A Tiger Called Rapunzel ✓ || TaeGyu || HYBEPride 2021

The Dress Rehearsal

Taehyun and Soobin, meanwhile, were raiding the castle.

Again.

But while Soobin was making his way through the gold reserves alone, figuring out what he could take and leave, Taehyun was going through the rest of the castle, following the plans that he and Soobin had mapped out earlier. For all he knew, the castle interior had changed since these maps had been drawn up. Perhaps an access hallway had been cut off, or a new door had been constructed. He needed this time to make sure that the route was clear before the Tiger Festival.

Besides. Soobin could stay in the reserves by himself for a little bit. He was a grown up. As long as Good Looking Yeonjun of the Guard didn't find him, Taehyun knew Soobin would be fine.

He made his way through the castle interior, using the same route he had used hundreds of times before, hugging the wall and guarding the perimeter. Then, he spotted the door that led to the servants' hallway, and prayed there was nobody down there this late at night (or early in the morning -- depended on who you asked). With a mad, soundless dash, Taehyun skipped across the floor and to the door. He checked; it was empty, so he ran quickly down the enclosed hallway, getting to the end. He paused for a moment, listened carefully, then slowly opened the door.

Sure enough, the door led to a balcony that overlooked the room that was once Prince Beomgyu's quarters. The balcony had been built into the castle a long time ago, and the room had always been the prince's room; the balcony was suitable that a butler or a servant could call down to the prince or take orders without going all the way downstairs to his room. The room was huge, but to Taehyun's surprise, most everything had been moved out of it. You would think that a prince would have had lavish furniture in his room, but there hadn't been a Prince in the castle for some time. Much like everything else, it seemed like King Namjoon had moved all of the Prince's (few) belongings out and away, preferring to have it all out of sight, out of mind.

There were two objects that sat in the middle of the room, lit up by the moonlight coming from the huge windows on the other wall. One was a baby's cradle, probably used by Beomgyu himself up until his first hundred days were done. The other was a display stand, and on it sat Prince Beomgyu's future crown. And it looked exactly as the picture in the book had said it would. It was silver, with a huge red gem right in the middle, symbolizing the Naeil Kingdom. Even from this high up, Taehyun could see how it sparkled.

He tested the balcony's strength; it hadn't faded at all over the years. He could tie a rope around it, descend, take the crown, and be back up in around two minutes tops. The crown would be in his satchel in no time flat, and he and Soobin would be saving the kingdom from their corrupt king.

For good measure, he looked over the rest of the room the best he could, seeing if there was anything that would hinder his burglary attempt during the Tiger Festival. But no, it literally looked like this was a forgotten room. The curtains were drawn away from the windows, like they had also been lost to time. If Taehyun looked just right, he could see the castle courtyard from the window. It would probably be ideal for the Prince to look out over his subjects, and Taehyun also saw a proper balcony out there as well.

He would have to be careful that nobody saw him through the window.

There were other pieces of furniture that sat in the corner, covered up with fabric, and a couple of rugs that had been rolled up. The only item left was a huge portrait that hung on the other wall, that looked like it had been painted long ago. It was of King Namjoon and his consort, Yoongi, looking regal as ever, and Taehyun knew it had to be from before tragedy had enveloped the kingdom. Namjoon still had a smile on his face, and Yoongi still looked nervous, as the Yoongi in the painting had probably still been new at this whole royalty thing.

Taehyun remembered those days, albeit briefly. The caretakers at the orphanage had made sure that all of the children went to the Tiger Festival. When he had been younger, the King had still had hope, and so the Tiger Festival was much more lively. Namjoon had even still had a smile on his face.

Not anymore.

His eyes trailed along the sides, noticing that the King's sister, Heulin, was painted in on the left side, next to Namjoon. There was a man next to Yoongi, as well. And right in the middle, actually, sat a small boy who had to be Prince Beomgyu. He was dressed in regal wear, and the painting had probably been done for a hundred days celebration that had never happened.

Taehyun had never seen a picture of Prince Beomgyu before. There had obviously been artists' reimaginings and books printed, but nobody knew what the prince looked like now...if he was still alive. But there were two things that caught Taehyun's eye. The first was the Prince's dark eyes. Even in a painting, it seemed like they stared right through the room and into Taehyun's soul, as if a painting of a dead prince knew what he was going to do with his future crown.

The other was Prince Beomgyu's hair.

It was blonde.

It made Taehyun think immediately of Cholongkkoch.

He caught his breath and looked away. What was that all about? But Taehyun suddenly realized what he was feeling, and he didn't know why. Taehyun was gay. He didn't like women. Not like that. So why did he like Cholongkkoch like that? Why was he thinking about her all of the time? Why couldn't he wait until the next time he saw her?

He didn't want to think about it. So he turned tail and left the room.