The Crown Prince (Taegi AU)

chapter 4

The court was in a disarray, the salary eating officials restless and confined at their manors, the imperial investigation bureau working hard to uncover the corruption, and more guards at work, who were careful and conscious of even the smallest of things, and the hostage who caused all of this was walking down the city road, as carelessly as ever.

Having received the small hairpin from the crown prince himself, Taehyung seemed to have brightened up and was filled with joy, totally ignorant of the storm that he had invited.

After 6 heart-wrenching hours of searching and waiting, Shao Lan finally saw the young prince happily skipping down the street. 

"Young master!!~" He sighed in relief, suddenly his knees went weak and he stumbled down on the ground. His body didn't have an ounce of strength left, he wanted to yell at the clueless perpetrator but he knew that he didn't have the right to so he just stayed quiet and kept kneeling down, his hands clutching the ground. It was as if he had been holding in his breath for those 6 hours and he could finally let it out, relief washed over him and just as that feeling passed, another, more stronger feeling started to bud, anger. 

He snapped out in anger, "How can the young master be so irresponsible?!"

"S-Shao Lan? What are you doing on the ground? A new hobby?" Taehyung asked as he slowly placed the hairpin inside his pocket.

"How?!....... How can you do this?!" Shao Lan screamed in frustration, unexpectedly a tear trailing down his twisted face. "I'm your assistant here! Your only servant here! The only one who'll stay loyal to you! The only one that would protect you! What would I have done if you didn't return?! Why can't you think before you act?! Is it fun?!"

"....." Taehyung was speechless, not only because of the crying Shao Lan, nor due to his yelling but because the man had stopped referring to him as his young master. 

The man who refused to call him by his name even when ordered to had started yelling at him casually. Never had Taehyung imagined it to be this easy to push Shao Lan to his limits. Only two days here and Shao Lan was already angered to this point. Having thought this, a sense of achievement aroused in Taehyung's mind.

Taehyung calmly asked, "Shao Lan..... Are you scared?"

"How can I not be scared? You're the only one deviant here to happily jump around on enemy territory. Fear is derived from the want to survive. If I'm not afraid, who knows where I'll find your corpse?"

"Haha.... My attendant is certainly knowledgeable." Taehyung chuckled

Shao Lan gritted his teeth as saw the young master laughing at him so calmly. If he could, he'd want to beat the crap out of the boy and teach him a lesson.

"But...." Taehyung stopped smiling. Although his smile was like the sun and could be considered to brighten the atmosphere in a heartbeat, once he stopped smiling, his glaring eyes could freeze a whole river and engulf the atmosphere in a horrid fear. 

Fear, Shao Lan could certainly feel it for the first time. This fear couldn't be compared to being trapped in enemy territory, it was akin to having been sent to hell, with nowhere to run and a demon staring you down. 

"Loyal to only me? Me or my mother?"

"L-loyal to you, young master." He stuttered

"Then explain to me why you sent a secret letter to my mother yesterday....?"

"...." Shao Lan didn't dare utter a word in response.

"Do you really believe I'm a fool?" Taehyung spoke, "Going behind my back to contact my mother?" Shao Lan couldn't help but feel a chill going down his spine, "Do you think I was fooled by you, do you believe you did a good job at diverting suspicion?"