"The tide is high
It's sink or swim
My only rival is within"

Rival-Ruelle
🗡

We getting a little 🌶 this chap 🥹

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Leila thanked the gods she read books.

If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to put names to the feelings inside of her. She had been stoked into coal, taking away the flames inside her for so long.

When one of the characters had found out their loved ones had been murdered. When a villain took away the hero's chance of saving the world.

Wrath. Vengeance. Betrayal.

The Princess of the moon felt as if she would burn.

Jimin held onto her tightly as he pushed her down hallways, and it did not register. The shining walls of crystal and stone were unfamiliar, and she would soon learn them. Learn them so she could claw her way out of this world and end it.

She felt herself cave in, stumbling as the menacing advisor pulled on her again. Even if she did escape, she had no where to go back to.

And that twinge in her heart, that drop in her stomach. Described in books about romance and men and forbidden love. But she felt it, felt it at the loss of something greater.

Her home.

What she felt?

Heartbreak.

She was sure if she touched her chest, she wouldn't find a heartbeat. Just a hollow cavern.

"We're here, Princess." The delicate looking man said her title bitterly.

The girl startled as she was thrown through a doorway, Jimin walking in behind her and locking the door.

The girl quickly pulled out the knife on her thigh, chest heaving. Her eyes assessing his position in the room and how close the bed was too them.

Jimin took in the charged look in her eyes and held up his hands, "I am not going to hurt you. If I touch you Taehyung will have my-"

Leila laughed loudly, stopping his words. He looked surprised at the quiet girl, who loved silence and yet somehow made a room of ancient windows burst. He let his hands fall, his fake neck swallowing harshly.

Fear. His eyes shown brightly with it.

"You won't hurt me?" Leila held up her wrists making visible the cuts that were created by the chains, and rubbed raw from the man pulling her.

The silver blood still shocked her.

The man looked at her marred skin. His eyes flashing as he traced the wounds, the look of distrust apparent on her bewitching face.

"No more than is required." His honeysuckle voice spilled out the apathetic words.

Leila looked for humanity in him for only a moment. And found none. He would not hurt her though.

Only because he can't.

Only because the true prophecy only calls for the death of the moon. Only the death of the descendant of the deity of night.

The girl let her head fall to the side, appraising the man with a mockingly concerned tone, "If emotions are not banned, why is it that you all choose to be cruel?"

His arrogance fled the room. The all black uniform he wore turned him into a shadow, his eyes losing their mischievous touch. Jimin was now closer to her, teeth bared and fists tightened.

She moved a step back, to which he stepped forward. A dance of sorts.

Leila knew that if they knew her plan to kill Taehyung, she wouldn't be revered. But this? It seemed his dislike for the girl ran deeper than the legend that was attached to her birth.

While he did have a reason to not like her, he didn't have a reason to loathe her.

His voice was harsh against her, grating.

"You, Leila, are no one. Nothing. You're just a sheltered little girl who has been brainwashed and manipulated. You know nothing about the world, and even less about yourself. Do not make false claims because you lack the knowledge to even know how wrong you are. Ungrateful. Spineless. Taehyung should've put you in the dungeons like a real prisoner, but alas he still wants to marry you." Jimin smiled deviously at the last part, the expression not reaching his eyes.

Leila was able to ignore everything else. She knew she wasn't nothing. The fear in Jimin's eyes, and the reactions of all of the court proved that. Even if her family did lie, she still was powerful enough to be sacrificed. His little words would never change that.

No, that is not what rocked the core of her world again.

Marriage.

"Marry me?" The princess asked quietly, not willing to give Jimin the reaction he wanted.

She decided in that moment she never would. Her display out in the throne room was unlike the 'her' she knew herself to be. They liked her outbursts.

Probably trying to stoke the flames of a person they believed to be an invalid.

It would never happen again. Not until she learned to control the magic she possessed. It would be calculate. Precise.

Just.

Jimin rolled his eyes, tongue in cheek, as if he couldn't fathom her question, "Yes, against his better judgement. No matter how many times I advised him nothing good will come from any sort of kindness to you."

The Princess was genuinely shocked. She did not expect to still be made a royal of this court when she really was a prisoner. What was the point?

