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“Good evening, Lady Haerin. Care for another tour of the library?”

Namjoon, the kind librarian who worked in the castle greeted me with a polite smile when I opened the wide doors to the room.

To describe Namjoon with one word, I can only say that he’s hella tall.

I mean, Jimin’s tall, but this guy is definitely on the taller side. Don’t let Jimin know about this though, his ego won’t take it well.

Namjoon’s quite young on the looks, but I won’t count on that. Jimin is 300 something and he looked like what? Five? And speaking about his age, I’m currently back at the library to dig any information I could get my hands on regarding Jimin’s past.

The said person was out and about doing his so-called royal duty. He was gone the moment I opened my eyes. Only leaving a note telling me he has to run an emergency errand. I shrugged it off and decided to use the time to go back to the library.

“That won’t be necessary, Namjoon. Thank you for the offer though,” I politely declined with a smile on my face as venture inside the big room. Only to halt my steps and look back at the kind librarian who looks at me with a confused smile.

“On second thought. I think you can help me find what I was looking for here.”

“This is it, Lady Haerin, the history section of the royal family. If you want to find something that could be of use to his highness, you can start from,” he trailed as he moves too fast for my newly trained vision to follow, and returning as quick as he went with stacks of books on his hands.

“Here you go, My lady. You can start from these. I think whatever you’re searching for could be found here, “ Namjoon said with a polite smile. My eyes widened when I counted five books thicker than any books I’ve read in my whole life.

If the kind librarian notices my flabbergasted expression, he didn’t comment on it, instead he gently put the stacks to a nearby study table located in the section before returning to me, his smile ever presents.

“Anything else I could assist you with, Lady Haerin?”

“Um, no, Namjoon I think that’s all. You’ve been a great help, thank you, “ I responded with a smile of my own. “You may continue to your task.”

And leave he did. With a polite bow, he turned to leave with gentle strides back to his post, leaving me to look at the books that must’ve mocked me if it could speak.

With a groan, I take the book on the top, dropping down on the sofa next to it, and with a huge sigh, opened the book. If not for Jimin, never would have I imagined myself willing to even step a foot at a library. The mere thoughts brought shiver to my skin.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I read the first page.

I don’t think I even realized how fast time flies while reading the books about the royal family, it was actually not hard to get immersed in it. Let’s just say that it was quite an unpleasant one in which you wanted to keep reading until you find that little happy ending plot in which I haven’t found yet to be frank. And it’s already my 4th book now and still they’re a royal family for a reason, I guess.

How they treat each other and their people just to make sure they know who’s in charge is sickening. No wonder Jimin seems so determined to forget about his past, I think I would do the exact same thing too if I were him.

Trying to withstand the gut-wrenching detail of how the people who rebels got treated. Some of them are family members for crying out loud.

It wasn’t until five pages or more that I found out about the royal birth. I read it thoroughly from the first word, focusing myself in trying to find the date of the first born, which is Jimin.

A gasp escapes me when I caught a sickening fact about Jimin’s past, causing me to unconsciously loosening my grip on the book, it falling down beside my feet with a loud thud.

I sit still, hands on my lips. Eyes widen with what I just read with the words stuck in my mind.

“Lady Haerin.”

Another gasp escapes me when I suddenly found Namjoon a few feet away from where I stood, with how he looked at me with concern, I can only imagine how shocked my face must’ve looked to him.

“N- Namjoon, “ I clear my throat when my voice came out hoarse. “Yes, what is it, Namjoon?” I tried my best to muster the most convincing smile. Though for a moment, Namjoon didn’t say anything and instead, he took a handkerchief from his pocket before handing it to me, a sad smile on his face. I looked up to him confused.

“You’re crying, Lady Haerin.” Was all he said, answering my unspoken question.

I didn’t even realize I was crying until he told me and got me noticing the wet tears running down my cheeks.

“O- Oh, thank you,” I chuckles, trying to ease the tension as I wipe the tears on my face. “I didn’t know what came over me.”

“It is okay, Lady Haerin. I know that the history of the royal family is not a pretty bedtime story.” Namjoon said as he picked up the book on the floor, handing it to me gently. “I may not have been working for the royal family for a long time, but I know what he’s been going through in is earlier years. I too read the books just like you. And boy does it has its same toll on me the way you do.”

Taking the book from his hand, I opened the page where I left it, tracing the words with shaking hand. Taking a deep breath, I look to Namjoon asking, “Is it really true then? That- that Jimin-“ I took a deep breath before whispering, “that Jimin was not the actual first born? About the tragedy that happened with the actual firstborn?” I can feel my throat clogged up again, fresh tears started to collect in my eyes.

It was quiet in the library, and I started to hate the fact that today has been filled with longer silence than necessary.

“Namjoon?” I asked, frustrated with the long silence.

“Yes,” Namjoon said with a sigh, shaking his head before looking at me with sad eyes. “Yes, he was not. His highness was supposed to be the second born, for he has his older brother together with him in the Queen’s womb. His twin brother.”

I kept silent, closing the book on my lap, urging Namjoon to continue with my eyes.

“His twin brother, whose name is not even on the book was sadly killed right after the Queen gave birth, by the king himself.”

I close my eyes hearing the last part, allowing tears to flow freely down my cheeks again. A sob escaped me when I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the newborn baby whose future could be so bright. He might even be a close brother who’ll look after Jimin and Minjun.

Namjoon kept quite as I profusely wiped my tears that just won’t stop flowing with his handkerchief. I sobbed silently for a moment, trying to calm myself down.

“What..” I opened my mouth, head still looking down at the carpeted floor, voice hoarse from the pain I felt. “Wh- what happened? Why did they… kill..?” the word kill came out as a whisper when I release yet another sob, one of my hand fisted, crumpling the material of my dress right where my heart is.

I heard Namjoon clear his throat before continuing, his voice a bit hoarse as well. If I look up, I can see a few tears brimmed his eyes as well. “At that time the royal family had a frequent visit to a seer. The seer was said to be the one that helped the king predict an attack from the rebels. It is also said that he won numerous battles because of her.

When months passed into the Queen’s pregnancy, the seer told the king that a battle will ensure inside the family if they were to keep the first born. At first, the King and Queen were confused and enraged with the statement, because of course it was the first born that they wanted. They need a successor for the throne. The seer though kept quiet, not answering any of their questions. Only saying that if the family want to keep the throne, they just need to trust her words.

Long story short, they didn’t expect the Queen to have twins as even the doctor at that time doesn’t have enough technology and the witch won’t say a thing. The queen tried to persuade his husband to not heeding the seer’s order, because in any way, it was her sons, it was their sons.

But the King, persistent in keeping the