Chapter Text
The walls of the castle stood high up, cemented into the ground and showing the many centuries that passed down through the rusted edges.
In the Kingdom of Baekje, the king loved his queen to death. He ruled his kingdom with an iron fist and loved those who he ruled alongside with. It was always like that when King Sehyun was king. Who ruled over the strongest kingdom in all of Korea. When his wife was pregnant with their second son, he was ecstatic.
The castle was buzzing with excitement with the thought of the second heir finally joining the world. The king always believed that the happiness was because of the queen radiating with it. The candle was lit that night and the fire kept shaking as the wind blew with happiness from all the citizens and the royal family.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t happiness when that candle blew out.
As all babies cry when they’re born, Taehyung didn’t. He doesn’t remember much but when he saw his father for the first time, he knew that he felt happy. But the look on the king’s face was nothing but the opposite; only resentment.
King Sehyun grew resentful and angry when his son was born. He didn’t know what to do with the baby when all he could think about was the love of his life, dead on their bed and no longer breathing. He left the baby in the hands of the doctor and left the room to isolate himself in the living room that was near the campfire.
His mind felt empty and he felt lost.
Staring at the crackling fire in front of him, he wondered what he was going to do now. All he could see was the pale face of his wife and her unmoving hands. The blood that stained her body and her eyes that he no longer saw but used to shine.
The door creaked open from his side and he watched his eldest son who only was as tall as his chest walked towards him. He sat on the chair next to his father and gazed into the campfire, wiping the remaining tears on his face. “Are you okay, father?” His son asked and the King scoffed with a laugh, “Your mother just died. You think I’m okay?”
“None of us could have prevented this, father. Brother had to come to this world even at the expense of—“ Seokjin stopped and closed his eyes, “At the life of mother. It… It isn’t his fault and it isn’t yours.”
“Yeah… his life for hers.” The king said. It was almost too serious for Seokjin.
“I’m going to miss my mother. But I’ll feel even worse if I let my brother believe he was a killer once he was born.” Seokjin whispered, mostly to himself but his father heard all of it.
He smirked a little when he stood up and Seokjin looked confused as he watched his father. “You’ve always been intelligent, Seokjin. But you’ve given me the brightest idea there is.”
“What? What are you talking about, father?”
“A war might be coming now that they think the King of Baekje has been weakened by the death of his queen.” Sehyun spoke, “We need to stay one step ahead of them at all times if we are to prevent further deaths and the downfall of this kingdom.”
“What are you saying father?”
“I’m saying that we need to make use of the killer that was born.” King Sehyun eyed Seokjin who widened his eyes in disbelief, “F-father… that wasn’t what I—“
“Save it, Seokjin.” King Sehyun cut his son off, “He doesn’t deserve our sentiment after what he did to your mother and my wife.”
“Father—“
“Shut it.” Sehyun spit, “Go to bed, it’s late. I’ve got work to do anyways.”
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After that day, the King had hired the best trainers for Taehyung. He hired a teacher for him to read and speak. To teach him basic necessities for a child to grow up right. The king didn’t want him to learn properly or even pay attention to him so he left it up to the teachers.
The resentment grew as he did. He could never face Taehyung as the boy reminded him of what he lost. Of what his own son is. It was even harder because of Taehyung who looked almost exactly like his wife. His eyes reflected the woman and the color of his hair was the same. The loneliness he experienced was something he became used to.
So the king kept him hidden, kept him under the grounds of the castle and let others raise him there. When Taehyung had learned how to walk, how to speak, and how to stand on his own, King Sehyun gave him a teacher to learn how to fight. To know how to wield a sword and a dagger by the age of 5 but he was still alone.
The king didn’t want anyone to know of the second prince. He kept him hidden in the underground and never let anyone acknowledge him as a royal. He was only a weapon of the king and nothing more so the servants treated him as such. His father didn’t trust anyone in the kingdom of Baekje so he made it known that his queen never gave birth to a second son and it was a miscarriage. The kingdom knew nothing of his existence. They only knew of the death of the queen because of the pain of her miscarriage, that she killed hersef because of it.
