Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a happy day.
It is; for his parents that is.
The Second Prince of Serenia , Park Jimin turned twenty-one years old today.
He was supposed to be celebrating it — enjoying it.
His coming of age ceremony.
But, his parents — the current ruling King Park Jaehwan and Queen Choi Minhi of Serenia , had some other plans. The plans included the Second Prince without his knowledge or consent. The plans were made even before he was born. The plans he was despising with every fiber in his being.
The plans of sending Jimin away to another kingdom — the one where his so-called betrothed resided.
Jimin is furious. Not only has he been promised to some arrogant Crown Prince of a Kingdom, without his approval but the fact — the truth of his betrothal — was well hidden from him for the past 21 years of his life.
His coming of age ceremony was supposed to be one of the most important and happiest moments of his life but–
–it all reduced to him gaining the knowledge of having a betrothed.
Apparently, the Kingdoms — Serenia and Eira were at war with each other. To cease the war and as a peace treaty, the Crown Prince of Eira and the Second Prince of Serenia were promised to each other in the hopes of bringing peace and prosperity to both of these lands. Jimin was in his mother’s womb at that time and his father, King Park Jaehwan was quite adamant about not sacrificing his elder son, the Crown Prince of Serenia — Prince Namjoon. And evidently so, the King of Eira, Min Yeong Cheol accepted the condition in order to form a truce between the two lands.
Jimin wonders, if he was really so disposable for his father that even before he was born, he was offered up for a mere pact.
He scoffs.
Of course, he was. Truly, his father was never affectionate towards him. But he never really understood why and now he is at a point that he doesn’t even want to know. It will probably hurt him more than he could ever imagine.
He wonders if his supposed fiancé would treat him like a ragged piece as well.
His mother, the Queen informed him that in the duration of five to six months or so, Jimin would be set to marry the Crown Prince of Eira. The said Prince is currently being groomed to be the King and can’t afford to have distractions with him.
Jimin rolls his eyes.
Aren’t the Crown Princes supposed to be trained throughout his life for the throne?
His Namjoon hyung had been trained ever since he was a young child. Well then again, not everyone can be like his elder brother — a wise, humble, awe-inspiring man with a heart of gold. The talks of his intellect and bright nature are all over the five Kingdoms of Aroha — the tales and poetry seemingly doing no justice to him.
Jimin had always dreamt about marrying someone someday for love , not this — whatever arranged it is. But he knows that now — that dream is far from reality. His betrothed is probably an obnoxious crown prince, interested in just the throne and his kingdom rather than something like love.
He sighs.
“What has got you sighing so much, my prince?”
Jimin turns to look at the source of the voice. He smiles a little, “Ah, if it isn’t the Prince of Dilaria, Kim Taehyung himself.”
“Ah, and if it isn’t Prince Yoongi’s betrothed sitting right in front of me?”
Yoongi.
So, his betrothed’s name is Yoongi. Min Yoongi , perhaps? Jimin nods his head at his own realization. He didn’t know the name of his future husband as of yet.
“How did you know his name?”
Jimin asks Taehyung as the younger prince settles down on the four-poster bed beside him.
“I guess my chances of wooing you and taking you far away to your dreamlands didn’t bear any fruits, now that my prince has the crown prince of Eira as his betrothed,” Taehyung says, shaking his head. His stance, utterly serious.
Jimin smiles, shaking his head at the other’s antics.
“You didn’t answer my question, my prince ?”
Taehyung gasps, “Here I am heartbroken, and you want to know about your betrothed! How cruel could you be, Park Jimin!”
Jimin bursts out laughing. A moment or so later, Taehyung joins him too.
The prince of Serenia already feels so much better. Leave it to his best friend to make his mood better, even in the worst of circumstances.
Once they have calmed down, Taehyung looks at his best friend.
“How are you truly feeling, Jiminie?”
Jimin sighs, “I do not know what I am truly feeling.”
He felt angry once the news was revealed to him.
But now?
He really doesn’t know.
Probably a bit anxious, upset with the whole ordeal.
How does one feel when you discover that you are betrothed to someone you have never met, never even talked to?
He says as much to Taehyung too, who gives him an empathetic look.
