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soulinheehee · 5 months

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Mais maintenant je suis seule

˚⁺‧ 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘹 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢! 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵)

˚⁺‧ 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦: 𝘧𝘪𝘤 (𝘴𝘧𝘸), 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥

˚⁺‧ 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴: this was an idea I had for awhile before 4.2 dropped. i originally wanted it to be long, but I just couldn't manage the length i wanted, and then the last aq dropped and made half of the story i imagined pointless with the plot twist lol. but I still like this idea a lot, so in the end i decided to write it, albeit it came out a little silly. but since I had to shorten the length and cut off half of the plot that was meant to be here, this might feel rushed and have weird pacing, especially in the second chapter where reader will actually meet with arle, i hope you don't mind ♡ (sorry to the french speakers if there's a mistake in the title)

part one. part two.

"Ughh..."

You groaned as you stretched your tired body. Sitting for several hours straight playing Genshin definitely was nice, but not for your health. You opened your Battle Pass menu to check your weeklies: you've done everything for the most part, except..

"Damn it, I forgot weekly bosses again..." you thought. You were currently saving for the Hydro Archon's release, and most of your favorite characters were already built in a way that satisfied you enough, so you didn't have any point of doing the weekly bosses, since Furina is going to need the next one. Wasn't surprising that you were constantly forgetting about them.

You opened the Teyvat map, only to discover that your resin was spent, save for the few regenerated ones. Spending fragile when the new weekly (and regular) boss was just a few days away wasn't a smart decision, you supposed, so you just decided to leave it for tomorrow.

Tomorrow was also Sunday, so you could make a few runs in the Talent or Weapon materials Domain. With these thoughts you logged out of Genshin, turned off the device you were playing on, and made your bed for the night.

The thought of scrolling your feed was prevented from being performed by the fact that your phone was currently charging. Sighing and realising that there probably weren't much interesting things going on, you finally gave up and lied down.

...

... Only to remember about the Transient resin that you haven't bought from the Tea pot. The feeling of dissatisfaction suddenly appeared, filling your mind. Well, at least you didn't forget to feed your fish: one thing less to worry about, that's something...

You remembered about the upcoming banners, just a couple days away. When the thoughts of pulling Furina, ascending and building her appeared in your mind, you gradually calmed down. She was coming home next week. You just have to wait a few more days.

You were saving for Furina since she was first leaked, and other than her there were only a few more characters you were interested in. Mainly, Arlecchino.

Last year, she caught your eye immediately in that Fatui trailer, and now, after playing the recent archon quests you couldn't help but feel even more attracted to her. These two quickly became your most favorite characters in the game, everyone else looking barely as good compared to them. But it seemed like Arlecchino's banner was still far away, however on the other hand you could save for her some more primos.

Thinking about your favorite characters you calmed down completely, the tiredness from today catching up to you, and you didn't notice how you fell asleep.

***

Knock-knock

The sudden sound woke you up. The bright morning lights hurt your sleepy eyes, so you hid your face back into the stuffed animal you slept with.

"Lady Furina, your breakfast is ready!"

...

"Lady Furina?"

Wait... what the hell did the person behind the door talk about? Is that one of your relatives pranking you, and you just can't recognize their voice because you're sleepy?

You quickly remembered how bright the lights in the room were. You rose from the bed, tossing the sheets away, but when you did so, you almost tripped on your own hair, its length being right between you and the mattress. This wasn't right! Your hair was never that long! You took one of the locks in your fingers and brought it closer to your face to look at it, and, just like you expected, it was unnaturally silver-blue coloured.

What the actual hell!!

The voice behind the door called for you again:

"Lady Furina, are you awake?"

"Y-yes, I am," your shaking voice sounded completely foreign. The fact that it now sounded so different from your own scared you to death.

The door opened, revealing a maid with a food tray. She entered the room, and placed "your" breakfast to you. Her concerned gaze scattered all over you, as if she was trying to understand what was happening with you, but when your eyes met with hers, she quickly averted her gaze and walked away from the bedroom. Your eyes never left her figure, until she had completely disappeared from your view.

You looked down at the tray.

A bunch of sweet desserts, decorated with various little sprinkles and edible glitters, complete with a cup of tea.

...

You didn't know what to think. Did someone drug you while you were asleep? Drugged and kidnapped you, because this whole room wasn't in your house!

But then again, you did hear about some people sometimes having very hyperrealistic dreams. You tried pinching yourself; of course, nothing happened. Not like it ever did in any of your dreams, anyway. You also remembered that some people's dreams could be so realistic, they were unable to tell them apart from the actual reality. They were waking up, living their day, falling asleep, waking up, and all over again, and it was still a dream. A dream inside of a dream was also a possibility you don't want to exclude.

And Furina's banner was just a few days away!!!

Yes, yes! Your brain just got so overstimulated with thinking about her, that now you're having a hyperrealistic dream about being Furina. This explanation of the situation didn't sound half bad, and even excited you a little.

You remembered every street in the Court of Fontaine, probably even most of the parts in the rest of the nation, at least the released parts of it. Strolling down the street, getting a ride on an aquabus, watching a trial from Furina's throne? Yes, please! The possibility of living a day as Furina, albeit in a dream, now got you hyped, you quickly finished your breakfast (it tasted divine!) and got up.

A very fancy night gown, with lots of frills and a few bows here and there, was rid of. In the closet that you supposed was full of clothing, you fetched yourself a resemblance of Furina's outfit. Strangely, you couldn't find exactly the things that she was wearing in the game, but you didn't pay much attention to this detail.

You looked in the mirror at Furina's vanity. You really did look just like her now! The weird jellyfish haircut, heterochromic eyes, a silly ahoge... Well, now the only thing that you needed was to meet all of Fontaine's playable characters, and you're good to return back to the real world, even if you didn't like the idea of it.

Another maid came soon enough, this time to take the tray away.

"Lady Furina?"

You glanced at her.

"Here is your schedule for today," she said. You took the piece of paper from her, scanning it, only to...

... Find out that it's written in fontainian language.

The maid seemed to notice your confusion, so she tried to help you: "Lady Furina," she started sheepishly, "are you feeling unwell?" You looked at her, trying to figure out if there was a way she could help you. She took it as a sign to continue, "You've slept in this morning, and now you are much less lively than usual. Is something wrong, Lady Furina?"

"Yes, you are very observant!" You did your best to imitate Furina, but it still fell flat, lacking proper emotion. "Your Archon is feeling unwell today, but rest assured, it is nothing that I, Focalors, can't endure!"

...

Does Furina even talk like that?

"...But I would appreciate a little help!"

The silence was too loud.

"Would you like me fetching an assistant for you, Lady Furina?"

Thank goodness!!! You didn't have to ask anything too specific yourself!!! Furina's servants were, just like you said, very observant, probably used to Furina's antics.

"Yes, an assistant would suffice! Thank you," you once again imitated what Furina might say, still not sure if you're in character or not.

But in any case, some time after, an assistant came to you, while you were having another cup of tea in another room that you supposed was Furina's study.

"Good morning, Lady Furina!" He politely bowed to you. You bowed your head slightly in return, asking him after:

"And what your name should be?"

"My name is Yves, Lady Furina. I was sent to assist you for today," he said.

"Of course!" You shoved him your schedule, looking expectedly, resting your chin on your hand.

Yves looked back and forth between you and the schedule, but in the end just gave in:

"W-well, you are mostly free for today. You have two trials today, and after that you are expected to attend to the opening of Hotel Debord," he said.

... Well, that's a bummer.

But a question appeared in your head:

"Is Clorinde busy with something today?"

Yves: "Excuse me, Lady Furina, but.." An obvious struggle could easily be seen on his face. "Who's 'Clorinde'?.."

...

"A-haa, w-well, if you don't know, never mind! I'm sure we can work just fine!" You gulped your remaining tea down and got up. You asked Yves where you two would be going right now, he said that the trials were scheduled earlier. So, the two of you headed toward the exit of Palais Mermonia, took the elevator to the station, and took an aquabus to Opera Epiclese. Of course, not without a few quards by your side.

While you were riding towards the Opera, there were many questions inside your head. First of all, when exactly were you? Where was Clorinde? Why didn't people know about the champion duelist? And while you were on this topic, what did "opening of Hotel Debord" mean?

You supposed the Fontaine in your dream wasn't the same Fontaine from the game; it was numerous years prior the game's events. This was the most logical conclusion. It puzzled you, why would you dream about being Furina in the past, instead of present? Well, dreams were weird like that sometimes, and this isn't even the weirdest you had, so you didn't give too much attention to this detail.

The interior of the aquabus was simply exquisite; it was obvious this wasn't just a typical one, but one made specifically for the Hydro archon, inclusive of all the comfort and convenience. Several pasties were placed on the table next to the comfortable couch, although you have already had your fill in the morning.

So instead, you moved around and pulled the curtains away, revealing the sight of Fontaine's landscapes. The clear skies, crystal clear waters and emerald spiky mountains fascinating you. It was truly an enchanting painting, the sight from your window.

You spent most of the ride looking at the various landscapes. You even went out from the cabin to look at everything without any glass limiting your view. But alas, you arrived at the Marcotte station all too quickly for your liking. But on the other hand, wasn't this where Furina was working? So it only made sense that the ride shouldn't take too long. You should try taking a ride from Court of Fontaine to the station near Sumeru, if that's how long you'd like to ride.

The scenery in the little park was really nice to see in person as well, though! You quickly arrived at the Opera Episclese, and oh god, it's was breathtaking. The huge walls of the building, the little Melusines that were walking and running all over the place, busy with their work, and of course the beautiful fountains. The little fountains in front of the building, and the Fountain of Lucine in the center of the square. You've probably never seen anything more beautiful.

You were accompanied by the guards, so the curious people and fans stayed away, letting you peacefully enter the building. But as soon as you were about to get to the second floor, Yves stopped you.

"Lady Furina, why are you going there? I thought this is the way to your personal seat?.." his voice was very careful and pretty quiet, as if he was afraid to accidentally offend you.

"Oh, right," you laughed a little, "it seems I didn't have enough sleep last night!~" You made a little showing off movement, one that you supposed Furina might do in order to bring the conversation from a weird topic, and proceeded to the room Yves asked you about. You asked him to wait for you after the trials were over.

The first trial in itself was!!...

...

Now it wasn't really polite to call it boring, right?..

But you really couldn't help it. Maybe it was your problem that you played Ace Attorney and Danganronpa too much, now every trial you could possibly attend wouldn't bring you any excitement or make you interested. You supposed you had something in common with Furina...

The second trial was after a short intermission, and it was nothing better than the first one. Both cases weren't anything worth of remembering, just typical boring cases of people's problems. Weren't even murder mysteries. Was this the best your brain could generate for you?...

The walk back to the aquabus station was quiet and, you had to admit, quite nice. The trials took most of the day and the sun was nearing the horizon by now; just a few more hours and it was going to be hidden. Although, you were quite curious to see Neuvillette in action! His presence was very powerful and authoritarian, yet very gentle and caring at the same time. He was the most interesting thing you've seen so far. He was definitely very intriguing, and if there's anything you'd attend another trial for, that's Neuvillette for sure! You liked him, but he was never your most favorite, pretty far behind the Hydro Archon and the Knave...

Arlecchino...

It was quite sad that this dream was set before the game's events. Maybe if you could meet with her, you'd actually have a chance?? The thought made you giggle a little silly, and Yves gave you a look even though he tried his best to appear the most polite... You quickly returned back to a calm expression, and soon you arrived back at the Court of Fontaine.

The rest of the evening you couldn't keep yourself focused. Paparazzi surrounded you, as you gave a short pre-prepared speech that you were asked to give, and you of course tried some of the desserts at the Hotel's restaurant. You quickly noticed that they had a cake they promoted as their specialty, and what caught your attention immediately was the fact that.. they only sold 16 slices a day!

The textures blend perfectly together, and the sweet and fruity cream were like nothing you've ever tried back home! This little cake, it was just perfect. Each bite made you want to grin wider as you savoured this little slice of heaven. After you were done with the slice, you asked Yves to pack some additional ones to take back to Palais.

You returned back to your quarters.

Today way... something. Definitely not what you initially expected. You didn't even get to see Charlotte among the paparazzi !! Was Neuvillette really the only playable character, other than yourself as Furina, that you would meet?.. You didn't even get to talk to him, only exchanging a brief greetings with him during the first trial, and then, after the second one, he quickly retired from his judge duties for today, probably burying himself in papers.

You asked a maid to serve you another one of the special cake's slices for today's dinner, and you smiled to yourself: getting in Furina's shoes was easier than you thought it might be! She was really fun to roleplay as, even if you weren't always sure what she would say or do.

You really didn't want to wake up. Going back to the boring real world? After not even meeting with your favorites? It saddened you, but you finished your cake, smiling as you tried to accept your fate. The bed seemed to be made by your servants, the sheets changed and a nightgown prepared.

Well, at least you would depart Teyvat with comfort!~

You hugged as many stuffed animals as was possible, and closed your eyes, your mind drifting off to dreams.

***

A knock on the door woke you up.

You hid your face in the sheets, trying to hide from the disturbance.

"Lady Furina, your breakfast is ready!"

...

Did you hear it correctly?

You got up as quickly as possible, and rushed to.. somewhere, where you spotted a mirror. Silver hair, blue strikes, heterochromia, someone else's face... How was it possible? Was it a dream inside a dream? And how many more cycles of this would you have to endure before you would wake up??

"Come in!" you answered the maid, and she stepped inside your bedroom, with your breakfast on a tray.

...

You thought, this day would be just a dream inside a dream. But when you woke up for the third time in Furina's quarters, you started panicking. What the hell was going on?!

Your brain was playing tricks on you and you didn't like it.

The fourth time made you anxious. Were you in some kind of coma? No, that's definitely not a coma, the dream is too hyperrealistic and portrayed surroundings way too believable for anyone to say it was just a dream. You had physical feelings, needs, and could sense everything; even things that were usually missing in your typical dreams.

When you woke up in Furina's bed for the seventh time, marking a week, you lost your hope.

This was a Sunday. Ironic, because around 2am on Sunday was the time you fell asleep in your home. Well at least, you were free today. Yves really didn't lie that day when he said you would be mostly free... The days following your first one were filled with even more trials, private meetings, and various events... Those five days exhausted you beyond any limit you had back home.

So... This didn't seem like a dream anymore. You really became Furina, the Hydro archon. But if that's the case, where did Furina go? You were scared, scared very much, but there was nothing in your powers, you were able to do nothing. And the worst thing, you were alone. Completely. Nobody would believe you if you said that you got isekai'd into the Hydro archon, into Teyvat, and if you so as tried to tell so, you wouldn't get away from various accusations.

You spend most of the day in "your"... no, in your bed, thinking about what to do next.

Well, first of all, you didn't have to think too much about the prophecy, because you knew that it would definitely be resolved with the traveler's help. Even if you didn't know the full story. This, at least, crosses out one of the things you have to worry about.

Next... You didn't do anything specific to end up here, so you didn't know how to escape. So the best and most healthy thing would be, just accepting your new life. Worrying about getting back would only lead to so much stress that you might not be able to endure it, especially paired with the stress you were bound to get from your new job. It scared you. You didn't know anything about Furina's life. You experienced a tiny bit of it, but just how much more you were about to experience next? This made you want to cry, but you felt too exhausted to do so.

You quickly thought about the things that you needed to do while you are here. First and most importantly, you needed to learn Fontainian language. You'd get nowhere without it. Then, you must find out just how many years ago from the main story were you. And then, you probably should do something about your position as the archon. People weren't treating Furina seriously due to her antics and theatrics, as well as silly laws, so you will have to do something with it. But this was a goal for the long run, and not something you could do right now.

You found a notebook somewhere in Furina's... in your study, and took a book from the library on the first floor of the Palais Mermonia. With those two (and a pen), you headed towards the streets of the Court of Fontaine. You really needed some fresh air.

You remembered lurking on some social media, and seeing how the writing in Fontaine is, actually, a simple english but written in different characters. Using this information, you were about to decipher the alphabet. On the other hand, you could always just take a children's book and learn from it, but you really didn't want to put your image in danger like this. What if someone sees you?? You couldn't allow it. It also made you excited a bit, the idea of trying to understand the thing on your own; and you needed to get something except trials and private meetings in your head.

