A/n: Double update today because we are at the end of volume 1!
[Warning: The next two chapters are going to be depressing so keep a box of tissues by your side just in case (: ]
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A few days later, a response letter came from Gim.
This time, the letter was much more straightforward and demanded Yoongi to return Taehyung back to his original country.
Yoongi laughed and didn't even bother showing the letter to Taehyung. He directly crunched it up in a ball and sent it back to Gim in that state.
For the rest of the month, it was quite silent. Yoongi guessed that they had given up but how was he to know that this was just the calm before the storm?
Yoongi announced the royal wedding and at the same time, in the neighboring country, the king handed over his throne to the crown prince Hanyu.
Taehyung was quite delighted with this news and decided to directly go to Gim and invite his brother for the royal marriage, however his expectations were shattered when he saw that the country was still running according to the queen.
His brother was nothing more than a figurehead who quietly listened to the decisions of his mother.
Hanyu was happy for Taehyung and even blessed the man. Saying words like, "May you two live the rest of your lives together in happiness."
Taehyung smiled and got ready to go back to Mingyu, however, his path was obstructed by the Queen's men. He was forcefully taken to the Queen's manor where he met his mother after a really long time.
At first, the two were silent and awkward. Their relationship with each other was never the loving kind. Being related by blood meant nothing more than just that. Although their blood connected them, there was no love shared in between and hence it was only natural that the two didn't know what to say to the other.
Eventually, his mother caved into the awkward atmosphere first and ordered him to stay in Gim.
At first, Taehyung politely refused, however, the Queen was not happy with this refusal.
"I've never stopped you when you wanted to do something useless. You showed me how unworthy you are of becoming a prince and I never said anything! You disgraced me and my royal family name but I never reprimanded you for it. Throughout your entire life, you showed me how useless and incompetent you were but I never threw you away. I gave you food and shelter. You were treated as the prince that you were born to be! Tell me, did I ever treat you as anything lesser than your title?" The woman sneered, "No matter what you did, I held it all in and said nothing. I thought you'd have a sense of gratefulness but you...! You keep being a useless coward!"
Taehyung was silent with his head bowed down and his hands clutching tightly onto his knees.
"Till the end, I had faith in you. Faith that you'll be a filial son who would do the duties that you were born to do. For this country and for your own future, I'm asking you to stay in the country that you were born in! Forget about that wretched place and that senile crown prince! Stay here and watch it burn!"
"So what...?" Taehyung lifted his head. The tears trailing down his face were hard not to notice, "Do you think I wanted to be born as your useless son?"
"..."
"Why does everyone keep telling me what to do?! Why me?! Why?!" He cried out in anger and frustration, the tears never stopping trailing down his cheeks.
When the queen heard such a response, she gritted her teeth and ordered to put him in the dungeon. She locked him up in the hopes of not letting him go back to Mingyu, however, her plan was ruined by Hanyu who sneaked into the dungeon at night and broke Taehyung out of there.
"Hyung?" Taehyung muttered as he lifted his head and looked at the man in shock.
Hanyu smiled as he rubbed the man's head, "Go and get married. I'll take care of everything here."
Taehyung knew that there wasn't anything Hanyu would be able to take care of. The power still lay within the hands of the Queen and if she found out that Hanyu had helped Taehyung escape, Taehyung was afraid that even the title of the new king wouldn't save Hanyu. He was definitely going to be tortured by the queen for doing something like this.
Maybe Hanyu could see through the worries of his brother, and hence, he sighed before adding, "Don't worry about me. A few discipline whips can't do anything to me. Your happiness is more important."
Taehyung bit his lips and hesitantly pulled Hanyu into a hug, "Hyung, I love you. Have I ever told you that?"
Hanyu's face cringed as he heard this, "You're gonna make me vomit."
Taehyung chuckled as he heard that.
"Now go," Hanyu gently pushed him away, "As your brother, I have failed you a lot. I was blind and dumb. All I could see was the happy facade you put up. I never really got to know the real you and that'll forever be one of my regrets. I've failed you... I'm really sorry."
Taehyung shook his head as he sniffled back his tears and snot, "Hyung, you were the only one who ever understood me. You were the only one who stood up for me since we were kids. You don't need to say sorry about anything."
Hanyu smiled without any strength as he heard this, "I'm glad to hear that."
That night, with the help of Hanyu, Taehyung was able to run away from Gim. As expected, the Queen ordered for Hanyu to be disciplined using the discipline whips. Hanyu was made to kneel on the ground and not say a word as a thick piece of wood was whipped at his back with force. He took more than fifty of those whips and by the end of it, his clothes had been thoroughly covered in his own blood.
When Yoongi heard about everything that had happened, he was furious. The Queen had gone too far with locking Taehyung up in a dungeon!
Taehyung held Yoongi back and calmed him down, "I will not let my brother bother you anymore." He smiled brightly as he continued, "Nor will I let my mother interfere in our marriage. So what if they want me to go back? We can just ignore them."
Yoongi found his anger to be fading away as he saw the bright smile on Taehyung's face.
Taehyung, "Can a coward like me... Be able to walk with you?"
Yoongi hesitantly raised his hand and rested it on Taehyung's head before gently rubbing the man's head, "You're not a coward."
