꧁-꧂

She walked out of the ballroom stomping her feet. Leaving the vibrance and blaze of the palace, she reached the isolated meadow near the front palace. Her lips were still quivering because of wrath, fists coiled into an orb.

She stared at her hand in which Arthur had put on the ring with immense loath. She was thankful to the gloves that staved off the ring from touching her skin; she could not withstand that small piece of jewel, it was a reminder of that disgusting man, a reminder of his nasty grins that nauseated her.

She walked ahead where she found herself surrounded by embellished paths, hedges and stone tombs.

"No, no. There should be no gap between them; You need to try again. Think this way- see those two strands joined together? Assume it as a crocodile's widened mouth-" She heard a familiar man's voice from the back of a stone tomb followed by a little girl's giggle.

She took slow steps towards the tomb to see the owners of the voices and her gaze softened at the sight.

Taehyung was sitting on the meadow with a little girl and he was holding a quill and a piece of parchment on his lap scribbling something on it. A smile crept upon her lips witnessing the two of them. It had been a while she had not witnessed amicable happenings. She continued to watch the pair of a young man and a little girl with great affection.

"Do not laugh," Taehyung softly yelled at the little girl who was presumably about 4 or 5 years old, "Look closely, this is a widened mouth of the crocodile and the line between it is the cane. The crocodile was moving toward you to consume you but you put a cane in its mouth. There should be no space; otherwise, it will eat you. So what does it resemble? The alphabet 'A'. See, pretty simple. Now you try writing it."

The little girl took the quill and attentively scribbled something on a small piece of parchment with her tiny hand and returned it to him. A wide smile formed on his lips seeing the parchment.

"Excellent! Now the next one-" He stopped abruptly when he spotted Y/n admiring the both of them. He quickly got up from the ground and adjusted his coat and pants.

"Y-Your Highness, Y-You are here?" He stammered.

"Yes, why? Can I not be here, sir Kim?" She returned him an uncertain look.

"N-No-"

"So...I cannot?" She raised both of her eyebrows and pulled his leg that could not be distinguished by Taehyung. Y/n, on the other hand, found it amusing seeing him in a dilemma. She suppressed her laugh and looked back at him, surveying his anxious face.

"I-I mean yes, umm. Pardon me-" He attempted to adjust the words in his brain but they seemed to be messing up.

"Calm down, sir Kim. I do not understand the reason behind your anxiety. You are behaving as though I am going to sentence you to death," She said with a laugh; not a sarcastic one but a laugh that is always reserved for one's friends or close allies.

Taehyung stared at her with utter disbelief; she smiled at him. The first time he had seen her do so. No! Second time. But this one was for him. It was, nevertheless, a great triumph for him, that she had ever done anything as friendly as a smile for him. And a minute friendly act like this contributed to making things less apprehensive between them to a great extent.

After the awkwardness lessened between them, Y/n turned towards the little girl who was shifting her gaze from Taehyung to her repeatedly and sat down on her level.

"What is your name, little one?" She asked her with a warm voice.

"My name is Areum, Your Highness," She answered with a timid voice.

"Areum, 'beautiful'..." She muttered lowly, "So, Areum, no need to address me as 'Highness', alright?" She held her tiny hands and said.

The girl tilted her head as a 'yes' and flashed a lively smile.

"Where are your parents, Areum?" Y/n asked her as she saw her a little less frightened.

"They are at the ball, dancing, perhaps," She said gloomily.

"Hmm..."She just hummed perceiving that she possibly should not have asked that.

Taehyung was gazing at the two of them with pure admiration when he felt someone softly tugging the hem of his coat. He looked down and saw the little girl looking at him with her lovable marbles.

"Hey, Mister, you said there are still...25 alphabets left. Are you not going to teach me to write them?" She asked him with a pleading voice.

"Yes, dear. I will!" He said with an assuring smile and turned to Y/n.

"Your Highness, you are not attending the ball?" He asked hesitantly.

"No," She replied shortly, "it seems like my presence is quite unwelcoming here, is it? Sir Kim?" She pursed her lips and asked vaguely.

Taehyung's eyes widened and he shook his head so vigorously as though attempting to detach it from his neck.

"No, No. Your Highness. Your presence is always pleasant. It makes-" He ceased abruptly comprehending that he was on the verge of saying something that might actually make her go away from there which clearly was undesirable to him.

"I love your presence, your everything. I love you. Only if you knew how much your presence matters to me; only if you knew how much I yearn to get a glimpse of you, how much I wish to speak with you. Only...I wish I could say all these to you right now, without any hesitation...just- just STAY..."

"You are hopeless, sir Kim." She shook her head with disapproval. She could not accuse him though. There were a fair few things that were considered to be foolishness to anticipate from Y/n. Humour to be one of them, Taehyung indeed did not have it coming.

As for Y/n, she could not apprehend the things she was saying at that time. She felt as though she was going through a sort of haziness, like a fever that provoked her to rave things that made no sense. She did not wish to say such things; She did not share any such relation with him to have an informal conversation like this.

