The Painting || BTS TAEHYUNG

Chapter 24: Bloodline

I handed Princess Jugyeong the warm tea I prepared for her and sat quietly next to her on the bench of the grand balcony. She nodded gratefully at me before shifting her eyes to the purplish sky in front of us.

"Our father, the great king of Mahiron." She smiled "The merciful ruler of our nation would turn into a cruel and selfish monster once the gates of the castle shut at night. He slowly became addicted to the toxic liquor he drank every night behind and filled the hallways the loud painful screams of our mother. Every hit on her weak body made Jungkook cry even harder in my embrace while Taehyung placed his arms protectively around us until we fell asleep but he would stay up the whole night while listening to her painful screams." She quickly wiped her tears away while I fought with mine as the swollen lump in my throat grew bigger, shocked from what she just told me.

"As soon as the sky turned black we hid ourselves inside the closet while our mother in the other room was begging the lord to relieve her from this excruciating pain. Jungkook was a very emotional boy, as soon as he saw a glint of sadness in your eyes he would start crying and run into your arms. We tried everything to distract him by playing his favorite games, tickle him and making him laugh while holding our own tears back. Until that one night when we almost fell asleep but the sudden silence that reigned over the whole castle made it hard for us to breathe inside the suffocating closet. A haunting red color covered the whole castle in a pain so severe so that when the sun announced the disastrous morning we uneasily woke up a-and found their soulless bodies in their blood bathed chamber" My eyes widened while a gasp escaped my aching throat and hot tears ran down my cold cheeks.

"Taehyung's smile vanished forever since that night. While protecting us over these years, he forgot that it was him who needed the warmth of a loved one, someone who would pull him inside a warm embrace he craved for when the sky turned black and the sun disappeared behind the fair light of the moon. Taehyung needs love Y/N" She cried out while turning her head to look at me, my tears fell uncontrollably while her broken eyes met mine.

"I thought I had mistaken the way his eyes filled with a warmth when he would quietly stare at you, a warmth that I haven't seen in his eyes in a very long time. Every King needs a woman, the Queen he can come back to when the pressure of his responsibilities he is carrying gets too heavy on his shoulders" She placed a strand behind my ear while a warm smile made its way on her lips as another tear escaped my eye.

"Taehyung has chosen you Y/N, despite what our mischievous aunt is planing. I know he won't let your hand go, he will protect you under his embrace just like he has protected us." I lowered my head while my heart was racing against my chest. I slowly lifted my head and wiped my tears away as my eyes met hair brown chocolate eyes that resembled Taehyung's perfectly.

"I have seen the same look in your eyes too, I trust you because I know you are capable of giving my brother the reassurance he needs." She whispered before wiping her tears away and taking a sip from her tea.

~

The cold breeze stroke over my arms, I hugged my body tightly as the sun was slowly setting, making the cold night return with it's dark colors.

Jugyeong's words wouldn't leave my mind as I walked towards the white horse with which Taehyung and I had left the castle. At the thought of that day a little smile appeared on my lips, not many days have passed since that day but why does it feel like an eternity later?

Only three more days were left until the arrival of Princess Aera and Taehyung's birthday which is supposed to be celebrated as a masquerade. It felt overwhelming experiencing all these things I saw in movies and in the painted on the canvas of my grandfather but sadly the reality was much heavier to enjoy. Only the thought of him would make it easier for me to breathe and prevent the nightmare from taking over the dream.