You took a seat outside a cafe, and ordered some coffee. While drinking it, you got to work. It wasn't as hard as you initially thought it might be, given it *is* english. First, you were looking for one letter words, "I" and "A", and you quickly found the corresponding characters. You didn't know which was which yet, but that was easy to check. You now searched for three letter words, "and", "was", "did", etc... you found a word with a letter you recognized in the middle, with the same two letters in the beginning and the end of the word, so you supposed this were the letters I and D, with the third known to you letter seemingly being A. Then, using this info, you found the character for N, and now you knew at least four letters.

Like so, you continued to decipher the rest of the alphabet, but you grew tired quicker than you'd like. The process wasn't as hard as was it tedious. When you were looking around or blinking, you could still see black and white lines before your eyes... This was probably enough for today. You stretched and took left the cafe, deciding to take a stroll through the streets.

The meka-guards were a little scary at first, but you quickly got used to hearing the metal steps and cogs ticking. The streets were bustling with people, and you couldn't help but feel jealous. They had somewhere to go to, they had people who were waiting for them at home.

You? You had nothing. Nothing and no one. Not anymore.

This realisation was devastating and drowned you all too sudden. First you were simply walking, enjoying the sunset, and now the emptiness was eating you from the inside. The change caught you off guard so badly that you froze in the middle of the street, your face completely empty and looking through the people and things that were around.

Sigh

This isn't how you should be... Feeling like this, it won't get you anywhere. You must be strong.

Maybe someday you would find someone who you would trust enough, but when would that day come? And would it come at all? You didn't know. You didn't know anything.

You returned to Palais Mermonia, had your dinner and retired for today, not a single coherent thought in your head. You weren't sure if you were ready for tomorrow.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact x you #genshin fanfic #arlecchino #arlecchino x reader #furina #this will kinda count as #arlecchino x furina #arlefuri #female reader #wlw

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kafus · 5 months

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okay i just talked to every NPC in veilstone because it's been a long time and man sinnoh's NPCs are peak, at least out of the 2D games i feel like they provide the most humor and the most random lore tidbits and stuff. i love this region. i'm going to talk about it

first off sinnoh is full of little things like this. random dialogue/flavor text that ties back to the mythos of the region. i love how widespread the sinnoh myths are

i'm also obsessed with when there's two NPCs that link together like this. you talk to one and you move on and then you talk to another and you're like oh! lmao. by the way the rage candy bars being here is cool because sinnoh is canonically connected to johto through the sinjoh ruins and the rage candy bars are from johto, which means they're imported and sold here. in general i'm obsessed with the locations in pokemon that have special treats associated with them, like the pewter crunchies of pewter city in kanto, or the lava cookies from lavaridge in hoenn. iconic

btw don't worry lady literally everyone sucks at making poffins. unless you have four players it's pretty much impossible to make poffins that are better than the storebought ones. good luck getting four people with rare berries who are good at the minigame to play with you, ESPECIALLY in 2023 jesus christ. the basement poffins are OPTIMAL

anyway in speaking of linking NPCs, these two - i wonder if the dialogue in the french version of this game is turned into english? they did that for lt. surge's french pikachu trade, the french versions of HGSS make the pikachu english instead lol. but anyway as usual it's very fascinating to me how much pokemon loves to drop foreign language in its titles, and fittingly i know a lot of people with english as their second language got interested in learning english from a young age due to wanting to play pokemon. how many kids do you think got interested in french because of dialogue like this. the girl even implies what the meaning of his words is

veilstone isn't short on game hints either, useless to me now as an adult longterm pokemon player who knows all this stuff already but still really cool to see. if sinnoh is your first time playing pokemon, those hints on trade evos and stuff are always appreciated.

of course, funny dialogue too that got a wheeze out of my nose, not uncommon for pokemon NPC dialogue SDKFSFDK some of this shit takes me so offguard it's like extra funny

like GIRL ISN'T THAT WHAT A PARASOL IS FOR????

edit: my DUMB ASS (lighthearted) has been reminded that parasols are for the sun and are NOT an umbrella equivalent. okay she makes more sense now LOOL

also LOOKER JUSTIFYING HIS GAMBLING :skull emoji: this shit is taking me out. see this is useful because it's like oh galactic is really all over this city huh. not only their massive building but they have their logo in the fucking slot machines, they probably have some amount of ownership over this place like team rocket did over the celadon game corner. but also it's funny because SDFSDFK

OH AND MAYLENE'S DAD IS JUST... HERE? generic NPC. generic sprite. no name. he's just here. maylene's dad. you know, one of the gym leaders. help girl

anyways i'm aware i basically just posted most of the dialogue in veilstone city verbatim but I JUST THINK IT'S INTERESTING! I MISS WHEN POKEMON GAMES WERE FULL OF DIALOGUE LIKE THIS AHHHH i have more to say about the galactic lore but i'm running out of image space and i need to use the bathroom and get some food so i'll post about that a little later

#kiki was here #kiki.txt #kiki plays games #pt playthrough #long post

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meowunmeow · 20 days

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Undead Unluck Chapter 202 Spoilers!!

At first, I thought the title didn't make sense. Then I read on and oh it makes so much sense.

Of all languages... French. 6997 languages. And you chose French. Nico you USAmerican.

But yeah the game is extremely biased. Unless you're a polyglot, you're gonna lose against the literal personification of language.

So how exactly did 100!Nico beat Language... Was he a polyglot? Did he skimmed through every single dictionary there was before battling? Was he smart enough to choose something other than French?

I audibly gasped and yelled "WAR?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE" because seriously. What is he doing here and how did he even get here.

I'll admit to being unknowledgeable and not understand what Top means by Moga. Google only said a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with planes nor war. If anyone knows what he means, go ahead and tell me.

I like how the planes have animal heads.

I'm assuming she means Mandarin here because it's the standardised language. Even though there are other Chinese languages like Hokkien or Cantonese. I can't blame Mr. Evelyn here because the raw is most likely to be "中国語" which literally translates to "Chinese".

I like the callback again. Logic and self-imposed rules are what ultimately stops negators from fulfilling their potential. Victor ends up falling behind Andy in terms of strength because he somehow convinced himself souls do not exist. So here, even though Ichico is well versed in souls, she is still a woman of science. She can't back away from logic that easily.

I had to search it up but wow, you're telling me this is supposed to be a sea creature of some kind... They're both equally confused, they 100% deserve each other.

Whoa whoa whoa... Nico can't see or hear souls. Yet he somehow manages to hear Ichico's pain? Does he have a wifey sense of some kind?? Loser.

I like how she talks to him like usual. She's either somewhat stupid or just forgot he can't hear her. But she's right in the end and he can indeed hear her.

Aw man that means summoning a living creature and having it die causes damage compared to summoning objects. Probably because it requires active imagination rather than pulling it from real life memories. That means that Nico needs to battle with a MacGuffin that isn't under Lan's domain.

But then that also means the way to beat Lan is by summoning an imaginative creature that can kill Lan's own imaginative creature, the dragon in this case. But what defeats a dragon?

Nico can't see her yet... He is stressed out to the max here and hoping that she is fine.

NEW SOUL ABILITY UNLOCKED?? TELEPATHY??? Or... An ability manifestation?

They weren't kidding about Ichico being a threat due to her quick adaptation with soul abilities.

Ooh she had this set up from the beginning... She chose umibuzou and didn't bother imagining a decent creature because she just wants a "u". Her reliance on English really convinces my British-born Japanese HC of her lol.

Lol Sean probably woke up and went "something's wrong. I can feel it." and Gina just snacks him back to sleep.

FENG??? rip to tells fans but FENG???

Should've seen this coming when I re-read the early 101 arc and I noticed that Feng understood Fuuko even after she took off her necktie translator (her armband). After living for so long, he could definitely picked up an extra language or two.

It's around 1:30-2:00am in Brazil. So probably around 6:00am in the UK. So around 1:00pm in China or Hong Kong if that's where he resides. This man was enjoying an afternoon nap when he got teleported with his hair messed up and tits fully out.

#undead unluck #undead unluck spoilers #later than usual because i fell asleep lol #but it's the thought that counts #meow reads

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brianllamawrites · 2 months

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Love Bites (Vampire!Sherloque Wells X Reader)

A/N: Buckle up because this is a long one! I've re-read and re-written this so many times, I really hope it's okay lol. I never know what to put in terms of warnings, but as the title suggests, there is vampire biting and (probably medically inaccurate) blood loss in this fic. Also, sorry if the French is bad, I used several online translators but I can never be sure how accurate they are.

Word Count: 5255

Tagging: @ageless-aislynn @khayrrilrainxwells @mcbenson25 @yetanotherwells (Feel free to message me if you want to be tagged in anything!)

There was a metahuman running rampant throughout STAR Labs. You weren’t sure how they got in, what their powers were, or what they wanted, but you knew they were very angry and were determined to let everyone know about it. The moment the security alarm went off, the poor few of you who were still around at five in the morning had scattered, hoping it would be harder for the meta to track you all down. Being the only one around with powers, Cisco took it upon himself to hunt the hunter. You had all tried Barry’s phone but there was no response.

Sherloque ran off before you did, and before your survival instincts had the chance to kick in, you decided to go on a secret hunt on your own. You had suspected something was off with him almost immediately. Sure, the reason why he attracted your attention in the first place may have been the way he looked at you when he first arrived, but no amount of winks and little smiles could hide all the weird things you noticed. He refused to leave the building until after the sun had set, kept far away from windows and mirrors, and acted so, so strangely whenever someone was bleeding. You tried to ignore it at first, but it was all too coincidental for it not to mean anything. After months of research and spying, you came to one conclusion:

Sherloque Wells was a vampire.

Okay. Vampire was a strong accusation. It was why you hadn’t told anyone yet. Why you were stalking him through corridors whilst a criminal was threatening everyone's lives. You just couldn't help yourself. Too many vampire novels, Joe would say, but after years of facing metahuman after metahuman, you longed to get your hands on something supernatural. And it was just an added bonus that the supernatural thing you had found was a Harrison Wells doppelganger. It was as if the universe had gift-wrapped him for you – that is, if he turned out to be a friendly vampire of course. You hadn’t decided on what you were going to do if he was secretly evil. Probably scream, get bit, and then die, unfortunately. Although, the getting bit part didn’t sound all that bad – not if it was anything like the novels you had read, anyway.

Sherloque turned the corner into the lounge and you paused at the doorway to eavesdrop. A few footsteps here. A few footsteps there. A few… Nothing. You held your breath and edged as close to the doorway as you could without being seen, but it was like no one was in the room at all. Just pure, eerie silence. Peeking your head around the entrance, you took a brief glance around; the room was large and open, there were no hiding places, and there was no Sherloque Wells.

Against every cell in your body shouting at you that it was a bad idea, you took a deep breath in and crept into the lounge. Your footsteps filled the room with a solitary echo. The city night lights spilt through the giant windows, pulling you out of the dark and towards the soft glow. Drawn towards the window, with the skyline catching your eye, you could feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Something– Someone was watching you.

You span around. Darting your eyes all over the room trying to follow the shadows that flitted in your peripheral. There was movement. A lot of it. You could feel it in the air. But god forbid, you couldn’t see a single thing. You started to shuffle backwards and attempted to control your breathing but it was a fight against your lungs that you were already losing.

Your back hit something cold and solid, and it was not the window. Fingers grasped your arm and jerked you around.

“Hello chérie."

Yanking your arm away, you stepped out of reach and narrowed your eyes at the man in front of you.

“Sherloque.”

“It’s not very sensible to follow me when there’s a criminal on the prowl.”

Slowly, the detective began to circle you, like an animal stalking its prey. There was a look in his eyes that sent a chill down your back.

“Then again,” he continued, “something tells me it's not the criminal that has your attention, is it? No. You’ve had your eye on me ever since I arrived, studying me just as I study the case of Cicada. I’m afraid your interest has not gone unnoticed.”

The detective stopped right in front of you and leaned in, you could smell the bergamot on his breath.

“So, my curious little cat, what conclusions have you drawn from watching me?”

You wanted to take a step back. Or at least, you should’ve wanted to take a step back. The thought had definitely crossed your mind. However, the moment his icy blue eyes captured yours, you were fixated. You couldn’t even want to think about running away no matter how hard you tried.

God. Okay. You never intended this to be a big confrontation, but it was happening whether you liked it or not. Right here. Right now. Ignoring the croak in your voice, you mustered up as much confidence as you could and said what needed to be said.

“I think you’re a vampire.”

The phrase made Sherloque’s lips involuntarily widen into an indulgent smile.

“You think?” he teased.

“I know.”

He paused before replying, letting himself appreciate your firm tine. “And do tell, what exactly makes you so sure?”

Words fell out of your mouth, toppling over each other in a big, bumbling mess. Amongst the babbling you managed to get out some kind of accusation.

“Y-you don’t– You don’t have a reflection.”

“And?”

And? And… Shit. The more you tried to think, the harder it was to conjure up any of your memories. It was like that damned smirk of his was chasing away all the evidence you had collected over the months, and not in the usual flirtatious kind of way. He huffed, amused at the panic that had settled on your face – he was enjoying this too much. You weren’t sure what kind of mind games he was trying to play with you, but you weren’t going to stand for it.

“Stop it!”

His eyes glimmered.

“Stop what?”

“That stupid thing you’re doing with your eyes. You’re hypnotising me or something with your vampire powers. I know it.”

Sherloque innocently placed his hand on his chest. “Moi? Never.”

“Sherloque,” you warned.

The detective took a step back and the fog in your brain had been lifted. You could finally think clearly again, enough to see the two sharp fangs pointing out of Sherloque’s wide grin. Finally, you thought. Finally, something supernatural – and you figured it out without anyone else's help.

Sherloque leaned back against the window, folding his arms and softening his gaze. “You know,” he started, “I knew this was going to happen.”

You rolled your eyes. “No you didn’t.”

“I hoped this was going to happen. As I said, I've noticed your interest and it is… mutual.”

“Mutual? In what way?”

He shrugged. “You have a sharp eye for details, a master detective appreciates such a thing.”

“Uhuh, is that all?”

“Tu as un beau sourire que je ne peux pas quitter des yeux.”

“You know I don’t understand French.” You crossed your arms, hoping he wasn’t mumbling an insult.

Sherloque hesitated; a myriad of confessions lingered on the tip of his tongue. You were brave enough to confront him, but he wasn’t sure if he was brave enough to confront his own feelings, after all, he didn’t exactly have the best history with falling in love. Five Renee Adlers. All women who he once loved. All women who hated the shit out of him. He couldn’t stand the thought of you hating him like that.

A loud bang echoed down the corridor followed by heavy footsteps and shouting – one of the voices being recognisably Cisco. The footsteps soon stopped, but you both knew neither of you were safe standing in the middle of a big open area.

Your attention darted to the corridor, back to Sherloque, and then over his shoulder. The twinkling lights of the night skyline had diminished and the horizon was growing lighter and lighter by the second. He didn’t have to question you, the look on your face combined with the prickling feeling on the back of his neck told Sherloque everything he needed to know. You shifted your weight from one foot to the other.

“What do we do now?” you asked, watching the detective stiffen his back.

“What do you want to do?”

“For starters, I would like to leave this room alive.”

Sherloque scoffed. “Is that what you think of me? A murderer?”

“No! But–” you took a step forwards “–vampires need to drink blood right?”

“Oui, the longer you go without it the weaker you become, but a vampire can go many years without consuming blood before dying. And I can assure you, a well-experienced vampire can acquire more than enough blood without killing.”

Sherloque’s eyes were on yours, but you were positive that all his attention had moved to your neck. If he wanted to kill you he would have done it by now, but that didn’t mean you were completely safe. The others didn’t know about Sherloque’s secret for a reason, and now that you knew, you were a threat to that reason, and something had to be done about it.

The top of the sun began to peak over the horizon and Sherloque dropped the smug, in control act that he was playing. Quickly, he took your hand and took a step towards the door, hoping you would follow. You held his hand tightly and didn’t move an inch.

“Ma chérie, I cannot stay here,” he said desperately.

He could have yanked his hand away and left. He could have pulled you off your feet and dragged you out of the room if he really wanted to. But no. He wanted you to come with him, and he wanted you to come willingly.

“I will not harm you, I promise.”

