Discarded (Emperor Yoongi x Reader)

Chapter Eleven

Today you sat in what was typically Yoongi's seat at the breakfast table. For the first time since he had left, you called a mandatory breakfast where all the concubines had to attend.

Before today you had all of your meals delivered to either your room or Yoongi's study, but today was a day you showcased yourself.

You had to listen to Yoongi, you had to show these women that even if they warmed Yoongi's bed, you were the lady of this house. He had married you, and they were not allowed to keep on bullying or disrespecting you like they were of a higher station than you just because you were docile.

If they kept thinking so, you would make it their downfall.

You could tell they were already seething with anger and hostility toward you as you walked in the room wearing a fully golden hanbok with red accents.

Gold was a color that could only be worn by the royal family, and with the red floral patterns that had been embroidered on it, you looked fit to be the empress rather than just a princess.

You could not seem weak in front of these women today. Not when later you had a feeling you would be seeing one of them in a hearing with the emperor.

You walked into the room, the extra fabric of your hanbok trailing behind you being held delicately by your two maids. All of the concubines stared at you.

Normally the pressure would make you squirm. But you met eat of their stares before you took your seat.

As you sat you immediately spoke. "I called you all here for two reasons. One, my husband as you all know follows a strict routine of eating breakfast together every morning. With him gone from the estate I can't let us slack off from that. Two, I am informing you all that I will be heading to the capital to discuss some business today." You had definitely added extra emphasis on the 'my husband' part. They would never respect you if you didn't set a clear line in the sand.

None of the concubines dared to speak, though their facial expressions gave much away.

You didn't let it bother you and instead picked up your chopsticks and began to eat. Again in a show of power, you had the cooks make you the most expensive meals you could think of, the ones you had watched the rest of your family eat when they ate with royal guests.

Though Yoongi was a prince, he was often on the battlefield and therefore didn't much care for overly expensive meals. He had the cook make common foods that tasted better.

It was likely that these concubines had never had the chance to eat the dishes that were in front of them. Some actually even stared in awe at the fancifully decorated dishes.

By you eating these dishes as if they were common, it put you another step above them. They thought you were some spoiled brat loved by your father, and maybe it was good to let them think that.

Because compared to your status they had none. Only one of these concubines came slightly close to you, and still without Yoongi, your family's house far outweighed hers in the palace.

Concubine Ye-ri, it seemed, knew what you were doing. She stared at you, her expression blank as though she were lost deep in thought. Looking at you, yet seeing right through you.

It was unsettling. And then after a few minutes she let out the smallest of giggles, quickly muffled with the palm of one of her hands, and as she finally picked up her chopsticks to eat, her stare seemed to turn red.

You allowed your gaze to narrow slightly, but other than that you didn't give her the satisfaction of seeing you react.

You finished eating your food, and then made the same grand exit as you made with your entrance, leaving the other concubines to finish eating.

From the dining hall, you headed straight to a carriage that had been prepared for you. You wouldn't dare to be late to a meeting with the emperor.

If Ye-ri was the person who stole the plan, you wondered how she would leave on time. You purposely arranged it so that you left at the last minute possible to arrive to the capital on time, that way you could figure out if the mystery person truly was one of the concubines.

If one of them left before you, you'd know. And leaving afterward would make them late which would displease the emperor, a risk that no one in their right mind would want to take.

You'd have to wait and see, you supposed. Besides, you had already planted a false solution for the problems now arising with the plan, and whoever it was that stole it had taken the bait. With a wave of your hand the carriage was moving and you resigned yourself to thoughts of your uncertain fate.

———-

As Yoongi reaches the capital, and rides into the gates of the palace, he looked around immediately for any traces of you. He completely ignored the guards who had rushed to greet him with bows, and completely ignored the scholars that told him they'd inform the royal family of his arrival.

If he saw one of his soldiers, who were dressed in red rather than the silver plated armor of the palace guards, he'd know you were here.

But he saw none of that. He saw none of his carriages or his horses in the stable area of the palace grounds.

Even as he walked towards his father's study, he came across no signs of you being here.

For a moment he was almost worried that he had missed the trial, that you had been tortured, or worse executed. He calmed his nerves once he saw the position of the sun in the sky through one of the small windows.

It was still early morning, you were most likely still on your way here.

He had ridden here in record timing, stopping only once to allow his horse a few hours of rest, and even then the entire time his body and mind inched with the urge to head to the palace.

With his worries slightly quelled, Yoongi figured he'd have to face his father and explain why he was rushing around the palace like a possessed man.

As he neared the throne room to request an audience with his father, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You're back? This is why I was called here?" the person scoffed.

Without looking up, Yoongi let a short acknowledgement slip past his lips.

"Hello, Namjoon."