Taeyeon’s heart couldn’t stop thumping as Baekhyun’s face inched closer and closer, still holding her gaze.

When Taeyeon squeezed her eyes not knowing what to expect, a snort was heard from him, causing Taeyeon to open her eyes. Baekhyun simply reached for the book she was trying to grab earlier, and placed it higher on the shelf.

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she stared at him, but the Crown Prince simply flashed a smirk at her before turning away to leave as if nothing happened.

She probably imagined all of that when he just wanted to .

She placed her hands on both sides of her cheeks, feeling her cheeks flushed from that short moment of eye contact.

“Hey,” she wanted to scold Baekhyun for placing the book higher, but it came out so weak that she quickly walked away from the shelves and left the library to cool down.

What was that? Why did I close my eyes expecting him to do something?

She stopped walking and looked back at the library, glaring at the closed doors. She then placed a hand on her chest to feel her heart still beating rapidly from the encounter earlier.

“Wow,” she breathed out, fanning her flushed cheeks with one hand. “Why was it so hot in there?”

She looked to her left to see a noble lady dressed in bright colors walking towards her direction. She didn’t dress or look like just any noble lady, Taeyeon could tell from the accessories in her hair that she must be loaded.

The lady had her eyes set straight at Taeyeon and was obviously walking towards her.

Taeyeon smiled at her, but the young lady didn’t smile back.

Wow, she sure gives off some stand-offish vibes.

“You must be the Crown Princess,” she said.

“And you must be…?” Taeyeon asked, not knowing who she was.

“I am Princess Byun Sora. His Royal Highness’ half-sister,” she introduced herself.

No wonder she looked familiar, she bears some resemblance to Prince Jung actually. She must be Prince Jung’s sister.

“I see, nice to meet you. I am Crown Princess Kim Taeyeon,” Taeyeon smiled, reaching out her hand to shake hers.

Princess Byun Sora simply stared at her hand, refusing to reach out her hand to shake hers. “I am not glad to meet you. Tae Ah-Ra is actually my best friend. I heard how you betrayed her during the Crown Princess selection process.”

Taeyeon simply forced a smile as she pulled back her hand and said, “Betray? I don’t recall doing that. What you heard must have been her version of the story, I wouldn’t have the time to do that.”

“Don’t bother explaining yourself, I have been told that you are quite a good liar,” said the Princess.

Taeyeon frowned, this young girl seems to be still a minor. She must see Tae Ah-Ra as her role model and hopes to become like her when she grows up.

“You are quite an interesting character. How can you only listen to one side of the story and make that decision yourself?” Taeyeon asked sarcastically.

“Ah-Ra eonnie is and will always be more beautiful and elegant than you. You were just lucky that you became the Crown Princess.”

“Well, that was a good chat,” Taeyeon simply said before continuing to walk past her. Since she is the Crown Princess, her status is much higher than a “bastard child”, she shouldn’t need to please her or bow down to her. It is things like that that sometimes make Taeyeon feel proud that she can act the way she wants because of her status, she doesn’t need to be too cautious about offending people because people would be the ones afraid to offend her.

She could feel the young Princess’ eyes glaring into the back of her head as she walked away. Taeyeon suppressed a smirk from appearing on her face as she walked back to her room. When she was on the way back to her room, she was stopped by Court Lady Jo.

“Court Lady Jo, where have you been? It has been a week since I saw you,” she said, glad to see a familiar face in the palace.

“Your Royal Highness, I cannot always be by your side as I had other matters to attend to. Has Hui been good company?”

Taeyeon glanced to her side to see Hui staring at the floor, hoping her Highness to put in a good word for her. “Of course, Hui has been great. She took care of me well when I was outside the palace.”

“Your Royal Highness left the palace?” asked Court Lady Jo, a look of concern plastered across her face.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything illegal. The Crown Prince granted me his permission to leave to visit my father. He was sick,” Taeyeon explained. “By the way, I just bumped into Princess Byun Sora earlier. She seems like a spoiled brat.”

