Chapter 48: Chapter 45

The Crown Prince (Taegi AU)Words: 11633

"For who?" Taehyung immediately questioned.

Hyun took a sharp breath in as he answered, "For both of you."

Yoongi and Taehyung looked at each other before glancing back at the letter clutched in Yoongi's hand.

Yoongi gulped as he wasted no further time and unhesitantly opened it. He didn't read it out loud but he didn't need to.

The more he read, the grimmer his face became, and with just a single glance, it was clear that the crown prince didn't enjoy the contents inside this letter.

Taehyung bit his lower lip in worry when he saw Yoongi crunching the letter up.

"Let me," Taehyung took the letter from Yoongi and read it out loud.

"Your highness,

As I'm writing this letter, I hope you are doing fine and I hope my son is doing fine as well.

I remember sending my son to your country as a peace offering. For the future of both our countries and to make sure that the inevitable never comes into action.

My second son lacks manners and skills so I thought it would be best for him to learn all these things under your care, however, this didn't mean I had sent my son over to be betrothed to you.

You must still remember that he's my son. He carries the name and reputation of our royal family. No matter how useless he is, ever since he has been born, this has always been a part of his responsibility that he cannot wash his hands from.

I'm sure, you, of all people, know this better than anyone else.

The weight of carrying the royal blood is not a light one, but since he has been born with it, he would never be able to put it down.

For my son to marry a man... It's embarrassing and humiliating. If such a thing ever happens, I'm afraid the peace our countries are currently trying to maintain would be disturbed.

I, not only as a mother but also as his Queen, cannot sit and watch my family name be dragged through the mud like that-"

"Don't read it anymore!" Yoongi snatched the letter back and tore it before throwing it over to Hyun.

"She knew..." Taehyung mumbled in shock.

"What do you mean?" Yoongi asked with a bit of confusion.

Taehyung didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry as he realized something very important.

"It was all her plan..."

Yoongi's eyebrows creased together as he heard this, "What plan? That old hag is just senile!"

"No!" Taehyung immediately responded, "She knew everything since the beginning itself!"

Yoongi closed his mouth and didn't dare say anything as he waited for Taehyung to explain himself.

"When she sent me here, she already knew something like this was going to happen. She knew it and that was why she sent me," Taehyung mumbled in disbelief.

"You're overthinking it," Yoongi sighed.

"He's right, your highness," It was Hyun who spoke up.

Yoongi snapped his head towards the man as he asked, "What do you mean he's right?"

"Please do not be offended with what I say, your highness." Hyun bowed his head as he apologized before even starting to explain, "She planned everything from the start to the end. It's the way the letter is written. Could it be that your highness hasn't noticed?"

Yoongi frowned but said nothing to that.

"That's right," Taehyung confirmed, "She used the word 'betrothed. How does she know that when even I didn't know this a few hours ago?"

Yoongi's eyes widened slightly as he heard this.

"Moreover... That woman had only called herself my mother twice. The first time when she gave the verdict that I'll be sent here and the second time was when she asked me to obediently follow the verdict and go." Taehyung looked a bit conflicted as he spoke up and Yoongi who could sense a bit of grief in his expression immediately grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it in a reassuring manner.

Yoongi smiled thinly as he spoke up, "You could still be overthinking it. This doesn't mean anything. She probably has her spies in here. It's not difficult for her to find out about us and as for her calling herself your mother... She probably feels guilty that she gave you away."

Taehyung chuckled dryly as he heard this, "You don't know... You don't know her like I do."

Yoongi sighed as heard this, "And I don't want to. If you don't like her, I would naturally not want to know anything about her and I hope you can bury your bad memories related to her as well."

Taehyung looked at Yoongi with a face that could not be deciphered.

Yoongi smiled as he nodded, "Believe in me, will you? Even if she decides to attack us, there's nothing she can do against Mingyu. Our country is still strong enough to fight her off."

For some reason, there were tears in Taehyung's eyes. He was never a person who would easily cry, but when he thought about the dark future ahead, he couldn't help but shed a few tears in regret.

"Although it would have been better to get her blessings on our marriage, even if she doesn't want to give them, we can still manage, don't you think?" Yoongi smiled as he wiped a lonely tear that trailed down Taehyung's cheeks.

Hyun suddenly choked on empty air as he heard a word he never thought he would be hearing today, "Excuse me, what?! Marriage?!?!"

Yoongi pursed his lips as he saw this reaction, "Why are you acting so shocked? Are you against us?"

Hyun's eyes went wide open in shock and he was stunned speechless, simply staring at the two like a statue.

"Close your mouth! You're drooling!" Yoongi snapped.

Hyun immediately closed his mouth and gulped, "Your highness, why are you always so fast?!"

Taehyung who was crying just a few seconds ago suddenly chuckled as he heard this, "Hyun, why are you so slow? You don't even have a lover yet, do you?"