There was no glimmer in his eyes. No tricks being played. You glanced at the sun rising and a part of you wondered if Sherloque would let the sun burn hum just so he could stay with you a little longer. Your stomach grew uneasy at the thought of watching that happen. Turning back to the detective, you nodded and let him lead you out of the room, away from the harsh rays of light spilling through the windows.

Trying to avoid running into the metahuman problem, you avoided loud noises coming from the lifts and found yourselves in one of STAR Lab’s many abandoned, windowless storage rooms. The lights had yet to be changed into LEDs like the rest of the building, but to your surprise they had no trouble turning on when you flicked the switch and filled the room with a gentle, orange glow. There wasn’t any furnishing, nowhere to sit down, nothing to hide behind. It was a long, empty, concrete box with Sherloque standing at one end, and you at the other.

“I know vampires are supposed to be pale,” you said, “but now that we’re in proper light, you look really pale.”

"Oui. It has been a few months since I last fed." You could feel his eyes on your neck again. "It has been taxing."

“Then why haven’t you found a uh– meal?”

“I may not be human, but I would like to consider myself not a monster.”

“You haven’t found anyone willing.” You bit your lip and averted your gaze. A terrible idea wormed its way into your head. A terrible, stupid idea. The kind that you would read about in your beloved vampire novels.

“Non, not on this earth.” Keeping his eyes on you, Sherloque made his way to the middle of the room. “Not yet, anyway.”

You took a small step towards him. “I suppose you’d be quicker at catching Cicada if you were at full strength, right?”

The detective smiled softly at you. He didn’t need any vampire powers to know what you were thinking. “Ma chérie, if I took enough blood to be at my full strength, you would be very ill for a long time.”

Feeling like a silly teen trying to charm your way into trouble, you took a few more steps closer, just out of arm's reach, and flicked your eyes back up at him. “Then I’ll be in need of someone to take care of me.”

Sherloque hummed as he considered your offering. Oh yes. He could definitely take good care of you. And it would certainly give him more time to think up a charming way of telling you how he truly felt about you.

“Very well, mon amour. I promise I shall take care of you, afterwards,” he said as his eyes darkened with hunger. “If you are sure?”

“I’m sure.”

It all happened so quickly. Before you knew it, Sherloque had closed the gap between the two of you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you so close against his chest that you swore, even if he didn’t have enhanced senses, he could hear how fast your heart was beating. He cupped your cheek gently and tilted your head to the side, eyeing up your warm veins. Leaning in, his chilled lips pressed against your hot neck, sucking the spot he had decided on. He lingered, letting his teeth graze the tender bruise he made.

You shuddered feeling his hot breath, and for a split second, you felt those survival instincts of yours telling you to run. Momentarily, you closed your eyes and buried those feelings, trying to focus on Sherloque instead. His nose brushing against your skin. His arms squeezing around your side. His hand on your jaw with his thumb stroking your cheek. Knowing that there was no turning back now made your insides fizz with anxious excitement.

He pulled back just enough to look at you, as if to ask for your permission one last time. You could feel your heart thumping in your head, so loud that if you opened your mouth, you were sure it would be the only sound that would come out. Clenching your jaw to keep yourself composed, you gave Sherloque a reassuring smile. Yes. You have my permission. He smiled back and his eyes glimmered. Just like it happened in the lounge, a foggy haze blanketed your mind, making everything feel like a dream. You didn’t think getting your blood drunk would be painful enough to warrant hypnosis, but you weren’t going to complain about a little bit of supernatural painkiller.

Even under Sherloque’s spell, you could tell that something changed in his eyes. The soft, cold look was overcome with lust, and his lips spread open, revealing those two inhumanly sharp fangs of his. Once more, the vampire leaned into your neck.

You gasped as his teeth pierced your skin with a painless, but sharp pressure. Despite the hypnosis, there was still a small part of your brain that was alert and trying to send you signals that something dangerous was happening. No matter how much you tried, you couldn’t stop from instinctively flinching away, but Sherloque pulled you back, holding you so tightly that you could barely wiggle. Once you were secure in his grip, he continued.

The fangs pulled away, but the lips stayed put. Sherloque licked the blood from your neck, and as soon as it reached the back of his throat, the months of thirst he endured hit him all at once. Suddenly he couldn’t help himself. You were too good. The licking turned into desperate sucking which caused the two of you to stumble. With your back hitting the nearest wall, you let out a whimper and grabbed a fist full of Sherloque’s wavy hair to steady yourself. Usually, the detective was very particular about how his hair looked, but right now he was far too drunk on your blood to care.

You weren’t sure how long it had lasted, but finally, Sherloque pulled away. The moment his arms left you, your legs buckled. Your vision was unfocused and Sherloque was a blur, moving quickly to catch you and softly sit you on the floor. His arms felt much stronger than what you remembered. Kneeling in front of you, he pulled off his scarf and wrapped it around your neck, tying it just enough to stop the bleeding – he’d see to it medically when you were properly safe. Seeing your glazed eyes trying to focus on him, Sherloque cupped your face with both his hands and gently guided your attention towards him. You wanted to rub your eyes, but your arms felt impossibly heavy to lift, so you settled on blinking until your vision cleared up and you could actually look at the man in front of you. His pupils were dilated, his once-pale skin was flushed with lively colour, and his lips were wet and red, stained with blood that smeared down his chin.

“Hmm, you… You look…” you mumbling trailed off.

"Just relax chérie, you won't be able to function normally for a few weeks. Best not to force it."

A door a few corridors away slammed, followed by Cisco shouting. The noises echoed painfully in your ears as they grew closer to your hiding place.

“I can say for certain,” he stood up, whipped out a handkerchief to clean his face, and then straightened his clothes, “you’ve given me more than enough blood to deal with our intruder. Wait here. Once I return, I shall get you home and take care of you, just as I promised.”

You wanted to object to being left alone, but with a smile and a wink, Sherloque left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

A few minutes passed and the sound of the intruder stopped. You waited for Sherloque to come waltzing back to you, but all you received was silence. A few more minutes passed, and you grew restless. It shouldn’t be taking so long. You made yourself wait a little longer, but the silence was torture. He really should be back by now. A few more minutes and… No. No more minutes. No more waiting. Sure, you were too weak to walk, but you weren’t a damsel in distress, you weren’t going to just sit still in an empty storage room all by yourself. Using the wall, you pushed yourself forwards onto your hands and knees and slowly shuffled towards the door. Your head spun as you moved, but you carried on, determined to find out what was going on.

Aside from Cisco, no one knew what the power the metahuman has, so for all you knew, Sherloque could be in danger. Or maybe Cisco was being overpowered and he was in danger. Or maybe everyone was in danger and you were their only hope of survival. Or maybe everything was perfectly fine and you were worrying about nothing. You really hoped the latter was true because you didn’t need a detective to deduce that you weren’t going to be much help in a fight right now.

You reached the door and strained to lift your arm. Curling your fingers around the door handle, you used your weight to gracelessly heave it open, narrowly avoiding the door swinging into your face. The corridor was dark and empty. No Cisco. No handsome detective. Struggling for breaths, you managed to lean yourself against the doorframe, thrilled at your small accomplishment. You let out a huff, eyes growing tired of staying open. Wherever your dashing vampire was, he better come back for you soon, and he better not be injured.

The hypnotising thing Sherloque did had started to wear off, making you hyper aware of your arms and knees aching, and your neck stinging like hell. Vampire romance novels never mentioned how much being bitten would feel like… well, like being bitten. Something told you that there was a lot about vampires that vampire romance novels don’t mention. For example, it really sucked to wait for what felt like a million stupid years for one of them to come back for you.

A loud look over here kind of cough snapped you out of your miserable thought spiral.

Your head shot up, the movement causing your stomach to swirl and turn, but you were too overwhelmed and excited to care. Finally! Sherloque walked over to you and crouched by your feet. He was a lot less easy to focus on now, but still just as nice to look at.

“Hello trouble. I found Cisco and we put the metahuman in the pipeline. He is dealing with the mess that was made, and I have come to finally take you home–” Sherloque looked at you, then at the open door, then back at you with an amused smile. “Je suis désolé. Was the wait too long for you to handle?”

You opened your mouth, but the back of your throat was too dry to make a quip. Oh. That’s right. The grand trials and tribulations of trying to speak. You swallowed and spoke with as much determination as you could muster.

“You,” you started, your voice hoarse and sore, “were gone–”

“Oui. But I returned, just as I promised.”

“Gone f-for hours!”

Sherloque knitted his eyebrows and frowned, looking down at his pocket watch. He turned it to face you.

“No. I was gone for approximately twelve minutes.”

Suddenly, the detective’s hands were all over you. Face. Shoulders. Neck. Sherloque wasn’t a doctor, but you sat as still as you could and let the man carry out his examination. He promised to take care of whatever state he had left you in, but a part of you was still hoping that your state would be more breakfast in bed and less hospital gown. You attempted to take a slow deep breath, trying to make yourself as calm as the face you were looking at seemed to be, but what you ended you with was shaky and abrupt.

Sherloque stopped and sweetly held you by the shoulders – you could feel the new warmth of his hands through your clothes.

“You’ll be just fine.” His voice was soft and soothing. “I’ll get you home, make you something to eat to get some strength back into you, maybe make some tea to help you sleep– Hey. Hello? Chérie, look at me.”

You didn’t even notice it at first, but everytime you closed your eyes, it was getting increasingly difficult to open them again. With all your aches and pains, you were beyond exhausted. It would be so easy to close your eyes and drift off–

“I need you to stay awake for me,” Sherloque spoke in a slightly raised tone to keep your attention on him. “You can sleep as soon as I get you in bed. But until then, I need you to keep your eyes open. Okay?”

You mumbled that you’d try your best, and then the next few moments were a complete blur.

Sherloque had gotten you home… somehow. The details didn’t bother you, you were just happy to finally be home. Sherloque didn’t spare any time to start living up to that promise he made. He attentively tended to your wound, helped you change into pyjamas, and ushered you to bed. It wasn’t until after you had devoured his homemade soup did you lie down to sleep.

You tossed. You turned. You were exhausted beyond all means, but no amount of closing your eyes and hiding under the covers was helping you to fall asleep. Tor-ture. Grumbling, you rubbed your eyes and sat up. It wasn’t that long ago that you were struggling to stay awake. Penance from the universe for finding pleasure in aiding a vampire perhaps? No. He may have been smug, but Sherloque was a good vampire – Your vampire.

“Everything alright?”

Speak of the devil. You looked up at the detective leaning against your doorway and pouted.

“Can’t sleep.”

“No?”

“I know it’s the middle of the day, but my room is more than dark enough with my curtains closed. It’s like I'm too tired to be tired,” You said. “How does that make sense?”

“I bit you. There must still be adrenaline in your body.” Sherloque strolled over to sit by the side of your bed. “Your brain is still in fight or flight mode, bien-aimée, you need to relax.”

“Bien-ahh, uh–”

“Bien-aimée.”

“Bien-aimée,” you slowly repeated . “That’s a new one. What does it mean?”

Beloved.

Sherloque turned his head to look out the window and hummed.

“Maybe I will teach you some French when you get better.” He quickly kicked off his shoes and turned back to you. “But for now, you need to relax and you need to sleep.”

The detective swiftly slid under the covers. You opened and closed your mouth, deciding not to protest, and instead shuffled to make enough room for Sherloque to sit comfortably next to you. For once, you were glad for your small double bed; the lack of space pulling the two of you together, making Sherloque putting his arm around you feel like a natural advancement – the kind you had been trying to hype yourself up to make ever since you got home.

Somehow, asking a vampire to bite you was less nerve wracking than trying to cuddle up and relax with one. At least when you were running around STAR Labs you had adrenaline and the imposing threat of being hunted by a metahuman to motivate you. Now that the waters had settled, there was nothing to mask the fact that you had just ran head first into some kind of relationship with a detective vampire from another earth who you were half assuming was going to kill you when he found out you were investigating him.

You leaned into Sherloques side, rested your head against his shoulder. Perhaps it was better not to think too hard about these things. It wasn’t exactly like you were looking to get married the next day, just some good company and some well needed sleep. Feeling Sherloque relax under you, you closed your eyes tight, focusing on his thumb softly rubbing against your arm. The tiredness was really catching up to you now. With the cool, calm darkness granted to you via your black out curtains, and the warm embrace of your duvet wrapped around you and Sherloque, falling asleep no longer felt impossible.

“Relax and sleep,” you mumbled, “I think I can do that.”

Sherloque rested his head on top of yours, listening to the slow rhythm of your breathing. Why on earth he decided to get in bed with you was beyond him. He was so desperate to change the subject that he didn’t give himself time to think about what he was doing. Idiot. Whatever happened to avoiding another Renee Adler situation? They had all moved on but the memories of them – or more so, the memories of the mistakes he made with them – stuck to him like chewing gum in hair.

With a deep sigh, Sherloque closed his eyes. You weren’t her. You weren’t any version of her. But that didn’t stop him from assuming he’d screw things up with you like he had done over and over again with Renee. There was a chance that she and him just weren’t meant to be, but there was another, greater chance that any relationship with Sherloque just wasn’t meant to be – the latter scared him more than direct sunlight ever could. He hoped to God that you were feeling relaxed because inside his head was far from it.

To save your sleep schedule from becoming vamperic, you had planned to sleep until the sun had risen again, but it was quarter to midnight when you woke up. You almost weren't sure that you had woken up as you had to pry your eyelids open from deep sleep only to be met with darkness. Sherloque was lying flat on his back and you were still by his side, head still on his shoulder, limbs half sprawled out over him. All your joints ached and the pressure in your head persisted – perhaps it was a good thing that you woke up in the dark because oversleeping left you just as groggy as you felt when you got home.

“Beloved.”

You flinched. It made sense that the vampire next to you was awake during the night, but he was so still and you were so sleepy from waking up that it never got close to crossing your mind. You angled your head to look up at the outline of Sherloques Jaw.

“Huh?”

“Bien-aimée,” Sherloque said gently, staring at the ceiling. “It means beloved.”

The words tingled as you repeated them in your head. Beloved. Beloved. Beloved.

“Sherloque,” you breathed, “have you been calling me pet names this whole time?”

“Perhaps.”

It didn’t take vampire night vision to see the guilty, smug smile on his face; you bit your lower lip to hide a similar, bashful smile from appearing on your own. Sure. He noticed you noticing him. He took a liking to you. He flirted, bit, and then slept beside you. But it never occurred to you that he had been pining for you far longer than you had been for him. Not trusting the dark to conceal your flustered expression, you turned and smushed your face into Sherloques chest.

“Bien-aimée,” he said gleefully, squeezing his arms around you, “my fondness for you is not new information.”

Despite the tiredness and Sherloques chest muffling your voice, your laugh was undeniably embarrassed. “This. Whole. Time. Sherloque. Why didn’t you say anything?”

The pressure of Sherloques arms slightly loosened, and you were once again thankful for the dark hiding both your face from him and his face from you. Whatever he was thinking of, it wasn’t good, that you were certain of.

Renee. He had to get over it. You weren’t another repeated, doomed relationship. You were new. You were brilliant. And right now you were his and he couldn’t give that up, not for people who lived on different earths and didn’t even understand him properly.

Your heart was beating fast, and Sherloque couldn’t stand feeling his silence weigh you down any longer.

“A relationship with a vampire isn’t an easy one,” he finally said.

“No relationship is.”

“But especially with me.”

Taking your time as to not worsen your headache, you propped yourself up on your elbows so Sherloque could see your face.

“I’m not one to back down from a challenge, whether it’s supernatural, investigative–” you looked at the uncertainty in Sherloque’s bright, blue eyes “–or emotional. I’m strong enough to work through anything, and I’m sure you are too.”

Your eyes had bags but they were full of so much more life than they were when he first brought you home. If he wanted you to carry on looking at him like that, he’d have to move on. He would move on.

“My dear, if you believe I am strong enough–” Sherloque smiled at you softly “–then I am strong enough.”

“Good.”

You smiled brightly and leaned forwards, capturing his soft, warm lips with a kiss.

French translations:

Ma chérie: My dear

Moi: Me

Tu as un beau sourire que je ne peux pas quitter des yeux: You have a beautiful smile that I can't take my eyes off

Oui: Yes

Non: No

Je suis désolé: I'm sorry

Bien-aimée: Beloved

#the flash fanfiction #sherloque wells x reader #harrison wells x reader #x reader

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thatseventiesbitch · 5 months

Note

What do you think eric and Donnas sex life is like? like who is the top there and who is the bottom haha

Well. We actually know quite a bit about their sex life, canonically.

