Taehyung was cooking something in the kitchen for breakfast.

He isn’t that great cook but he isn’t bad either.

He was preparing the table when he saw Jisoo coming out of his room.

She had messy hair and puffy eyes making her look even cuter.

She approached him slowly and sat down silently.

“Did you have a good sleep?” asked Taehyung handing her a pair of chopsticks. “You snored a lot..”

Jisoo’s eyes widened. She felt embarrassed.

“There’s no way I snored.. I don’t snore!” she said firmly not wanting to admit. “Maybe it was you.. you must have heard yourself..”

Taehyung chuckled. 

“Alright.. then it must have been me..” he replied cooly as he also sat  down across her. 

“You aren’t talking back..” said Jisoo as she put some rice inside . 

Taehyung smiled at her.

“I have talked back enough to you in the past.. I will listen to you from now on..” he said winking at her. 

Jisoo’s cheeks became red.

Taehyung chuckled. How can anything he says to her makes her turn red?

There was a short moment of silence.

“About last night.. I startled you, didn’t I?” she asked as her eyes lowered down to the table. “I’m sorry..”

“I did get startled but you don’t have to be sorry..” he replied. “Why would you be sorry when I got a glimpse of-..?”

Jisoo stood up and covered his mouth.

“Don’t say it.. you’re teasing me..” she said pouting her lips as she sat back again.

Taehyung laughed seeing her get flustered.

“I was kidding.. I’m sorry..” he said looking at her. “But don’t do that again.. well.. you can but only and exclusively in front of me..”

“You’re making fun of me now.. aren’t you?” asked Jisoo as her eyes sharpened. “How dare you do this to the Princess-..”

Then Jisoo became silent. She got reminded of what was awaiting her outside this lovely dream she’s having with Taehyung.

“You must go back to the Palace..” said Taehyung. “You need to go back.. I’ll come with you..”

Jisoo nodded her head.

She will. She has to. Even if she isn’t  the King’s real daughter, she must be responsible of her own actions.

A few minutes later, just when they had finished washing the dishes, they heard the doorbell ring.

“Stay here.. I’ll go and open it.. that must be my dad..” he said taking the gloves off and putting them in the sink.

Jisoo followed behind him but kept a distance hiding herself in case it was another person.

But her eyes opened wide when she saw Jennie and Seulgi at the door.

And they weren’t alone.

The King and the Queen were standing just behind them.

Taehyung was astonished. He didn’t know what to say or do. All thoughts left his mind.

He was certain they’d get the wrong idea seeing him and Jisoo alone in a house.

And that he didn’t inform anyone about her coming there.

He might end up eating prison food today. 

He was afraid for making them angry yet he was scared more of what might happen to Jisoo.

“May we come inside?” 

Surprisingly, the King’s voice sounded calm.

But he could see dark clouds coming.

He invited them inside and led them to sit in his small living room.

He thought his dad made a wise decision for staying out the whole night or else he would have already fainted.

And his mom might sell that very chair the King was sitting on.

The King was looking around his house then his eyes went to meet Taehyung’s.

He immediately pulled back his stare from the King.

“Your house looks cozy..” said the King.

That was so random.

Taehyung gulped. The King’s voice sounded authorative even with a single phrase.

“I love him..” said Jisoo holding his hands tight in front of the King and Queen.

That was more random and wasn’t helpful in any way.

But he couldn’t pull his hands back. Jisoo was squeezing them hard.

However the King and Queen didn’t seem bothered at all.

Their eyes were staring at Jisoo who was staring at Taehyung.

“I came here and told him not to tell anyone so please don’t be hard on him..” said Jisoo bowing her head. “I will gladly accept any punishment you give me.. just promise me you will never hurt him.. I beg you please-..”

The Queen knelt in front of Jisoo and hugged her tight.

She was crying as she looked at her daughter’s face whom she hasn’t seen all night.

“Please don’t ever do this again.. Princess.. I will blame myself for the rest of my life if something happens to you..” said the Queen touching her face with both her hands.

Jisoo hugged her back. She felt sorry. She made her worried all night. 

Her mom has always been supportive of her. She has always been a loving mom to her.

Why did she even get mad at her? She should have been thankful instead.. because she raised her well even though she wasn’t her real daughter..

The King also knelt down on the floor and hugged his wife and daughter.

“I’m sorry for lying to you my Princess.. it was our fault..” he said.

Jisoo pulled them up and hugged them tight.