"You think a marriage that binds me to your people is a kindness? When you want to doom our world? I'd rather be in a prison cell." She responded icily, a hand held to her heart.

It would've been an empty insult, coming from any other royal. For what Princess would give up her luxury for that?

But everyone had seen her grab the glass and almost pierce it through her heart.

Jimin scoffed at her, shifting forward on his feet, "There you go again, speaking on issues that you have no inkling about. You didn't even know the true prophecy until minutes ago and still, you are spouting endless nonsense. You are not worthy of him, and I shall make it very clear. Though, you won't fail to do so yourself."

The observational girl took in his stance, the way he turned away from her. The grimace on his lips, and the malice in his crescent eyes as they burned into her.

"You sound like a jealous lover. Do you? Care for the prince?" She spoke slowly, hoping every word reached him.

If so, she might offer him sympathy. Though she'd never loved, she could imagine it was a betrayal of its own. Similar to the one she felt.

Jimin laughed genuinely this time, the sound of twinkling bells despite his harsh disposition. The look her gave her in the carriage was back, that loose confidence. His delicate face neared hers, his hand finding it's way to outside of her elbow.

Leila was shocked at the touch, his smooth skin. The closeness of his plump mouth. But it was simply flesh upon flesh.

Nothing like how when Taehyung brushed against my spine, the feeling of lightening.

Leila looked up at him, remaining as blank as she could. His dark eyes traced upon her from collar to silver eyes. A smile crested on his lips before he spoke, once again letting his fingers trace upon her arm.

"I am envious my dear, dear Leila. And I love the prince, but I'm surely no lover of his. Nor him I. My taste lies somewhere else. If you knew more about the world, or maybe experienced it yourself, maybe you'd understand. Goodnight, Princess." Jimin finished quietly, locking eyes as he sung a lullaby.

Leila was frozen, unsure exactly what to make of what he was saying. Certainly while he may have found her pretty, it seemed he was equally disgusted by her. Her thoughts even more jumbled when his soft touches turned to pain as he picked out a single piece of glass from her skin.

Covet left his eyes, as he pressed into the wound. Instead, a sickly satisfied glint. Leila screamed, trying to rip away from him. He smiled harshly, letting her go when she screamed. She wished the sound wouldn't come out, but the sensation was too much.

"Missed a spot." The advisor winked, before turning away from her and heading to the door.

She wanted to hurt him. Words would suffice if magic would not allow it. Leila wanted to rip him apart, make him sleep without rest every night.

"There's a reason you people don't want the sun to come back. I'm going to find out why." The Princess spoke coldly, feeling triumphant as the man stiffened.

Leila had thought it in her mind, but speaking out loud made it final. It was clear, while her purpose had been erased, she would pick her own destiny. To tear their world apart. To be the nightmare they willingly and naively let into their walls.

Jimin stood in the doorway, glaring out at her. A scary blankness on a face that was innocent like a flower. A pretty mask for what lied in darkness underneath. He looked down at his hand with her blood smeared across it. Lifted it close to his lips.

Taunting her.

"Good luck with that. Maybe ask your lovely betrothed yourself?" It was the last thing he said, before turned around and slamming the door to her decorated prison.

Leila swore in her language, wishing she did not have to hold back. Wishing she had the knowledge and strength to tear that sadistic man apart and the castle with it. But she knew, playing weak would be her strength.

Leila would be this kingdom's downfall. No matter how long it took, or the lengths she had to go to.

After chaos had left, she was alone. To her thoughts, her fears and worries. Foreign, like the place she had been sent to. Her chest moved up and down harshly, with contained rage. Unable to act.

She almost wished she had a distraction again. Because as she stood in the middle of her new chamber, her thoughts almost hurt more than the glass being pulled out of her skin.

Leila wanted to believe these people were lying to her about the legend. Yet in her soul, she knew Taehyung had been right. It had been easy to ignore the world around her, when people painted her as a mortal deity.

She had been untouchable. Unapproachable.

Removed from the world, and she believed in her duty so much that she did even notice as the human experience flew by. She'd believed every single family gathering, or laugh exchanged between her relatives, and the lifeless stares her mother had given her were just the way it was. Seen as normal.

