When the crown is suddenly handed to you as the prince who doesn't deserve it, what do you do? Never in his entire life did Park Jimin think it would happen; but with the death of his elder brother and his father, the King of Balhae, he has no choic...
The countryside tunes kept ringing in her ears as she continued her work. With a dark brown shawl wrapped tightly across her face, covering her nose and mouth, she struggled to maintain even breathing. Her hands nimbly picked up a few pieces of bread from the baker's cart. The baker was foolish to abandon it in this area; there were thieves like her trying to survive in the town she called home. After stuffing a few more chocolate buns into her pocket, Nabi quickly ran away to the shadows of a narrow street. Today was her lucky day, she got a few more pieces of bread than usual and could finally taste the chocolate buns everyone seemed to be raving about.
Nabi couldn't wait to share her treasure with Taehyung, her best friend and only family. The shawl that threatened to suffocate her was pushed down so she could take a breath of fresh air. Shakily, she held the warm buns oozing chocolate and put it to her nose, sniffing gingerly.
Heavens, the smell was divine.
Her mouth watered at the smell and swallowed one down. Now, she was obsessed with chocolate. Nabi hummed a few tunes and silently turned round a corner to their hideout. Well, their hideout was their house. Taehyung and her had had no other place to stay.
Just as she was a few steps away from their home, a rough hand pushed a wet cloth to her nose. Nabi tried her best not to breathe in whatever substance was inside and struggled to escape the grip that held her.
"Shit, she's strong! You two, get a hold of her!" A gruff voice barked in her ears. Rapidly blinking, she saw two other dark figures approach her swiftly. They swung for her legs but couldn't catch them as Nabi threw in a frenzy of kicks.
"Hoi! This girl is crazy! I thought she was just a thief!" One of the two men squeaked in surprise. The grumpy man held her arms tightly so that she was sure her blood circulation would have stopped. A large object hit her in the head and she weakly dropped onto the ground. Her body couldn't move and everything felt frozen. But she was still conscious enough to hear their words.
"Finally! Crazy lady almost dislocated my jaw with her darned legs. Lord knows where she gets the strength." One of the men she remembered landing a clean hit on, said.
The grumpy man, she supposed, grunted in response.
"You two should have jumped into action before! Instead, you were dilly-dallying like two posies."
"Well the job's done so I don't think it's a problem." The other man said sternly.
"So, err, what about the payment?"
"Payment's only given when we deliver her to them."
Payment? Payment to capture her? It wasn't making any sense. Nabi was sure she didn't commit any out-of-the-world robberies, so why her? She hadn't heard about any bounty on her head till now.
The grumpy man threw her limp body across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
If I could move my body, I would have ripped his throat out and handed it to him.
Her mind fussed with the effect of the hit on her head, and she finally gave in to her unconsciousness.
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A splash of water woke Nabi up from her slumber. She gasped and sputtered, nearly choking on the water that went into her nostrils. Her eyes finally came into focus and found that a burly man was sitting in front of her. Nabi tried to move her body but to her dismay, her hands were tied behind her back.
"Doesn't look like a thief, eh? With those big brown eyes and fragile figure, I would have taken her for my use." A man to her left snickered. She cringed at his words and felt his stare not leave her body once.
"Do you know who we are?" Nabi snorted at the question the man in front of her asked. Was she to personally know her kidnappers? Her eyes scanned the room she was kept in. A window panel on the ceiling, a set of swords next to the man, and at least four men in the room were with her. She couldn't tell if the men who tried to drug her were there as she hadn't seen their faces. The man crossed his arms, waiting for a response from her. Nabi noticed a familiar symbol of a male lion head roaring on his dirty sleeve, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"We are Platonia's Secret Guards. We do the dirty work for our country. The king gave us the simple task of kidnapping and presenting you to him. He has quite the job for you."
Her stomach blanched at his words. No wonder the symbol was familiar; they were everywhere on small flags decorating the king's palace. Nabi had heard about these guards, they were known to be ruthless and loyal to the king. But what could the king possibly want to do with her?
"Everyone knows the recent news of the death of Balhae's king. His youngest son, Park Jimin, will take over the throne in three years. He's about your age, but he could be a horrible threat to our country in the future."
Yes, she had heard of this news. But she still couldn't understand what this had to do with her.
"Your job is to sneak in there and simply assassinate him once he is crowned king."
"No." Her response was immediate.
The man raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"No? You don't have a choice here, little girl. Choose your words wisely."
The man scoffed and nodded at his teammates. One of them nodded back at him and went out of a door behind him. A few seconds later, she heard a familiar voice groaning. Her eyebrows furrowed. Is that Taehyung?
The door was violently pushed open and Nabi lost all her breath. Taehyung, but he was wounded. There were slashes on his arms and legs, and his fingers bent at unnatural angles. His brown silky hair was damp with sweat. Scratches filled his handsome face, his eyes closed in pain.
"Taehyung!"
His eyes opened abruptly and shock was evident on his face. Taehyung tried to crawl to Nabi, but the man held him in place.
"Why are you even doing this?! Why me?"
The man simply shrugged, clearly not interested in answering Nabi's questions. He stood from his seat and stretched as though he was entirely bored. Taehyung was finally free from the other man's grasp and he took the chance to crawl to her. Nabi hugged him as soon as the distance between them closed. She cried in relief and anger.
"Your training will be under the king's wing and you will have every amenity you need. Just do what the king asks for, or there will be consequences."
If glares could burn, the man would have had a hole through his forehead from Nabi's glare. Ignoring his words, she turned her attention back to Taehyung. He looked utterly broken, his eyes weren't full of mischief as usual but of pain.
"Nabi." His voice still had some energy. Nabi's lungs let out a whoosh of air in relief. Subtly, Taehyung traced her chin with his broken fingers. She couldn't bear the sight of him like this.
"How do you even know I am perfect for this job? I'm still a kid!"
"Yes, but you're a cunning one. We've been observing you since a few months, and we like the way you think and act in the time of emergency."
Nabi was stunned, she was on her feet all the time. How did she not notice them?
"But how does this benefit me? What do I get by serving the king?" Nabi sneered at the man, not wanting to continue this conversation. She just wanted to go home with Taehyung.
"You get a better life. A nice home, no need to pay taxes, but mostly your best friend will be safe."
Her eyes burned, knowing she had no choice but to accept their terms.