“I’m sorry for acting rude.. I had already so many things inside my mind and when I heard I wasn’t your-..”

She stopped as her tears started falling down again making her unable to speak.

“I might not have given birth to you but you are still my daughter.. I was there since the first day you came to this world.. I saw you crawl and walk for the first time.. I heard you say your very first words.. I accompanied you to your school on the first day.. I was with you all the time Princess..”

“I shouldn’t have been angry in the first place.. I should have never announced the engagement without consulting you..” said the King holding Jisoo’s shoulders. “And I should have been the first one.. of all people.. to understand you for liking him.. because I was once in the same position in the past..”

The King turned to Taehyung who was sitting still not knowing how to react at what was happening in front of him.

Never would he have known he would be witnessing this in his life.. that he would be involved in the Royal family that he once hated..

The King held Jisoo’s hands.

How could he treat his daughter like that just because she fell in love with a commoner and publicly expressed her love?

The words he said to her kept echoing in his mind. 

They reminded him of his mother’s words to him.

He hated his mom because of that yet he did the same thing to Jisoo.

“We are sorry for hurting you Princess.. I admit my fault..” said the King. “I wanted to be a good King to our people that I forgot how to be a good father to you.. and to Irene.. I’m sorry my Jisoo..”

Jisoo stopped crying.

Then Jennie approached them a moment later.

“Your Majesty.. we need to hurry back to the Palace.. something big happened..”

Many articles about the Royal Family have been published online.

“Princess Jisoo isn’t a daughter of the King and Queen..”

“The King’s hidden child from his past lover..”

“Royal Family in chaos..”

“The Princess ran away with her lover..”

“The Palace is a place full of lies and secrets..”

“I did all of this trouble..” said Jisoo. “I became selfish and only thought of myself.. I’m sorry.. but right now.. I think Irene is feeling even worse than me.. an illness took her mom’s life away and she grew up without her real dad.. we must quickly reach out to her mom.. dad..”

The King was feeling deeply troubled. Who would have leaked all this news? 

Anything that happens inside the Palace is confidential. No one would dare reveal something like that unless there was an outsider.

Who could it be? Who was in the Palace when all of this happened? Who else knows about all of these?

“Irene... it must have been her..” said the King, his eyes sharpened. “We must go back to the Palace and talk face to face with her..”

Jisoo agreed.

“I shall talk to her.. I know she hates me a lot.. she must hate me because I took everything and everyone from her..”

Taehyung stood up and held her arm.

“Let me come with you..”

Jisoo nodded.

———————-

Irene’s hands were trembling as she sat inside the car that was sent to pick her up to go to the Palace.

Did she get caught? Do they know it was her doing?

She’s feeling nervous that she started sweating profusely.

She wanted to expose the Royal family but why is she getting scared now?

She wanted this, didn’t she?

She wanted Jisoo to feel the same thing she felt when she was left alone by everyone.. having the people she loved gradually leave her.. abandon her..

But seeing how everyone was reacting to the news she chose to reveal.. there was guilt..

Jisoo was the only one she hated.. but all the people in the Palace were also being attacked..

Finally, she arrived at the Palace. The mood was gloomy. There was tension in the air.. 

Everyone seemed busy.. 

Busy because of what she did..

Shouldn’t she like it that everyone is focused on her? On what she did?

She won.. Jisoo lost to her.. because she is the real daughter.. she has the blood of the King..

But somehow her victory doesn’t taste sweet.. it doesn’t feel like it is something to celebrate for..

Two big doors opened and inside there was the King sitting in the middle, beside him was the Queen.

And Jisoo was sitting just next to them.

On the other side of the room, she saw Jinyoung.. and next to him was Taehyung.

Everyone’s eyes were on her.

Didn’t she want to be the center of attention? Didn’t she want them to look only at her?

But why is she suddenly feeling small?

“Please sit down..” said the King.

Irene sat in front of the King, her head was lowered.

There was a short moment of pause before the King spoke.

“Irene.. I know it was you..” he said.

He looked calm yet his voice had this authorative tone.

Irene didn’t answer. She felt scared.

“Do you know what you did?” the King asked her. “Did you realize the weight of the words you spoke when you were giving out those information to the press? Did you know that it could ruin not only the Royal family but also lives of innocent people who work here?”

The King raised his voice a little making Irene become more nervous.

“I can’t believe that someone would be this evil to do such thing..” he continued. “And I refuse to believe that that person is supposed to be my daughter..”