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Forced to watch his one and only love marry someone in a loveless marriage as an object to be exchanged for power. Made to marry a princess from a faraway land to strengthen an already powerful Kingdom.
A jester was not required in the court during the wedding, but the king commanded him personally to be present. He had no choice but to oblige.
It was evident that it was his punishment from the king - a punishment for daring to love, for daring to dream of a future with his lover, which the king deemed he was unworthy of. At that moment, he realised why the king had let him go after finding out the relation between him and the Prince - he wanted to see him suffer.
He stood there in his jester makeup, and everything about him was jester-like except for his eyes. His eyes told a different story; one of hurt, broken dreams and of an angel whose wings were forcefully torn away.
He watched his lover walk into the court with his soon-to-be wife. As they stood at the altar, the Prince dared to steal one final glance at the jester, and when their eyes met, the prince's eyes welled up, but he could not show it, not when the strict warning from the king, his father, that if he tried to escape, the jester would be tortured and killed hung above his head. The prince wanted his only love alive, so he stood at the altar hand in hand with a faceless someone, about to start a life where he would regret every moment, regret every time he was a coward who could not fight for his love.
He had the sword to fight for his love, but didn't have the crown and the power to choose his lover.
As he was about to avert his eyes, he saw it, a single black tear rolled down his cheek before the unrestrained flow of tears poured out from his jester's eyes. Everything was in order, his jester makeup - the wide smile painted in black, but nothing could hide the pain he felt. As the jester lowered his head, the bells on his hat jingled, and then his face crumpled.
It was the day the jester cried.
Taehyung had always enjoyed making people laugh, but that day, the king's smile felt too cruel; his laughs weighed him down.
Instead of laughing with him, the world had turned heartless and was laughing at him, mocking him for dreaming a dream bigger than him. Mocking him for wanting the love he was so undeserving of, because at the end of the day, he was just a court jester. He was just a clown. He was an object of entertainment, and nobody really cared if that object was really happy.
After the wedding, he was asked to perform in front of the newlywed couple. So he cleaned up his makeup and put on a mask, and he did as he was ordered to, just with a burdened heart, he performed with smiles and laughter, but none quiet reached his eyes. Most of all, he didn't dare make eye contact with the Prince like he used to do.
And that was the last day he performed as the jester. Taehyung decided to leave the place for good.
When the ballroom was crowded and drunk towards the end of the night, the prince ushered the jester into the palace's long-abandoned wing. There, he cried and apologised for breaking his promise to Taehyung. But the jester just smiled; he said nothing, but he knew one thing: the prince loved him wholeheartedly; he loved him more than life itself. So much so that he sacrificed his freedom just so the jester would be safe.
The Prince begged him not to leave, but the jesters' answer left him speechless.
"Your highness, if I am to stay, I would have to watch someone else live the life I once dreamed of having with you. Please release me from the shackles of your love, for as much as it pains me to leave, it pains me more to stay."
"Call me Jimin, anything but that. Please, I'm yours."
"You are not mine anymore."
"I am and will always be yours."
"Jimin, I must leave."
Jm wanted to kiss him one last time, but Taehyung stopped him.
"You are wedded now, soon you will have a kingdom to lead, so do not squander it all for someone insignificant like me."
"You are not, and will never be, insignificant. You are the very centre of my world, and I would cross the depths of hell itself if it meant reaching you."
"I know.......but you cannot. I will not allow you to. I would sooner burn in hellfire than stand by and watch even a single hair on you harmed."
With that, Taehyung gave Jimin one final forehead kiss and a single bell from his hat as a parting gift before he disappeared into the night, leaving Jm there to pick up the pieces of his heart.
With a heavy heart, the prince accepted the weight of the duties placed on him that night, along with the crown now set upon his head.