I'd adhere to the wishes of the sky, so I can stay up there glimmering tonight.

Downtown

Although she agreed to such a ridiculous proposal with stern courage, she had to know more about the sea she was going to drown in, and she knew the right person who'd provide her with the information.

Jung Hoseok. She checked the cabin booked under his name.

"Your Royal Highness, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up," Hoseok said, looking up from his book. This small restaurant was run by an old woman who the princess and her friends had grown quite familiar with due to their frequent visit.

Inhee scoffed at his use of an unusually respectful way to address her. "Good to see you too, Hoseok."

He smiled. "I can smell your distress from over there. Care to explain who's got my Hee so angry on such a beautiful day?"

Inhee plopped down on the stool next to him.

"Can you guess?" she asked.

He hummed in thought, "Prince Jungkook beat you at the sword fight?"

"Do you think that's possible?" said a deep voice, entering the cabin.

"Yoongi," Hoseok called, "right on time. I was beginning to think you had finally abandoned us."

"There is no point doing that now. I've suffered a decade already," Yoongi grumbled, grabbing himself a drink.

"Attention gentlemen. What I'm about to reveal is very important." Inhee clapped her hands.

"That you're going to marry the prince?" Yoongi chuckled seeing the shock expression on the princess's face.

Inhee slumped down in her seat, looking from Yoongi to Hoseok. "Is the news traveling so fast?"

"Ears and mouths work every day." Yoongi shrugged his shoulders. "What surprising is that you actually agreed with such a deal."

Inhee sighed. "I can't turn that down knowing it could be the only way to prevent further doom to our kingdom."

"A very royal way of thinking," Hoseok stated, patting her shoulders. "Yoon, remind me to make a statue in her honor after she dies.

Inhee rolled her eyes. "Back to the issue at hand, I met the prince today. He's terrible."

"Terribly handsome or terribly terrible?" Hoseok raised his brow in question.

"Both," she sighed, realizing how pathetic the reality was.

"Poor lad. Although I pity you, I pity him more," Hoseok added.

Yoongi laughed from her other side.

She took her time glaring at both of them. "He is like a snake, smooth and poisonous, and his eyes are always casting spells."

"Love spells?" Hoseok asked, gaining a snort from Yoongi.

"You both are clearly enjoying this, I can see it." She slumped back in the chair.

"But I don't recall Prince Taehyung to like that," Yoongi stated, with his brows knitted."Ladies find him quite charming and soft-spoken."

"Taehyung?" Inhee repeated, "Isn't his name Jimin?"

Yoongi's eyes sparked, and he burst into laughter. "Ah! So you met the wrong prince, Park Jimin, the King's cousin. He is closer to the king than his own brother. Also, responsible for making the important decisions for his cousin."

"I have met him once," Hoseok recalls, "He's got the loveliest smile I've ever seen."

"Trust me, he is an arrogant, self-obsessed man under that harmless lovely display he puts on."

She couldn't tell whether that blonde prince deserved her rage or not, but she was angry, and he was the only target she could think of.

"Well, good then it's not him. You might like Prince Taehyung," Yoongi suggested. "I'm sure he will like you too."

"Oh, yes?" A hit of realization poured over Inhee."I think I know what I need to do, but I need your help."

_______

As much as Taehyung adored his dear cousin, Park Jimin, he had quite a hard time today comprehending what he was mumbling about.

Jimin tends to be like that, prone to disliking impolite people. Apparently, this princess he mentioned had successfully triggered that side of him yesterday if Taehyung recalled correctly.

How strange, Jimin doesn't talk to strangers. Moreover, spends his precious time quoting word-to-word the conversation they had.

Taehyung sighed.

He didn't like to get outside his chamber, but today he wanted to breathe in some fresh air after attending a long meeting with his brother Namjoon and his generals.

He usually attends them along with Jimin, but only the elder listens to them attentively while he maps out his own plan in his mind.

Jimin is the one Namjoon has with him all the time, who knows how to lay out a web of words to catch his prey.

On the other hand, Taehyung played the role of a poker face. He'd be assigned to deal with people King can't bother to directly attend, threaten, or remove from the way.

The devil's work.

Taehyung stopped on his track when he spotted a hooded figure climbing into the royal garden along with two more figures wandering about the gates.

He gestured for the guard to follow the two to the gardens while he went after the hooded figure who had climbed the wall.

"I'm aware you're Prince Kim Taehyung," that voice said, "My apologies for meeting you here like this. I know this is extremely inconvenient, and before you call out the royal guards let me introduce myself to you. I'm Princess Lee Inhee, and I'm assuming you know everything that happened today."

Taehyung strained his ear to hear better from behind the wall.

"As much as I want to keep the innocent people away from our clashes, I think your King is being irrational and greedy. He is in need of more area to stand his guards on, and yet he's also asking for a princess's hand? If he only sat down to think about this as a real King would, not like a man going through adolescence, he'd realize what we both want is the same thing, the protection of our people. Therefore, there's no need to ruin a princess's or a prince's life by shackling them together in the pit of unwanted marriage."

Taehyung peeked over the rock wall to see the supposed princess standing near the northern gate. He realized she was talking to a man thinking it was him.

Upon focusing his eyes in the dim light, he could make out that man to be his brother, King Kim Namjoon.

_______

King Namjoon was hoping to discuss the matter of the proposal with his brother Taehyung in the garden when he realized footsteps growing near him.

He had asked his guards to leave him alone for some privacy with his brother and now that he was completely alone somebody wanted to take advantage of that.

He smirked.

Do they think I'm weak without any protection?

He wasn't the one to impulsively lash out at an enemy, so he waited for the first move to come, but he was rather startled when instead of a sword he was met with a voice.

A voice like dripping honey.

It took him a couple of moments to understand the situation that fogged over him. Safe to say, he was caught off guard for the first time in a long time.

_______

Thanks to the help of Yoongi and Hoseok's numerous connections and knowledge of secret passageways, Princess Inhee was able to break into the Black Palace, a story Jungkook would be proud over.

She spotted a man who she assumed was Prince Taehyung standing in the garden, only his back was visible. She knew if she got him to agree with denying the unfair proposal then the King would be forced to make peace without unnecessary marriages.

How is everything working out so well?

She exhaled a breath after complaining to him about the King's immature proposal. The man who she supposed was Prince Taehyung turned to face her.

"Princess Lee Inhee," he said. "Do you know where you are standing and what crime you have committed?"

She pushed the hair behind her back. "I was forced to do this due to the King's rash decision."

She watched as the man's eyes burned into hers like a dragon's flame. He was tall with wide shoulders, and his slightly tanned skin was glowing against his silver hair. "You seem to have a lot of opinions on the ruler of this Kingdom."

"I'm not somebody who would insult or talk offensively about anyone unless I feel like it's a necessity." She stood tall under his gaze.

He chewed the side of his cheek, his dimples becoming prominent every now and then.

"Then why don't we make this easier?" he asked, "you came to my palace with your own two feet, so how about I keep you hostage and force your King to obey my conditions?"

She felt a shiver run down her spine at the realization.

"Your Palace?" She couldn't help the way her voice stuttered. After all, she was confronting Kim Namjoon, the King of Black Palace.

She now began to see the cold aura that envelops him. People weren't exaggerating when they said his silent and calculating gaze makes your breath stagger.