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"House is where we live, Home is what nourishes us with reasons to live..."

꧁-꧂

It was past noon when the royal carriages entered the portal of the territory of Antares. The sun that usually scorched around midday, today, it gleamed with a mild lustrous ray endorsing that Winter was not far away. Soon the cold winds would come to breathe the world anew; to wash the sky with grey. The winter would arrive with pristine and white snow that would turn the familiar alleys into a canvas for dreams.

The carriages came to a halt in front of the castle from where the courtiers would be departing for their respective residences. Taehyung had written to his mother about his arrival. Therefore, he asked her to send their coachman with the carriage in front of the portal of the castle.

Once he had gotten down from the carriages and retrieved his belongings from the wagon, a widespread smile designed on his exhausted face ridding off all the fatigue and weariness.

"Mother!" He called out while stepping into the yard of his birthplace, "I'm home."

He heard a rushing sound afterwards and saw Bethilda dashing out of the house.

"Slow down, mother," He chuckled as he scooted forward and fastened his arms around her shoulder. "You could have fallen."

"You answer me first, boy. What took you so long to arrive?" Bethilda questioned her son soothing his run-down face.

Instead of answering, he returned her an esoteric giggle. How could he not be aware of this woman? The one who had borne so much distress and anguish because of the bizarre nature of his. How could he not be aware of all the abrasions that she had impeded with a forged smile only for the sake of his?

Bethilda frowned at him not discerning the connotation of his vague demeanour. She suspired and tousled his moist hair, "Why are you so complex to understand, son?"

"Am I really?" He covered his mouth with his palm, gasping as though astonished with her statement.

"Enough of this now," She hit the side of his head in annoyance and lovingly said. "Come on inside. The journey must be tiring."

"Hmm," He nodded his head as a 'yes' and turned over his lower lip like a child complaining to his mother.

"Let's go inside. You smell like rubbish. First, change your clothes and have your meal. Then you will have to spend loads of strength and forbearance to tell everything," Bethilda said feverishly.

"Yes! I am starving!" He plunged merrily and pulled his mother inside of the house.

༺༻

"Mother! I am full!" Taehyung spoke as Bethilda jabbed an enormous chicken pie in his mouth.

"Shut up and eat properly. You have gotten so feeble, my boy. Is the 'Cressida' culinarian that terrible?" Bethilda remarked spreading butter on the toast.

"No, mother. Neither the culinarian is terrible nor did I eat less. But yes, no one can win against Aunt Jane's cooking," He grinned at Mrs Shelton who beamed. "Furthermore, I did not suggest this when I said I was starving," He cried helping himself with some water to swallow down the food.

"Hush! Now tell me, how was the betrothal?" Bethilda asked eagerly. "How does the Cressida Princess look?"

"It was incredibly remarkable. There were so many people there and you know? The Devon king recognized me..." He cheerfully began to narrate each and everything he had experienced like a child narrating everything to its mother about its adventures when it returns home.

"Also the Armourer, sir Kim Seokjin and the Minister, sir Jung Hoseok, they were so hospitable."

"Were they?" Bethilda asked stroking his hair lovingly. "How about the king?"

"Hmm," He thought hard for a while. "Dunno, I merely saw him but he does seem agreeable."

"Are you certain, son?" She asked with a vague sigh.

Taehyung stopped chewing and swallowed the food. He stared at his mother and asked, "I- did not understand. What do you mean, mother?"

"What I mean, my son is if he had been agreeable in a true sense then he would not have chosen King William as his daughter's spouse ever. May lord pardon me for speaking ill of his majesty. But no affectionate father would want to give his daughter's hand in king William's being aware of his stature," Bethilda put in.

Taehyung spoke nothing. He knew that if it was not for facts, his mother never spoke ill of anyone. His head drooped speculating about her words.

"If he was a likeable man, he would have not agreed to this alliance ever," She said. "However, you did not tell me about the Princess?"

Taehyung's eyes met her eager ones as he looked up. He grasped over his emotions as Y/n's face lit up in front of his eyes.

He smiled and spoke, "She is-"

He ceased, bewildered.

What words to use to depict her? Beautiful? Fierce? Subtle? Those words were nothing but sheer understatements, incapable of what he had beheld, what he had heard.

He had managed to compose his statements on his way, but now he seemed to have lost the trail. None of the words that showed up in his mind seemed to be decent enough to describe her.