Hyun pursed his lips but said nothing. He was already choking on dog food and this man just had to remind him about it again and again.

Yoongi straightened his back as he clicked his tongue, "Taehyung-ah, since my mother-in-law has gone out of her way to write a letter to us, don't you think it's only proper that I write one back?"

Taehyung blinked as he heard this, "What type of letter are you planning on writing, Hyung?"

Yoongi only smiled as a response and said nothing. He turned to look at Hyun as he ordered, "Get me some paper and ink."

Hyun bowed his head with a "Yes, your highness" and left the place immediately.

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Yoongi curiously.

Yoongi chuckled as he rubbed the man's head, "Don't worry about it too much. I'm here with you, aren't I?"

Taehyung frowned as he warned, "You better not curse her out in your letter... Okay?"

Yoongi chuckled as he nodded, "You can rest assured that I won't."

When Hyun bought the paper and ink, Taehyung was not allowed to peek at the letter that Yoongi was personally writing.

He tried to sneak around Hyun and see but Yoongi still blocked it and didn't let him take even a  glance at the paper.

In the end, Taehyung pouted, crossed his arms in front, and sat cross-legged on the floor as he announced, "I'm not standing up from here unless you show it to me!"

Yoongi, who had heard this, chuckled, "Then keep sitting."

"..." Taehyung really thought he was gonna be spoiled to the extreme but it seems that he was still going to sit on this cold floor because of his own stubbornness.

Yoongi concentrated deeply on the letter he was writing with a small mischievous smile tugging on his lips.

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.

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Your highness,

As I'm writing this letter, I hope you are still alive and well. If you're not then you will naturally not be able to read this letter and if you are reading this letter, it means you are alive and well. That's a relief.

You should take some good medicine and rest well. Take good care of your health. I hope you can live for a little longer cause if you don't then you won't be able to see your son getting married to his lover. Well, in any case, seeing as you're not interested in attending our marriage, I dare say that I would not want to bother you by sending an invitation. That's also good.

It will save both of us some trouble.

You said you sent your son over for me to teach him some things? Well, you can rest assured that I taught him a lot more things than you had expected me to.

Didn't crown prince Hanyu report to you? He must have told you about how Taehyung stood up against him, did he not?

Your son is now great with swords. Manner and skills, he learned them both. He's brave and stands up for his own happiness. He speaks up about his feelings more openly and he learned a lot more than he had ever learned in your country.

Love, friendship, loyalty, and good relations, he learned them all and as for hatred, I'm sure you already taught him enough about that.

And please do not be disheartened. He's marrying a man, not a horse... Or would you rather have him marry a horse like your brother? I heard your brother once married a horse under the influence of alcohol? I was always curious whether this rumor was true or not. Now that I get the chance to write a letter to you, I'm very much interested to know if he did or not.

Lastly, I also read about your worries regarding your family name?

Once again, I'm here to tell you that you can rest assured. Although it is quite funny to hear you say that when your family name was already dragged through the mud when you sent over your son as a hostage. However, like you said, I, of all people, understand this worry and I also think that your highness is thinking too much into it.

Me choosing my royal consort has nothing to do with your family name.

It's my family name he'll be using from now onwards, not yours.

In the end, I would like to thank you for your kindness.

If it hadn't been for you, I would have never met him again.

If there is something called red string of fate, I'm sure that is you.

You are the red string of fate that brought us together and I'll forever be thankful for that.

However, this doesn't mean that I forgive and forget easily.

Even if I'm thankful to you, there are still some things that cannot be forgiven.

Without much reluctance, I would like to decline your last offer. I would not be sending Taehyung back nor would I be canceling our marriage.

It's a pity to know that your letter was useless, but at least we now know that you're still alive and well.

That's good.

I would also be sending over some precious gifts with this letter. Take it as wedding gifts.

With this marriage, our two nations can continue to live in peace and prosper.

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As soon as the Queen read this infuriating letter out loud, she coughed up a mouthful of blood and seemed to have had a heart-attack that needed to be treated immediately, but of course, this would be something that Yoongi and Taehyung would never know.

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A/n: I'm so sorry for not being able to post on Friday 🙇‍♀️

I already posted the reason on my announcements but not all of you found out about it so I'm here to inform you again.

I was sick and my sister banned me from getting out of bed (╥﹏╥)

I have a really low immunity.

I always try not to let such things bother updating but it couldn't be helped this time.

It's really a mess outside.

Every morning I open my messages, I find out that one of my friends or their family has come out positive in their covid test.

Hospitals don't have beds and have closed of admissions.

People are running around trying to find plasma donors and oxygen.

This makes me think that the world is really ending.

All I can tell you is to take care of yourself.

Don't get sick in such conditions and try to be positive!

I'm sure everything will get better soon!

Next update: 30 April, 2021

Don't skip your meals, drink plenty of water and get some sleep!

Remember that we're all in this together!

💜💜💜