stepped back and went to his usual seat, alongside the other officials.
Yoongi saw him walking back in a defeated manner and he was satisfied with it, however, he didn't let it show in his actions.
Taehyung had no idea what was about to happen next, but since it wasn't going to be anything bad for him, he was calm as he picked up his right foot and comfortably tucked it under his left leg, sitting on the throne as if it were his own comfortable chair.
Yoongi suddenly looked at Hyun and didn't even need to say anything as Hyun bowed and walked away to bring something or rather someone in this case.
"For the good of the country and its people, I had sent my most trusted guards and soldiers to dig up the corruption that had deeply rooted itself in the heart of Mingyu," Yoongi chuckled as he walked down the few steps of stairs that raised the platform on which the throne was located, "I prayed that none of you would come out to have your hands dirty, however, I was disappointed to see the results."
All the officials had their heads down as they heard Yoongi speaking and walking in front of them, looking at each and every one of them as if they were all guilty of the said crime.
"I really trusted you all. I hoped that nobody here would have to be punished for a crime such as corruption. It's an evil that directly affects the royal reputation and the people of this country," Yoongi sighed, looking as if he was saying the truth when in reality he didn't trust even one of them completely.
"A crime is a crime and I cannot be biased in the punishment. The one who chooses to go against me should have already accepted the backlash that his actions would lead to." Yoongi stroke the hilt of his sword that was tied to his waist as he walked, "It is only fair that I reveal the face of the traitors and the punishment shall also be unbiased and given in front of you all to remind you that whoever goes against me would surely have the same fate or maybe even a worse ending."
At this moment, Hyun came back and behind him followed a girl that they were all familiar with.
Lady Mirae from the Hwang family had both her hands tied together as she was forced to come here.
Yoongi smirked as he saw her again.
Old Bastard Hwang who was sitting in his usual seat couldn't help but stand in an instant as he saw his daughter being dragged out at such a moment, "Mirae!!" He cried out in worry and shock, a natural response that he didn't even bother to control.
Lady Mirae had probably heard this, but she didn't even lift up her head to look at her father. She simply followed Hyun with a rather guilty and... dead expression.
Following behind her were two more generals, the trusted subordinates and friends of the crown prince; General Jeon and General Park. To everyone's shock, these two were also handcuffed as they followed after Lady Mirae together.
Another official suddenly stood up as he gulped and cried out, "Your highness, what does this mean? My son is clearly innocent!!"
The one who had reacted was Jimin's father who looked as if all blood had been drained from his face.
Yoongi turned to face him as he responded, "Don't worry, Uncle. Jungkook and Jimin have done nothing wrong and they have my complete trust."
This answer was honest since Yoongi really did trust them enough to lay his whole life on their hands. He had always thought that even if he betrays them, they would never betray him even if he were to lose his throne and royal title.
Prince Taehyung, General Jeon Jungkook, General Park Jimin, Yeowool, and Hyun were all people that were blindly trusted by Yoongi. If there was someone capable of harming him, it was also any one of them, but since they all loved him as their precious crown prince, they would naturally not try to harm him.
Official Park had his eyebrows furrowed in worry but since Yoongi had said that Jimin was safe, he still decided to trust the crown prince and sat back down in his seat.
Yoongi nodded once as he saw this and walked back to the front of the throne.
Lady Mirae was made to kneel in front of that throne and the handcuffs on the two generals were soon broken by Hyun.
Jungkook twisted his hand in a circle as he bowed and thanked Hyun. Jimin who saw the light bruise on Jungkook's wrist couldn't help but frown as he looked up at Yoongi with an accusing gaze as if holding a small grudge against the crown prince for being so childish.
Yoongi unsheathed his sword and put it against Lady Mirae's throat as he questioned, "Would you like to save your life?"
Before Lady Mirae could respond, her father cried out in worry as he stepped a few steps closer, "Your highness, my daughter is being framed!!"
Yoongi looked over and smiled thinly as he responded, "I didn't even state her crimes till now. How can you say that she's being framed?"
"..."
