"Greetings to your highness," Taehyung bowed down on his knee to show respect.
"You may stand." A deep yet soft voice came from the other side of the veil.
What Shao Lan said was indeed true, the crown prince wasn't accustomed to showing his face to anyone and there was indeed a veil attached to his headpiece, hiding away his face.
Taehyung couldn't help but glance at the crown prince every once in a while. The aura, this one man emitted was in no manner lesser than that of a king. He couldn't help but admire this crown prince.
'Impressive. Certainly very impressive.', Taehyung thought.
"I am not a man who likes to talk in circles nor am I a man with high patience." The voice resonated within the courtroom once again. "And I am certainly not a stupid fool."
"Of course your highness, This prince is well aware of his majesty's greatness."
"Then tell me, why have you come here?"
"For that question...... I have two answers, one that pleases you and one that pleases no one. Which one would you prefer, your highness?"
"What if I ask you to tell me both the answers?"
"Then I'd naturally follow your orders and answer them both," Taehyung spoke with that never-changing soft smile. "I have come to offer myself to your highness. My services, my status, my excellence, and my body, they are all yours from now on, and in exchange, I ask for nothing but peace. May your highness be merciful and spare our kingdom."
"I'm guessing, that's the answer which was supposed to please me?"
"Your speculations are correct, your majesty."
"Spill it. What's the other answer?"
"........I'm prince Taehyung, who's here under the orders of the queen. Sent as a hostage to prevent our two countries from going into war."
There was a bone-chilling silence in the whole courtroom. Fear lingering in the atmosphere. Fear-stricken Shao Lan didn't even dare to gulp down his own saliva.
"You are lucky, young prince." The crown prince spoke up, piercing through the silence. "I had planned to behead you the moment you said something unpleasant to my ears. But both your answers are honest and pleasing, one is covered with empty flattery and the other is straightforward. Congratulations."
"I'm delighted to gain your kindness, your majesty."
"Rest assured, If I haven't killed you yet, it means I have no plan of killing you even in the near future so words like hostage...... There's no need for such a title."
"Thank you." Taehyung bowed down
"But remember this. If I came to know that your mission here was to plot against me, I wouldn't blink an eye before beheading you with my own sword."
"This prince is well aware and would not even dare of thinking about such things."
"Ah! And please change the way you address yourself."
"Eh......? Sorry but I don't understand what your highness is referring to?"
"You are no longer the prince of your kingdom. Naturally, I would not make you give up your title and live an ordinary life as my citizen, that would be too disrespectful."
"Then... What is my lord suggesting?"
Only a sharp sound of a sword being unsheathed was heard before Taehyung felt something heavy being placed on his shoulders.
"From today onwards, I proclaim you as the prince of this land, Prince Taehyung of the great Mingyu kingdom."
This was certainly a scene no one had pictured.
It came as a huge shock not only to Shao Lan but also to Taehyung.
After a momentary silence, Taehyung spoke up, "This fool is not worth your majesty's concerns. Please forgive me for asking but may I know why your highness is showing me such grace?"
"If you know you're being favored, why not just accept it instead of questioning my reasons?" The crown prince spoke with a faint sense of irritation.
Before Taehyung could react, a hand had reached out to him, holding his chin and pushing it up to look at him. Taehyung stared in a daze at the face hidden behind the veil. The material of the thin cloth acted as a barrier between the two but the face behind it was not completely hidden, he could still make out the soft features on the other's face. He stared back at the pair of eyes that seemed to shine, making his heartbeat quicken. These were the threatening pair of eyes that were rumored to kill anyone who saw them, but at this moment, not only did they not hold any hostility but to Taehyung, these pair of eyes seemed more beautiful and innocent than any great treasure he had ever laid his eyes upon.
"Can't make you an ordinary citizen. Can't put you in jail. Promised to not kill you just a few minutes ago. Refusing to accept the title of a prince...... Would you rather I give you the title of my consort?"
"....." at a loss for words, Taehyung stared at him with a calm outer appearance, his heart beating at an alarming rate.
"....." This..... Must be a joke......? Right......? Shao Lan used all his courage to lift his eyes off the ground and looked at this rare unexpected occurrence. What he saw shocked him even more, making him shiver at the sight. He had never in his wildest dreams expected the crown prince to kneel down in front of this foolish hostage from the enemies, even holding his chin softly to make eye contact...
A sudden thought took birth in his heart but he dismissed it as bullshit before he could even ponder over it.
'The crown prince seems to be too different from the rumors, going as far as teasing me on the first day itself.'Â Taehyung thought
What came out of Taehyung's mouth the next moment was even more shocking. "Then as the prince of Mingyu, may I ask your highness, Is the crown prince wary of me and trying to ensure I don't betray you in the future or are you just not afraid that I could pose a threat to your throne?"