No, the girl had been so stuck in her own world, that she didn't notice apathy was for her. And her alone.

Her mother did not say I love you. Nor her father. Nor her sisters. Not to protect her. But so that they themselves would not miss her or feel guilty when she was gone.

They went far enough to pretend it wasn't allowed. That their society moved past the need of attachments. Again, not for her.

It was the only way to justify sending a young woman to be a sacrifice. Make her larger than life. Make her above it all. Make her a fable, a figure head.

Leila allowed tears to fall this time, freely. She reveled in them, pressing the pads of her fingers into the liquid. Pulling away to see it was slightly pearlescent. She lifted it to her lips.

It tasted like how she imagined the ocean would.

Her body ached. It felt like she had tried to run up a sand dune that kept sinking. She tried to grasp onto something, something that could keep her going. Her will to live a little bit longer.

Some sense of reality.

It happened in stages, waves. She sat in a ball, crying until she could not. It was almost like being reborn, she laughed. Being able to cry felt like freedom in a way. She laughed, and laughed. And smiled. Like how she was only allowed when she was in her own bedroom at home, away from the prying eyes of her townspeople.

She could live now. Fuck her family. Fuck her home. Who cared if the sun came out?

The girl laughed loudly again, by herself. Spinning in a circle. Letting the scraps of her engagement dress fall to the ground.

She was the fucking descendant of the moon itself. She was night, she was darkness.

Who cares if she lived, and let the world suffer?

The girl smiled, breathing deeply. Crying once more, her tanned arms wrapping around the small of her waist. The selfish words bleeding into her. Words she would've been shunned for at home, though she would've never dared to think them.

Let alone say them.

"I will live, and I don't care if darkness swallows you all." The words rasped out of her, dried. Subdued. Loud as they echoed around the large chamber.

It was silent. Her deity did not strike her down. Still, she felt dirty, cold. A tightness squeezing her throat.

Guilt. This new sensation, was guilt.

It was her least favorite.

She fell to the floor once more, her knees cushioned by a dark blue rug depicting the constellations covering the expanse of floor. Naked, like she'd been at her Lareetha.

Leila thought of the hungry children in her territory. Those who were less fortunate than her, with their skinny arms and clawing ribs. Who starred at her with awe, when she visited, promising them the sun. The sun that would bring them crops, and livestock. That would benefit them more than the modified nutrients that was sent sparingly to each territory.

She remembered their large eyes. Tired, and yet still hopeful. She could never forget.

Please, help us. They begged her. Grabbing at her feet. The expensive material of her dresses. Their little hands left prints of dirt behind. She'd ripped off pieces of the material, so they could use it to barter for more resources. One of them hugged her. It had shocked her, since touch was not allowed. She liked the feeling. It was funny now, because she should've known.

Leila touched her chest, feeling them in her heart now.

They did not know of their parents sins. Their lack of humanity.

They did not deserve the consequences of her revenge.

And been reborn, a Phoenix from the ashes.

This had never been about her. It had been about helping the masses. Helping the world.

Leila had always known herself. Even if she needed some time to remember, she knew this surely.

She would give up anything to save everyone.

So the princess did the only thing she knew how to do. Ground herself. In the matter of a few hours, she had fell apart. If she was going to do this successfully, she needed to pull the pieces back together.

For she would only have herself to rely on.

The girl finally looked up, taking in her surroundings carefully for the first time since entering her new room.

The dark, wavy haired girl stood up in the center of the room. Letting her tresses fall around her, for the lack of material made her cold.

The area was huge. Bigger than her room at home. It seemed like her part of the castle was in a tower, the inside made out of a lighter stone than the rest. It looked almost like a creamy marble, with hues of pale yellow and grey. There were large arches, and the walls were etched in with moons and ivy into the stone. She stared up in wonder, seeing that someone had crushed sea glass and made a mosaic of the night sky meeting the sun on the entirety of the ceiling.

There were several armoires, made of silver and decorated in the same ivy pattern. Her clothing and belongings had already been placed next to and within the furniture. A large ottoman in one corner, along with a bookshelf made of petrified wood. The area had been covered in lavender blankets and embroidered cream pillows. It reminded her of home, with the tassels and patterns. Leila gaped at that, wondering if he knew exactly how much she loved reading.

