Once, he had been Prince , heir to the throne, a favored son of King. His father had always spoken highly of him, grooming him to rule with wisdom and kindness. But now, He was little more than a ghost in his own home-forgotten, shunned, and treated...
The morning after Jiyeon’s lies shattered the palace, the air was cold and unforgiving. Taehyung stood in the grand hall, stripped of his royal robes, his head bowed before the king. King Seonho sat on his throne, his face hardened into a mask of anger and disappointment. The court was silent, save for the distant murmur of servants who dared not meet Taehyung’s eyes.
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“Taehyung,” the King’s voice boomed, filling the room with its echo, “you have disgraced this family, this kingdom. What you have done to Jiyeon—there is no punishment severe enough to cleanse the shame you have brought upon us.”
Taehyung’s heart hammered in his chest, but he remained silent. He had tried, again and again, to explain his innocence, to plead with his father for the truth to be heard, but it had all been in vain. Jiyeon’s words had sealed his fate.
The King’s punishment was swift and cruel. He was stripped of his title, his privileges, and his dignity. He was not cast out from the palace, but worse—he was to live as a servant within the very walls that once celebrated him as a prince. His duties were to be menial, his status lower than even the common soldiers.
“No one is to show you kindness,” the King declared coldly. “You will eat what the servants bring you, sleep where they deem fit, and work as they command. You are a prince no more.”
Taehyung’s brothers, Seojoon and Wooshik, stood by, their gazes cold and unfeeling. Seojoon’s wife, Hyungsik, and Wooshik’s wife, Damie, looked on with thinly veiled contempt. To them, Taehyung was a disgrace, an embarrassment to the royal family. Even the servants now regarded him with disdain, treating him as nothing more than a nuisance, a fallen prince unworthy of respect.
Only one figure stood beside him, as silent and sorrowful as he. His mother, Queen Yuna, watched with tears glistening in her eyes, unable to stop the King’s wrath. She was the only one who believed in his innocence, but her voice held no power against the will of her husband. Though she was forbidden to interfere publicly, in the quiet of the night, she would sneak food to him, wrapping her arms around him like when he was a child.
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Yet even her love couldn’t protect him from the coming storm.
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The grand wedding of Jiyeon to the prince of Haebak was a spectacle of opulence, a celebration that the entire kingdom was forced to witness. The halls were adorned with golden banners, and the sound of festive music filled the air. Jiyeon wore a gown of rich silks and jewels, her beauty radiant as she stood beside her new husband.
