When Crown Princess Kim Taeyeon was summoned to her husband’s chambers late at night, servants gossiped about what the young newlyweds could possibly do alone in his Royal Highness’ room late at night.

Taeyeon herself was feeling nervous, especially about what she told him before she out from getting too drunk. Her heart was thumping like crazy, nervous about meeting him and what he wanted to say to her tonight that he couldn’t wait till the next day.

“Sit down and have some tea,” Crown Prince Hyun said when the doors finally closed behind her. Taeyeon nodded and quietly sat down in front of the table. She stared at the cup of tea, feeling a bit tense from the look he was giving her. His eyes were cold and unfriendly, she didn’t know what she did wrong, but it made her feel even more nervous than before.

Crown Prince Hyun is sitting in front of his own table, with one hand resting on an open book in front of him and the other drumming rhythmically beside it. Taeyeon could tell that he was in deep thought, though his eyes never left her.

“What is it that you would like to discuss with me, Your Royal Highness?” she finally gathered up her courage to ask him, knowing that he didn’t just ask her to come to have tea with him.

He finally pushed the table away in front of him and stood up, walking towards her table and sitting down in front of her. Taeyeon gulped, feeling extremely uncomfortable about the whole vibe she is getting from him. This feeling is completely different from their different encounters before, because tonight, she felt that his eyes not only look cold, but also murderous.

“Why did you agree to this marriage? You had the chance to escape,” he said, looking down at the teapot and pouring himself a cup of tea. “I was going to help you to escape that night, but you rejected my offer.”

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, surprised that he was wondering about that. She let out a small relief. Maybe the anger behind his eyes wasn’t directed towards her.

“I stayed back because of my family.”

“Because of your brother?” he asked after a few seconds passed, making her feel nervous again when he did that pause.

Taeyeon got a feeling that he asked because he wanted to confirm something from her, something he is suspicious about. “That as well. Why?”

Baekhyun gently placed the cup back on the table and finally looked up at her, sending a shiver down her spine with his cold stare. “If you are plotting anything behind my back, I am giving you a chance to confess everything to me right now.”

Taeyeon stared at him, confused and angry at the same time about the accusation that she was plotting something. “What are you accusing me of? What plot would I be plotting against you?”

Her voice wobbled, feeling her anger starting to boil at the pit of her stomach. No matter how Baekhyun made her feel right now, she still trusts him, because regardless of the rumors she heard about him in the palace, she believes that the person she saw outside of the palace walls is the real him.

And all she needs to do is trust him, even with her life. But now she feels disappointed that he doesn’t trust her at all, which made her feel devastated and angry with tears b in her eyes.

“Do you think that I am planning to do something to dethrone you? Betray your secrets? Or even kill you?” she asked him, almost crying.

“So now you are confessing to plotting to kill me?” he asked her back, raising his voice and slamming the cup on the floor, causing it to break into pieces. “What are you planning?”

“If you already think that, why don’t you just kill me right now?” she hastily grabbed one piece of broken ceramic from the floor and put it in front of , backing away from him as he started to walk towards her. “Get away from me or I will cut myself.”

“Don’t threaten me like that,” he said in a cold tone, refusing to listen to her and continue to walk towards her until her back touched the wall, trapping her in a corner. “Tell me, do you know about your older brother’s plan to dethrone and assassinate me?”

Taeyeon widened her eyes, finally finding out why the Crown Prince was suspicious of her, it was because of her brother. She knew her brother was a bit shady, but she didn’t think that he would have the guts to plot the Crown Prince’s assassination.

She had always hated her brother for treating her like an accessory for his political gain, just like how he tried to marry her off to Prince Jung for his own political gain. And to be associated with a plan so viscous and traitorous like assassinating the Crown Prince, she can’t believe that the only person she trusts in this place thinks that of her.

“So that’s what this is? You think I have something to do with my brother? Believe me, he wants to kill me as well. Why don’t you just kill me right here?”

Her emotions got the better of her and she started to move the sharp piece near her neck, but Baekhyun was quick to block her and snatch the broken piece from her hand before throwing it far away from them.

She looked into Baekhyun’s eyes, his eyes were no longer cold, but scared and surprised that she almost tried to kill herself in front of him. Seeing him reacting like that, she almost mistaken it for him caring about her.

But the truth is, he never cared about her, she had just misunderstood all of his intentions with her delusions all this while.

“Why did you try to help me escape and pretended to care about me when you think about me that way?” she cried when he finally let her go, then pushed him away before running out of the room.

Court Lady Jo and Hui were surprised to find the Crown Princess sobbing, with blood dripping from her palm. They immediately attended to her and escorted her back to her room.

Baekhyun was left standing there, trying to process what just went down in his mind.

Why did she cry like that when he questioned her? Why did she care that he accused her?

Why does her crying because of him make him feel guilty?

“Your Royal Highness,” Soo called to him, walking into the room. He glanced at the faint drops of blood on the floor and saw that the Crown Prince’s hand was bloody. He grabbed a clean towel from the drawer and handed it to him to wipe away the blood. “Do you need the Royal Physician to take a look?”

“No need, it isn’t my blood,” he replied curtly as he grabbed the towel from Soo. His hand was painted with her blood when he tried to snatch the broken ceramic from Taeyeon’s hand earlier. “Euncuh Nam, send the Royal Physician to the Crown Princess’ room right now.”

“Yes! Your Royal Highness,” replied Eunuch Nam from the door.

“Did she confess?” asked Soo.

“No, she didn’t confess,” Baekhyun replied as he turned around and started to walk back to his study table.

“Then she is guilty right? We need to get rid of her,” said Soo.

