The bedroom felt cold and empty as Taehyung sat by the side of the bed.

His eyes were blankly staring down at his exposed thighs where the wedding dress had risen.

There was a pang in his heart at the events that had just taken place, his own mate leaving him.

He sniffled lightly as he fisted the sheets in sadness and a bit of anger.

How could he do that to him?

Kiss him, touch him in ways that no one had ever done before, even mark him before just walking away.

At the mention of the mark, the wound on his neck was literally throbbing.

Perhaps it, too, recognized Taehyung's hurt.

A single tear fell down onto his lap, causing him to eventually break down.

How could Jeongguk do that to him?

How messed up was it to be left alone minutes after submitting to your alpha and admitting vulnerability.

Taehyung could still feel his hands running up his thigh, the firm squeeze to his backside and the hot lips against his neck.

He had been ready.

He was willing to give himself to his alpha like he was supposed to.

Was he not pretty enough? Not desirable?

Was Jeongguk not able to get in the mood?

Why did he just leave him without any aftercare after claiming him as his mate.

Taehyung could feel it. The mate bond.

It wasn't like he would be able to hear Jeongguk's thoughts or anything remotely close.

It was more of an emotional connection.

The thought of Prince Jeongguk now brought him a sense of comfort.

Sure he was upset and angry with him at the moment but he would eventually forgive him and get over it.

Because the latter was his alpha now, his mate mark was displayed on his neck now.

His inner omega would always yearn for the male's touch and attention.

He would want to submit to him any chance he got and please him because he had claimed him.

Eventually Taehyung laid down on the bed by himself, curled up into a ball.

He fell asleep by himself, cold pillow clutched against his chest for comfort.

It smelled faintly like the alpha, seeing as the male had not slept in his room for two days.

A sad whimper left his lips as he desperately inhaled the scent, being careful with his fresh mate mark.

After a few minutes, he was out.

-

The next few days were practically uneventful.

Jeongguk had not been in the room the morning after when Taehyung had woken up.

Although his scent lingered around in the air, meaning that he had entered briefly while Taehyung had been asleep.

The realization brought Taehyung confusion as he emotionlessly laid on the bed for most of the day.

The mate mark had been doing a nice job healing for the most part, making him feel the slightest bit happy.

But due to his mate refusing to even be in the same room as him, he was embarrassed to even leave the bedroom.

He had not seen or even smelled Jeongguk's scent near him in the last few days.

After the wedding night he never returned to their bedroom even when he was asleep.

The scent on his pillows was slowly dying down and to Taehyung's dismay, drifting away.

Seokjin, as his new handmaid would bring him his three meals to the room.

The morning after what was supposed to be their special wedding night Seokjin had arrived with not only breakfast for him and his mate but special oils for bathing him.

And that was when Taehyung had to confess his disaster of a night before bursting into tears.

("T-There's nothing to clean. I'm-... I'm fine." 

"What do you mean? Where is his highness-....Oh dear.")

Seokjin was the only one that knew that the mated couple had not actually completed the process entirely.

As far as anyone knew, Taehyung smelled like Jeongguk and the mate mark was proudly displayed on his neck.

Therefore they must have already mated, right?

To avoid getting flustered with questions and further embarrassment, Taehyung spent most of the week locked up in his bedroom with Seokjin.

The latter had been extremely kind and mindful about his situation and agreed that he would not tell the king and queen about the ordeal.

Of course, he disagreed with the way the prince was handing the arranged marriage, seeing as it was not Taehyung's fault.

There was no reason for the prince to take out his anger on him.

But Seokjin kept his opinion mostly to himself as he devoted his time to making sure Taehyung was healthy and well taken care of.

Taehyung was becoming more and more grateful for Seokjin's company as he found himself opening up about his childhood and his parents.

He told him how he found out about the arranged marriage and his friends back home.

It was the only time Seokjin witnessed the boy genuinely smiling as he reminisced on the memories.

-

Taehyung bit his lip nervously as he contemplated his next move.