It was probably the first time in his life someone had said this to him and hence, Taehyung's body tensed up under Yoongi's touch.
"Having you here... I definitely like it," Yoongi gently squeezed the hand of the other. He smiled softly as he continued, "To walk the same path with me, it's perhaps our destiny, don't you think?"
With the veil on his face no longer there, Taehyung could clearly see the honest expression on the man's face.
They thought the future ahead of them would be kind to them, however, how could everything they hope for come true?
Meeting each other and getting the chance to fall in love was in itself their greatest luck in life. Wouldn't it be selfish of them to hope for anything more?
Another letter came from Gim and in this letter, the queen was bold enough to state that if Taehyung wasn't going to be returned, he would be proclaimed as a traitor to the country.
Yoongi gritted his teeth and directly burned this letter. As a reply, he simply sent a head and a note reading: 'Are you trying to offend me?'
The head belonged to the man who had come from Gim to hand over the letter.
The Queen was quite frightened when she opened the pretty gift box containing the note and the bodyless head covered in blood.
Shao Lan, who had laid low till now suddenly appeared in the royal court with all the shadow guards that were tasked to protect Taehyung. With just a single glance, Taehyung was able to tell why the man was here.
He kowtowed on the ground as he said his last goodbye, "Young master, it was a pleasure knowing you."
Taehyung was silent for a minute before he stood up and stepped forward.
Nobody could have guessed what happened next.
Taehyung actually kneeled down and bowed his head in a kowtow as he returned the greeting, "Uncle, it was a pleasure knowing you."
Shao Lan immediately snapped his head up, "You knew?"
Taehyung lifted his head and nodded with a small smile, "How could I have not? You're my uncle. The queen's brother."
Shao Lan shook his head with a sigh, "That's not it. Your real uncle died at a really young age. It was your mother who replaced him with me and raised me up."
"That explains your loyalty to her." Taehyung chuckled but didn't sound too happy, "My mother might not consider you like her real brother but I consider you as my real uncle. Uncle, I hope you live a life you won't regret."
Shao Lan, "I already regret a lot of things. Young master should not waste such a wish on me. I would like to give my blessings on your marriage but I'm not even sure if I'm worthy of it."
Taehyung chuckled as he heard his, "I would love to have you bless our marriage."
"May you live the rest of your life happily together."
In the following month, just a few days before the royal marriage, Gim announced a war.
This was the first war and it came as a complete shock to both Taehyung and Yoongi.
General Jeon and General Park were sent back to the forefront of the war that lasted for over a month.
It need not be said that the marriage had to be postponed.
At first, the war didn't seem to have any definite winners, however, after a month, the result was quite different.
Somehow, Mingyu had managed to win the battle, but they had lost the war.
Their army was cut in half and if the war had continued, Gim would have surely emerged victorious.
Yoongi frowned as he got the sudden news that Gim had retreated.
Just like that, the war that had dragged on for over a month came to an end with the winning side retreating for no reason at all.
Taehyung simply hugged Yoongi tightly as he reassured, "It's a good thing. Maybe that old lady finally had some brains gifted to her."
Yoongi was skeptical about it but when nothing happened for the next two months, he was forced to believe that Gim really retreated from the war completely.
General Jeon and General Park were injured a lot in the war, however, they refused to come back to the capital. They camped out in the borders and had their wounds treated there only.
They were waiting to see what their neighboring country had planned, but no signs of a second wave could be seen.
Even with the passing of time, they didn't let their guard down.
The royal marriage was once again announced but just like before, tragedy struck again.
This time, it wasn't a war. It was a plague that started from the countryside and slowly made its way throughout the whole country.
The people suffered and so did the army. The war had already depleted their military strength but this plague had affected them a lot more.
The royal marriage had to be postponed once again and this time, there was a rumor spreading among the people faster than the plague.
This rumor was regarding the marriage of their dear crown prince and his hostage.
The crown prince was already born under an unlucky star and the hostage prince was said to bring nothing more than misfortune. People started pointing at the two and blaming them for both the war and the plague.
The rumor said that the heavens were unhappy with the two and hence if they continued to go through with this marriage, the results would be catastrophic. Not only would they suffer but the country would suffer with them.
Yoongi naturally ignored such rumors and Taehyung was also unaffected.
The plague started spreading more and soon, the affected patients started dying one by one. Food started running short and people started to lock themselves up in their homes in hopes of not catching the sickness. There was no work, people were no longer getting paid and the situation kept getting worse.
Yoongi opened the imperial food storage and provided the people with food. Instead of fearing the plague and sending officials to go down and distribute the food, he personally visited the cities and handed out the food.
Taehyung also accompanied him and the serious effect of the rumor could clearly be seen in the way the people treated the two. They would take the food and praise their crown prince before scowling at Taehyung's face.
All Taehyung could do was nod and accept it with a guilty expression.
Yoongi gritted his teeth and told Taehyung to go back to the royal court, however, Taehyung refused and stubbornly continued accompanying Yoongi throughout the whole country.
If it had been just a person, it would have been easy to ignore or punish, however, it wasn't just a single person who was against Taehyung. Everyone glared at him with unhidden blame and hostility.
If it wasn't for him, such a tragic fate would have never befallen on their country...