The daring question everyone had wanted to ask but no one dared to voice out was asked by Taehyung in such a trivial manner.
"Are you a threat?" Rather than a question, it seemed like a statement that need not be answered. At this moment, everyone understood, The crown prince was not being benevolent, he was simply looking down on this person.
"Haha..." Taehyung chuckled, his face hard to read and his emotions, indecipherable. "It seems that the rumors do not do your majesty justice."
The hand on the hilt of the sword gripped harder, waiting to strike the person who was speaking.
"You are clearly much more charismatic and interesting in person."
"....." Shao Lan wished to be buried on the spot. Too embarrassed to look at the scene anymore.
'This does not seem right...... Even if the prince wanted to flirt around.....shouldn't it at least be a beautiful flower?!*'
Flower*- a gentle female
At the same time, the crown prince had already stood up from the ground and walked away, "I'm exhausted. Escort the young prince to his manor." He ordered without glancing back.
Taehyung also followed suit and stood up, staring at the retreating back of the crown prince, thinking to himself, 'Maybe my decision of coming here was indeed the best.'
"Please follow me, young master." A man adorned in an iron cast military suit bowed down before him to show respect and spoke. "His majesty has already made all the preparations. Young master would be temporarily moved to the northwest peach blossom manor."
"...." Shao Lan wanted to vomit blood as he heard this, His mind going out of control with no restriction on his imagination.
'peach blossom...?! What is the crown prince planning? Does he actually take our young master to be a princess...??? Our young master has always been the one to attract all kinds of misfortune, just what had he attracted this time??!!'
"Then I'd be bothering this official to lead the way," Taehyung replied courteously.
"...."
'Had he read too much into it,?' Shao Lan wondered.
'After all, the young master didn't seem the least bit bothered by it all... A foolish prince indeed...' he thought in his mind.
The man led the two foreigners to the said manor without wasting any of his time. The manor was exactly as the name suggested, beautiful with peach blossom trees on every corner and teal-colored roof bricks matching with the light grey walls, lively and breathtaking to look at. There was no doubt about it, this was probably an old manor made for a princess, but Taehyung didn't seem to mind it, after all, in his mind, gender did not matter when it came to admiring beauty. Men or women, in front of something with such beauty, both were helpless in the same way.
"May I ask this general, who was the original occupant of this manor?" Taehyung boldly asked.
"....Replying to the young master, there was no original occupant." The man paused, contemplating on whether to say the next few words or not. "This manor was built under the orders of the late empress for the future consort of the crown prince."
"...." Taehyung didn't know if he should cry or laugh in this situation, his cheeks flared up with the light visible blush on them, only one thought in his mind, 'truly embarrassing.'
"...." The light blush on the prince did not go unnoticed by his personal attendant. Shao Lan's heart trembled in fear of his guesses coming true.
It only took a few hours for Taehyung to settle into this new house. Although at first, it seemed like the crown prince had thoroughly wanted to embarrass him, with a cool head, he could now guess why the other had asked him to temporarily move here.
The crown prince had no other choice. He only had two options, one was to let him occupy this empty manor and the other was to let him stay at the royal palace. This was because there were not many empty manors under his name. His father, the late king was a short-sighted person. He had never thought about constructing manors for future purposes. Maybe if it weren't for the queen, even the construction of this one would not have been possible. Out of the only two options available, the former was preferred over the latter due to obvious reasons.
And it wasn't like this would be his permanent residence, the crown prince had already ordered the construction of another manor for him. Looking at things like this, Taehyung's heart seemed to be at ease and he decided to rest in the cozy soft bed for the day.
However, his personal attendant was too cautious and his imagination, too wild. There was no way he could sleep so peacefully for the next few days and in a state of panic, he had secretly written a letter to the queen, explaining in it all that had taken place till now. But contrary to his expectations, the queen had sent a short heartless reply, 'Don't be a fool. I had already made my decision. Taehyung is no longer under my command and can act however he wants to. You are forbidden to contact me regarding his matters from this moment on.'
Shao Lan could not help but shudder after reading this. A thought climbing up in his mind hastily, 'Was the young master really sent here as a hostage, or was there another reason behind the queen's decision?'.
He could not help but feel as if the whole hostage situation was just a cover-up and what the queen really wanted to do was get rid of this prince. He felt pity for the young prince, to be born with such heartless parents, the young master was surely misfortunate.
Unknown to the two foreigners, there was a fire in the royal court as a heated discussion took place among the ministers, all advising the crown prince to not be impulsive and to take back his decision.
'My head hurts.....', the crown prince thought as he closed his eyes and stroked the hilt of his sword with his hands.