"You look disturbed, my boy. What's wrong?" Bethilda asked.

"I do not know, mother. It's just- words are not sufficient to describe her. They never are..." He stated as his senses thought back to Y/n.

"She is calm as the sea, fierce as the sea waves, subtle as the wood of mighty oaks, like the place of deep cessation," His keen eyes twinkled.

"Elegant," He added as recollected the first time his eyes had fallen upon her divine figure.

"Prudent." He recalled the first time he had spoken to her, beside the cascade. He recalled how calm yet firm her voice had been while ravaging his delusions.

"Kind." He thought of how delicate and warm she had been while talking to Areum.

"And what not?" His lips could not forfeit the unbounded happiness that was embodied through his smile.

Taehyung got up from the chair as Mrs Shelton collected the dishes and goblets from the table.

"She must be divine, the princess!" Jane Shelton could not help exclaiming hearing his statements.

"Indeed," Bethilda agreed.

Taehyung and Bethilda evacuated the dining room and entered his chamber. They both sat down and Taehyung, habitually, laid his head on her lap.

"Is it true about her being a 'You-Know-What?" She asked while pushing the fringes of his blonde hair back with her fingers.

"What on earth is a 'You-Know-What, mother?" He giggled. "Are you telling me you too believe in these absurd manias? No, she is not. She is nothing like what they say..."

Taehyung closed his eyes as his mother ran her fingers through his hair. He was on the verge of falling asleep when-

"Taehyung! Ma!" A man cheerfully called out as he barged inside the chamber causing Taehyung to plunge on the floor from the bedstead.

"Jimin!" Taehyung cried as he landed on the rug.

"Hello there! Good lord, What on earth are you doing on the floor?" Jimin asked furrowing his brows. He went forward and pulled him to his feet.

"Never you mind. What brings you here at this hour?" Taehyung asked overcoming the confusion.

"Heard the lot of you got back from Cressida. Why did you not tell me?" Jimin complained.

"I did write to mother," Taehyung replied innocently. It was, indeed, troublesome to believe that these two were best friends.

Park Jimin, a 25-year-old handsome and young merchant was the only and closest ally of Kim Taehyung which was unlikely in many people's eyes. Where Taehyung was recognized for his serenity and compassion, Jimin, on the other hand, was distinguished for his carefree, pompous and extrovert virtues. Like any other rich merchant, He too was indisputably a relished man who fancied elegant feast and ball parties huddled with people. In short, he had no such characteristic similar to Taehyung's. Yet, they were the best pair of allies to exist in Antares.

Taehyung fancied Jimin by his heart though he had barely any incentives for it. He was a flirt, no doubt about that. There was no sphere where he could not be found flirting with young women. But he did conserve the thin invisible strand; he was aware of his threshold. That could be a feasible explanation why Taehyung had gotten a liking of him. Also, there was no denying that He indeed had a generous heart.

"Could have taken the liberty to write another one, could you not?" Jimin asked in a significant tone. However, his short-term seriousness did not last long.

"Anyways, Ma!" He turned to Bethilda and called merrily. "I am starving! I was wondering if I could have some of those pies of aunt Jane?"

16 years of friendship and it was usual for him to address his best friend's mother as 'Ma'.

"Just spare me a moment, son," She chuckled. "I will let her know. You two can talk till then." She shook her head and walked out of the room.

"So, my pal!" Jimin lightly slapped Taehyung's shoulder. "How was the betrothal? Any pretty woman captured that naive soul of yours?"

"W-What are talking about?" Taehyung asked widening his eyes. Even after being allies with Jimin for over a decade, he was not habituated to such manners of conversations. But he grimaced concerning over what would happen if Jimin found about his feelings about the princess. Not any ordinary woman, but the Princess! This was the first time that he hid something from his mother and the remorse was not done hunting him.

"There was a ball party certainly, eh? So, who was the fortunate lady?" Jimin asked as a mischievous smile crept upon his lips. "C'mon, man. Let the cat out of the bag."

"Certainly dear. You did not tell me as well. Who did you dance with? Or dis you even dance? Bethilda asked entering the chamber.

Taehyung hesitated for a moment and decided to reveal the truth. They would find out anyway.

"The Princess," He breathed out.

"The Princess!"

꧁-꧂

~Pride