“No, don’t touch her,” Baekhyun warned as he sat back down in front of his table. “Let’s leave her out of the picture for now.”

“Alright, your Royal Highness,” Soo complied and exited his chambers.

***

The next morning when Crown Princess Taeyeon woke up, her eyes were puffy from crying and her right hand bandaged from the cut from last night. It’s only her second day of being Crown Princess, and she is already screwing everything up.

She doesn’t know how to face Baekhyun after last night, and she isn’t sure what to feel about him right now. She feels disappointed and angry that he thought that about her, but she finds herself not feeling an ounce of hate towards him.

“Are you feeling better right now? Your Royal Highness?” asked Court Lady Jo as she placed her breakfast in front of the Crown Princess.

“Yes,” she replied shortly.

“Do you want to share what happened last night?” asked Court Lady Jo, referring to the bandaged hand. Taeyeon glanced down at her sore hand, feeling tears welling up at the back of her eyes again as she remembered what happened last night.

“He doesn’t trust me,” she said simply. “But I trust him completely. I saved his life before, and he saved mine as well. I thought that would make things different between us. But he just saw me as someone who is trying to kill him.”

Court Lady Jo grimaced as she stared at the Crown Princess pitifully.

“The Crown Prince doesn’t trust people easily, and he only trusts his personal bodyguard who has been by his side for years more than anyone. His Royal Highness doesn’t even trust his own siblings,” said Court Lady Jo.

“Why is that? Because of the late Queen’s assassination?”

“Not only that, but when his Royal Highness was a teenager, there was a Court Lady that treated him like her own son. They were so close that she was like a second mother to him, she took care of his well-being and everyone in the palace could see that the young prince was finally smiling for once after the late Queen’s passing.”

Taeyeon slowly put down her spoon to listen more about the story. She has never heard about this before, probably because it was a very short time in the Crown Prince’s life.

“Then one day, the Crown Prince was poisoned by his food, people accused the Court Lady, but the Crown Prince trusted her and said that it can’t be her because he trusts her, although he was still recovering from the incident.”

“Then, did that Court Lady really try to poison him?” asked Taeyeon.

“Yes, after evidence was presented, the Court Lady finally confessed as she was part of a plot to assassinate the Prince. The King ordered for the execution of that Court Lady, and after she was executed, the Prince only left his room after a month,” said Court Lady Jo and paused, her face turning grim. “When he came back out to meet the world, he started to shut even more people out from his life, so that he won’t be deceived by others ever again.”

Taeyeon stared at Court Lady Jo in disbelief after she finished the story, a part of the Crown Prince’s past. The Crown Prince had really lived through a tough childhood, it is no wonder he turned out like this. He witnessed his mother getting assassinated right in front of him, betrayed by someone he thought he trusted, and lost the only person that cared about him to another assassination just a few months ago.

“So don’t blame yourself, Your Royal Highness,” comforted Court Lady Jo. “It can’t be helped.”

Any disappointment or anger she had towards him slowly dispersed, after hearing about his past and understanding what he had been through, she finds herself forgiving him for what he did to her last night.

“Oh god, I did something so embarrassing last night,” muttered Taeyeon as she buried her face into her palms.

She remembered how she got so emotional that she threatened him with her own life. She never does that, she loves life. She regretted letting her emotions get the better of her, when she is usually so calm and collected.

Maybe she was so hopeful for this arranged marriage to work out that she became devastated when she learned that he doesn’t trust her?

What is the Crown Prince going to think of her now?

***

It has been days since the fight, the Crown Prince remained at the training grounds, doing his usual training with Soo. He hasn’t seen his new bride around the palace these past days, even though he purposely pretended to pass by the garden near her side of the palace a few times.

He had sent Soo to keep an eye on her, but only heard that she hasn’t left the room since what happened that night.

“What could she possibly do all day in her room? She’s –” Baekhyun paused, trying to find a word to describe her. “Hyperactive.”

“Maybe her Royal Highness has been reading,” replied Soo, not knowing what to say.

If Taeyeon has been staying in her room these few days, then she must still be very mad towards him because of how he accused her that night. Things got out of hand that night, and he still didn’t understand why she reacted that way.

People would usually be begging for their life, not threatening to kill themselves in front of him.

The Crown Princess is quite peculiar, and he can’t seem to figure her out.

“But all the books are in the library, so she will only have boring books in there,” said Baekhyun. Then, Baekhyun suddenly got an idea, and before he could stop to think about it, he put down his sword and left the training grounds without changing out of his training robes.

“Your Royal Highness, where are you rushing off to?” asked Eunuch Nam, who barely caught up with him because of his sudden departure. Behind him, all of the servants are having trouble keeping up with the Crown Prince as well.

The Crown Prince didn’t respond at all, and continued to walk forward until he reached the Crown Princess’ chambers.

“His Royal Highness is here,” Eunuch Nam quickly announced from outside as the Crown Prince finally stopped in front of the doors.

Inside, Taeyeon was reading when she heard Eunuch Nam’s announcement. Her eyes widened and she looked at Court Lady Jo and Hui to see if she had heard wrong.

“It can’t be, right?” she asked them.

“His Royal Highness is coming in!” Eunuch Nam hollered again from outside and the sounds of doors opening startled the Crown Princess. Taeyeon quickly stood up from her seat and checked herself in the mirror, she didn’t expect anyone to visit her, so she quickly tidied up her hair a little.

When the last door opened, Taeyeon looked towards the door to see the Crown Prince standing there.

“Y-Your Royal Highness,” she stuttered and bowed.

The Crown Prince didn't say a word as he took long strides towards her and grabbed her hand to pull her with him.

WIthin seconds, the young couple left the room, leaving all their servants behind dumbfounded.