Calm before the storm

Parents would warn their children from ever entering the forest, with or with out their permission, and no one ever dared to step foot within the tree line- seeming to fear what ever it was they believed to be looming in it's depths and by extension, Jimin. It could be lonely at times, the fear of being near the 'forest witch' preventing anyone from approaching him meaning he never had the ability to make friends, the only thing coming close being the mermaids in the lake.

Therefore, It shouldn't have come as a surprise when they offered him to the palace guards to replace a young boy who got caught stealing.