Court Lady Jo gasped and quickly checked their surroundings to see if anyone could hear them nearby. “Your Royal Highness, please refrain from speaking ill about a member of the royal family next time. Your Royal Highness will be punished if heard.”

“Who would? And I was just speaking the truth. But can’t really blame her, the youngest sibling is always like that. If she were my younger brother, Minwoo, I would have spanked her in public.”

“Your Royal Highness!” This time Court Lady Jo raised her voice in an attempt to cover what she just said.

“What?” she asked and saw Court Lady Jo and Hui suddenly bowing down to someone who was behind her.

***

The Crown Prince walked to the back of the library, which contains no books, but a painting that is hung on the wall. He stopped and stared at the painting for a while, remembering that this is the only portrait he has of his late mother.

He is the only Prince who picked up reading as a hobby from the age as young as three, so his mother who also loved to read, let him come by to her library to read with her. This library, which is his now, is the only thing left to him by his mother, so he never lets anyone in to cherish the memories he had with her.

Now that Taeyeon will be reading in this library as well, it seems that there will be new memories made here.

A knock was suddenly heard from inside the wall beside the painting. Baekhyun knocked back on the wall three times before stepping back. And the wall started to open sideways, revealing Soo from behind.

“Your Royal Highness,” Soo greeted as he emerged and spun around to close the secret door behind him.

This old library also has a secret, it has a door that leads down a tunnel and outside of the palace. Only the Crown Prince and Soo know about it, and they used it for undercover missions outside of the palace so that no one will know that they left the palace.

“The man we caught just now has been brought to the interrogation room,” Soo reported. “I have taken out the suicide pill in his mouth when he was unconscious.”

Soo handed the Crown Prince the suicide pill that was found in the man’s mouth. The Crown Prince looked at it and said, “That's the same one the others have been using. They are all working under the same guy.”

Baekhyun thought back to the guys who tried to kill him in the forest at that time, and the guy he tortured to get information from in the interrogation room last time when he was interrogating him about secretly pouring mercury into the late Crown Prince’s bath last time.

They all were ready to give up their lives for their master.

He feels like he is getting closer to uncovering the truth about his late brother’s assassination. Maybe he will finally be able to get at least a hint about their master tonight when he interrogates the man they captured today.

“Has he said anything?”

“No, your Royal Highness. His lips are sealed, we have whipped him to the brink of death and he is still not saying a word.”

“I will come in if you guys still haven’t managed to get a word out from him,” said the Crown Prince. “Report to me if he tells you anything.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

***

The next morning, the servants prepared Taeyeon for an outing on the royal carriage with the Crown Prince. Last night they were ordered by the King to have a “walk” through the village to let their people see the Crown Princess as it has already been a month since they got married.

Taeyeon wore a light purple and pink hanbok, with hair accessories that matched it. She looked exceptionally beautiful that morning when servants in the palace gasped in awe when she came out from her chambers.

The Crown Princess had always looked beautiful in their eyes on normal days, but today the hanbok she wore complimented her fair skin so well, she was literally glowing under the morning sun.

When she reached the carriage, the Crown Prince was already there waiting for her. He had his back facing her as he was talking to Soo.

“Your Highness,” Eunuch Nam and his servants greeted the Crown Princess.

Baekhyun turned around to see Taeyeon, and like everyone else, he was stunned by her beauty although he just saw her yesterday. That hanbok she was wearing complimented her complexion really well. She easily stood out among the other noble ladies who were nearby.

“Your Highness,” Taeyeon greeted her husband with a small smile on her face.

“You look great today,” said Baekhyun.

Eunuch Nam and the Crown Prince’s servants widened their eyes in shock at that compliment. Knowing the Crown Prince, he never gives anyone compliments, so it surprised everyone who has served him for a long time that he was actually giving one to his wife.

“Thank you, your Royal Highness,” Taeyeon replied, politely.

The couple was silent when the carriage started to move, they sat side by side with each other, both looking out the window in opposite directions. The Crown Prince subtly glanced at his wife, wondering why she was so quiet today.

Little did he know that she was busy thinking about the conversation she had with the Queen Consort yesterday.

