28 parts Complete MatureThe silk robes whispered around his ankles as Taehyung stepped barefoot through the palace halls, one hand grazing the cold stone walls to guide him. Outside, the moon hung low - but he couldn't see it. He hadn't seen anything since the day he was born.
But he could feel it.
The way the night sighed through the open windows.
The way his home mourned around him.
Tomorrow, he would no longer be Prince Taehyung of the Southern Kingdom.
Tomorrow, he would become someone's consort - to a man he had never met, in a palace he could never imagine, far from the warm gardens of his childhood.
He inhaled the scent of jasmine one last time.
"Your Highness," his maid whispered gently, "it's late. You should rest. The journey tomorrow will be long."
He nodded, but didn't move.
His fingers found the old wooden pillar in the center of the courtyard - the one he had once hidden behind during games as a boy. Now, all grown and dressed in ceremonial white, he held it like a memory.
"Do you think he'll be cruel to me?" Taehyung asked softly.
The maid hesitated. "They say he's cold, Your Highness. But not unkind."
He gave a soft hum, a bitter smile flickering.
Cold was worse than cruelty, he thought. Cruelty could ignite rebellion. But coldness? It froze you from within.
"I hope he doesn't pity me," he murmured.
That would be the worst of all.
---
Somewhere in the distance, a bell rang - midnight.
Taehyung turned his face toward the wind, his unseeing eyes searching the stars he'd never know.
Goodbye, moonlight, he thought.
Tomorrow, I walk into a stranger's arms - and I pray I survive.
