"Good morning, my love."

Taehyung struggled to sit up. He pressed one hand to his head as his eyes flitted over the white linen sheets strewn across his body. "I don't remember much of anything."

"Well, that's alright. You did have a nasty fall."

Taehyung watched as Hoseok placed a clear crystal tube full of a dull hyacinth-colored liquid on top of the drawer at his bedside. A familiar feeling enveloped his sensibilities. Purple. He couldn't remember why the color seemed so important to him.

Hoseok took Taehyung's hand in his gloved one. "The fall you had must have been terrifying." He preceded to slide a bracelet onto Taehyung's wrist. Small, yellow jewels dotted silver woodwork snakes clustered within amber-filled trinkets. From a small chain hung a sword whose amber-tipped edge glistened underneath the sun's rays.

Hoseok clamped Taehyung's hands in between his. "I would love it if you could wear this. For me."

Taehyung nodded. He offered to pull his hand away for closer inspection of the bracelet but Hoseok denied him the gesture. Something was amiss. Out of place.

Taehyung eyed his wrist. "My bracelet. Where is it?"

Hoseok looked at Taehyung through his long black lashes. A dense silence slinked over the room. Hoseok blinked and his static features disappeared to reveal a face full of innocent surprise. "Oh, that. Don't worry about it."

"Where is it?" The notion that the bracelet was important to him emerged but Taehyung couldn't pinpoint the reason why.

"Don't worry. It's in your room. Next to your wardrobe. Safe and sound."

Taehyung's shoulders relaxed. He wondered why he was ready to attack Hoseok for answers regarding the bracelet. After all, the piece was nothing more than an accessory. Right?

A screeching sound jumped up from the ground as the stool's wooden pegs scraped against the granite floor. "If you're feeling better by tomorrow morning, why don't we announce the ball for Sachuin?" Hoseok offered Taehyung an unsure grin.

Taehyung's eyes grew wide. Strands of hair from his pushed-back bangs fell onto his forehead as he leaned forward. An inescapable smile blossomed over his impeccable face. "You don't mean-"

Hoseok let his grin fly wide over his face. "Will you marry me in three days time?"

Taehyung flew into Hoseok's arms, his cheek pressed into the top of Hoseok's head. "Of course. I'll do anything to be happy with you."

The smile on Hoseok's face flattened as he heard the bracelet's trinkets clashing one against the other. Clink. Clack.

Clink. Clack.

Clink.

★

Jungkook knocked on Mr. Lepitun's door with paper and pen in hand. He offered him the brightest smile he could muster given these trying times.

༺ ★ ༻

The day of the engagement ball arrived with due diligence. Families from various parts of Mush Try arrived to wish the eldest prince and his partner well-off. Carriage after carriage filed up the Kingdom's incline. While parents moved towards friends and acquaintances, the youngest of the children flew off into the castle's grass in search of fellow playmates. Colorful kites filled the sky. The world was alight and bright.

At the other end of the Kingdom, cheers and chatter consumed the air as common folk went about celebrating the soon to be united couple. Baskets of bread floated around from head to head as families shared their freshly baked goods between each other. Teenagers made their way to the brick-and-mortar town circle to watch a dancing troupe perform their most intricate routine while children dashed in and around legs in search of mischief. The Kingdom's crest emblazoned the 's of every child throughout Noseraas. A spear-headed boar with gold-tipped tusks encircled Jven—the goddess who had managed to save herself for vengeance only after sacrificing her two twins.

The future of tomorrow was today.

★

Jungkook stood before the only mirror in the cottage. He slid his gloved hand into the sleeve of his outer jacket before taking a couple of steps back to overview his current state of affairs. In the days since Taehyung's drunken stupor, his hands had turned into the tips of a swan's wings. Without jointed fingers, Jungkook could no longer grip anything like he had once done as a human.

From mid-waist down to his feet, a thin layer of feathers as crisp and clean as the underbelly of a sugar cookie covered his skin. He took a deep breath in as he fastened the cut strip of fabric from the purple flag that hung over the kitchen entryway into his hair. He pressed in tight before knotting the strip into a bow. The tips slipped over his shoulders like twin streams of frosting from a piping tube.

Jungkook recalled the memory of Taehyung jumping with excitement at the sight of a purple so vibrant not even Mother Nature could fashion it from her bosom. Now, Taehyung didn't have to be all that amazed. The possibility of purples from fairytale to fiction would be at his fingertips. On coronation day, The Queen is to be adorned in purple.

★

Jungkook was walking up the castle's incline when a young girl approached him. "Mister, let me help you." She wrapped her arm around his with the daintiest smile smoothed over her freshly-powdered cheeks.

"Oh, but you don't have to." Jungkook opened his mouth to say something else when a cough erupted from his mouth. He quickly turned his head away, grateful that there was no silver dust and red blood flying free from his throat.