There was a small chuckle and it was from Taehyung who couldn't help but laugh a little as he looked at Official Hwang's face. That old man looked as if someone was forcefully gonna shave off his awful beard.
Lady Mirae breathed out a half chuckle as she looked up at Yoongi and spoke, "Your highness, everything I do is for this country and its people. Not even my family can make my beliefs waver even for a second."
Yoongi smiled in satisfaction as he heard this.
He had originally thought that Lady Mirae would try to pull his leg instead of listening to him, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that just as this woman had promised, she really got ready to throw her family into the fire to save her own life.
"I, Lady Hwang Mirae, henceforth gives my word that whatever I'm about to say next is completely true, unbiased and as raw as it could be," She spoke up, her voice containing within it no feelings whatsoever, "My father, Offical Hwang is a good man who loves his children and wife, but for his country, he had sadly not been as loyal."
Yoongi put his sword down as he heard her continue. This was exactly the favor he had asked her and expected for her to fail in completing. If she had failed to uncover her father's facade, Yoongi would have surely killed her on the spot, but since she already decided to help him, maybe he could let her live for a little longer.
"Nobody in our family has been aware of the affairs he had dealt with under the desk. Your highness was the one who told me to look into it and sadly, no matter how much I prayed for my father to be innocent, I still got to see a side of him that I never thought I would."
Yoongi couldn't help but think that this Lady Mirae ought to be an actress. She was a bit too good at this!
Acting as if she didn't know anything and was devasted to uncover the truth; she played this role a bit too well.
"For the last five years, he had been embezzling money through heavy unofficial taxes placed on the people. He wasn't alone. There were a lot of small and higher ranked officials who knew what he was doing and joined him. They sought personal gain and splashed mud on the royal tax verdict." Lady Mirae sighed as a fake tear trailed down her face, "When he saw that his wrongdoings would be uncovered-"
"Mirae!! Stop it!" It was her father who had cried out, his face red with anger as he glared at his daughter whom he was worried about just a few minutes ago, "Why are you lying?!"
Yoongi turned to face Old Hwang and the man immediately shut up.
Lady Mirae gulped as she closed her eyes and started once again, "When he saw that his wrongdoings would be uncovered, he, along with the other higher-ranked officials forced the smaller officials to take the blame and.... Sent private assassins to kill them."
Nobody knew who had gasped, but after one had reacted, the rest would also follow. The officials whispered among themselves and the atmosphere became a bit noisy, making Lady Mirae grow a bit annoyed as she waited for them to shut up so that she could continue her acting.
Did they think acting like this was easy or something?! She was just getting into the mood and it was already ruined!!
"Silence!" Yoongi ordered as he glanced at the officials once before turning back to look at Lady Mirae.
"Aiya! You said so much, but how come you know so much when you were completely unaware before this? How can we believe that you're not lying when you say that you were not involved?" It was Taehyung who had spoken up as he shifted in his seat.
Everyone suddenly turned their heads to look at him with a complicated expression on their face and their gazes soon shifted towards the crown prince who.... chuckled!!!
Lady Mirae smiled thinly as she silently gritted her teeth, "The royal consort can rest assured, I was definitely unaware of all the evils my father had done behind everyone's back."
Taehyung suddenly smiled brightly as he heard the woman referring to him as the 'royal consort'. He nodded in satisfaction as he spoke up, "Then please continue."
"..."
Everyone looked at the crown prince with the same thoughts running through their mind: Your highness, you're really going to let that hostage say anything he wants...?! Don't be smitten by beauty!!
______________________________________
A/n: Sadly for them, the crown prince is already smitten by the beauty XD
Happy late Easter guys! â¨
Wah~ We are already at chapter 40~
I knew I wouldn't be able to wrap volume 1 in 40 chapters ಡ Í Ê à²¡
But I'm sure that we'll be able finish volume 1 this month.
I still need to decide on a date for the release date of volume 2 which brings me to my next topic of discussion...
When are your birthdays coming up now?
I'll just choose a reader's birthday as the release date for volume 2 ð¥³
With that being said,
Have a great day!!
Don't forget to take care of yourself. Eat healthy and tasty food, drink plenty of water and remember that this author loves yaðð