The Omega's Choice | Taejin

Forty

A/N: As I was working on a future chapter, I realized that part of my delay in updating this book was due to how I wrote the last two chapters. I wasn't happy with them, and I probably feel the same way about the chapter that came before those.

However, I decided not to go too far back in my revisions. Instead, I've chosen to rewrite Chapters 40 and 41 before sharing Chapter 42 with you all. The foundation of Chapter 40 remains the same, but it now includes more details. I almost felt like giving up on this book, but I've invested too much effort into it to not try my best and see it through to the end. Fingers crossed that will happen!

Thank you all for your patience!!!

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"Do you really mean that?" Taehyung asked, staring at Seokjin as he tried to determine how serious he was. "You want to become King?"

Seokjin nodded without hesitation. "I do. I know Namjoon has done a good job, and I know most of the kingdom would rather he remain where he is, but the throne was supposed to pass to me. I spent the last year hiding because I believed everyone would be better off if they did not have to see me. But that didn't change anything. It didn't change what happened, and it didn't make anyone hate me less. Moreover, I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing that."

Taehyung continued looking at him, surprised by the certainty in his voice. The Seokjin he remembered had never shown much interest in the throne or any of the responsibilities that came with being part of the royal family. He had once laughed when his father believed he wanted to become King and said Namjoon could have the position because it required too much work.

"Do you understand what taking the throne will require from you?" Taehyung asked. "The people are not going to accept you just because you announce that you are the rightful heir. There are many of them who still blame you for what your mother did, and they trust Namjoon."

"I know they do, but that does not mean I should give up before I have tried. My mother wanted me to have everything without earning any of it, and my father allowed it because telling me no was too difficult for him. I don't want to become that kind of King. I also don't want another Omega growing up believing that their position means they should remain behind an Alpha and accept whatever is decided for them. If I take the throne, I can change some of the rules that made all of us believe that was normal."

Taehyung folded his arms as he listened. "You cannot change every tradition because you had a bad experience with it, Seokjin."

"I didn't say I would change everything, and it was not only a bad experience for me. It affected others too.

Think about it, your father had no choice when the King took your mother from him. Your mother had no choice when my parents decided they needed her to give them children. You had no choice when I chose you, and after we were mated, I was expected to accept everything you told me because you were my Alpha.

Almost everything that happened to us, Taehyung, began because someone with more power believed they had the right to decide for someone else."

Taehyung's expression changed when Seokjin mentioned his parents, but he did not interrupt him. Seokjin had spent the past year going over everything he had learned and the lives that had been destroyed before he was even born. He no longer believed that ignorance excused him from understanding what had happened, especially when he intended to place himself in the same position of power his father once held.

"I'm not sure if I will be a good King," Seokjin said. "I might be really bad at it, and you are right; the people might not accept me. But I want a chance to see for myself. If I do fail, I will step down knowing it was my choice, not because everyone thought I was too much like my mother to trust."