He was standing by the door, head peaking out into the hallway to see if anyone was coming or going.

Seokjin had taken the day off seeing as the queen always allowed him one per week and Taehyung couldn't agree more with that.

If Seokjin was going to be forced to deal with Taehyung's moping and insecurities then he deserved a break from it for the day.

As of currently he was beginning to grow curious about the palace.

He had admittedly not explored due to embarrassment of crossing paths with the king and queen or even worse, Jeongguk.

They would only ask questions and he was too ashamed to admit that Jeongguk had left him alone that night after marking him.

The dull ache in his heart felt permanent as he swallowed harshly and stepped out into the hallway when he saw that it was clear.

He slowly closed the door behind him as he pulled the silk shirt up to cover his collarbones, self-consciously trying to hide his mate mark.

What was the point if the alpha himself wasn't trying to show him off?

He began to wander down the empty hallway, eyes wide in awe as he stared at the fine details on the walls.

Before he knew it, he was leaving the west wing and wandering out into the garden.

Unfortunately for him, no one informed him that it was considered breaking the rules to leave his chambers unaccompanied and unannounced.

"Wow." He gasped in awe at the sheer size of the garden outside, eyes trying to take in the many different flowers and their beautiful scents.

He didn't even realize he was smiling until a small giggle left his lips when a rose vine tickled his ear.

It looked like someplace out of a fairytale and Taehyung had never seen that many beautifully kept flowers in his life.

Not even the flower shop where Yoongi worked had the variety of flowers displayed in front of him.

He could hear the birds chirping in the distance as he made his way further down the small stone path with a small sigh of content.

He stopped to sniff a pretty blue flower with a shade of purple towards the ends of the petals, surprising him at the rare beauty of it.

His body jumped lightly at the sound of a voice right behind him, causing him to turn around quickly.

"They're smeraldo flowers."

Taehyung's eyes were wide with fear and shock at being discovered as he swallowed harshly.

It was the boy.

The one from the wedding that he thought he had imagined.

His hair was a pretty shade of blonde as he wore a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and fancy black pants.

Taehyung didn't recognize him from anywhere but he felt as if it would be rude to not bow politely nonetheless.

So he did, "I apologize I was just-"

"Wandering around the garden without your alpha?"

His voice was surprisingly high pitched yet raspy as he gazed at Taehyung.

His features were striking and Taehyung couldn't help glancing at his plump pink lips as he ran a hand through his hair.

He felt like a kicked puppy at his words, cheeks flushed with shame.

It was silent for a moment as Taehyung stared at the ground with his hands clasped together in front of him.

The male's voice was serious and authoritative which scared Taehyung as to what his title around the palace was.

He smelled sweet which indicated that he was an omega yet he embodied the exact opposite.

The male turned his head to look out into the garden, no longer burning holes into Taehyung's face.

He exhaled loudly through his nose before Taehyung could hear a light breathy laugh leave his lips.

"...I'm Jimin."

Taehyung blinked rapidly as he stared down at the grass, eyes widening at the realization.

That was the prince's cousin.

Everyone in the village sympathized with the royal family after the news of what happened to his parents began to circulate.

No one had ever seen pictures of him since he was a mere child, as per the kings orders.

The idea of foul play as the cause of death was not ruled out and Jimin's identity had to be protected.

He was known of, yes, but his face was a mystery.

He was simply the king and queen's nephew and the little prince's cousin.

"Y-You're a prince." Taehyung stated, finally looking up to meet his gaze.

"Guess so." He replied, licking his lips with a smile before shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You're out of your alpha's chambers, you know." Jimin hummed casually.

"Are you going to send me back?" Taehyung asked quietly, hoping he didn't have to go back to the bedroom to wallow in self pity.

He was tired of being alone and listening to his own pathetic whimpers in hopes that his mate was nearby and would go comfort him.

Jimin slowly turned his head to look at him, 

"Of course not. Us omegas have got to stick together."