Jimin knows that nobody will understand him better than his soulmate.
“Honestly, I don’t know Minie. You know how immature I was when my betrothal with the young Prince of Eira, Jungkook was thrust upon me because of our mothers’ friendship,” Taehyung answers his question truthfully.
Jimin thinks that he shouldn’t have asked this; seeing Taehyung upset over this — something he had no control over upsets Jimin as well — his heart aching for his oh so lovely friend.
Taehyung’s betrothed, Jungkook likes him a whole lot and sends him hand-written letters almost every month. But the Prince of Dilaria has not returned even one of those letters with a reply. Jimin is sure that even after a year of constantly sending letters and not receiving even one back might have disheartened the Prince of Eira a lot. He had said the same thing to his friend as well, but Taehyung had brushed it off saying that he doesn’t care.
(Jimin knows that it is a lie. He has seen how Taehyung doesn’t let anyone touch those letters and doesn’t let anyone know its content. He keeps them all in a safe box, away from the prying eyes of the palace servants and guards— preserving them like some cherished jeweled treasure.)
But the thing is Taehyung was in love with someone — his teenage love — who was exiled from the Kingdom of Dilaria, once the King Kim Taewoo – Taehyung’s father – have had found out about the nature of their relationship; if one can even call that. For a fact, Jimin knew that the stable boy, Jiwoon was just taking advantage of his soulmate being a prince. He had seen him flirting with some other teenage maids. He was enraged and had tried to warn his best friend, who believed him. But Jiwoon fed him some lies and then the Prince of Dilaria believed him too. Jimin knows it isn’t Taehyung’s fault — he was a bit naive and trusted people easily.
Maybe this was the reason he was so hesitant to return Jungkook’s letters, Jimin thinks but he cannot be so sure. They never talked about Taehyug’s affair and what exactly happened or Jungkook’s letters because these are sensitive topics for him. Jimin knows his best friend will talk to him about all these when he will feel ready. Now is not the time to open the old, unhealed wounds.
So he changes the subject altogether.
“Taetae, how about we go to the fair?”
“You mean the one arranged outside the palace for the festivities of your coming of age ceremony?”
Taehyung’s eyes swimming with sudden excitement and mischievousness. This was the look that suited him the best, Jimin thinks as he nods.
“Oh my god! I had been dying to go there but I thought you wouldn’t be in the mood. Okay, okay. We need a makeover. We cannot possibly take the risk of getting caught, again .”
Jimin watches him fondly as Taehyung babbles about their outfits as they need to sneak out of the palace. The princes are not allowed to go outside of their palace grounds unless given permission from the King or Queen and that too with a number of soldiers or guards at their service. But Jimin and Taehyung have perfected the art of sneaking out since they were teens — they loved going outdoors and experiencing the lives of commoners, even if just for a few hours.
Eventually, they get changed into their commoner’s fit in Taehyung’s chambers because it was near the entrance of the resident area. Once they climb out of the palace walls with the help of a rope, they cover themselves with black long capes — that will help them in shielding their faces from the people who might recognize them.
The road leading up to the main town where the celebratory fair — a festival for the second prince of Serenia is held, was crowded with people — children and adults all alike, shining under the lamp posts and additional lights set up to illuminate the entirety of the Kingdom. The city feels alive — blooming and glowing under the peals of laughter and conversations of the people; the stalls are decorated with so many items — accessories, clothes, food items, and so much more. Jimin is in awe of his kingdom. He sometimes wishes that he was allowed to freely roam around the city and let everyone know that they have beyond their capabilities and how much he adores this. But alas, he can’t.
“Wow,” Taehyung squeals as he spots an accessories store at the end of the street and as they start walking towards it, admiring other things in between.
“...and I told Jin hyung why would you want your younger brother to suffer so much in the harsh winter weather and do you know what he said? He said he is preparing me to settle in Eira in the future because everyone knows that the kingdom of Eira sees more snowy days than the spring ones every year,” Taehyung says, recollecting an anecdote about his elder brother, Kim Seokjin, to Jimin.
Jimin halts in his steps.
“But,” Taehyung turns to look at his best friend and he stops walking as well when he sees Jimin just standing there.