Flashback to yesterday.

When she spun around to see who Court Lady Jo and Hui had seen to bow so suddenly like that, she was surprised to see the Queen Consort, actually walking towards her.

Taeyeon quickly lowered her gaze to the ground and bowed, hoping that the Queen Consort was just passing by.

“Let’s have a chat in private, shall we?” The Queen Consort invited her to chat with her near the lake.

When they were finally beside the lake, Taeyeon glanced anxiously at Court Lady Jo and Hui who were standing far away with the Queen Consort’s servants from the lake.

Did she hear what I said about her daughter?

Taeyeon wondered.

“How long has it been since you married into the palace?” the Queen Consort asked, her eyes gazing down at the lake without looking at her.

“It has been a month, Your Majesty.”

“Then why is it that there is no heir produced yet?”

“The Crown Prince and I only shared a room together on our first night of the marriage,” Taeyeon replied anxiously. “Days after that, we have been sleeping in separate rooms.”

“There have been fears of an unconsummated marriage, everyone is worried,” said the Queen Consort. “The consummation night will be arranged tomorrow night. So I hope an heir will be consummated soon.”

Taeyeon fidgeted with her fingers anxiously, she isn’t ready to be a mother. But she knows that it is her duty as the Crown Princess to produce an heir as soon as they get married to secure the throne. She tried to not think about it during her days in the palace, but now that the Royal family had to arrange a consummation night for them, she instantly felt the weight of the future of Joseon on her shoulders.

“Are you alright?”

Taeyeon was snapped out of her thoughts when her husband suddenly asked beside her. She turned to look at him, but he was simply staring outside the window.

“Y-Yes?” she stuttered. “Your Royal Highness.”

She was embarrassed to stutter like that, so she quickly looked away and out of her side of the window. Baekhyun finally glanced at her and down at her clenched fist around the hem of his robe, wondering why she was feeling so nervous.

“You seem pale,” he said, staring down at her. “What are you so nervous about?”

“Huh?” she turned her head to look at him. “Just… It has been a while since I left the palace.”

She is lying.

Baekhyun thought.

“You aren’t used to being the center of the spotlight,” said Baekhyun, gesturing to all the villagers outside who are now cheering for them behind the lines. “To be honest, I am still not used to it either.”

Taeyeon glanced up at him, curious why he had said that when he grew up his whole life under the spotlight. “Then how do you deal with it?”

“I usually just pretend that I am not alone.”

Taeyeon glanced down at his hand that is fidgeting with the bracelet around his left wrist. That’s the gold-beaded bracelet that they were looking for together near the river last time. He had said that it belonged to his late mother.

“Then aren’t you glad you are with me this time?” she asked him, smiling for the first time since they got onto the carriage. “That you no longer need to pretend that you aren’t alone.”

“Aren’t you the one who should be glad?” he retorted as a joke.

“That’s not fair, it is my first time being watched by everyone in the village,” she laughed, turning to look outside at the people and waving back at them. “Oh look, that’s the place I was held hostage at.”

Baekhyun looked out her window with her and glanced at her, wondering what she wanted to say about that encounter with him when he was undercover.

“Maybe when we have the chance, we can go there together. There’s a lot of things to see.”

“Right, I have no time for shopping.”

Taeyeon pursed her lips and looked back at him before asking, “Your life seems boring. What hobbies do you have? Other than training in the field and reading in the library.”

“I like archery.”

“That doesn’t count, that’s also training.”

“That’s a different sport. Archery and martial arts.”

“Alright, I will let you off on this one. Then what are your other hobbies?”

“Hmm,” Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows as he gave it some more thought. “I like to take walks.”

“That’s just boring,” Taeyeon bursted out laughing. “No wonder you have a reputation.”

“What reputation?”

A child’s cry was suddenly heard from outside the carriage, catching the young couple’s attention. 

“What is going on?” Taeyeon asked, poking her head out from the carriage to look outside. A young boy as young as five was sitting on the ground with a bruised knee, and his father seemed to be begging the guards to let them go while simultaneously trying to stop his son from crying.