"I know, hopeless I am..."

"Nevermind, What were you teaching her? May I know?" She asked curiously.

"A-Alphabets, Your Highness." His cheeks put on a slight pink patch while answering.

"I see,"She replied and could not help admitting that she was, indeed, fascinated. Maybe crumbled by the way he talked, his tender stares, his simplicity...She could not help feeling a sort of affection towards him.

"Can I join the two of you?" She asked making him shot his head up at her way. His lips slightly parted as he gawked at her. A moment later as he grasped what she had just said, he could not help but flash his singular rectangle smile at her like a child.

༺༻

About one and half hours passed when they succeeded in making Areum write the last alphabet they felt as though they had gained any triumph. In those 90 minutes, they put their heads together to think of easier ways to make her grasp the alphabets; They came up with every childish and witty strategy that would help her to envision them.

"And there you go-" Y/n squealed cheerfully as she finished writing the last alphabet, "Excellent that was!"

Taehyung looked at her, his eyes could barely conceal his delight as his hopes soared higher. The words 'Happiness' or 'Overwhelm' were not enough, not enough at all to describe the euphoria that flooded his soul.

"Hey, uncle TaeTae, have a look at it, won't you?" The girl handed him the parchment happily. She had begun to call him uncle by this time without noticing that she was.

"H-Huh? Oh!" He was brought back to earth by her voice. He took the parchment and smiled brightly, "Well done!"

"She is a quick learner, isn't she?" Y/n asked beaming, staring at a delighted Areum.

"Indeed," He nodded; his eyes gazing at a cheerful Y/n with an undecipherable sort of happiness.

None of them did own the notion that someone was watching them with great contentment.

"I knew it, Y/n. If someone holds the ability to make you feel loved like you wished, it is him. if someone has the power to remove the agony from your heart, it's him. You two are bound to be each other's." Mary whispered to herself admiring the three of them.

She took a breath and walked towards where they were sitting.

"There you are, you two. I have been looking for you for ages, Y/n. What are you doing?" She asked urgently.

"O-Oh, Mary! Er- we were just- just sitting here." Y/n replied hastily.

"Well, that is what I am seeing. Quite of a significant task to do on your betrothment, that is. What will the guests think? That the bride herself is not present at her betrothal?" She said narrowing her eyes.

"We should get going now, shouldn't we? Mary?" Y/n asked meaningfully raising her eyebrows giving her a 'Watch-where-you-are-talking' look.

Mary shrugged making Y/n look at her with disbelief.

"Did she just ignore me? Heaven knows what goes on in her mind."

༺༻

The four of them reached the palace leaving the inky-blue sky and the decorated path.

Most of the guests had started eating and some were having lazy discussions. The musicians were still playing a sweet symphony.

"Wait here for a moment, won't you?" Mary said to Y/n as they entered the portal along with Areum, "And you too, Sir Kim. I have got a crucial task to do," With that, she left the 3 of them without giving them a chance to speak.

Y/n sighed and shook her head as she saw Mary scooting towards the orchestral troupe to stop the music for a while, that was what Y/n thought as right after that they stopped the music.

Mary climbed her way on the aisle and clapped a few times to grab the attention of the guests.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! May I have your attention, please? Excellent!" She spoke with a thrilling voice, "I urge the lot of you to stay where you are. Do not move! So, all of you are aware of the celebration that is arranged tonight; my sister Y/n Windsor whose betrothal has just occurred, a few hours ago." She purposely forgot to mention Arthur's name making him snort.

"I suppose you have enjoyed the ball and the feast. But, Since this is the betrothal of the heir of the Windsor clan, something unusual should be here, shouldn't it? To decrease the weariness? Henceforth, there will be a dance, not any usual one where you get to choose your partners. Here, you will have to follow a rule, no exceptions unless you are married." She said the last sentence with a feigned seriousness making everyone laugh.

"You will have to dance with the person who is right beside you or whoever is at the closest distance from you. No one will change their positions now! We do not wish to ruin the joy. I will be announcing the pairs. The bride and groom will have no exceptions as well. Now now-" She paced the aisle and narrowed her eyes to get a better vision.

"Ah! Sir Kim and- No! Not you, Sir Taehyung, I am talking about Sir Kim Seokjin. Yes, sir, you." Mary hurriedly said as she saw Taehyung looking here and there with his widened eyes in a funny manner.

Taehyung sighed in relief as Mary continued, "Sir Kim Seokjin with Ms Jeong, Sir Hoseok with Ms Lee, Sir Charles with Ms Bennet...." She called out the names of the pairs one by one.

Y/n and Taehyung who were indisputably standing closer to each other avoided any sort of eye contact. Y/n tapped her foot impatiently while Taehyung was fighting the urgency of chewing his fingernails but his limbs fell numb as he heard Mary.

"And that leaves Sir Kim Taehyung and Y/n!" She clapped, impressed with the outcome.

꧁-꧂

Ermm...so- things are a little weary here. But don't worry! The fun is yet to come though.

-pride.