First of all, it's... er. Frequent. 🤣 After they work through the awkwardness of their first time, Eric and Donna spend the rest of the series unable to keep their hands off each other.

By S3xE19 "Eric's Naughty No-No", they had already done it 100 times (thanks to Eric keeping count ). By S6xE13 "Won't Get Fooled Again", he tells Pastor Dan that he's lost count/his tracking system became unwieldly, but that the number is now in the 'zillions' 🤣. There are multiple episodes where they can't stop having sex: S3xE11 "Who Wants It More?", S6xE2 "Join Together". At one point they take a vow of celibacy due to a pregnancy scare, but that only lasts a few episodes before they break it in S6xE22 "Sparks". We even know that both Eric and Donna masturbate, thanks to S6xE17, "Happy Jack"!

We also know a lot about when Eric and Donna took different intimate steps in their relationship. They had their first time, of course, in the aptly titled S2xE16 "The First Time". But they also:

French kissed/tongue kissed for the first time in S1xE9 "Thanksgiving"

Made out for the first time in S1xE8 "Drive In"

Went to second base for the first time in S1xE22 "Punk Chick"

Went to third base for the first time in S2xE8 "Sleepover (This one is implied rather than completely explicit, but to paraphrase Nikki and Ozzie from T90S, 'Cuddling under a blanket usually = touching 'it', it's simple sex math' 🤣, plus they both told their friends they did some new stuff).

So, there's a bunch of information for you. I don't know if it answered your questions, but it's probably the best I can do. *lol*

#thanks for the ask!#That 70s Show #That '70s Show #T70S #That 90s Show #That '90s Show #T90S #Nikki #Ozzie #Eric and Donna #Eric x Donna #otp: mom and dad #Eric Forman #Donna Pinciotti #ask #answered #anon

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venusjeon · 2 years

Text

joglar de gèsta

you manage to escape death when your not-so-lucky family is overthrown from Aquitaine, and the only way to avenge them and restore your conquered kingdom back to power is by asking your cousin for help. but the journey to him is a dangerous one for a princess on her own, so you must travel escorted by… a jongleur.

♔ PAIRING: jongleur!taehyung x princess!reader

♔ GENRE: historical au, angst, smut

♔ WORD COUNT: ...17.3k😶

♔ WARNINGS: huge age gap, minor characters death, period-typical sexism (as... sigh, always), aNd ThEre wAs OnLy oNe Bed, mild swearing/violence/drinking, BICKERING, attempt of sexual assault, kissing, grinding, loss of virginity, quiet sex, jungkook is a horrible guy in this lol

♔ AUTHOR'S NOTE: butchered french history even though i made a whole lot of research to write this but let's ignore that :D

1102

There was a forest right outside BORDÈUS. You’d always gaze down at the trees that mantled most of the landscape whenever you and your ladies-in-waiting fancied a walk on the high ramparts. It was calming, somehow. A contrast from the busy city at the other side of the walls.

Your father and brothers always used to complain that it was a military disadvantage because one could scarcely see an advancing army under the green but for you, at present, it was the opposite. The rest of the soldiers who had just taken the capital city of Aquitaine were probably lurking about, ready to kill you as they had hundreds in the past hour, but the thick vegetation shielded your escape.

There was a command you’d been given that was engraved on your bones, and it was to run. So run you did.

Away from the screams of peasants who feared they’d share the same fate as those who’d fought back, and away from the kingdom that surrounded the castle you’d grown up in. The kingdom that wasn’t yours anymore.

It hadn’t held such title for long, admittedly. Aquitaine had been a duchy under the French Crown for centuries until some months ago, when your father had decided to break off from it and its, in his own words, tyrannical rule. And so he’d got himself anointed and gone from duke to king and you, from lady to princess. But furious at the offence, the King of France had sent his son to invade back the new independent kingdom and teach its people a lesson for daring to defy his God-given authority.

It was common knowledge that Prince Jungkook was a master of warfare, so the whole venture had only taken half a day, to your family’s misfortune. You’d seen from your hiding place how he’d not hesitated to run them through with his sword in the throne room, a grin on his face even when their blood splattered all over him. The image would forever plague your dreams.

He’d left afterwards, called by one of his men, and you’d taken the chance to run to your mother’s body and kneel beside it, grasping her shoulders to try to shake her awake... in vain. She was gone, as well as your father and brothers. Hurried footsteps could be heard outside, but you didn’t care if they’d find you, didn’t want to live after witnessing your family meet such a horrendous end. If you were killed too, all the better.

Except it wasn’t a French soldier that entered the room, but a servant. The most loyal of subjects, she managed to convince you that surrendering was cowardly, and that your family wouldn’t rest in peace until they and the Aquitanians were avenged. She made you swap clothes next and grabbed your hand to lead you out of the castle.

Everything had happened so fast since that it only survived in your memory in flashes. You did remember that at some point you separated, and the last thing she told you was to run and find Sir Seokjin, a knight who’d been in the service of your family for years. How many times you’d seen him train in the courtyard with your brothers and begged to be taught swordsmanship alongside them... Finding him was impossible, for he was probably also dead, but running you could do.

So it was that camouflaged between those many trees, you left Bordèus behind at full speed, not even stopping to catch your breath. If you were seen by the French and somehow recognised, Prince Jungkook himself might put you to death, and you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction.

The sun was almost set when you spotted an inn. For a second you thought it was a product of your imagination, but the wooden structure was still there after blinking a few times and rubbing your wet eyes. There, so close you smelled fresh-baked bread.

Yes, this was a risk you needed to take.

A bell announced your entrance to the few men sat on tables, too busy drinking ale or conversing to notice or care that you were standing by the door. Faced with a lack of women, it began to dawn on you there were no guards around to protect you in case of danger, no Sir Seokjin. There was nothing you could do to defend yourself in case any of the men there wanted to hurt you, and none would believe a princess had walked into an inn if you threatened to have them hanged.

“Want anything, love?” a warm female voice coming from behind brought you back from your brooding. The innkeeper’s wife, what a relief!

You nodded shyly. “Yes… I’d settle for a drop of water, but I have no coin to pay you with.”

“Oh,” the woman exhaled, compassion drawing her brows together. She likely thought you were a beggar, and none could blame her. Sweat soaked your hair and there were also twigs in it, courtesy of a rock that had made you trip and roll all over the ground. A hand on your back, she gently led you to the counter. “Well, first let’s put some food in your stomach and then we’ll talk payment. Don’t you worry about that.”

As expected, her cooking was far from the quality of court you were accustomed to, but there were more pressing matters to worry about.

“Food and drink I can give you for free this one time,” she said a while later, when you were finishing the meal she’d prepared, “but if you want to stay the night, you’ll have to sleep in the stables.” With a final swallow, you nodded, grateful all the same. By that late hour, the hall was empty save for the two of you.

Or so you’d thought because suddenly, a man appeared next to you and dropped a few gold coins on the counter. “Give her a bed, Beatris. I’ll pay for it.”

Your lips parted. Who was he and why was he helping you out? He’d heard you carried no money so, did he expect you to pay him back in… kind? If that was the case, you were ready to throw your wine cup all over him, whatever the consequences.

But it wasn’t. He just went upstairs and bafflingly enough, that was the end of it.

Beatris then showed you to a free room and once settled, the horrors of that day came to you in bits and pieces as though your heart, knowing all of them would break you, had wisely rationed what memories to give you back. You cried yourself to sleep, praying to wake up in your bedchamber the next day and for the invasion to have been a nightmare. For no one to have died.

The past had indeed not changed in the morning, but you decided the future would be different. It had to be. The sadness and grief inside you morphed into the hatred that was to move you forward, as it became clear you couldn’t afford to be emotional.

What you ought to do was find Yoongi. He was a cousin you’d not met in person since your childhood days but most importantly, the Holy Roman Emperor’s son-in-law. Not only would he grant his protection to you, but he’d wage war on France for massacring his family. It was a question of honour. And as such, he’d leave Prince Jungkook for you to kill, something you were looking quite forward to.

When you went downstairs, you met the innkeeper. He wasn’t too pleased his wife wished to serve you a free breakfast out of pity, but you assured him you’d be out of his hair shortly.

“Go up north, you say?” He looked at you up and down with a raised eyebrow. “Without any money? I doubt you’ll get far.”

He wasn’t wrong. You weren’t even wearing jewellery that could be sold, having swapped everything with your servant… The thought of her made you feel guilty, as she’d probably been killed in your stead. Her sacrifice would not be forgotten. You’d use it to cast away the temptation of giving up. “I have to try.”

“We don’t know much about northern travel routes, love,” Beatris chimed in, “but why don’t you ask Taehyung? He’s a jongleur.”

That was it! Jongleurs, minstrels, bards… However one preferred to call them, they were men of entertainment who travelled from city to city performing songs of heroic deeds. If there was one around, perhaps you could offer to be his assistant in exchange for his escort. Not the best plan, but a start nonetheless. “Taehyung?”

“The man who paid for your stay last night,” she said, glancing at the door. “I believe he still hasn’t left, but I’d hasten if I were you.”

After thanking her a thousand times for the advice and breakfast, you sprinted outside and found the man by the stable. He was sat on a boulder eating an apple, and the sunlight that filtered through the trees’ leaves above fell upon his face, making it shine like angels did in paintings. Was it a sign from God or was Taehyung just enjoying the faint warmth of spring? Whatever it was, you decided to disrupt his peaceful morning and approach him.

Blocking the light with your frame once in front of him, you opened your mouth to speak, but realised you hadn’t really planned on what to say without giving away your identity.

“Can I help you?” he asked rather unfazed, to which you involuntarily frowned. It was hard to get into the role of a commoner when, as a princess, you were used to people currying favour with you. Everyone listened carefully to whatever you said, laughed at your jokes, and lowered their gazes to show you respect.

This is fair treatment, you told yourself, so you’d better not let it strike you dumb.

“I believe you can. Are you Taehyung the jongleur?”

“Yes. And you are?”

Already, you did not like him. He spoke as though he wanted to be left alone, which complicated matters for you.

“Y/N.” Fuck’s sake. Off to a great start. Well… there were others called Y/N, it wasn’t an exclusive royal name. “Is there any chance you’re headed to Aquisgran? You might also know it by Aix-la-Chapelle, or AACHEN.”

“Why?” He continued to calmly eat his apple, and you tried to think of a believable backstory.

“I was a novice in a convent that got burned down. Our Lord took every other life in the fire, including that of my parents who’d come to visit, and left me with nothing but sorrow… The only relatives I have left reside in Aachen.”

There was no need for you to feign grief, but had your story fooled the storyteller?

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Taehyung said honestly, you could see in his eyes, and somehow found yourself blinking back tears in the short pause that followed. “Aachen is far from here. You’ll need money for the journey but if that’s what you want from me, you’ve picked the wrong man. A jongleur doesn’t earn much.”

You shook your head. “I don’t want your money, I want you to take me there.”

He scoffed. Scoffed?

“I wasn’t aware I look like a nursemaid,” he said before taking another bite. You hoped he’d choke. “Look, even if I were going to Aachen, I wouldn’t take you with me. You’d be a burden, another mouth to feed. It’s about a month’s trip on horseback and I only have mine, the creature can’t carry two people for long. Not to mention how inappropriate it would be to keep company with an unmarried young girl. No, forget it. I travel alone.”

“I’ll walk quickly beside you and the horse,” you suggested, forced to let his dismissive tone pass. “And my relatives will reward you for bringing me home safely, I give you my word.”

“That is, if they don’t slam their door in your face for leaving the habit. It’s looked down upon, you know? Don't give your word so lightly.”

“Please,” you resorted to begging, desperation overshadowing the anger Taehyung was provoking in you. “It’ll be dangerous if I’m on my own.”

There was another pause as he thought about it, in which you held your breath. But shattering your plans, he shook his head to conclude with, “I’m sorry, child. All I can do is give you directions.”

You breathed out through your nose in defeat, then nodded. “No, thank you. I’ll try my luck with the foxes…”

There was a road next to the inn you began to follow, what else could you do?

You’d just have preferred to be accompanied by a jongleur as you walked it, even if it was one as discourteous as Taehyung. At least that way you had a chance at surviving the trip. You kicked the small rocks on your path and wondered what would come first: starvation, predators, or robbers. Upon realising you carried nothing of value, the latter might take you to do as they pleased, and how were you to stop them? Sir Seokjin, wherever he was, probably regretted having taught you so little of self-defence while he lived.

An hour hadn’t yet passed when the noise of hooves clattering drew your notice. It came from behind but when you turned around, you were more surprised than grateful to see not robbers, but Taehyung. His horse reached your side and he held out his hand to help you mount it, all while avoiding your curious gaze. Evidently, his actions were flavoured with reluctance.

“Now I’ll feel guilty if anything happens to you…”

At nightfall, the two of you reached ENGOLEIME.

Spending so many hours with Taehyung had confirmed your suspicions that he wasn’t very talkative, and that actually came as a relief. Given all that had happened, you weren’t in the mood for conversation, although you did learn a few things. His age, for instance. He didn’t look it, but Taehyung was about a decade older, which explained why he annoyingly kept referring to you as a child despite your clearly having been an adult for years. It must be the age difference and not that he thought you a brat, right?

Another thing was that he didn’t remember where he was from, or which of the many languages he spoke was his mother tongue. He claimed his parents had died when he was a toddler, that he’d been fending for himself ever since, and even though you were now in a similar position, you wondered what was worse. To grow up without a family or to have it taken from you…

It was that early loss that had led Taehyung to minstrelsy. He'd followed the lead of famous jongleurs since the age of ten to end up becoming the one of the best, you bore witness that night at an inn’s tavern.

A large crowd had gathered to see him perform a song about a knight who rescued a princess from a ferocious dragon, and all were immersed in the tale. Only the melody of a lute he played himself accompanied his rhymes, such a silvery voice didn’t invite for more to adorn it. But it was the way he told the tale, as familiarly as a lifelong friend would and so compellingly, like he’d been there himself. No challenge had therefore been met in earning everyone’s captivation and at times laughter, including yours. It gave your soul a break from grieving.

His performance finished earlier than anyone would’ve liked, and that was your cue to stand up from your seat and collect the money of quite a lot of pleased costumers. It wasn’t much, them being peasants, but more than enough to pay you both dinner.

“How does it end, then?” you asked Taehyung after dropping his bag of money on the table and sitting in front of him. By his grim face, he was definitely done with the friendly act, and back to normal.

“What does?”

“Between the princess and the knight!” Wasn’t it obvious? It was the only part of the story he hadn’t bothered to wrap up. “He saves her, then what?”

“That’s not relevant, what matters is that he’s forgiven by the king,” Taehyung explained, thanking the serving maid who brought you dinner with a nod. He didn’t so much as glance at her, and so remained ignorant to the fact that she couldn’t take her eyes off him, even as she left. Yes, despite his intimidating air, Taehyung was… not precisely ill-favoured.

You leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Well, make something up and tell me, I’m on tenterhooks!”

“Fine.” Taehyung gave in with a sigh. “She marries a prince and he grieves her love for the rest of his life.”

“That's rubbish.”

“That's realistic.”

Disbelief made your lips part. “Says the man who sings of knights who kill giants and dragons!”

“I don't write the songs, just spread them,” Taehyung justified, but when you were about to tell him he had no excuse for being so boring if he was so good at pretending otherwise, you noticed many of the people around were staring. Judging you with their gazes, it rather seemed. “They think you’re a whore.”

Your head whipped back to Taehyung and alarmed, you whispered, “What?”

“I told you it’d be inappropriate to travel together,” he said, although he was unbothered by the opinion of strangers, calmly eating his meal instead. “They think I’ve employed your services.” A short laugh escaped him out of nowhere. “I bet they regret giving their coin to me seeing as this is how I’m apparently spending it.”

It was an uncomfortable situation, so you opted to change the subject by taking hold of his lute and brushing your fingers on a few chords. The first notes of your mother’s favourite song… “I know how to play this, and other instruments. I could join you onstage. A bit of variety would make more money, don’t you think?”