"I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright. Your health is most important." The girl made sure to lay her hand over Jungkook's as if to tell him he was going nowhere.

Jungkook froze. And waited for a scream of disgust. Or a look of confusion. Anything to signal that she had discovered his secret.

But she continued on without a change in expression. Jungkook smiled to himself. He felt the tension drain from his shoulders. The bittersweetness of this situation would have been enough to render him senseless to the last ounce of will coursing over his veins. He would have gone quietly if not for his resolution to see the one most important person in his life.

"My name is Arriette. What's yours?" The girl looked up at him from having readjusted her skirts.

Jungkook took a moment to look over the land. They were drawing nearer to the entrance. A guard stood watch over the incoming guests. Soon, he would have to let go. Find an entrance in the rear.

In the meantime, Jungkook racked his head over the names Mr. Lepitun had presented yesterday. He ultimately decided on the most conspicuous one, knowing very well that no one would have any curiosity to ask the quiet man with a cane for his name. Besides, the risk was low even if discovery were plausible. Amendment Q's prominence ended sometime during Taehyung's early childhood years; shortly after the second prince's birth. No one would remember such a short-lived law from more than two decades ago.

"Jeonghwan."

The girl's eyes lit up. Her red lips peeled back to reveal a pair of pearly whites. "What a pretty name! Who named you? Your mother or father?"

Jungkook hadn't thought this far along. He knew they would have both had a say in his name but it was uncommon in nobility for females to help in selecting a name. So, he chose the only option that wouldn't incite inquisitiveness or suspicion.

"Father."

The girl hiked her skirts up higher. "Did you know you fit all four attributes of your name?"

Jungkook cocked an eyebrow. "Oh. And what would those be?" Did this girl know about Amendment Q? Had he messed up in choosing this name?

"Righteousness, honesty, beauty and..." She frowned as she tried to recall the last one. "Oh!" She nearly tripped in her haste to turn to Jungkook with an excited squeal. "Creation." She sheepishly looked towards the ground. "At least, that's what the characters for Jeong represent."

Jungkook swallowed. Everything outside of his immediate vicinity receded into little more than the gentle wind that tickled the blades of grass. Creation? How forthcoming. Now, of all times.

He yanked himself away from the irony of his name's meaning to find himself underneath a golden archway lined with white-petaled flowers. He looked over his shoulder. The guard stood several feet away; his back turned to him. Jungkook had managed to successfully bypass security.

"Well, Mister, if you'll excuse me." Arriette carefully untwined her arm from around Jungkook's before dipping low to the ground in a curtsy. "I have to go find someone now." She was all smiles and blushes as she disappeared into the dwindling crowd.

Jungkook hoped that Arriette could find who she was searching for. It was evident that the person in question was what gave her reason to be full of hope and expectation.

Jungkook stepped closer to the ballroom. The sounds of violins, flutes, and trumpets filtered into the settling dusk around him. With its open archways and spacious floor plan, the ballroom beckoned guests forward. Purple, heavyweight bars seated masked dancers as they contorted every which way within the confines of their respective spheres. Circular tables occupied one-half of the room. Comfortably seating up to 8 people each, they were decked out in a range of radiant ornamentation from peacock-colored chair covers to shimmering tablecloths that illuminated the purple hyacinth on each table—placed high above the guest's heads so that they formed the outline of a boar's tusks.

At the perimeter of the ballroom's archways, ladies walked around with platters teeming with items from alcoholic drinks to feathered pens and blotting paper. Their muted gowns flared bright with the moonlight reflected off of the imperceptible crystals embedded throughout the body-contouring cloth.

Something hard hit Jungkook from behind. He looked around in time to catch sight of the woman who had slammed into him with her opulent fan. With nothing more than a slight shake of his head, Jungkook turned his attention to the elongated serving tables nearest the rose garden. The smell of apples, lemons, and cinnamon wafted into his nose as he moved to pull a strawberry-topped confection from its silver platter.

First, there was a rise in murmurs. Followed by a slow, steady stream of hands coming together before the entire room erupted into a rambunctious cacophony of claps and low cheers. Jungkook knew what it was he was going to find even before he could spot the brassy-toned male bent down on one knee before an older woman. She used her weathered hand to cup his cheek. The crowd shuffled inward, obscuring his view.

Jungkook pressed forward against the cluster of bodies. He had to break through. For all the misery crushing his sensibilities, Jungkook just couldn't get enough of Taehyung. He had to consume Taehyung from afar. Down to the last inch.

And just as soon be gone. Back into the darkness from which his body was destined to go.

The man next to him growled as Jungkook used his shoulder to slip through. His cane jammed into something soft but he had no intentions of apologizing. Not now. In this instant, all he cared to focus on was the surrender of his entire being to the call of his heart.

Mouth agape, Jungkook drank in the sight of Taehyung as he came to a stand at the front of the crowd. His beauty was ethereal, his movements constructed to radiate warmth and kindness as he went around in circles waving to near everyone who had come out to celebrate this important event with him.

