It wasn’t a coincidence finding a maid at a washing place, but he pretended to seem like one.
“Good afternoon.”
The maid jolted from surprise, snapping her head quickly to the figure she was unaware of.
“You-Your Highness!” she recognised, bowing her head immediately.
It was a rare occasion for a prince to talk to a maid—maybe Jungkook could be an exception, but not for Taehyung. The maid kept her head low, nervous, not daring to look back up at him.
Sa Youngmi, he played her name in his head.
It was quite impossible to remember every maid in the palace—there were too many, and he only recognised her as someone who seemed to be a friend of yours. With Lady Myungok falling ill, there were only a handful of people who were allowed to enter her residence, and Taehyung learnt she was one of them. She supposedly served lotus tea to ease her pain, and Taehyung had been closely watching the residence, looking for a chance to get in touch with her.
She had only come out of the Lady’s residence, presumably after serving tea with how the tea sets laid in the wash basin.
“Is Lady getting better?” Taehyung started off with a basic question.
Although the answer didn’t seem to be as easy flowing as his question. “I- I’m afraid not, Your Highness. She has been drinking tea but hardly any solid food….”
Taehyung frowned. Whether she was an assailant or not, her condition was concerning.
“I see…,” he sighed, glancing over at the tea set; a delicate-looking white porcelain teapot, cup and a saucer, every item adorning blue lotus of intricate brush works.
“Are those her tea sets?”
Youngmi finally moved her position from bowing, to turn her head at what lay in the basin. “Yes, these are her favourite tea sets.”
“Beautiful,” Taehyung commented out of courtesy. “Does she own a lot of lotus motifs?”
“I would say so, Your Highness. I believe she prefers the flower because it is a symbol of the Northern State.”
Taehyung hummed. “...Then I assume she owns a lot of different colours and designs.”
“Certainly. Pink, red, green...they are all very pretty.”
“...Have you seen black?”
Youngmi blinked at Taehyung before she realised that she probably shouldn’t be looking straight at him, dropping her head to the original position. She frowned, to which Taehyung assumed, troubled. He wasn’t expecting much out of her anyways. Even if Lady Myungok did have a connection to the Black Lotus, what were the odds that she’d let a mere maid sense it, or how could a mere maid notice whatever it was, even if it hung right in front of her eyes?
“Never mind,” Taehyung said. “Sorry for troubling you, have a good day.”
He proceeded to walk away, when he heard her voice stop him. “Yo-Your Highness!”
When Taehyung turned, he could see the furrow in her eyebrows, her lips pulled in a thin line, her fists clenched on her chest. It almost looked like she knew what she was going to say was going to make a difference. What does she know? And why does she look so nervous?
Taehyung waited patiently for her words.
“I- I think I’ve seen it,” she stammered. “It was placed in her favourite book, in a shelf.”
“What did it look like?”
“It was-”
“A card?”
Seokjin inquired, flipping a black card within his fingers.
“Mhm. apparently one needs to acquire this card to contact them,” Jungkook said proudly.
“Where did you get it?” Seokjin asked.
“He must have gone to the den, Your Highness,” Hoseok, who was standing beside the door as a watch, explained.
“You went to the den?” Seokjin accused in disbelief. Taehyung could only sigh.
It was past midnight, and the four were in the Crown Prince’s office to discuss the matter. Taehyung and Jungkook believed they were getting somewhere, pretty close, and that they just needed a little more push.
“They also told me that they only work for the Northerners, and thus the dealer only gives out the cards to Northerners,” Jungkook affirmed.
“But you aren’t one,” Seokjin questioned.
“Who says I’m not good at pretending?” he said in the Northern accent, which Seokjin widened his eyes in response. Jungkook smiled at the reaction and continued proudly, “you lot think I wander around in the city for nothing. There are so many things you’re missing out on just by sitting in the boring study room, hyungnim.”
Taehyung patted his younger brother’s head, appreciating the skills others in the room didn’t.
“A maid has confirmed that she might have seen something similar in the Lady’s residence. With the leads we got, I think it is fair to search her place,” Taehyung analysed.
Seokjin sank in silence. He had guessed it too, at the back of his mind, he knew this was going to come one day or the other, but to condemn his family member for a crime wasn’t pleasant at all. But this was a palace, where all the unruly desires swirled in the air, a dog-eat-dog world, and if he were to stand on top of that, he needed to make merciless decisions at times. Even though a part of him couldn’t help but worry about Namjoon, his brother.
—fifteen minutes earlier, at the consort’s residence
Namjoon was walking through the hallway, out of his mother’s residence. She had been unwell for a while now, and it seemed to worsen as days went by. He was worried. Although he had deviated from the path she wanted him to take, and believed it was wrong for her to want what she wanted, she was still his mother, and a part of him will always care about her. Which was why he never failed to visit her everyday whenever he got the chance to, try to coax her out of the wrong path.
He sighed. She was awake, although weak, and even when Namjoon only resolved in talking about how she should eat more and rest well, she was adamant on her plans to lure Namjoon back. He politely refused, not wanting to rile her up. But it was as if she couldn’t hear him anymore, and with how she felt like she was at the edge, she was persistent on it, and Namjoon felt hopeless.
Taking a turn at the corridor, he saw four shadows at the gate of the royal residential area. Namjoon quickly hid himself behind the pillar, because no one can come to this part of the palace with a good motive, at this hour, especially when they looked like they were sneaking in. The three of them dressed in a shabby black robe, hiding their faces by wrapping their bottom half of the face with black cloth, and the other one was clearly wearing an official’s robe, and he noticed the face; he was one of the men on his mother’s side, scheming for the downfall of the Crown Prince.
Why was he leading those veiled men in here? Whatever it was, it must be a bad omen.
A/N:
This is the last update for 2020! (I know, what a way to end lol)
So many unpredictable things happened in 2020, but the important thing is; we survived. And for that, we can all pat on our backs. Well done, us.
2021 will surely bring us more joy and peace.
Hope you have a nice end of year!
YOU ARE READING
An Ode to Maehwa | kth
Fanfiction"I'll make an oath. That even after 700 years, I'll find you." Lee Y/n was a university student who found history was the least thrilling subject. But who could have guessed that she'd go back in time, trapped in a historical turmoil? She was lost...