Taehyung shook his head. “Most female jongleurs end up as prostitutes so if you reddened just now, imagine performing in front of an audience who does little more than sneering at you. I’ll save you the embarrassment. Besides, the music has a similar structure in most of the songs, yes, but if I forget something and improvise, we’d be out of harmony.”

“Write the lyrics down, then. I’ll do it for you if you don’t know how.”

“If I wrote things down, I wouldn’t have such a prodigious memory,” Taehyung said with his mouth full, then looked up from his food. “And I’ve known my letters probably longer than you’ve been alive, child.”

Arrogant prick. How were you to know that, when he was lowborn?

Troubadours, who were the ones up your street, were as well several steps higher in the social ladder, and so received a proper education. They mostly composed sophisticated poetry that was sometimes performed at court, where they lived, but usually read by the nobility—not to say they didn’t delight with their songs of chivalry and courtly love, for which you’d pay them generously.

Jongleurs, on the other hand, were usually illiterate and wandered through Europe orally sharing stories whose origins even they didn’t know. It shouldn’t have offended Taehyung that you’d tarred him with the same brush as his guild. He was simply insufferable.

Still, you swallowed your contempt for him along with your dinner, reminding yourself he was helping you get to Aachen. Perhaps someday you might convince him to come sing at the castle. His manners could be overlooked in favour of his talent.

“Would you ever go out of your way to perform at courts? I heard Princess Y/N, for instance, liked the kind of stories you tell.”

Using both the third person and the past tense on yourself was strange, to say the least, but news had spread about the whole of the royal family being slaughtered. No one was to suspect the reality was another.

Taehyung tilted his head to a side. “Aren’t convents supposed to be isolated from society?”

You shrugged. “I was never a good nun.”

“No, I can see,” he scoffed, although you didn’t know what he meant by it. “Unless a king orders me to, I don’t do courts, no matter how much he offers to pay me.”

You were about to ask him why when the maidservant from earlier returned to the table, making sure to lean almost invasively close to Taehyung so that he’d take notice of her as she picked up his now empty plate. Her eyes wouldn’t leave his and yours, her insolence. Must she interrupt your conversation with… her beauty? Was that all it took for her to drive a man’s attention away from you and seduce him?

It turned out not, for even though Taehyung was aware of the maid’s desire to lie with him, he still looked away and cleared his throat for her to take a hint he wasn’t interested. She left not saying a word, her expression showing she wasn’t pleased that she’d been ignored. You had to suppress a smile.

“Are you not going to spend the night with her?” you teased, proving you weren’t the demure little girl Taehyung had you for.

He raised his eyebrows as though the thought had come to you out of nowhere and not from what had just happened. “She’s not my type. Besides, I’m sleeping with you tonight.”

Drinking while he answered wasn’t a good idea, you found out the second your gasping turned into choking.

“I beg your pardon?”

Upstairs, he explained that a bed was without charge for him most of the time because it was in the interest of innkeepers to accommodate those notorious for attracting clientele, like jongleurs were. But just one bed, in just one room.

“Trust me, it’s better this way,” Taehyung told you as he unfastened his shirt. You hugged yourself and turned your gaze away, not as confident as minutes ago.

“I fail to see how.”

“The tavern downstairs is full of drunk men. If any of them decided to break into a room in search of pleasure and you were in one of your own, I couldn’t protect you.” He noticed that was a kindness you did not expect from him. “If we travel together, you’re under my protection.”

It did comfort you to know that, given you had no one else, but a part of you wondered whether he’d turn you in to the French if he found out who you really were. In that moment you chose to believe he wouldn’t.

“For that reason and the fact that you earned this bed, I would not dream to take up your space on it,” you said with a small bow of your head. Taehyung laughed.

“Alright, suit yourself. Know that you’re welcome to climb next to me when you can’t sleep on the hard floor.” He tossed a pillow over and you caught it right before it hit your face.

Nothing else was said that night, one you spent sat by the window while staring at the black sky. If things went as hoped, the next time you saw a full moon would be from your bedchamber.

By the end of the week, you were almost in PEITIEUS.

Taehyung deciding to stay for a few days in his old friend Pèire’s house had been cause for an argument—since you were already making stops at every town so he could make a living, thus prolonging the trip—but his insistence that you get some rest after seven days of walking briskly to catch up with him and the horse managed to convince you. That, and the promise of quality food.

Pèire’s wife Franceza, who was about your age, made the best pies in Aquitaine according to Taehyung, and you happened to have a sweet tooth that had been deprived of anything sugary ever since you’d left Bordèus.

What you did not have was knowledge of the kitchen, something Taehyung had trouble believing, given you were an ordinary woman. The lie that only just veiled your noble upbringing was that your duties as a novice had revolved around the thread and needle, not cooking. Franceza had been kind enough to offer teaching you but despite that being a skill you’d never be in need of, her friendship was a grace you thanked God for. With light talk and laughter, she made you forget the pain and wish you could stay for a bit longer, even if Taehyung would have to also be there...

On your third and second-to-last day in that house, he came up in the conversation you and Franceza were having while making one of her famous pies.

“Does he have a stick up his arse for any particular reason, or is that just standard in the jongleurs’ guild?”

She laughed, “I don’t know many, but I doubt it. Taehyung just... He’s seen better days.”

There was a hint of pity in her last words that piqued your curiosity. “What do you mean? From what little he’s told me, I thought his life had been one of struggle.”

“There was a time that wasn’t the case,” Franceza said before realising the kitchen’s door was open. Carefully, she closed it and led you away from it. If she feared being overheard, you gathered this must be something serious she shouldn’t be talking about, but as a lover of gossip, you couldn’t wait for it. “Years ago, shortly after Pèire and I married, Taehyung was summoned to the Holy Roman Emperor’s court. He was excited to learn from the troubadours who lived there, and dreamed of becoming one himself, but...”

“But?”

“He fell in love with a princess.” A small gasp escaped you, as the emperor only had one daughter. Your cousin’s wife. “Agnes, I think her name was? I can’t remember, but he’d write poems to her and perform them in front of the whole court. Everyone brushed it off as courtly love, no one knew it was requited and... consumed.”

“Consumed?” Franceza gave you a look that made you understand at once. “Oh... Surely not!” You hadn’t met Princess Agnes, but Yoongi claimed in his letters that she was a good wife. He praised her for being fertile and having borne him an heir barely a year into their marriage. Could it be... that Taehyung had fathered her son? The thought alone of him having an affair with a princess was past belief. Well, at least he fancied your kind.

“He wanted to elope with her,” Franceza continued, “but she refused, of course. After all, he was just a jongleur. A handsome one, but still beneath her. The king soon arranged a marriage with Prince Yoongi of Aquitaine and she dismissed Taehyung from both her bed and the court. When we next met him, he seemed a different person. Pèire says heartbreak changes men in ways women cannot understand.”

The following morning, you resumed your journey wistfully, after having to lie to Franceza by vowing to meet again. A part of you was starting to doubt there would be a coming back to Aquitaine at all.

“We won’t pass through PARIS,” Taehyung informed you as the horse that carried you both deepened into the forest. Because it had rained the previous night and the ground was all muddy, he’d easily been talked into letting you ride with him, in the same saddle. He was behind you, his chest acting as the back of a chair. “Pèire advised me not to, what with the political turmoil, and I agree.”

“Does that mean it’ll take us longer to get to Aachen?” For the first time, your complaining tone didn’t rankle Taehyung, as he knew he could’ve made a lot of money in the capital, and therefore shared your disappointment. Now, avoiding Paris was in your interest, but the cost of taking too long to muster an army to take back a kingdom could result in failure. So did your brothers use to say when debating about other wars over breakfast.

“On the contrary.”

Taehyung’s ever so short and almost uninterested replies made you remember what Franceza had told you about him. It was hard to imagine such a man writing love poems and losing himself to romance—or being pleasant to be around of, at that. There were worse tragedies that could happen to a person, like yours, and politeness was yet to leave your blood. Taehyung must be uncouth in nature, which led you to believe Princess Agnes had no taste in men.

But as you rode through that forest in silence, you came to appreciate his presence. How scary it’d be to find yourself alone there. Taehyung’s job entailed constant travel and he had only his horse to keep him company.

“Isn’t it lonely, being a jongleur?” you asked all of a sudden, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“I could ask the same about a nun. Aren’t you lonely of men?” His implication made even the root of your hair turn red, which, along with your face, you were glad he couldn’t see. What he could feel was your body stiffening, but he made no mention of it.

As any woman, you yearned for a passionate love story that might as well be related by a troubadour, but you were wise enough to set aside fantasy in the real world. Intimacy out of wedlock would never cross your mind. The loss of a peasant girl’s virtue was of little consequence, but that of a princess would make news all across Europe. News that would perhaps be spread by Taehyung, as many approached jongleurs to learn of faraway happenings. Such as the fall of Aquitaine.

“I don’t need men to live.” Taehyung laughed, to which you frowned.

“If that’s the case, then why are we travelling together? Oh, that’s right. Because I am a man.”

An impulse to push him out of the horse had to be repressed.

Although he was right, you hated to admit. You were grateful for all he’d done for you so far, and for the warmth his body provided at present, on that chilly day. That warmth tempted you to ask, “Fair play. But if a woman can’t live without a man, then a man can’t live without a woman. Aren’t you lonely of women?”

“That I turned down that maid back in Engoleime doesn’t mean I do the same with all of them.” For reasons you didn’t know, the way his breath brushed your neck gave you goosebumps.

It was cold. Yes, that was it.

“I mean settling down,” you clarified, red again. “Starting a family?”

It took him a second to answer, ease gone from his voice, “No. I don’t long for that.”

No wonder, after the woman he loved had forsaken him to have a family with another man... Yours came to mind, and how death had taken them from you like Yoongi had taken Agnes from Taehyung. Except she’d gone willingly.

“To answer your initial question,” you tried to lighten the mood, “I was lonely of men, but after so long with one like you, I think I’ve changed my mind.”

You couldn’t see, but the corner of his lips quirked into a smile.

A week later, you arrived in ORLÉANS. French territory.

Luckily, you spoke the so-called langue d’oïl, so Taehyung proposed to use it between you instead of Occitan even in private not to risk the enmity of anyone. Albeit bitterly, you agreed. Festivals to welcome spring after a harsh winter decorated every town with flowers, flags, and joy, but rage clouded over you at all times, as you were certain people added the death of your loved ones and the conquering of your hated kingdom to their celebration.

From the stage on one of Orléans’ squares, Taehyung could sense how uncomfortable you were in the crowd. He never lost you out of his sight, and you always seemed to enjoy the show. What had changed as of late?

Once finished telling a two-hour long legend about yet another knight of fair renown, he helped you collect the money of those who could afford to give it. “Is something wrong?”

“I want this trip to be over, that’s what’s wrong,” you said curtly, regretting it before the sentence was over. Taehyung wasn’t to blame for your misfortunes. “But you did well back there... I liked it.”

His nod and subsequent silence told you he knew there was something you were hiding from him and that if you hadn’t told him already, it meant you didn’t want him to know. So there was little point in asking about it.

The rest of the morning was spent within that same square enjoying the work of other entertainers, some of whom were musicians. Their folkloric tunes invited everyone to dance but you and Taehyung remained away, both preferring to observe as you ate a piece of bread some baker had generously given you for free. That is, until a small group of girls dragged you into the action.

They meant well, just to cheer up what seemed two people who’d just attended a funeral, but you couldn’t bring yourself to pretend to be having fun. Especially because one of the girls kept making eyes at Taehyung, and he’d smiled at her! Was she the kind he’d not turn down? Were y–

“You little devil!” an angry male voice exclaimed, and you turned around to see a man grab a boy no older than eight by the clothes. “Give it back or I’ll have you whipped!”

You approached them without hesitation and owing to the element of surprise, managed to push the man away from the child, whom you shielded with your body. Taehyung quickly followed, although he wasn’t as eager to get in trouble.

“Leave him alone, he’s just a boy!” You glared at the man, who would’ve struck you for your boldness had Taehyung not been at your side.

“A thief is what he is! He stole my bag of coins, and I’ll give him a good beating if he doesn’t return it.” The boy hid behind your skirts like a pup behind his mother, guilt all over his face.

Kneeling to be nearer to his height, you asked gently, “Is it true?” and after he’d glanced from you to the man a few times, he nodded with his eyes cast down, handing you the bag. You flung it to its owner, who caught it in the air. “There. Count them if you must.”

The man shook his head, unsatisfied. ��He should be punished for stealing!”

You stood up ready to defend the boy, but Taehyung stepped forward at the same time to block your way.

“He’s our son and he’ll be punished at home, rest assured,” he lied. “We apologise for his behaviour.”

His intervention was entirely welcome, despite the fact that to have a son so grown, he was making you out to be much older than you really were. Probably on the basis of this, the man wasn’t all that convinced Taehyung was telling the truth, but he wasn’t brave enough to challenge another male adult in public—least of all one who looked as intimidating as your fake husband. So he just left.

Soon, you found yourselves in a tavern, buying the boy a meal. Giraut, he was called.

“You are aware we have to feed the horse as well?” Taehyung complained you were spending his money once food was brought to the table, even though he would’ve done the same.

Giraut had shyly explained to the two of you that since his mother was too busy working in the fields to bring him to the city festival, he had come behind her back, on his very own, and because he’d not thought to take some money with him, he’d resorted to pickpocketing it when hungry. After giving him a talk on why that was so naughty a thing to do that it could’ve earned him a flogging, he’d promised never to do it again.

“I’m not eating if it means he gets to,” you said, surprised at yourself for doing so much for a subject of the king who ordered the death of your family.

“Well, I’m not offering to share my stew with you.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to. You have the appetite of a bear.” Giraut giggled at that, and you ruffled his hair.

“You’re not from here, are you?” he asked. “You speak with an accent.”

“I...”

“Don’t be rude, she has a speech impediment,” Taehyung lied again, and you kicked him under the table. Of all things he could’ve come up with... “We’re on a pilgrimage to pray to a famous saint he heals her.”

“Beware of witches if you travel at night,” Giraut said nonchalantly as he chewed on his food. “They lurk in the forest when it’s dark.”

You didn’t know what scared you more: his words, or that he’d said them in a rhyme. Taehyung rolled his eyes at your reaction, clearly not one who believed in superstition—and surprised you seemed to. Didn’t you use to be a novice?

As soon as lunch was over, Giraut ran off home to his mother, and your trip was as well resumed.

The sun set earlier than either expected that night, something Taehyung just knew you attributed to witches. As if the growling of your stomach hadn’t been bothering him for hours on end, he’d also had to put up with your constant jumping and gasping every time the wind made the trees’ leaves swish. He damned the day he’d agreed to take you to your relatives.

“Scaredy cat, are we, Y/N?” he mocked you as he tied the horse to a tree.

“I am not! But I’m sleeping beside you tonight...”

“Fine. Just don’t think I’m possessed if you hear me snoring.”

“I’d get on the horse and never look back if that happened,” you confessed, snuggling next to him when he lay down and then covering you both with a thick blanket.

You’d grown used to Taehyung’s proximity. Sleeping on the cold, hard floors of inns was unseemly for a princess, so you’d joined him in bed before your first week with him had come to an end. That, too, would be frowned upon, but nobody need find out. Besides, there was no actual sin you’d committed to be ashamed of.

And so it was that you fell asleep next to Taehyung without the anxiety that came with fear, holding lightly onto the fabric of his sleeve as a way of assuring yourself that he wasn’t going to leave you alone in that forest.

He was indeed there when you were woken up in the middle of the night by the most terrifying sound. A far-off eerie singing.

The light of the moon and stars allowed you to see everything around well enough, but that was the thing. There was nothing there. Shutting your eyes and clinging even more to Taehyung, you tried to convince yourself that you were imagining the singing, dreaming it. When it stopped, you sighed in relief, your heartbeat and almost panting the only sounds in the forest.

Until a twig snapped in half. And then another one, and another, and so on.

Taehyung jumped awake because of it, grabbing the dagger he usually kept under his pillow and pointing it at the dark. “Where are they?” he whispered, but you were too frightened to speak, so instead gestured with your head at what you’d spotted moving in the distance. It was the silhouette of a woman slowly advancing towards you, face hooded by her cloak.

“A w-witch,” you managed to let out when she halted before you.

