Author's POV: 

You woke up, feeling your head aching a little. Getting up, the scent of an unfamiliar yet familiar surrounding hit you causing your eyes to pop open. You looked around and almost gasped. 
You were in his room. 

You looked around to find the maids standing there. They looked horrified as you got up quickly, "Um.."
"Her Royal Highness, you're ordered to freshen up and go to the King's court immediately." 

—Time skip

You quickly rushed inside the King's court to see everyone already present there. The King had a cold stone face depicting pure anger. He was furious. 
The Queen and Jungkook were beside Taehyung, looking down worriedly. You looked at your parents who had the same worried look on their faces. 
Taehyung looked at you and blinked blankly. Somehow, his stare reassured you but seeing the King again, you weren't sure if the reassurance would work. 

"Prince and Princess, you both have disobeyed the royal law... brought disgrace to the family and this traditional event and have ruined our name to the country. How shall I bring myself to judge this heinous deed?" The King's cold voice seeped through your veins as Taehyung walked towards you, looking at you before looking at the King. 
"Do what you've always done, Your Majesty." 
The King scoffed and glared at Taehyung, "You are a disgrace and everyone you bring together is a disgrace." 
He glanced at you as you frowned a little, your parents were dumbstruck. The Queen sighed, "Your Majesty..."
"Shut up." He mouthed to the Queen. 

You noticed it and looked at Taehyng to see his hardened jaw. He was mad. 
"You shall be punished. Both of you. But I'll think of sparing the Princess since she's only been here for 2 weeks and most likely has been influenced by her delinquent husband." 
You didn't like the way he talked about Taehyung. Taehyung's face showed no emotion and you looked at the King who whispered, "Emotionless b-stard." 

Somehow, you were putting pieces together now. 

"Alright. I'll tell the press it was my fault and I'm the b-stard. The King has nothing to do with it." Taehyung spoke, not meeting his father's gaze. The King glared at him, "Get out right now."
"Your Majesty." Jungkook spoke but the King glared at him, "You get out too. 3 idiots all in one." 
Now, this was so damn disrespectful. You let out a huff in disbelief, gaining some attention. Taehyung looked at you, seeing your distressed face but when you realized that your reaction was audible, you cleared your throat looking down. 

Soon, everyone was out of the court. The Queen didn't say anything to either you or Taehyung.
"Is she angry at us?" You asked him, "No, she's just... I don't know." 
You looked at him. Your mother was mouthing you to apologize right now, entering the King's quarters again but you ignored her, looking at Taehyung. 
You had the idea now. 

The King was a failed husband and father. You remembered memories from last night and now the whole thing had a summary. You didn't know the full details but you could now picture it.

The King had disappointed his wife and the 2 sons. Whilst the Queen and Jungkook still seemed to be holding well, this older one who you got married to had more troubles on top of that, causing his upbringing to become strange and that's how he turned out like this. You knew that much. Usually, children with broken connections with parents or close ones had traumas and insecurities. 

You walked beside Taehyung, wondering why he was so quiet.
"Let's go see the begonias." You said as he looked at you, confused. You brought him to the garden as you both were staring at the begonias in silence. You wanted to do something for him. At least, comfort him. 
"You're not delinquent. I once boomed a family function because mother didn't let me ditch it." You said. He looked at you, "It's okay. I don't need comfort, I'm fine." 
"It might feel okay because it's usual but that doesn't mean it's okay. You're just used to it." 

He looked down as you spoke, "I'm sorry. You had to be scolded for me."
"How is it for you?"
"It was my idea."
"I executed the plan." He smiled a little as you looked at him, confused. Why was he smiling so often these days? Just yesterday, he said that he didn't know how to smile much and he was insecure but now seeing him smiling, just a little though, still...
"Yes, I'm still not over that insecurity with hiding smiles. But, you don't count in the public..." He said as you looked at him confused.
"I didn't say anything..."
"Your face says it all." 

"Everyone knows we sneaked out. How will you explain this to the public?" 

"Let's see." He spoke and turned on his phone as you saw the comments with him. Unexpectedly, most were supportive. 

'Oh my god! That's so brave- and cute!'
'Imagine being so in love you sneak out of your wedding to spend time.'
'What did they do after sneaking out?!' 
'Oh no... what a delinquent move but royal weddings are just a show so whatever.'
'I root for them!' 

You looked at Taehyung who stared back at you, his face showing satisfaction.
"I'm surprised."
"Me too."

"Then, all I should do is apologize for this behaviour. Me too, with you." You smiled as he hummed, "Whatever, we can do that later."
"Oh, you know... my friends from the US will be visiting in a few days. And..ah, I heard we'll be going somewhere far away and beautiful for a honeymoon~" You cooed as he asked, "You sound happy."
You smiled, "I heard the place is beautiful. So it's good, right? I wanted to travel to Korea. It's been so long." 

"Yeah..." He looked down, "You haven't been here for 12 years." 
"Exactly. Ah, I thought it'd be hard to adjust. All that is hard is this palace. Other than that, life is nice here." You looked at him, not knowing why but just looking at him was a sweet treat. 
"Are you going to keep staring or join me outside?" 
You frowned as he walked out of the room. He knew too much sometimes. 

