“Is that all you got hyung?” Taehyung teased as the two of us practised with our swords. He was confident and teasing as usual. I chuckled as I sidestepped, turned and came from behind, tapping at his arm.
“Little brother don’t get so confident. Overconfidence can get you killed,” I replied, to which he only chuckled slightly. He stepped back and ran his hand through his wet hair.
The two of us had been practising our defence and offence with a sword for quite some time. The weather was warm so both of us were covered in sweat.
“I know hyung, you’ve told me many times,” he said, showing that boxy smile. I rolled my eyes, shook my head and struck again, taking him by surprise. He gasped as our wooden swords clanged against each other.
We moved together as if in dance as we predicted each other’s moves. Taehyung had always been good, especially since he was always so quick on his feet and quick with his mind. Taehyung jumped, surprising me as I took a step back, just as his sword hit my arm.
I smiled as I lowered myself and used my foot to try and trip him. He jumped and smirked, raising one eyebrow at me, almost as if challenging me. I returned the smirk and swept my foot in the opposite direction, successfully managing to trip Taehyung.
Taehyung fell on his ass as he looked at me, still smiling. I approached him and gave him my hand. “Thanks, hyung,” he said as he grabbed my hand, but before I could stop him, he pulled me to the ground next to him. I laughed as both of us ended up laying on our backs, staring at the ceiling.
“Do you remember when we were children? Master Sejin would train us until we could barely walk,” Taehyung said, still sounding out of breath.
“Back then we didn’t appreciate just how good Master Sejin actually is with a sword,” I said, just as the door opened. We looked up to see Namjoon and Hoseok walking in.
“And here we thought you two were training,” Hoseok said with a chuckle to which I rolled my eyes. I stood up, followed by Taehyung while those two crossed their arms across their chest.
“I don’t see you sweating,” I said.
“I was just at the palace library reading about Daegu’s sacred law,” Namjoon said but Taehyung scoffed.
“You mean Daegu’s flawed law,” Taehyung said, shaking his head. Hoseok and Namjoon both looked at him and I cleared my throat, not really in the mood to get into this particular conversation.
“We probably should go wash up, it’s almost time for dinner,” I said as I picked up the wooden sword and went to place it back on the rack.
“Fun times,” Taehyung murmured under his breath. I looked at him and sighed.
I lay in the wooden bathtub in my room. The water was piping hot, steam coming out and filling the room. I felt the hot water relax my tired muscles, but my mind didn’t seem to want to relax. It kept thinking about Taehyung. That brat always worried me.
He was always so spirited and full of energy. He always chose to speak his mind, even if it means getting reprimanded by our father and his mother. His mother is not exactly the easiest person to deal with. She always seemed to try and pit us against each other, but the harder she tried, the closer we got and that always seemed to make her madder.
I sighed as I washed my face and rubbed it before standing up. Water droplets fell off my body as I stepped out of the tub. I grabbed the piece of cloth that was used to dry up and I quickly began to rub down until I was somewhat dry.
I grabbed my clothes – black leader pants and a wide shirt, followed by a silken robe. I wore my shoes and stepped out of the room. I started walking towards the dining hall when I heard voices from the corridor. I stopped as I recognized my mother’s and Taehyung’s voice.
“Taehyung, darling, why do you keep being so nice to Yoongi? Why are you so naïve? He’s only pretending to love and care for you to make sure you don’t forget your place,” his mother chided.
I bit my lips and rested my back against the wall. Her words felt as if they pierced my very heart. It wasn’t the first time she said such words to Taehyung and it always scared me that he would one day start agreeing with her.
I heard Taehyung scoff rather loudly, “You don’t know anything. My brother loves me, and I love him. You’re the only one who is so good at pretending that you think everyone else is as well,” Taehyung said as he began to walk away.
I followed, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping but I smiled a little, grateful to have my little brother still believe in me. I walked into the dining hall just as Taehyung entered through the side door. He smiled as soon as he saw me as the two of us sat down.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. I couldn’t imagine it was easy to deal with something like that. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
“I’m fine,” he said as our father and mother walked into the room. Father was smiling but mother was scowling as usual. I sighed as I sat up straighter. The doors opened again as Namjoon, Hoseok and Seokjin also walked in.
Those three were some of the most trusted people for both me and Taehyung. They were like brothers to us, even though we weren’t biologically related. Father respected them as well, so much that he insisted that they would eat with us.
“Good evening your majesties,” Seokjin said as the three of them bowed in front of mother and father.
“Come, come, sit down and eat with us,” father insisted as he waved his hand towards the chairs. I saw mother roll her eyes as she sat down on her own seat.
“Soon enough peasants will be eating with us too,” I heard her grumble. The others sat down, giving slight nods.
“Seokjin, do you have everything you need in the infirmary?” father asked, turning to Seokjin who was the palace physician. Seokjin smiled and nodded.
“Yes, your majesty. Thank you for asking,” Seokjin said, just as the doors opened and the maids came in carrying silver trays with lots of delicious food.
“Ah food is here,” Taehyung said as his scowl turned into a smile. Food was always one way to get to his heart. I watched his eyes linger on one of the maids as she walked about, serving the food. I suppressed my own smile knowing he had a bit of a crush on her.
The maids finished serving the food and I gave a slight nod in their direction before they stepped out. We started eating, every now and then exchanging some words.
All of a sudden, the door opened and Sejin walked in with a worried look. He bowed down low in our direction before he turned towards father.
“Apologies for interrupting your Majesty, but I have some important news,” Sejin said. My father’s face seemed to pale, almost as if he had been expecting some news. He took a deep, shaky breath before he stood up.
“Excuse me but I need to go and settle this,” my father said as he started walking outside of the dining hall with Sejin following right behind him.
“I wonder what is wrong,” I said, my appetite long gone. What could have possibly happened for Sejin to look so worried.
“I don’t remember the last time I saw Master Sejin look so worried,” Taehyung said, turning to me.
“I know, even father seemed to have been expecting some news from him,” I said, placing my chopsticks down. “Let’s just hope it’s nothing too bad but we should still prepare ourselves,” I said.
Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome back. I had truly missed this. We start to find out a little bit about the Daegu royal family. We will be mostly dealing with 2 royal families and another possible one (the enemy one). We see that Yoongi's step mom is not Yoongi's favourite fan but the question is why? We see that the two brothers are really close to one another as well. I look forward to your thoughts as usual. They really do make my days so much better. - Tae's Misfit
"Royalty consists not in vain pomp, but in great virtues."
"Among the countless people in the world, two will find each other against all the odds and beat as a single eternal heart."
