Destiny - Vmin

16. Cousin

Taehyung woke up feeling heavy, his thoughts still entangled with the vivid nightmares that haunted him while he was unconscious. He stirred slowly on the soft bed, and the first thing he noticed was the elderly lady from before, peacefully asleep in a chair by the bedside. Not wanting to disturb her, he carefully got up and left the room, wandering through the large house filled with unfamiliar hallways.

As he walked, lost in thought, a door suddenly swung open, and out came a short, red-haired boy who stared at him in surprise.

"You're awake! Grandma's going to be so happy... and that guy too, he's a mess," the boy said, speaking with unexpected familiarity.

Taehyung, still confused, gestured: [The prince?]

"Yeah, he was fine for the first few hours, but then he started acting strange, especially this afternoon..."

Suddenly, realization hit Taehyung. Today was the seventh and final day. The spell keeping him in human form would disappear at the next sunrise, and he was still far from the sea, stuck in the lands of the Mangjeol clan. His heart raced as the gravity of the situation set in. His collapse had delayed him, and he desperately needed to leave before time ran out.

Unaware of Taehyung's growing anxiety, the boy kept talking animatedly, as if he had known Taehyung for years.

"I think you're a cousin of mine. Don't worry, no one will be mean to you here," the boy said enthusiastically. "There are lots of guys your age and even a room just for you. Grandma's going to take care of you until you remember Yuna. Everyone wants to know what happened to her and get to know you."

Taehyung ignored most of what the boy said, his mind racing with thoughts of how to return to the sea. But when the boy mentioned the family stables, Taehyung's attention sharpened.

"Do you like horses? We have some in the stables!" the boy continued, eager to keep the conversation going. "What's it like at the castle? Is the queen as beautiful as my uncle says?"

Upon hearing this, Taehyung saw a glimmer of hope. If he could get to the stables, he might have a chance to escape. Trying to appear calm, he gestured:

[Are the stables close by?]

"Yes, I can take you there really quickly. But wait—hold on," the boy said, dashing into a nearby room. "If Grandma's right and you really are my cousin, this was your mother's room."

A chill ran down Taehyung's spine at those words. The boy entered the room and came back holding some old paintings.

"Look, this was your mom, Yuna. She really does look a lot like you, doesn't she?"

Taehyung took the painting with trembling hands. As his eyes settled on the face of the woman depicted, a flood of fragmented memories rushed through his mind. The images were hazy, like memories seen through a fog. He tried to focus, but everything felt blurred and distant.

Then, one image stood out amidst the chaos: the ancient drawings he had found in the forgotten wing of the castle. He remembered Jimin clearly, always depicted twice in them as though he were two different people, flanked by two women. The realization finally struck him—Yuna was the red-haired woman in those drawings. How had he not seen it before?

The Mangjeol clan was the only one known to have red-haired women, even if rarely. A wave of discomfort swept over him, as though these memories brought not clarity but pain and further confusion. The boy, noticing the change in Taehyung's expression, quickly regretted bringing him there.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you... Let's just go to the stables. I shouldn't have brought you here," the boy said, visibly upset.

Without further delay, he led Taehyung out of the room and toward the stables, where the horses waited. Taehyung's heart was still pounding. He knew time was running out, and he had to act fast.