But he couldn't have.

Leila made her way over to the bed. It seemed to mold into the marble of the walls. The pearl material used to make the post was strong, yet smooth under her touch. The sheets were satin like, a little piece of starlight. They felt like liquid under her hand. The head rest was carved into a shell like structure, white and pink and purple under the moonlight that spilled in through the large open window.

Leila felt her heart quicken, as the sounds of the ocean crashing filled her ears. She walked forward, pressing her hand to the open window, expecting to go through it.

Yet she was met with an invisible barrier.

Magicked.

It was smart of him, to get someone to charm the window so she could see out into the world. Yet not feel the cold of this territory, or be able to escape.

One thing she could not deny, is that Kim Taehyung had taste. Right out of a fairytale, fit for a witch of moonlight and sea. The colors cooler than she had at home, but nonetheless they were her.

It made it easier, to fall onto the bed. To sink into her fluffed pillows, and fall into sleep to the sound of waves. In her beautiful, little prison.

***

Lips traced over her.

Careful. Incessant. Passionate.

Fingers gripped at her hips, tangled in her hair. The smell of mahogany invading my senses.

She moaned, a sound she'd never heard pass from her lips. It was raspy, uncaring. Higher pitched than her normal caramel voice.

A deeper voice joined Leila, groaning into her neck. She'd never forget the way it made all her hairs stand up, the deep, almost pained grumble of the man. It vibrated against her skin, sending the sound to her chest.

The Princess gripped at her sheets, keeping her on earth. Wriggling underneath the touches. The lips traced from her mouth, to her neck, to the long expanse of her torso. Till the warm wetness met the center of pleasure between her legs.

She was knew to this. Never before had she touched herself, again, leaving the experience to books that always seemed to make life better than it was. More luxurious.

But the feeling she had now, was better than anything her mind could create.

The man did not stop. She looked down, watching her thighs grip at the person between her. His black hair curled at the ends, tickling her skin. His face did not show, but his hands.

His hands. They were golden in the night, gripping on the outer part of her thighs. Pressing into her flesh, anchoring himself to her.

A sensation was building deep within her core. Desperation for something, some relief grasping at her throat. It was like a thirst. Something primal but divine all at once. She was sure even if someone else walked in, she would not want it to stop. This was the most important thing in the world.

She couldn't restrain herself. The Princess moaned again, grinding into the stranger's face. Letting her fingers wrap into his black locks, feeling the way his head moved over her. Lips moving over her, licking and sucking.

She felt the man stop moving, and she whimpered.

"Please don't stop." The girl was unrecognizable. A messy, uncollected shell of the person she was.

The man lifted his head, lips glistening. His fingers replaced his mouth, as she cried out again at the sensation.

His face was heart shaped, yet strong. His skin like smooth sandstone. His perfect red lips curved in a hungry, haughty smile. His black hair was a mess from her pulling. He still wore his outfit from the welcome ceremony this night, but the top was unbuttoned, showing his smooth chest.

Inhibited.

"But I want to see you fall apart on me." The deep voice sent tingles up her spine, his mouth so close to his fingers still covered in royal rings.

Black eyes with flecks of ember, watching as they crumbled me with their touch.

Cresting and cresting, the sensation rose higher and pulled at her. Leila felt herself cry out and-

Leila woke up, covered in sweat. The sea roared outside her window, the cold doing little to help her affliction.

What just happened?

She knew though, exactly what had happened. Her thighs still ached, a wet feeling slicking the naked skin. She bit at her lips, plumped with blood.

Her head falling back in disbelief. In bliss.

In shame.

It was the first night that Taehyung her enemy, and the prince of the eclipse visited her in her sleep.

It wouldn't be the last.

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(A/N: 😌 it's gonna be slow burn but lots of tension. Like it'll be spicy throughout but creatively. You all are gonna love it! Like you don't even KNOW the 🌶🌶🌶 I have planned. Like it's gonna be shit you haven't read before.

At least I think haha.

Disclaimer: When I say enemies to lovers for Taehyung and her, it involves no like abuse abuse. Jimin lowkey a villain lol but his character is like good in the sense it's complex and well written.