If someone would tell Kim Taehyung that his life would drastically change overnight because of his recklessness on that one, fateful incident, he'd probably laugh his ass off and tell them, "Yeah, right!"
But it did.
His life changed that night and...
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VIII | His First Royal Duty
Taehyung let out a huge sigh of relief as soon as he had entered Jin's tropical glasshouse. It had become his refuge and escape these past three days inside the palace. He needed a place and time to rest, although he knew it would be short-lived since Soobin would soon come and get him in a few minutes to let him continue fulfilling his duties again. The palace was especially busier today and for the following days because of Prince Jungkook's upcoming coronation.
Speaking of coronations, it had been seven days since the Grand Duchess's own coronation.
Just like they had expected, the King had a glorious fit after witnessing what Grand Duchess Irene was wearing during the coronation instead of the usual ceremonial hanboks. After the ceremony, when they had all entered the North Manor, Taehyung could hear His Majesty giving her a proper scolding followed by Her Majesty's calm coaxing. When they met the next day for their Sunday tea ceremony, the new Grand Duchess just laughed it off, knowing his father the King couldn't stay mad at her for so long and that her stunt had earned more positive feedback from the press and the citizens than they would have expected.
Four days ago, when Taehyung was out for an early magazine photoshoot with a luxurious clothing brand he had been working with for two years already, he had received an urgent call from Namjoon-ssi, prompting his photoshoot to be compacted and packed half an hour earlier than scheduled. He went back to the palace, anxiously thinking over what was the call all about.
Turned out, Taehyung was assigned to his first royal duty as Prince Seokjin's fiancé.
Due to Jin's tight schedule after Irene's coronation, two of those were overseas, he had no vacant time to spare for more. Namjoon-ssi had reported that there was a sudden call from Spain --- the future Queen of the Kingdom of Spain had already landed in Seoul for an unannounced visit. Jin was in Thailand for a global conference along with the other royalties, dignitaries, and world leaders when they were just made aware of it. The Grand Duchess was not in Seoul nor Prince Jungkook was around, so they had chosen Taehyung to do the task of hosting and greeting the princess during her visit instead.
It had been four days... and he was about ready to cry.
Taehyung was super drained --- physically, mentally and emotionally --- and he wasn't even the complaining type.
He loved going to work. He even became workaholic at one point and had worked under pressure and stress, but this was something else entirely for him. Yes, he was called a social butterfly for a reason, but he thought that social prowess of his only worked best when he was in front of the press and the media --- not being a fucking diplomat for the royal affairs.
Aside from the most obvious fact that Taehyung couldn't speak and understand Spanish, he had had a few mishaps along the way as well. For an embarrassing example, when he and Princess Katarina went to a cultural museum in Gangnam district yesterday morning. While they were admiring the artifacts found and preserved from different periods, he was genuinely asked by the princess about a certain famous relic's history she was admiring, which he actually and sadly didn't know.