“Stop the carriage,” the Crown Prince ordered his men. The carriage came to a stop. Taeyeon got out of the carriage to ask the guards what happened.

The father and the son quickly looked down at the ground, scared to look at the Crown Princess.

“Your Highness, sorry for the disturbance. The boy was standing too close to the line, so we had to keep him in line. He tripped and started crying, so we had to silence him in order to not disturb Your Highness,” one of the head guards reported.

“Well, you know damn well not to force a child to stop crying,” said Taeyeon, squatting down to the child’s level. The young boy was still sobbing, trying to suppress his cries. “It is alright to cry, if it hurts, you can cry.”

“What is your name?” she asked the young boy, gently wiping the tears from his cheeks with her thumb.

“Min.”

“Min-ah, you are so brave. I would have cried even louder than you if I tripped and scraped my knee. You are braver than me.”

“Really?” the young boy sobbed.

“It won’t hurt anymore later, but just in case, you can visit my uncle. He will help you to treat your wound.”

Taeyeon then looked up at the guard. “Do you have paper and ink to write on?”

“No, Your Highness,” the guard replied. Taeyeon then looked at the crowd, all of them staring at the Crown Princess, because it was rare to watch her up close.

“Anyone here have ink and paper?”

“I have!” one of the men from the crowd raised his hand and said. Taeyeon took it from him and started to write something down on the paper.

The people near her gasped in awe at the Crown Princess’ appearance and how nice her handwriting was.

Taeyeon then looked at the father and said, “Bring your son to this clinic. I have my name signed here, so he will know that I sent you there. Get the wound treated. Don’t worry, it is free.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness!” the father quickly bowed down and kneel before her, his son quickly followed his father to do so.

“You’re most welcome,” she said with a smile, before standing up and getting back into the carriage. Once she was back in the carriage, she noticed Baekhyun smiling as he stared out the window. “What?”

“You certainly made the spotlight on yourself much brighter,” he commented without turning to look at her.

“I didn’t see it that way, I was simply helping a boy in need,” said Taeyeon.

***

It is their consummation night.

Taeyeon was feeling like a bundle of nerves as her servants got her ready for it. Court Lady Jo even told  her what is supposed to happen, how she is going to feel and all the details about the consummation. Which only made her feel even more nervous than before.

“Your Royal Highness, Her Highness the Crown Princess has arrived,” Eunuch Nam announced. Then turned to the servants and told them to open the doors for the Crown Princess.

Taeyeon nodded and walked in as the doors opened for her. When she was finally inside her husband’s room, they closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with the Crown Prince.

She gulped. The night she dreaded has finally arrived. Now they are staring at each other without saying a word. He was just sitting on the bed, with a book in one hand and the other resting on the table in front of him.

“Your Royal Highness,” she greeted him and bowed.

“You can just call me Hyun when we are in private,” he said. “Like how you have always called me.”

She nodded, not daring to move an inch as she sat down in her place, a few meters away from him. She wasn’t sure how to start. Does she wait for him to take off her robes or does she take it off herself? That’s something Court Lady Jo failed to mention.

When neither of them spoke or moved, Taeyeon glanced up at Baekhyun, who was still behind his desk, reading his book. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, did he not get the memo that tonight is their consummation night?

“Erm…” she mumbled, causing Baekhyun to look up from the book. “So tonight is our… consummation night. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” he replied, shutting the book and placing it on the table. “To produce a Royal heir.”

“Then, what are you doing right now?” she asked bravely.

He simply pushed the table away from him and stood up. He then walked around the table to approach her.

Taeyeon swallowed the lump that had formed in .

No! Stop! Stop walking over here! Why did I ask that?

“What do you want me to do now?” he asked her, stopping in front of her and squatting down in front of her to look straight into her eyes.

Taeyeon gulped, feeling her cheeks flush and her body felt a lot warmer by the second.

There he was, just staring into her eyes with a really soft and gentle gaze, making her feel a lot of things that Court Lady Jo told her that she might feel.

But what she said afterwards, surprised the Crown Prince, even herself.

“Kiss me.”