Fated Mate (A Taehyung's FanFiction) || Wattpad ✓

Chapter 25 Ceremony

The week slipped by in the blink of an eye, and now, the ceremony loomed just two days away...

Harin's Perspective:

I was staring blankly at the ground while walking, my thoughts were tangled in a whirlwind. Luna nudged me sharply, her voice snapped me out of my haze. "Come back to reality, Harin..." she said with a teasing grin.

I sighed heavily, and she wrapped an arm around me in a side hug, matching her steps with mine. Luna was heading back to home, and I had come along to say goodbye before she left. Two days from now, the ceremony would take place—the moment when the king would officially announce Taehyung as the heir to the throne.

But my mind was a chaotic mess, spinning like a relentless rollercoaster. Jong Gyu was dead. Taehyung was meant to be the king, in future. Yet in the book, it was written that his brother stole the throne.

The contradictions were suffocating, and my head was throbbing with the weight of it all.

Which brother was Taehyung talking about in the book? My thoughts kept circling back to that question, unable to find an answer that made sense.

"I bet at some point you're happy, Harin," Luna's voice interrupted my spiraling thoughts.

I looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

She gave me a sly smile, her eyes were glinting with mischief. "Come on. I know everyone adored Jong Gyu—he was kind, a friend to everyone in the castle, from nobles to the least important servants. But I bet you're a little happy that Taehyung is the heir now."

I jerked away from her in shock. "What are you even saying?"

She burst out laughing, clearly amused by my reaction. When she finally calmed down, she said, "Look, Harin, I know you're interested in Prince Taehyung."

"Interested?" I pulled a disgusted face, trying to mask the heat rising to my cheeks. "Why would I be?"

Luna raised an eyebrow, giving me a pointed, judgmental look. "Exactly! Why would you just be interested? You're more than *just* interested in him. The look in your eyes says it all... every time you see him."

I rolled my eyes at her, determined to brush off her accusations. "You're imagining things."

But her words lingered in the air, and no matter how hard I tried to shake them off, I couldn't.

Finally, after Luna left, I turned toward the garden, inhaling deeply to calm my restless thoughts. The fresh scent of the earth and flowers should have been soothing, but it wasn't enough. That's when I heard a faint sound coming from the direction of the horse stables.

Curiosity piqued, I quietly made my way towards the noise, carefully hiding in the shadows to avoid being seen. From my position, I could see a man closing the door of a stall, having just put his horse inside. My breath caught when I recognized Taehyung standing in front of the man, his expressions were cold yet strained.

The man kept his gaze fixed on the ground. I watched as he visibly gulped.

"Where were you, Jimin?" Taehyung's voice cut through the silence, it was sharp and demanding.

So this was the man Jong Gyu had mentioned... Jimin.

Taehyung repeated, his tone was more intense this time. "I asked, where were you? It's been more than two weeks, and I didn't see you. Do you have any idea how hard these past days have been?"