“Don’t be a fool. She’s just a woman, and unarmed, by the looks of it,” he told you, yet sweat glistened on his temples when the sound of multiple arrows being drawn somewhere amongst the trees proved him wrong. “Who are you and what do you want?”

The woman didn’t move as she said in her haunted voice, “She’s right, Taehyung.” Your eyes widened from under the blanket, where you lay paralysed by fear, but he refused to react, telling himself that there must be a logical explanation for her knowing his name. “As for what we want, it lies inside your chests.”

“Our... hearts?”

“Let me guess, for a spell?” Taehyung would’ve found the whole thing ridiculous had arrows not been pointed at you both. “So, what they say is true. You are servants of the Devil.”

What was he thinking?! As a way of telling him not to anger the witches, you kicked him on the leg, but he ignored you.

“Our magic comes from nature,” the woman corrected him calmly, “and we use it to help others as white witches. That doesn’t mean some spells don’t require sacrifices.”

Learning their magic was only medicinal gave you the courage to stand up and ask, “And why must it be us? We’ve not done anything to you.”

“Because we’re the only ones they can get away with murdering,” Taehyung answered for the woman. More than ever, you missed Sir Seokjin’s presence. And sword. “As travellers, we have no home, so we won’t be missed. The question is, how do you know so much about us?”

“Hear that, sisters?” she asked, a chorus of echoing laughter following. You and Taehyung looked around once more, but the archers were well hidden. “Handsome and clever. What a pity.” She raised her hand as a signal, and you held your breath when Taehyung embraced you, using his body as a shield. It all ended not avenging your family and fighting for your kingdom, but there, with him. “Loose!”

“No!”

Time seemed to have frozen as, eyes shut, you waited for arrows to pierce your body. But they never did, and you looked up from Taehyung’s chest to find out the one who’d shouted had been none other than Giraut.

“What the hell are you doing here?” the woman voiced your thoughts, and removed her hood to reveal her anger. They looked curiously alike.

“Not them, mother, please! They’re the ones I told you about, the ones who saved me!”

Clearly pretending she was unaware of that, she turned back to face you, and you and Taehyung separated, piecing together that she’d been caught in the act. “They’re the jongleur and his wife?”

“Yes!” Giraut exclaimed, making you look away in embarrassment. Well, you preferred wife to prostitute or servant.

The woman stared at the two of you in silence for ages, trying to make up her mind on whether she should allow you to live or not, regardless of Giraut’s presence. Eventually, she said, “I suppose it would be immoral to take the hearts of those who aided my reckless son.” Immoral fell short, in Taehyung’s opinion. “You can come out, sisters!”

One by one, the group of girls whom you’d met the day before at the festival came forward from out of nowhere. Ha! You knew there was a reason you’d disliked the girl Taehyung had smiled at.

“Are we free to go?” he asked, wishing nothing more than for this episode to be over already. He’d not be so meek if he weren’t outnumbered, though, and would kill them all for trying to do the same to you.

The woman glanced at Giraut while pursing her lips. She had no choice but to let you go if she didn’t want to earn his hatred. “I don’t see why not.”

Taehyung turned to you. “Then, pack up. It’s almost sunrise, so we might as well get going now.” In your tiredness, you groaned, but went to do as he said. Better to leave than remain among murderers.

“Wait.” The woman made you stop in your tracks. She approached you, and even though Taehyung had tucked the dagger into his belt a while ago, he gripped its handle again, wary. “I can see inside your soul.” You knew of what she spoke when she leaned in to whisper in your ear, “Proceed with caution, for betrayal lurks in the shadows like we do. This is my prophecy.”

She leaned back and you would’ve stayed stunned there all night had it not been for Taehyung’s rushing.

As Pèire had advised, Paris was avoided en route to Aachen, something you were more than grateful for after the incident with the witches. Death had almost claimed your life twice and as they say, third time’s a charm—in the capital, there was a greater risk you’d be recognised. Giraut’s mother’s words lingered in your mind for that very reason, making you doubt Taehyung’s loyalty. Who else could betray you, when you had no one else?

Regardless of what was to happen in the future, he’d been expressing his frustration and remorse due to what happened. More had come out of his mouth in the last few days than in all the time you’d known him.

“I should’ve at least bargained for them to spare your life,” he beat himself up again. You were in the stables of an inn near REIMS grooming his horse as he angrily ate an apple outside the stall, “not stand there like an idiot waiting for us to be killed.”

“There was nothing you could’ve said or done, I’ve told you a hundred times. Giraut was our only chance at getting out of there alive.” To think others wouldn’t be so lucky...

“You could’ve tried something too instead of cowering under my blanket like a baby.”

You stopped brushing the horse for a moment to eye him askance. “Don’t speak while eating, dear, we wouldn’t want you to choke and die.”

He scoffed, “I prefer death by apple to death by witch.”

“That much is clear to me.”

“Will you stop wasting time talking and hurry up, child? I want to get to Reims before the day ends.”

Perhaps it would be good if he betrayed you. That way you’d have a legitimate excuse to have him hanged, drawn, and quartered. “I’m almost done!” Turning your back on him, you were going to give the horse its few final brushes, but a voice you immediately knew made you freeze in your spot.

“Good day! I’m looking for Taehyung the jongleur.”

Please, don’t let it be true.

“You’ve found him,” he said before biting into the apple again.

“Prince Jungkook of France stands before you. I’ve come to require your services at court.”

Holding your breath as though that would make you invisible, you heard Taehyung bow to him after a short pause of surprise. “Your Highness does me a great honour by asking in person, but I must decline.”

The prince was taken aback. “Why? I’ll pay you handsomely. My father’s birthday approaches, and I want the best jongleur in the land to sing to him at the feast, a month from–”

Your heart was pounding so fast and hard that it felt as though a nail was being hammered into your chest, attaching your feet to the ground, preventing them from moving. The fear those witches had conjured up to possess you didn’t come close to what you felt now.

Surely he couldn’t be there, having a conversation with Taehyung? Trying to charm him with the same smile that had played on his lips the day he put your family to death?

“Unless the king himself commands me to perform in his court,” Taehyung boldly interrupted him, “I won’t do it.”

“My command isn’t good enough?”

“Not equal to a king’s.”

Though unused to such bluntness, Prince Jungkook chuckled. The sound made you so sick that he probably sensed it, as you felt his gaze neglect Taehyung in favour of a sudden new interest that overcame him. It was time to turn around. “And who is this lovely flower? Your daughter?”

“Daughter?” Taehyung choked on his apple—which, in lighter circumstances, you would’ve made fun of. At present, you could only glare at your enemy. “She’s a travel companion. Y/N. I’m taking her to her family in the north from... Orléans.” To learn you were from the rebellious region he’d recently painted with blood was a risk that needn’t be taken. Who knew how he’d react.

“A pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady.” Prince Jungkook waited for you to curtsey, but you refused, instead daringly holding his gaze for some time until you turned away to finish grooming the horse.

“Y/N!” Taehyung scolded in a whisper you ignored.

“What an interesting pair you two are,” the prince mused, seemingly not offended, but amused. He took a deep breath to avoid a silence as he thought, then addressed Taehyung, “I will accompany you to your destination. Maybe I just need time to win you over, and after you’ve delivered your... companion, then you can come with me to court.”

Taehyung was going to deny him again, right? Prince Jungkook could not come along!

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

Dread filled you whole on the way to Reims.

Given all the clues that led to your real identity, it would’ve been a miracle to not have yet been uncovered by the prince had it not been for your servant’s idea to switch clothes and die in your stead. He mentioned he was 'in disguise’ as well, although unescorted, boasting he needed no guards to protect him in case of trouble. You could attest to that, having seen him kill your entire family single-handedly.

Much to your disgust, he seemed to fancy you, and had offered to share his horse so that you wouldn’t have to walk. But Taehyung had fortunately noticed your aversion to him, which he attributed to your being Aquitanian and his having overthrown your king, and had made up that as a former cloistered nun, you didn’t feel comfortable around unacquainted men. So you rode with him instead.

“Tell me, then,” Prince Jungkook began, “where did your wanderings take you before Orléans?”

“Poitiers, Your Highness.” To hear the names of your cities in French instead of Occitan made you want to vomit.

“Ah, Aquitaine... If only I’d searched for you when I was down there, what a shame!”

Yes, well, you had been the one to find him.

“Your Highness was otherwise engaged.” Taehyung had to be mindful of his choice of words before royalty, but he found himself more intrigued by your reaction to the subject. How you looked away. He’d never have guessed you cared for politics.

Granted, you never had. When your father had announced his intention to make Aquitaine independent, you couldn’t wait, but not for honest reasons. Becoming a princess meant more prestige, more jewellery, and more attention. It was only after witnessing such slaughter that day that you understood your father’s hatred of the French, and his desire to be free of them. Now, hearing Prince Jungkook speak of the event as though it was nothing made you all the hungrier to restore your kingdom.

What annoyed you the most was that if things had been different, you’d have begged to be given in marriage to him. He was your age, handsome, charming… The one flaw he had was being a cold-blooded murderer. A flaw you’d soon share by carrying out your revenge.

“I was. There’s been unrest in the rebels’ land ever since, so I take it you’ll have gathered all sorts of opinions on the matter in your travels. What’s yours?”

It suddenly dawned on you that you’d never talked about it with Taehyung. Even when spreading the news of the taking of Bordèus, he’d appeared neutral. What if he’d been on France’s side all along?

“My opinion holds no value,” he said. “I’m just a teller of legends.”

“Alright, you don’t have to tell me,” the prince laughed. You wouldn’t look his way, but his next words did almost make you curse at him, feeling like a threat as they did despite his carefree tone. “But I hope we at least agree that in the face of treason, a lesson must be taught.”

That night you spent in the forest again. Nightmares of him smothering you in the darkness plagued your sleep until the morning, when the safety of sunlight comforted you enough to get a humble thirty minutes of rest. Then, Taehyung gently shook you awake, and you sat up beside him only to realise the two of you were alone.

“Where’s the prince?” you asked in a yawn. He couldn’t have gone far, as his horse and things were still there.

“Peeing.”

You looked around to make sure he wasn’t within earshot. “Where?”

Taehyung’s head whipped in your direction, “I didn’t take you for a pervert, Y/N.”

Rolling your eyes, you leaned just a bit closer to whisper, “I don’t trust him. I don’t want him to travel with us.”

“Prince or not, I won’t let him touch you, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” That was a relief, actually.

“It’s not that…”

“Then what? Oh…” He understood before you could answer. “You fear I’ll go with him and leave you?” Again, that wasn’t it, but you did look down. “That won’t happen, you may be sure of it.”

You reckoned you should thank Princess Agnes for breaking his heart and making him never want to step on a castle again.

Reims went badly.

Not that you expected it wouldn’t, knowing the goddamned Prince of France was to keep you company while Taehyung entertained the town. At least he soon understood your lack of words meant you weren’t into his flirting. But the real problem was his presence.

It didn’t help your bad mood to see them drinking and laughing together that night in the inn’s tavern. Any desire you had of confessing the truth about who you were to Taehyung was fading away as quickly as a candle flame was by a breeze. They were growing too close for your taste.

“I promise you’ll be welcome at court. Everyone longs to see you perform, the troubadours first,” Prince Jungkook slurred after taking a gulp of ale. “Though I suspect that has more to do with the fact that I threatened to banish them should they write any more tedious songs about courtly love. They need new material and only you can give it to them.”

A romance hater. Yet another reason to dislike him.

Taehyung laughed, “Surely there are others. My friend Aliénor who lives in LIÈGE, she’s a retired jongleur, Your Highness, a good one. We’ll stay in her place for a couple of days, I’m sure she’ll not refuse if you ask her to take my place.”

“Can’t be that good if I haven’t heard of her.” Prince Jungkook shook his head, not willing to even consider it. Then, his eyes lit up. “But speaking of women, I might be able to pay you differently for your service.”

For the first time since meeting him, Taehyung blushed. Shyness was rare in him, you thought, if not unprecedented. “Your Highness, I…”

“Not whores. I mean having you married into the nobility,” Prince Jungkook clarified, and your eyes opened wide like those of an owl. “Mind you, it’d be the very bottom of it, you’re a jongleur after all…”

Taehyung was about to drink, but instead put his mug down on the table. “The nobility, you say?”

That was the last straw.

You stood up abruptly, earning a confused reaction from them both. Especially when you made no effort to mask your anger while saying, “I’m going to bed.”

“Sweet dreams…” you heard the prince mutter as you strode off.

Once curled up under the sheets, tears couldn’t help but stream down your face.

All it took the only person you thought you could count on to betray you was a profitable marriage arrangement? Not that Taehyung knew he was betraying you… but he’d vowed you were under his protection, and that he wouldn’t leave you! By befriending Prince Jungkook, you were certain his words would amount to naught if you told him the truth. And that hurt.

What if you didn’t tell him, though? What if he found out some other way? The witch had prophesied betrayal. She’d mentioned nothing of failure, however, so giving up before reaching Aachen wasn’t an option.

Not long after the tears had dried on your cheeks, you began to fall asleep, calmed by a silence that ceased when the door was opened with a hard thrust. You’d make sure to nag Taehyung the whole day of tomorrow for being a drunk brute.

Except… it wasn’t Taehyung.

You turned around on the bed to see one of the men who’d been drinking downstairs. Fear seized your heart. “You cannot be here.” He didn’t say anything, just staggered where he stood, ogling you with his mouth open like a dog. “Did you not hear me?” You tried to discreetly reach for the dagger under Taehyung’s pillow but of course, he had it on his person. “My husband will be here any second.”

“Oh, will he?”

Before you could get off the bed, he grabbed your legs to pull you close. Screaming at the top of your lungs, you managed to kick him in the nose with your heel, a defence technique Sir Seokjin had taught you but one that unfortunately gained you no time to flee, as it only made the man call you a bitch. If anything, he now seemed keener on getting his way with you, fighting through his drunkenness to get hold of your legs again, spread them, and get himself in between. “No, get off me!”

You were going to scream again when he was suddenly yanked away by his clothes. It was Taehyung and the prince, the former throwing the man on the floor to repeatedly kick him on the stomach and the latter offering his hand to help you sit up. You chose to sit up on your own, quickly fixing the chemise Franceza had given you as a gift and wiping the new tears on your face with the back of your hand.

Taehyung was still furiously beating the man up after minutes had passed, the disagreeable noise of kicks and grunts filling the room. At some point, you looked up at Prince Jungkook and said in a croaky voice, “Tell him to stop.”

He obeyed despite being a prince, but seeing as Taehyung wouldn’t listen, he separated him by force from the man, whom he then had to drag downstairs as he was in no condition to so much as stand up. You thought you could finally breathe, that the horrible experience was over.

Taehyung had other plans.

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

You couldn’t believe your ears. Standing up, you approached him and narrowed your swollen eyes. “What was I thinking? You think I invited him?”

“I told you once what could happen should you be alone in a room,” he wouldn’t lower his voice, enraged, “so you might as well have!”

“I said I was going to bed, and you didn’t stop me! If you were so sure of what was going to happen, this is your fault, then!”

Taehyung hoped his glaring would burn holes into your skin. He stepped forward, almost closing the distance between you. “I’m not your nursemaid, brat! You should be on your knees anyway, thanking me for running to help you!”

A brittle laugh escaped you—not that you would’ve stopped it had you known beforehand. “I’ll be damned before I kneel to the likes of you. But if you hadn’t started screaming like a madman, you would’ve received my gratitude!”

“That’d be a first!”

“How dare you!”

Prince Jungkook re-entered the room in that moment, quietly closing the door behind him. “Your screams can be heard from the street, just so you know.”

“Good. If men hear for themselves how impertinent this child is, they won’t want to come and take her.” Glaring at him, you let out an exasperated growl.

“Instead of leaving it to luck, I’ll sleep here tonight. The more of us, the less they’ll dare.” Brilliant, just what you needed. Upset as one could get, you climbed back under the sheets, Taehyung snatching the pillow he’d share with Prince Jungkook and throwing it on the floor. “She gets the bed?” You glanced him a look that scared even a king’s son. “She gets the bed.”

Hours went by but you found it impossible to calm down, mind reliving what had happened over and over. How close you’d got to being robbed of your honour… And the one to blame not just for it, but for all your hardships, lay peacefully beside Taehyung.