Pants as white as the snow-peaked mountains to the East of the kingdom hugged his thighs down to the last sensual curve and crevice. The upper portion of his body carried with it the soft suppleness of lovers written into poems of eternal pleasure. On one side of his bangs, the tips had been dyed a blue-purple—the sharp contrast serving to draw attention to the pattern of jewels surrounding the side of his face.

The crowd began to thin out as they moved to dance alongside an enthusiastic Taehyung but Jungkook's feet stayed firm. His focus remained on the man whose exuberant smiles gave him reason to succumb to the erratic beating of his heart.

Taehyung searched the crowd. His eyes caught on Jungkook's and instead of rightfully turning away, he did the unthinkable. The unimaginable. Taehyung lifted his arm and with that all-too-familiar gummy smile, beckoned Jungkook forward.

No one paid either man any attention as everyone else had been drawn into their own separate worlds on the dance floor. The melodic sound of a harp joined the rhythmic swell of the string instruments. Jungkook swallowed. He had to get out of here.

The guests swirled to the right, concealing Taehyung from view. Jungkook couldn't walk fast, much less run so he opted to hide in plain view. Shoulders raised to his ears and chin brought down to his chest, he dropped down into the seat next to a woman who eyed him with a once-over cautionary look. Jungkook hoped that Taehyung had been lured away from the prospect of dancing with him, of all people. That way, Taehyung wouldn't have to witness the state of affairs Jungkook's hands had been reduced to in the days since their late-night rendezvous.

Jungkook clamped down on the top of his cane with both palms. A presence drew near. His knees began to shake. A pause. The person's silhouette splashed against the table. Jungkook reached for the cup of white wine set out before him just as the person standing over him spoke.

"Would you care to dance with me?" There wasn't an ounce of ridicule to his deep voice. He spoke plainly; matter-of-factly. Almost as if this were nothing more than a gesture of kindness for the noblemen and women present to witness.

Jungkook's heart withered. And just as soon as Taehyung grabbed his shoulder, Jungkook flipped the cup backwards. The liquid splashed onto Taehyung's chest, leaving his ornamental garb a mess of dripping liquid.

The liveliness from the crowd died down. The instruments ceased to play. The murmurs grew in volume. Notwithstanding the stares, the growing heat on the back of his neck, and the tightening knot in his mind, Jungkook threw the cup down onto the ground. The glass shattered and before he could think of staying rooted to the ballroom floor, Jungkook hurried away. Grateful for the shadows that ran alongside the ballroom's outskirts, Jungkook escaped into the gardens with nothing more than an aching heart and the last few memories of having seen his greatest treasure.

From tens of feet away, Hoseok hurried over to Taehyung. His countenance was expressionless, his steps propelled by the will to protect his betrothed.

"Are you alright, my love?" Hoseok placed his hand on the small of Taehyung's lower back.

Taehyung didn't say anything for the span of a few seconds. Slowly, but surely, he began to open his mouth. "I... I don't understand. Why did he do that?" Taehyung looked down at his chest—the liquid now having seeped through the fabric onto his skin. He began to shake. Something was amiss. Why had that man seemed so memorable?

Hoseok looked at Taehyung with questionable fervor. Taehyung would never again remember. Such was how life should be.

All was best in the land of Noseraas.

★

Jungkook made it back to the cottage in a mess of sweat and aching limbs. He couldn't breathe right. He touched the tip of his nose to find it replaced with something hard and long.

Not yet.

He inched his ailing body towards the fireplace.

There was still one last thing to do. To say. He couldn't go just yet.

★

Taehyung was told to change into a freshly-pressed set of clothes. He collapsed onto the floor just as soon as the door to his bedchambers clicked shut behind him.

The attendant at his side screeched as she followed after Taehyung. "Your grace, w-what's wrong?" In wrapping her hand around Taehyung's forehead, she moved to his cufflinks.

Taehyung peeled her hands away. An aloof, silly grin formed over his dry lips. "There's no need for that."

"But-"

"Oh, I know. This is your responsibility and you can get into a lot of trouble for not tending to me but I mean it when I say you don't have to preoccupy yourself with me."

"Please. If you're feeling unwell, I can go and fetch the physici-"

Taehyung shook his head. "No. I just..." He took a deep breath in. "Do you ever get the feeling like you've done something wrong but can't pinpoint what it is even if you can deduce why it happened to be that way?"

The attendant went slack. "Your grace..."

"I must have wronged that man with the cane but I can't tell what it is I did." He lolled his head to the side, his attention catching on nothing in particular.

The attendant smoothed her dull skirts out. She refrained from making eye contact with Taehyung.

Taehyung dismissed her with a groan. "I'll change by myself." He noticed the way her frown grew more pronounced. "But, you can see to it that no one comes in. At all." A smirk danced over the cor