𝐊 𝕺 | k.th

Mendacious Pathway

"And I have chosen one girl, again, to continue on in the Royal Harvest. Lady Sooyun of Seoul," he says and suddenly, he's standing in front of me and making me forget my train of thought. "You are given the honor of continuing on for your fourth consecutive week in my Harvest. Congratulations, my lady." He turns back to the cameras. "As everyone knows, after a woman has her fifth dinner with the prince and wins his favor, she will not continue on with feasts and will instead be given her own room in the palace to stay. Lady Sooyun, do you have anything to say about how close you are to this?"

I panic, not expecting that he'd ever interview me in front of thousands of people like this and not being prepared for it at all. "Um," I stutter as I feel the heat rising to my face. Am I really going to embarrass myself in front of so many people?

I glance at Taehyung and plead with my eyes for him to help me but he simply licks his lips and stares at me intently. Damn.

"I-I'm extremely honored to have made it this far and t-to have been favored by the prince for so many weeks in a row. I hope I can win the favor of the country as well. T-thank you." My breath shakes, and Taehyung smiles at me before continuing his part with utter confidence.

Taehyung and I wait for the other girls and cameramen to leave, which seems to take way too much time and makes my legs flex uncomfortably. I can't imagine how it must feels to be Taehyung and do this grueling process every week, for years. He must be ready to pounce on his first opportunity of a suitable wife.

When we're left alone, I bring the question up. "Is it hard doing this for so long? I mean, you've been at it for what? Four years now?"

He narrows his eyes at a wall and gives a disingenuous response. "I'm honored to have so many options to choose from that I don't even have enough time to properly evaluate them all." He turns to me with a smirk. "Besides, do you not feel the same about being chosen to continue in my Harvest? Extremely honored, correct?"

"Yeah butㅡ" I'm cut off when he suddenly cups my cheek and brings his face dangerously close to mine. "W-whatㅡ"

"I feel it my duty to constantly remind you of your place. You talk too much." I hold in an eye roll. "Did you not ever learn how to address a Prince?"

"I went to those classes that teach you to sit straight. Does that count?"

"I doubt you absorbed any of the information they presented to you. I have yet to see you sit straight during dinner."

I laugh, trying my hardest to keep it feminine like my teacher always taught me. "Touché."

He takes his hold off of me and smiles, straightening his suit while twisting his neck to the side. "So..." I trail off. He raises a brow at me, and I feel a blush coming. "W-what do we do now? Do I go home?"

"It's your choice. You can come to my bed or go back home," he says smoothly.

I cough softly to cover up my choking and twist my dress around my fingers nervously. "U-um. So, home it is?"

He smiles and curtly nods. "I'll tell the guards of your departure. Have a good week, my lady."

...

I toss my belongings on the floor of my room and impatiently wiggle out of my dress, the tight material suffocating me since several hours ago. I change into soft pajamas and head down to the dinner room. On my way, I pass by Nayun's opened door and notice the nasty look she gives me.

I make a 180 turn and head straight into her room with an equally unpleasant face. "Excuse me?"

"What?" she asks insincerely.

"Why are you side-eyeing me? Were you hoping I'd take you to the palace again?"

"I can go by myself."

I snort. "Yeah, right. Like mom and dad are going to let you casually make out with Prince Jungkook on the daily."

She rolls her eyes and ignores my snarky remarks. "Didn't Miss Ophelia ever teach you to not snort like a pig?"

I bite my lip down, suppressing the urge to go off on the girl. She raises a brow at my silence and I sigh. "Just promise me you won't try anything with the Princes until you're entered, Nayun."

"I make no promises," she says on beat.

"Nayun! Please," I let my anger go and ask nicely for her sake. "Please agree. I'm looking out for you, I don't want you to do things you'll regret later...you're only thirteen."

She examines me with curiosity and looks into my eyes for a sign of deceit. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm trying to tell you to be careful with Prince Jungkook, especially. I don't want to believe you'd do something like that but you have to know by now; you have to be a virgin to enter their Harvests." I measure the weight of my words carefully, making sure not to offend her. "I'll keep on taking you to the palace with me if you promise you won't mess around with him."

She toys with her lip and looks down, letting out a deep sigh. "...Fine." And I release a breath of air before coming up to give her a small hug.

...

"Sooyun!" The high-pitched voice of my mother wakes me from my sleep. "Sooyun!" she calls out again.

"Mm," I groan while covering my ears with my pillow.

"Han Sooyun, get your lazy self out of bed! It's already past nine!"

I stifle another groan, hoping to stay on my mom's good side and get a day off from house chores. "I'm coming, I'm coming." I roll around in bed before lifting myself off, and unfortunately getting my leg stuck in the blanket. A short scream escapes my throat as I fall down to the ground on all four limbs.

"Oh my!" she exclaims. "I'd fall out of bed too if I got this news."

"Hmm?" I'm running out of patience here.

"Prince Taehyung asked for you to come to the palace today!"

"What?" I breathe out.

...

I stand in front of the palace and look around. To one corner of the gate, a knight stands straight and tall. He notices me staring and turns to me with a smile, which I blush at. He's quite handsome...

My fantasizing is cut short when I spot a familiar small figure scurrying about inside the palace. I walk over to her and ask, "Hey, Hani. Do you know where Prince Taehyung is?"

"Oh! Lady Sooyun," she sets her hands on her hips and calculates every inch of the palace with her eyes. "His Highness is in his room, my lady."

I laugh softly at her expertise before asking where exactly his room is, and she gives instructions. Hani bows with her dress before running up the stairs herself. I smile, thinking of how nice it is to know someone who works in the palace, before something catches my eye. My gaze fixes on a pathway directly to the left of the palace and two familiar looking figures.

He smirks while leaning against a pillar and letting the girl run her hands over his chest and arms. I grit my teeth, preparing myself to fight the girl if it's who I think it is. I puff my cheeks. It better not be who I think it is.

To be Continued...

(A/N Currently listening to Answer: Love Myself and crying uncontrollably. Bye, please vote 💜💜)