—At night 

"What's this dinner invitation now?" You sighed as the maids said, "It's by Mr Lee. he's a very famous politician and influencer in the country. So, the royal family has been invited as a way of sending congratulations to the newlywed royals." 
You sighed, "Woah... so what am I wearing?" 
They thought for a while, "The Queen had asked us to let you wear this if you could. This one's ordered only for you from the UK."
You nodded, looking at the dress. It was a white dress with beautiful patterns.

You realized how your outfits were changing these days.

From casual floral patterns to white elegant materials. Not like these didn't suit you, you looked stunning but this was new. 

You got ready for dinner, letting your hair flow into natural curls as your let your curtain bangs flow. You did light makeup and some simple jewellery went well.



Since it was winter, you took a shawl with you. 

You were waiting in the car not too later when Taehyung arrived. He sat beside you as the chauffeur started the car.
You smiled at him, he just stared at you without saying anything. You wondered what he meant when he stared at you that way.
He opened his mouth to say something but didn't. Instead, he whispered, "Your dress looks nice."
You chuckled, "It's from the Queen, thank you." 

He hummed. He wore a charcoal suit that shone. You could smell his scent from the short distance between you both and slowly leaned towards him, acting as if nothing ever happened. He noticed it and frowned, "Are you cold?"
You sighed, shaking your head. Wow, this guy...
He nodded and said, "We have to act extremely lovey-dovey there though. Otherwise, the controversy might happen."
"Why?" You asked as he stared at you, not replying. He cleared his throat, looking away. 



Upon reaching the huge hotel, you both went to the reserved chamber, while being the unpaid models of at least 500 cameras around. Many people were around, cheering and calling too. The Lee family greeted you both with the utmost respect and had you seated comfortably.

It was a round rotating table where the dishes would be passed by rotating it. Taehyung sat beside you, holding your hand, "You know about them right?"
He mouthed as you shook your head, "Only saw them yesterday night for 5 seconds.." 
He sighed and spoke, "Thank you for inviting us to the dinner, Mr Lee." 
He didn't sound as pleasant as he usually did but at least he said something. You wouldn't expect him to do that either.

There was Mr and Mrs Lee, their daughter and another one of some relatives you didn't pay attention to.
As you all started eating, Mr Lee started a conversation about some political topics you were sure Taehyung wasn't even listening to but he replied with, "I agree." "Yes, of course." "I've talked to the King as well." 

What did he even talk to? You sighed. He was such a great liar. The guy was straight-up gaslighting here without any hesitation. And you enjoyed the drama along with the expensive food. 

You saw Mr Lee's daughter glare at you a few times and were confused, not understanding the context. You excused yourself and walked to the washroom, bored by the conversation.

While you were washing your hands, you heard some footsteps approach and frowned. It was Mr Lee's daughter, Lee Myunghee or Lee Myunha... whatever her name was, you forgot. 

You were wiping your lips and applying more lipstick when you heard her mumble, "Of course, outer beauty doesn't mean inner beauty." 
You raised a brow, wondering who she directed it to but shrugged it off. She stood near you, keeping her bag on the sink, why even bring it? 
She washed her hands, and dried them while saying, "So... I've heard that Her Royal Highness has been in the US for 12 years." 

You looked at her, nodding.
"Yeah, that happens so. You can call me Y/N though... no need to address me that way." 
She tried not to scoff and said, "Of course. But, isn't that what I should address you? That's the title you get for marrying the prince."
For some reason, her words sounded a little prickly but you tried not to bother. You smacked your lips, keeping the lipstick back as she continued, "You only know the prince for a few weeks then I guess."
"More, actually." You corrected. Now, why was she dragging your husband into this? 

You closed your bag, ready to leave when you heard her say, "What a lousy woman he married. I was a better choice." 

You turned your head around at the statement as she looked at you, pretending to spill something she shouldn't have. Her fake shocked face sucked though. 
You got the hint and said, "Maybe because you were never a choice. I mean, thinking you're pretty based on the outside doesn't mean you're pretty on the inside." 
She frowned as you walked towards the entrance of the washroom, stopping. You turned around, smiling at her, the very kind-looking but threatening smile and said, "Oh, this wasn't about being pretty by the way. Maybe, you weren't even in the choices. But it's okay to be delusional." 

You walked out, her voice still audible to you but you didn't pay attention to it. 

You sighed, fisting your hands. You wanted to bury yourself right now. This was exhausting. Suddenly, you looked up to see Taehyung almost running towards you. He gulped as if he was running for some time, his face looking exhausted.
"You're here. So far away from that f-cking cabin?" He asked as you frowned. 
"What are you doing here?" He walked towards you and stood in front of you, "What about that Myunghee or Myunji or whatever her name was?" 
You smiled a little, hearing his tone and said, "How would I know? I think I roasted her well." 
"What did she say?" 
"I don't know. Why? WHat's wrong?" He sighed and looked down, 

"She's the one my father had arranged me with."