He calls out for him, which breaks the prince out of his reverie as he looks at Taehyung with wide eyes, as though he just realized something.
“Oh my god,” Jimin shrieks. “You have been to Eira before.” It was a statement rather than a question.
Taehyung frowns; had he not told those stories to Jimin before?
“Mhmm… yeah. I told you, didn’t I?”
Jimin comes near him and holds his hands; looking at him urgently.
“So you have met the royalty of Eira,” Jimin states rather than questioning it, yet again.
Taehyung was confused at first, but this seems to light the bulb in his head as he now, understands quite well what his soulmate meant by ‘royalty’.
Have you met the Crown Prince of Eira, Min Yoongi?
His betrothed.
And Taehyung has met him; calls him hyung even. Despite looking a bit cold at first, Yoongi is probably the warmest person Taehyung has ever met or talked to before.
(If he doesn’t count Jungkook that is; he hasn’t truly met his supposed fiancé as of yet. But his letters depict him quite a person with a warm personality.)
But, what fun it would be if he lets his best friend know about his betrothed so easily.
He smirks at Jimin, who is looking at him with eyes full of curiosity.
“Hmm… royalty as in King and Queen, right? I have met them. They are really sweet people,” Taehyung confirms as he resumes walking towards the accessories stall. Jimin follows him, still holding his hand.
“And other people?”
“Other people who, Minie?” Taehyung asks in faux innocence. Usually, Jimin picks up on his teasings and pranks but right now, it seems like he is too deep in his curiosity to care about that.
“Other people like other royal people , Tae,” Jimin huffs, as he puts emphasis on ‘other royal people’.
“I have not met Prince Jungkook, the one I am betrothed to, if you meant him by royal people,” Taehyung tells him as he inspects the rings the old lady is selling at the stall. “I would have told you, Minie, if I ever met him.”
He turns around once he keeps the ring back in its place. It didn’t quite catch his eye. He gasps when his eyes fall at the stationary stall just across the one he is standing at. With rapid footsteps, just as he reaches to grab the scroll and fancy papers that caught his eyes, someone else also reaches for them at the same moment.
Taehyung frowns as he tries to snatch the paper from the other person’s hold but the other doesn’t let go.
“Let go, I saw them first.”
“But I seized them first,” the stranger says.
Taehyung can’t see his face, he is wearing a cape with a hoodie too.
The stranger continues, “It doesn’t matter who saw it first, the person who touched them first gets to have it.”
“That doesn’t make sense at all! These are mine,” the Prince of Dilaria huffs.
The stranger tries to snatch the papers but Taehyung doesn’t let him. Taehyung is not big on fights, he thinks most of the matters can be solved by a calming conversation. But clearly, the commoner — the stranger has different ideas. So, he is not going to back out. After all, the prince is not someone who would back down from the fight for his dignity and his precious possessions; he saw these pretty papers first, so it’s only logical that he is the one who gets to actually buy it, right? Right.
Taehyung hisses. “No, you can have other artistic pieces of paper. But this is mine.”
And it seems like the stranger is not going to be the one to back down as well, “I am not giving these back, you can have a look on other artistic pieces of paper if you are the one suggesting it.”
The Prince of Dilaria is done with this attitude. No one — not even his rather stern and stringent father, has denied him of anything materialistic, ever. Before he could say anything further, his best friend interrupts him — holding his arms to calm him down.
“It’s okay Taetae, these are just some papers. They have so many other beautiful options as well,” Jimin tries to pacify him.
“But minie, look at these. They have sunflowers drawn on them and princ—” Taehyung halts in his words as he looks at Jimin, wide-eyed and panicky.
Jimin narrows his eyes at him. He knows something is up — there is definitely something that his soulmate is hiding from him.
“I… I meant that I love sunflowers and you know that, Minie, don’t you?”
Jimin nods his head, “I know, but Tae you don’t even write letters to anyone except for me and I am more than happy to receive your plain colorful letters with small, adorable doodling art of yours.”