The moonlight allowed you to study the scene when you sat up. Getting Taehyung’s dagger from under his pillow would result in him waking up, so that was out of the question, but Prince Jungkook’s sword, left reclined against the end of the bed…

It could be done, here and now.

You crawled on the feather-stuffed mattress until getting to the sword and gripped its hilt tightly so as not to drop it and give yourself away. Carefully, you wielded it into the air. It was a heavy blade, but you told yourself you needn’t hold it for long. Besides, the trickiest part was yet to come: slowly easing your feet into the old wooden floor. You held your breath the whole time, praying your weight wouldn’t make it creak while tiptoeing to the prince for if you were caught, sleepwalking wasn’t an excuse credible enough.

Once stood over Prince Jungkook, your pulse trembled with nerves. Far from the torture-filled revenge you'd fantasied about, but it would have to do. Holding the sword with both hands, you pointed its shaky end at his chest and took a deep breath… only for your mouth to be suddenly covered, muting your whines as you were dragged out to the hallway by Taehyung, who effortlessly stole the sword from you and threw it on the bed before closing the room’s door.

“Let me back in there, you don’t understand!” you tried to get past him in vain.

“I understand you’ve lost your wits, all right!” Taehyung was fed up, one step away from killing you. Your hysteria disrupted even his sleep. “I’m starting to think you’re the one who burned down the convent.”

“He did it,” you came up with, making Taehyung frown. It was a lie, yes, but one you could weave with some threads of truth. “He ordered French soldiers to start the fire because he hates my people. I barely escaped, but everyone I’ve ever loved was taken from me because of him. I have a chance at avenging their deaths and I must take it. Let me through, I beg.” Swallowing your pride from earlier, you fell to your knees and grasped at Taehyung’s, wetting his trousers with your tears. In a way, you’d spoken from your heart.

Taehyung wondered for a second why you didn’t tell him before, but he wasn’t exactly the sort of man who inspired people to vent their sorrows to him. He had enough with his own.

He helped you up and cupped your cheeks to make you look into his deep, brown eyes. With a gentle tone, he whispered, “Listen to me, you can’t kill a prince. Least of all in a guesthouse where we both signed our names on our way in. Do you see?”

The register had completely slipped your memory. You nodded in embarrassment.

“Good. Now let’s go back to sleep. I’ll think of a way to get rid of him when I’m sober.” Taehyung’s warm hands left your face to be run through his tired one. “One that doesn’t involve murder.”

Again, you nodded. It was unknown to you why, but his voice had soothed you enough to put an end to your crying almost immediately. Maybe that was why you hugged him without a second thought, burying your face in his chest in search of more comfort. It took Taehyung a second to react, but he did by softly caressing your head and then your back.

Afterwards, you followed him back inside. He placed Prince Jungkook’s sword at the end of the bed you’d just got in and copied you, embracing your torso from behind.

“What are y–”

“I’m not taking any more chances. Be grateful I don’t have a rope to tie you down with,” he whispered, to which you sighed. His hand found yours in the darkness, and you decided that for this once, his touch didn’t have to nauseate you.

The next morning found you in a strange mood.

Inside you brewed regret, relief, disappointment, comfort, wrath, butterflies… and you didn’t know what to make of it. The only certain thing was your massive headache—and that the room was empty, so you got dressed and walked out in a hurry not to miss breakfast, bumping into Taehyung in the hallway.

“Oh.”

“Morning,” he greeted, looking you up and down. “I hope you’ve not scheduled any assassination attempts for today too.”

Didn’t it tire him? Not being funny?

“About that… I wanted to apologise for last night. I wasn’t in my right mind.”

To say the least. Your biggest mistake being getting caught. Now, Taehyung knew you wished Prince Jungkook dead, and there was nothing holding him back from warning him, if he hadn’t already. He hated you, so why wouldn’t he have?

“I understand it must have been upsetting to see me fraternise with the man who’s caused you so much pain.”

Surprised, you shook your head. “He’s done nothing of the sort to you, I have no right to get mad because you respond to his favour as any man would.”

“I accepted his offer,” Taehyung informed you, and something sank inside your chest. “I told him he could patiently wait in his castle ‘til I returned from Aachen so you’d be free of him but after that man last night, he wants to make sure no harm comes to us.”

“How chivalrous.” You rolled your eyes. “You should write a song about him.”

“It’s less than a week to Aachen if we don’t linger in the festivities. Then, you will never have to see him again.”

“Or you…”

He did it without thinking. One moment he was gazing into your eyes, and the next his lips were drawn to yours like those of a thirsty man to a fountain. You were stunned beyond measure, but that didn’t stop you from kissing him back, mirroring the movements of his tongue as it swirled around yours, willing to take your breath away.

Taehyung’s hands made their way to your waist to pull you as close as your colliding bodies would allow him, and you slowly melted into the ardent kiss you’d always dreamed of. A kiss that was broken along with the spell you were under way too soon, when someone cleared his throat.

Prince Jungkook, of course, standing by the staircase with raised eyebrows. “The horses are ready…”

It was three days before you got to Liège and in that time, shame kept Taehyung from interacting with you any more than was necessary.

He truly didn’t know why he’d done what he had. Sure, he’d grown… tolerant to your presence in the past month, but when had that shifted into attraction?

And as if he didn’t have enough with that mystery, the prince had caught him twice in compromising situations. The first time had been upon waking up that morning, when suddenly, Taehyung wasn’t on the floor next to him but on the bed, cuddling you. The second… the kiss.

“So that’s why she hasn’t fallen victim to my charm, because she’s fallen to yours!” he chuckled while you alleviated yourself somewhere in the woods. To him, it was hilarious. “You should’ve told me she was spoken for. I wouldn’t have flirted with her, then.”

“She isn’t, Your Highness.” That’s all he had time to say before your return.

You entered Aliénor’s house quite reluctantly.

She was a beautiful woman of Taehyung’s age whom you at once knew was more than a friend to him, or at least had been. It wasn’t that she flirted with him brazenly like the serving maid from Engoleime, neither subtly like the witch from Orléans. No, she instead behaved like a wife would, looking at and speaking to him with love. To any man, she’d feel like home.

Taehyung had told you he lay with women, but you’d never stopped to consider he’d loved any besides Princess Agnes. Fool.

“All these years and you never told me you had a daughter,” Aliénor had joked when you were introduced, not at all making things more awkward. She was just calling Taehyung old, alright, but you couldn’t laugh when your alleged father had sucked on your lip but days before.

“You, too?” he’d sighed, nowhere close the same annoyance you were used to provoking in him. “What, I sired her at the age of ten?”

Two days you were to spend there before parting for Aachen, which was a day away, and they seemed to be unending.

Taehyung wouldn’t speak to you, for reasons known only to him, yet he was most talkative to both Aliénor and Prince Jungkook, planning the performance for the king’s birthday. Not just that, he’d also asked her to treat the prevailing wounds on his knuckles from when he’d beat up the man who’d tried to assault you. When you’d offered countless of times! His behaviour was both confusing and infuriating.

At last came the final day there and dinner was, for you, a series of personal attacks.

The Aquitanian conflict was first discussed—with Prince Jungkook and Aliénor siding against your disloyal family—followed by the heart-warming story of how she and Taehyung met and wandered together for years, and finishing with the subject of marriage.

Prince Jungkook mentioned the king’s council had proposed a betrothal to you once upon a time, which was shocking enough, but even more so the fact that he’d preferred to kill you than wed you. War to love… Aliénor, for her part, had been given by her father to a man twice her age who’d recently died, much to her happiness. Now she was free to heed to love, as she’d put it while staring at Taehyung.

That did stir some thoughts.

Princess Y/N was dead to the world and would remain so until you met Yoongi, so there were no rules you had to abide by any more than a peasant. Why shouldn’t you pursue love? You had no father who opposed the man of your choosing, no responsibility to ensure your heirs had a noble pedigree. Aliénor may be free, but you were frozen in time. Chroniclers wouldn’t record your life between Bordèus and Aachen.

There was just the tiny matter of why it was Taehyung whom you suddenly felt the urge to sacrifice everything for, when you despised him. Well, not despise, but… it wasn’t that you didn’t not unlike him. At all.

That was good enough for you to knock on his door late that night.

As you entered without being given leave, a shirtless Taehyung looked you up and down from the bed, where he lay with one hand above his head. “What are you doing here?”

You shyly fiddled with your fingers, in the absence of a ring. “I’ve got used to sleeping beside you, so now I can’t sleep if you’re apart.”

It had felt strange for him too to sleep in different chambers, but he was reluctant to let you in his bed. Something told him it was a bad idea. Still, he nodded.

As usual, you snuggled up next to him, but this time the silence became suffocating within seconds, and so you blurted, “When are we going to talk about the kiss?”

Even though Taehyung had known it was coming, the question still distressed him. Eyes fixed on the ceiling, he was unable to meet yours as he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take advantage of your vulnerability, I just didn’t think before I acted.”

“I never believed that was your intent.” You frowned. Was that it? Had he been ignoring you out of shame? “I… liked it, Taehyung.”

There was not an expression on his face you could read, no reaction, even when your trembling hand reached over and softly felt his chest. Judging by his heartbeat, Taehyung was sick with anxiety, which you wondered how he managed to hide so well. To try to calm him you caressed his naked skin, finding in turn that the action did the opposite to you.

The number of times you’d been so close to him, where one was able to feel the other’s breath, yet it was only after having tasted his lips that you were overcome by lust at his proximity. At merely gracing him.

Tracing a path downwards with your fingertips, you reached the blanket that rested on his lower abdomen and uncovered him to throw a leg over it and straddle him. That did finally get him to turn his head to you, a spell binding your gazes. With his wide eyes, Taehyung was asking what the hell you were doing, but with yours, you were answering you didn’t know at all, that you were timidly letting your body decide in your stead, based on instinct.

No lessons had yet been given to you in the act of lovemaking, but you needed none when your core came to contact with Taehyung’s manhood over your clothes. Waves of pleasure washed over you the moment you started grinding on it, and he seemed to be having a similar experience given his restrained, low grunts and hardening erection. The faster you moved your hips against it, the better it felt.

Taehyung wasted no time in getting rid of your chemise, exposing your breasts to grope them like he’d been wanting to for years. Such was the hunger they aroused in him that he gently pulled from your arm so that you’d bend over and his lips could meet them, tongue circling your nipples and sucking on them hard enough to make you moan louder than you should’ve.

Bodies pressed together, he kissed you fervently to muffle your moans, amused at the thought of their sound once he was inside you. He craved for it so much that his cock was beginning to hurt, despite your nonstop humping.

He forced himself to break the kiss to quickly take his trousers off, something you helped him do. It was dark, but you saw clearly how Taehyung’s cock sprang up, and how he jerked it as he ogled your body with half-lidded eyes. Not sure what to do, you only watched, mouth watering with desire, and he chuckled lowly at that, your lack of experience making him caress your cheek. You found yourself blushing, even more so when his fingers travelled to your lips, and he inserted them in your mouth to wet them.

Soaked with your saliva, he took them to your clit and started rubbing it painfully slowly, driving you insane. A curse did escape you, however, when he took advantage of when you’d closed your eyes to bury two fingers inside you. It didn’t hurt, you were just startled at the sudden, intense pleasure. Knowing exactly what he’d done, he smirked, the bastard. But you’d take every mockery if it meant he’d not stop rubbing that sweet spot.

The feeling almost drove you to tears, especially because you were focused on not letting every pant that left your lungs become loud moans. A part of Taehyung hoped you would, as he delighted in seeing you dazed and enjoying his touch so.

He was done being patient, sat up to let you know he wanted to change positions, be on top. You lay down and readily spread your legs for him, but gripped the sheets anyway while he stroked himself again with the juices of your arousal, dreading the pain to come. Taehyung noticed and to soothe you, sank his elbows on the bed to give you a chaste kiss that lasted longer than he’d planned. Having his lips over yours just felt… right.

“You won’t want me to stop once I begin,” he whispered in your ear to then nuzzle at your neck. Taking his word for it, your hands left the sheets and went to his cheeks to guide his mouth to yours again. So wet and warm, his tongue had you melting under him, now excited to submit to the heat and feel his throbbing cock. How could he have such an effect on you?

He slid in faster than you’d anticipated and so the sensation was welcomed with a gasp, but one of startlement and pleasure rather than pain. One that drove you to wrap your legs around Taehyung’s torso as he thrust and thrust his thighs hard against the back of yours, indifferent to the fact that anyone might hear what the two of you were doing.

To be honest, it turned you on even more. That if Aliénor had any feelings for Taehyung, he was pounding the life out of you under her very roof, within earshot of her.

And that Prince Jungkook believed you dead, yet you felt more alive than ever.

“You’re so tight, fuck…” Taehyung pretty much growled into your open mouth, wet lips gliding on your bottom one with each word, before he decided to bite into it so harshly that he almost drew blood. “You’ll make me come too soon.”

“Taehyung, make me come, please…” you panted, bucking your hips against his thrusts to feel him even deeper, hands pushing his ass closer as well.

Taehyung cursed to himself, basking in how desperate you were getting. If you’d asked him to, he’d have spent all night pleasuring you in any and every way he could think of, but your command had been another. When had your wishes, he asked himself, become orders he was eager to obey?

He got hold of your wrists and pinned them over your head, met with no objections. Only because he’d stopped moving were you going to protest, but in seconds you were glad you didn’t, as a loud moan would’ve no doubt interjected your sentence. Such was the zeal Taehyung was now fucking you with. It wasn’t long until your walls began to clench around his cock, a flame running from your core through your entire body, consuming it with an intensity that brought the stars to your vision. His own release followed after a few more thrusts, the final one earning another gasp from you, since you didn’t expect his seed to spurt shooting out of him like that, and to be so warm.

The two of you stayed still for a while, just catching your breaths as though it was the only thing you had any strength for. Truthfully… it was.

Your eyes had been closed ever since reaching your high and it seemed so had Taehyung’s, since they opened mere seconds after yours did, like he’d been woken up from the same dream. It was right then that he realised he was still holding your wrists in place, so he let go of your them and removed himself from on top of you altogether to collapse on the other side of the bed.

Having lain with a man out of wedlock should drown you in shame, but somehow you could only smile, no space for concerns in the cloud of bliss you were surrounded by.

Propping yourself up on your elbow, you went to caress Taehyung’s chest again. You didn’t mind it was coated with a layer of sweat, just wanted to continue to feel close to him. But when you leaned forward to kiss him, he turned his head away. Actually, he seemed rather bothered.

“Did I not do it right?” You hated yourself for allowing your voice to break, even if it was what made Taehyung look at you.

“You were perfect,” he said, taking hold of your hand on his chest to kiss it. But before you could ask what was wrong then, he beat you to it, “I’m going to take some air.”

And just like that, he left you there, wondering what on earth you’d done to upset him.

He’d not come back by the time you woke up in the morning, just as you feared he wouldn’t.

Sitting up, you rubbed your face to rid it off sleep, but also out of stress. This sort of drama was the very last thing you needed and your heart was doing little to avoid being affected by it, by Taehyung’s actions. It was so pathetic you were becoming ashamed of yourself, but you did need to know what had gone wrong—if possible, before the end of your journey. So downstairs you rushed, set on resolving this right now.

It was in the kitchen where you found Taehyung, having breakfast with Aliénor. Prince Jungkook wasn’t there, probably still asleep as it was early. You didn’t care. What you cared about was that Taehyung had barely noticed you come in. Last night you’d been under the impression that nothing else but you existed to him, but today, the food on his plate was apparently more interesting.

To be fair, it had always been like that… but then why had he kissed you? Was it just that he’d spent too long without a woman’s warmth? That, now his lust was sated, he need not even look your way?

“Taehyung, may we speak? Alone.” Your tone made it clear it wasn’t a question. Aliénor was about to protest, as it was her kitchen you were kicking her out of, but Taehyung gave her a reassuring nod after which she obediently went upstairs. You remained stood, the silence in the room keeping you in place, yet he still couldn’t deign to look up. “We didn’t really talk last night. About that.”

“No, we didn’t.”

You sighed heavily. He wasn’t going to make it easy, was he? “Will you just tell me what your problem with me is?” He finally met your gaze only to frown. Unbelievable. “You’ve been an ass to me ever since the first time we talked and out of nowhere, you kiss me. Then you ignore me, then you lie with me, then you ignore me again. What am I to make of it?”

