2 Years Later

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"Where's Prince Taehyung? He needs to be there for the execution"

"He left, Your Majesty."

Seokjin halts his steps, and turns his head.

"He left?" He says, "Left to where? Why wasn't I informed?"

He continues walking at a fast pace, and the general runs to keep up with him.

"He just left this morning, Your Majesty, and said he was off to run some errands," Yoongi says.

"'Off to run some errands," Seokjin rephrases, then he scoffs, "What's he up to? Anyway, is everything ready?"

"Yes."

"Are you ready?" The king asks, and the general gulps, but nods whatsoever.

"Yes."

"Good."

The doors are pushed open, and the king walks in, the general following. The queen is already seated, and she sighs once the king sits beside her.

"Took you long enough," She mutters under her breath.

"Taehyung left the palace," He whispers back, and she falls silent, her eyebrows furrowing.

Everyone falls silent, and all eyes are on the king, who stares at none but the two people kneeling.

A man and a woman.

"Princess Kim Haewon," Seokjin starts, staring down at his sister, "You have brought shame to The Royal Family by fornication, and as the King of the Kingdom of Korea, the Wise Men and I have come to the verdict to execute you."

"Jung Hoseok," He goes on, "I suppose I don't have much to say regarding you. You are aware that you should, in no way, get close to someome from The Royal Family, a Princess destined to be a Queen at that. You have disappointed me, and you, too, shall be executed."

"Have you got anything to say?"

The princess looks up, and there's a smirk evident on her face, despite the tears in her eyes. "The King is merciful and forgiving, huh?"

"Not when it comes to things like these." His voice shakes, and he clears his throat to hide it.

He stares at her, and she smiles. "There's no way you can kill me, brother."

"Would you like to go first?" He asks, and without waiting for a reply, he nods over to the general.

The princess looks down at her chained hands.

The General pulls out his sword, and stands beside her. He settles the sword on the back of her neck, gripping tightly to stop his shivering hand.

He takes a little longer than he should, and the princess smiles knowingly.

He raises the sword, and with a slash, blood pools all over the floor.

Hoseok lets out a choked sob amidst the silence, and he's next to follow.

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"You killed her."

The King turns to the side, his eyes fixed on his brother.

Prince Kim Jungkook stands silently, his eyes shining with tears as he bites on his lip, refusing to look up. There's no one but him and Seokjin in the room.

"Jungkook, I need you to understand that as a Kingㅡ"

"You killed her," The Prince repeats, his voice shaking, "How could you do that? She's your sister."

"Some things aren't up to meㅡ"

"It was up to you to kill her or notㅡ"

"She slept with the horseman! It's law, Jungkook, and you need to understand for you to be Kingㅡ"

"King?" Jungkook looks up, his tears already falling on his cheek. "Me? King? I don't want to be King. If this is how it goes, if killing my own siblings makes me King then I don't want to."

Silence follows, and Seokjin looks away.

"Jungkook," He says after a while, his voice softer, "Iㅡ"

"Two years ago," Jungkook cuts him off, "Before you were crowned, you'd neverㅡ"

"Because I didn't have the right to."

"Because you were someone else."

The Prince finally looks up, and shakes his head. "I don't want it. I don't want to be King. I don't want to be Prince. Take it back. I don't want to be heir of the throne."

"This is not how it goes. You belong to The Royal Family and deserveㅡ"

"I don't want it!" He yells, and Seokjin is taken aback, but doesn't say anything.

"What will you do next? Kill Taehyung just because you hate him? Or kill me so you're the only King?"

"You know I'd never do thatㅡ"

"I don't know you anymore."

And with that, Jungkook walks away. It's silent to the point Seokjin can hear the wind howling. He looks up and notices that the window is open.

He walks towards it and closes it, then turns around at the sound of footsteps.

Yisun walks in, closing the door and walking up to Seokjin.

"He didn't mean any of it. You know how Jungkook can be sometimes. He must be a little overwhelmed after... " She trails off, not wanting to continue her sentence.

"After I killed Haewon," He says.

"She knew the consequences of her actions," Yisun says, sitting down in front of the dresser. She starts slowly removing her crown, settling it on the dresser and caressing it her with thumb, her grip tightening as if to break it.

"You knew, didn't you?" Seokjin says, "You knew she and Hoseok were together."

"I didn't know for sure." She lets go of the crown. "I saw her visiting the stable a few times, and even confronted her, but she denied everything."

"What about Taehyung?" She adds, changing the topic.

Seokjin stares at blank space for a few seconds, then blinks.

"Yoongi said he left this morning but didn't say where he was going."

"Was he alone?" She stands up, looking at the mirror.

"No." He shakes his head. "He had a few knights with him."

"Where would he go?" She asks more to herself than anyone, then starts reaching for her hair, removing the pins to let it down.

Seokjin slowly approaches her, and stands behind her. He puts his arms around her waist, and pulls her closer, leaning his chin on her shoulder.

Yisun doesn't move, and lets him be. She stares at their reflection in the mirror, then reaches for his crown, removing it and settling it on the dresser, right beside hers.

"Why are you treating the crowns so carelessly?" He chuckles and she shrugs.

"Because it doesn't matter, all of this, does it?" She asks, and glances at his reflection in the mirror.

He hums nonchalantly and looks away.

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A/N: (media) art credit to @/foxlee.art on IG