The Prince of Serenia smiles at him, fondly. He had always loved Taehyung’s unique ways of expressing his feelings through letters — doodling and covering the margins and corners of the letters with them. Jimin has saved all of them; they are too precious to be thrown away. His best friend is more precious than anything.
“I know, Jiminie,” Taehyung whines. “But I just want to own them, I have a large collection of artistic items and I want to collect these papers as well. He can’t have them,” Taehyung reiterates as he points at the other person who is still holding the papers.
The other person tries to snatch those papers again, but a hand stops him from tearing them away from Taehyung’s hands.
“Hyung,” the stranger whines.
And it is only now that Jimin and Taehyung both notice another shorter man in a similar black cape that covered his face— perhaps the companion of the commoner.
“My little prince, let the papers go. You can find something else from the fair,” the shorter man says.
“No! I am not letting them go. He should let them go; he can’t have these papers” the stranger says as he points towards Taehyung with his other hand, just the way the prince had done some moments earlier.
“Won’t you listen to hyung, huh?” The shorter person says; tries to pacify his partner.
Jimin can’t help but feel a strong pull towards the stranger; his voice seems so calming.
“Hyung, please. He wants them for a collection, a collection ,” the stranger sneers. “And—”
“So what do you want to do with them, they are so pretty. Anyone would want them for their collections. If you are condescending my choices, then do pray tell us what do you want to do with these papers,” Taehyung interrupts him; his voice raising a bit.
Jimin sees how some of the bystanders pause in what they are doing to see the commotion going here; he can even see a few of the guards of his Kingdom roaming around the fair. They need to leave as soon as possible, otherwise, they can get caught.
“These are for my fiancé; he likes sunflowers. I wanted to write letters for him on these pieces of paper, maybe then he would reply back to me, at least once,” the stranger says, his voice hushed and much softer than before.
Taehyung inhales a sharp breath, his heart constricting — the stranger sounded so in love and so heartbroken. Without anything more to put forth, he loses his grip on the papers and takes Jimin’s hand in his own as he turns to walk away.
Jimin silently walks away with his best friend and turns back one last time, only to catch the glimpse of the surprise etched on the stranger’s well-defined handsome face. And how he and his companion were looking at their retreating backs. But before he could catch a glimpse of the shorter stranger, who he lets his cape down, Taehyung abruptly takes a turn at another corner to hide away from the guards he just noticed.
—❧—
Their trip to the fair was cut short when both of them saw many palace guards swarming the place. They thought it would be wiser to return to the palace safely before getting caught up in the middle of the ongoing carnival.
As they sneaked back into the palace, Jimin could notice the way his best friend was sadder than before they left the palace.
He knows it has something to do with the way that commoner was talking about his fiancé.
Jimin is also left wondering if that man at the stall and his small companion were even commoners? Because commoners do not like to hide behind such masks; they like to flaunt their precious new purchases and get discounts in the carnivals based on their familiarity with shopkeepers. The smaller one even called the other ‘prince’. What if they were really princes of some Kingdom? But why would they be here in disguise, then? But then again, it doesn't really matter. The man seemed to be really in love with his fiancé that he was so adamant about buying those expensive flower decorative papers.
And it made Taehyung sad. So those papers and sunflowers can be damned. And those suspicious strangers too.
"I want to be alone for some time, jiminie," Taehyung whispers as Jimin embraces him a bit more tightly. They are lying on the bed in the former’s guest bed chambers. Even though he truly doesn’t want to leave his best friend alone, Jimin understands what Taehyung needs— a bit of alone time to gather his thoughts and feelings. He would give him all the time in the world.
"Okay," he whispers back.
Giving a last peck on his forehead, Jimin moves away. Taehyung gives him a small smile— grateful for having understood him well.
Jimin smiles too, reassuringly. Ruffling his hair once, Jimin leaves for his chambers too.
—❧—
That night when he reaches his living chambers, a guard greets him with a letter. He is confused. No one sends him letters except for Taehyung from whenever he is in his own Kingdom. Then who would have sent him a letter, he wonders?
As he takes the plush covering of the envelope in his hand and finally sees the stamp on it, he stiffens, and his breath hitches.
It is from the Kingdom of Eira; stamped by the Crown Prince— Min Yoongi .
—❧—