Taehyung obviously didn’t want to have this conversation, or be in such mess. He only said, “You’re the one who came to me last night.”

Crossing your arms with a scoff, you accused with overflowing sarcasm, “So that was your plan? To lure me into being the seducer so that it would be my doing? Bit twisted.”

“Just forget about it, child,” Taehyung sighed as he stood up, walking past to leave, but you grabbed his hand in time to stop him. Once more, he avoided your eyes, given how close you’d got—his senses still burned from the taste and feel of you.

“Tell me what’s wrong, please...”

Heart on your sleeve, or rather, on your frail voice, Taehyung felt compelled to answer, “What’s wrong is you were supposed to be under my protection. I was supposed to keep you safe, and yet I’ve made a whore out of you.” Your hand left his. “I will deliver you to your family tarnished, dishonoured.”

Anger began to replace your shock. “A whore? You think I’d give myself to a man I don’t… hold dear?”

“Didn’t you just say I’ve always been an ass to you?”

“You have and still are, but… I’ve come to the realisation that I don’t hate you all the time.” Taehyung laughed, and who could blame him? To tell him you didn’t hate him wasn’t enough. You took a deep breath. “I do feel safe with you, I did last night. But I don’t want you to keep your temper in check every time we talk, I want us to be at peace, for there to be no more quarrels.” You looked down. “For you to treat me like you treat Aliénor.”

“None of this matters, Y/N,” Taehyung said after a moment of processing. “We’ll part once we get to Aachen.”

“We don’t have to.”

“What, you want us to wed?”

“I’d not be allowed, but we might find a way to still be together, I might.” If Princess Agnes had kept him in her court, so could you. The question was whether he’d be willing to suffer a secret love affair again… Not to mention you were taking for granted that he loved you. If he didn’t, all of this was meaningless.

For the time being, he was staring at you as though you were mad. “You live in a world of fantasy.”

How could he be so hypocritical? After meaning to elope with a princess while being a jongleur! The words escaped your mouth before you thought them through, “I should be the one saying that.”

Taehyung cocked his head to a side. “Why?”

To your relief, the door opened right then, and you were almost glad Aliénor had come back so soon, before you were forced to make up some excuse. Except she wasn’t alone.

“Here she is, Your Highness–”

Prince Jungkook’s gaze fixed on you from the second he walked in, something different in it you couldn’t put your finger on. “Thank you, Aliénor, you may wait outside. And don’t be alarmed by the guards, they will not harm you.”

“Guards?” Taehyung stepped forward, you backwards in dismay when he walked in.

No…

Sir Seokjin.

“Seize her.”

“What?” Taehyung stood as a shield in front of you to protect you from an approaching Sir Seokjin, who in response drew his sword and pointed it at his throat.

Aliénor, still there, gasped. “Please, Your Highness, don’t!”

“Step aside, my friend,” the prince ordered. “You don’t want to protect an enemy of the French Crown.”

Taehyung wouldn’t move. “What are you talking about?” He turned his head around, but you couldn’t speak, the witch’s prophecy on a loop in your mind. Sir Seokjin was the betrayal lurking in the shadows? The same Sir Seokjin whom you’d known all your life? Who’d been sworn to your father, the king?

“Yes, I had assumed she’s been keeping from you that she’s Lady Y/N of Aquitaine,” Prince Jungkook said with a smug smile, taking pleasure in the shock on Taehyung’s face. The latter was going to say that it was impossible, but being noble-born would explain much of your behaviour. If only you’d deny it… but you kept quiet, eyes bright with tears. Now, you were the cowardly one who couldn’t face him. “See, I thought I’d killed her along with her treacherous family, but I met Sir Seokjin in town this morning and he told me I didn’t because I was travelling with her.”

“The king ordered me to fetch the prince back to court,” Sir Seokjin told Taehyung, his sword still raised at him. “I found him in Reims and have been following the lot of you since, waiting for him to be alone so I could tell him Lady Y/N was still alive, that he must’ve killed a fake.”

Seeing as he had no other choice, Taehyung stepped aside for Sir Seokjin to coldly hold you by your upper arm, like you were some criminal. Whatever he’d been promised in exchange for deceiving your brothers better be worth it. Prince Jungkook walked up to you but your eyes diverted to Aliénor, who’d gingerly hurried to Taehyung’s side to lock hands with him. On all fronts were you betrayed, it seemed.

“What was your plan, huh? To ask your cousin Lord Yoongi to take back Aquitaine?” The fact that he kept referring to your family with noble and not royal titles made your blood boil. Taehyung, for his part, felt a lump in his throat at the mention of Yoongi’s name, the man who married his first love. “As naïve as your father.”

He laughed when the tears finally streamed down your face. There was just nothing you could do. You’d lost.

“Let’s go, we leave for Paris at once,” Prince Jungkook said to Sir Seokjin, who nodded and pushed you towards the door. You had some seconds before he reached you to push you again, out of the kitchen, but you couldn’t bring yourself to take one last look of Taehyung’s face, daring not to see what expression painted it.

Instead, you just whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“This is more than you deserve,” Prince Jungkook said as he manhandled you into a bedchamber. “I’d have gone for a cell, but father said my future wife mustn’t be humiliated. At least, not in public.”

You had just got to Paris, an exact week after leaving Liège. An exact month after last seeing your family alive.

News had already spread through the kingdom like wildfire not only of your capture, but of your forced betrothal to Prince Jungkook. The king believed that marrying you into French royalty would put an end to the unrest in Aquitaine, prevent any uprisings. He’d allow for the reverted duchy to be yours but as your husband, the prince would own everything you did. In other words, all was for the sake of appearances.

“You’re abominable, sick to the soul. I’ll jump off this tower before I’m made your wife!”

A smirk tugged at Prince Jungkook’s lips. He walked closer, but you stood your ground. “Nothing would please me more, trust me, but I’ll have your lover strangled if you do.” Your heart missed a beat. “Oh, yes, I know. I heard.” He held your chin while staring at your lips. “Pity, had you not known whom I was, I bet it wouldn’t have taken long until you willingly spread your legs to me as well.”

The slap you gave him with all your strength erased the smirk off his mouth.

“Be grateful we won’t be married until we ascertain you’re not carrying a peasant’s bastard,” he said in a deep voice, glaring at you. “Hell begins for you the moment you can breed me heirs.”

“And what will our children think of their father when they find out he murdered their mother’s family? That he keeps her a prisoner with a wedding ring instead of chains? You think they’ll be proud?”

No remorse haunted Prince Jungkook. “They’ll learn from it not to show mercy to their enemies.”

Around a week earlier, Taehyung had arrived in Aachen.

He’d decided to finish the trip anyway to sing at the last of the spring festivals in the Holy Roman Empire’s capital, where he had pledged never to step in again many years ago. He would’ve honoured that pledge had it not been because he didn’t want anything to happen to you on the way there. Fat lot of good he’d been at preventing that.

First with the witches, then with that man in Reims, and at last with the prince. On his defence, it wasn’t as though a jongleur could’ve done anything to stop him from taking you. Besides, the house was surrounded by soldiers, he wasn’t even sure he’d get into that much trouble for anyone. Least of all, you.

You, who’d been lying to him all this time. You, who talked of love yet kept such a secret from him.

But at the same time… you wanted to find a way to be together even when you went back to being a princess. You were willing to risk your reputation for him, and he’d paid back that sacrifice by letting you be captured, be pulled apart from him.

‘I should be the one saying that,’ your words resounded in Taehyung’s head. So you knew. Franceza must have told you—who else? And despite it you wanted to make things work with him, just as he had tried back then with Princess Agnes.

Both of you felt something for the other that went beyond attraction and although neither knew exactly what, you’d been the one brave enough to want to find out. Taehyung had done the opposite, shielding his heart from that which once broke it. What if he’d done wrong?

After performing at one of Aachen’s squares, he collected the money of his audience as he always would before employing your assistance. This time, however, he was given a handful of gold coins from a certain someone he hadn’t spotted from the stage.

“Prince Yoongi,” he blurted out, eyes wide. He had hoped never to encounter him again.

They’d met before, when your cousin was courting Princess Agnes years back. Rumours of Taehyung’s involvement with her were whispered at court and had reached his ears, but he never paid heed to them, instead becoming an admirer of the jongleur’s work. He actually wished he hadn’t left right before his wedding, and had become a troubadour as his dream was known to be.

“It’s been a while!” Prince Yoongi embraced his stiff body with a grin. “You’re still singing about knights killing magical creatures, though? I’d add to the repertoire if I were you."

When he pulled back, Taehyung forced a faint smile, all his bafflement would allow him. He lied, “I’ll consider it, Your Highness.”

Prince Yoongi nodded, then led him away from the crowd, looking about to make sure he wasn’t being listened to. “I’ve heard the maddest rumour regarding you and my cousin.” For a second, Taehyung feared it was that he’d slept with you. “They say you were escorting her to me when she was captured by the French prince. She’s to marry him, now.”

It didn’t shock Taehyung when he’d first heard days before, but the news had still riled him up. “It’s true, only she kept her identity a secret, even from me.”

“Clever,” Prince Yoongi mused. “They say, too, that you’re to sing a song at the French king’s birthday feast.”

“I’m not so sure I’ll go…”

The prince put his hand on Taehyung’s shoulder. “I must beg that you do, for it is how I plan to rescue Y/N. And while I’m at it, take France.”

The two weeks you’d been in Paris, you’d spent locked in your bedchamber, accompanied by the ladies-in-waiting the king had chosen for you. It was his birthday today, not that you cared you weren’t allowed to attend the feast in his honour.

To no avail, your time had been wasted by trying to come up with a way to escape the castle. Even if you did, soldiers would find you now that it was common knowledge that you were alive.

You sighed, looking out the window you were sat next to. The landscape wasn’t near as beautiful as the one back home, but it was better than the inside of that bedchamber, infested with spies who kept attempting to make conversation despite knowing you refused to utter a word to them. A month of putting up with Taehyung’s complaints over your slow pace had taught you to tune out unwanted noises, so thanks to that, the moment wasn’t ruined when you discerned an approaching army in the distance waving the Holy Roman Empire’s banners. You bit your lip to suppress a smile.

Although, it wasn’t long until your ladies became aware of the imminent battle. The sound of screaming, fighting, and dying down in the city and then inside the castle could not be tuned out by anyone, even you. Appalling memories of the day Bordèus was taken intruded into your thoughts but you casted them away, telling yourself that this time, your side would win.

Hours later, shouts of victory were heard, but from whom?! You wanted to look out the window, but your ladies physically forbade you from nearing it in case arrows found their way through its glass. Fair, though inconvenient. Pacing around the bedchamber they would allow, so you did that to try to calm your nerves, but it didn’t work. Too much was at stake.

Footsteps were then heard outside, and the first person that came to mind was the servant who’d swapped places with you. The second, the one who’d killed her. But when the door was kicked open, it was another who emerged drenched in blood.

Yoongi.

“Two months you haven’t written to me for, cousin!” he joked, doing a terrible job at acting outraged. “I’ve come to personally scold you.”

With a chuckle of relief, you ran to his arms.

“We’ve won?”

“We’ve won.”

On the way downstairs, he explained how he’d managed it.

Taehyung’s performance at the feast had been the perfect distraction, an event half of the kingdom’s nobility had attended—and all the castle guards. Even they wanted to hear the most famous jongleur in the land sing, the irresponsible idiots. Yoongi had expected at least a bit of resistance before his surprise attack, but the fortress that was French court had been taken with ease due to the neglect of their posts.

He also told you what the aftermath of this would be. Yoongi meant to crown himself king of Aquitaine and Princess Agnes, his queen. He was the last surviving male heir of your house, so you were fine with that, as it was never your intention to become a monarch yourself. You’d enjoy the title of princess again, the one your father had bestowed on you.

As for the domain of France, Yoongi would give it to his father-in-law, who had always kept an eye on it, on the condition that he respect Aquitaine’s independence. The king had been killed alongside the traitor Sir Seokjin but more importantly, Prince Jungkook captured alive. Two soldiers were holding him down on his knees when Yoongi led you into the throne room.

“He must die,” he told you on the way to him, loud enough to make the words reach his ears, “I thought you’d want to be the one to do the job, after all he’s done to you.”

The nobles were nowhere to be seen, had fled before the fight began, but you wish they hadn’t so they could witness how you looked down at their overthrown, seized prince with disdain. The purple of bruises mixed with the red of blood on his face, as though a painter had spilled his paint all over him. To see him glaring at you like that, sulking over his defeat, gave you immense satisfaction. So much so, that tears of joy threatened to fill your eyes.

Yoongi was about to hand you his sword, but you shook your head.

“I won’t kill him today.” You leaned down close to Prince Jungkook, so that he had nowhere else to look at but your eyes. “I’ll make sure you pay for the murder of my family. You’ll come to regret it dearly, I promise you that.” Humiliation and shame kept him from responding as they had kept you the day you’d been found out. “We’re taking him home with us, lock him in a cell for now.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” both soldiers said in unison, then dragged Prince Jungkook out of the throne room. Your gaze followed him until someone else caught it.

Taehyung.

You’d assumed he’d left already not to meet you but there he stood by the entrance, mirroring your speechlessness. He’d never seen you in fancy clothes and gold jewellery, dressed as a princess. He thought you looked beautiful.

Yoongi right away realised his presence was needed anywhere else but in that room. “I’ll leave you two alone, shall I?”

Taehyung didn’t approach you until the big doors closed behind him. He looked the same as always, but so much was different now…

“You came for me.”

“A coincidence,” Taehyung swore. “I had the performance scheduled already, remember, Your Highness?”

You were tempted to roll your eyes, but smiled instead. “Don’t call me that... I’m Y/N to you.”

“Y/N,” he repeated faintly with a nod. An awkward silence then fell upon the room, neither knowing how to break it. After what seemed an eternity but was likely two seconds, you supposed you ought to.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t think I could trust anybody with the truth, I was scared.”

“I understand,” Taehyung said, then huffed out a laugh. “I reckon you wanted to tell me in more than one occasion to receive treatment worthy of a king’s daughter.”

“In a way, I appreciated your honesty.” You pouted before glancing down a couple of times. “Taehyung, does this mean you’ll come to Aquitaine with us? To be with me?”

“Us. You, Prince Yoongi, and Princess Agnes…” The way he pronounced her name told you he still grieved her love, like the knight from the made-up ending of the story he’d sung that first night in Engoleime. He’d been talking about himself. “I cannot, Y/N.”

You’d figured he’d say that, but you weren’t going to give up so easily. “As a woman, my virtue is the most valuable thing I have. I gave it to you knowing I’d be shamed for it because I am highborn and you are not, because we’re not married or even would be allowed to be, because it is a sin to give in to lust, because my future husband couldn’t trust the heirs I’d give him would be truly his… I did it because I love you. I know now.”

“You just listed all the reasons why it cannot be between us.” Taehyung smiled wistfully. “I lied to you once. I do long to settle down with a woman I love, but I don’t want to do it in shame.”

The realisation that he’d already made up his mind struck you. It didn’t matter that you loved him and were willing to risk it all for it, he wanted something you could never give him.

Even though Taehyung couldn’t replace your family, he’d managed to fill the void they’d left behind. It wasn’t something you’d expected might happen, but fate worked in strange ways, especially when it made you fall in love with him. Now that you’d achieved victory by avenging your loved ones’ deaths, you just hadn’t stopped to consider it might turn on you and empty that void again. It was cruel.

“I’m sure Aliénor will make an excellent wife to settle down with,” you muttered rather pathetically.

“Aliénor?” Taehyung frowned. She’d made her feelings for him obvious to everyone, yes, but why were you under the impression he reciprocated them? "She’s not the one I love.”

You nodded with your head down, holding back tears. Taehyung could tell you didn’t believe him, so he cupped your cheeks and kissed you as softly as he knew how, intending for his love to linger on your lips afterwards. Maybe that way you’d believe him. Although you couldn’t think at all at present, lost in the feel of him. Taehyung must deal with magic to be able to banish sadness from your pounding heart so.

“At least, promise me I’ll see you again,” you begged in a whisper when he reluctantly pulled back.

“I promise, Y/N.”

“If you come to Aquitaine, you’ll always have a bed in my castle… But just one, in just one chamber. Mine.”

⇢ drabble: nightmares

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