Taehyung didn’t do much about it. He was completely clueless and believed that this was what was right. Which is when the moment he learned how to read, he learned how to be a spy. How to lie and hide in plain sight. That was how he was raised.
He was raised to be a killer, to be a liar. There wasn’t anything else he knew. He was shaped into one without any objection, any choice.
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Taehyung believed that this was the way of his father showing him love. To learn how to protect himself so early in life. To show his love back, Taehyung went along with whatever his father told him to do. Made sure to excel at everything he was supposed to learn. Pushed himself to fit the mold that his father made for him.
Every time he got a bruise or a cut, he ignored it and pushed himself forward. Determined to show that he was thankful for what his father was giving him. He didn’t have the attention of him as he only watched from the sidelines. But that was enough for Taehyung. It was enough for him to keep going and to see his father looking at him.
If he struggled, he would continue to work through the night. If he failed, he would work until he didn’t anymore.
But when Taehyung was thirteen, he learned that his brother who he only learned about a few months after he was born, wasn’t treated the same. One day, Taehyung had grown curious about what was above.
Which was why he sneaked around to get upstairs without anyone spotting him. It was quite easy as he was already learning how to be sneaky and how to hide easily from the prying eyes of others. When he got upstairs,he saw his brother walking around with an advisor getting ready for dinner. He understood that his brother would one day be the next King but he didn’t understand why the elder wasn’t treated like he was.
With several teachers to teach him how to fight and wield a weapon since he learned how to walk, he imagined his brother the same. But always hearing his brother going to dinners and traveling the lands outside the castle, he wondered why he wasn’t allowed the privilege.
When he sneaked around the corner and spotted his brother dining with beautiful men and women, there was some sort of burning feeling growing in his stomach. The man was laughing, smiling. He wasn’t sweating and his body surely didn’t look as if it was aching. He didn’t see any bruises or cuts on his brother’s face as the ones that burned his face did.
His father was next to him, smiling at his brother as he spoke. It made his chest clench with underlining jealousy. His fists clenched on the wall and he felt anger course through him.
“My son is quite the prince. One day he’ll take over this kingdom and will lead with great courage. I can see it with my own eyes.” King Sehyun spoke and Taehyung felt hurt in his chest.
Why did he never see his father look at him like that? Hear him speak of him like that? All he heard from his father was the words recited to him from his teachers. The only times he would see him was when he was talking to his teachers. Never to him. Never once did he receive that kind of love from the King.
He didn’t want to be there any longer so he backed away. Ignoring the tears falling from his eyes and ran behind him. Only to run into a maid’s cart full of food and bumping into her. All the food went on the ground and the plates clashed against each other.
Taehyung groaned at the pain in his body from the impact on his body and sore bruises that still lingered on his skin but as he looked up, he realized that wasn’t the only pain he would feel. He would never feel love from his father. He saw the angry look from his father and his brother looking at him with pity. The shock from their guests didn’t matter to Taehyung. What mattered was that he was never going to be the prince that his brother was.
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After Taehyung got washed up by the maids, he was banished back into his room downstairs in the basement again. He didn’t understand it. He wasn’t even allowed to have a decorative room, the walls were just empty and it was only filled with a bed and books to teach him skills. His sword is also leaning on the wall by his bed.
“Taehyung, your father wishes to see you.” He hears a maid say to the right of him and he only looks up in surprise.
Never in his thirteen years of living did he think his father would ever pay him a visit.
Once the maid left, his father shortly came after. He stood there with a disappointed sigh. “What did I tell you about going upstairs?” The King said. Taehyung looked down in shame, “To never do it.” He mumbled.
“And what did you do?” Sehyun asked again and Taehyung played with his fingers, “G-go upstairs.”
“What were you thinking?!” The king yelled, “You would have ruined my chance at finally gaining an alliance? Do you understand how vital this dinner was? Not only to me or your brother but this entire kingdom?!”
“No! Because you don’t tell me anything!” Taehyung spit back this time, tired of the yelling and the anger he felt, “I’m stuck down here. I feel like I'm trapped in a cage.”
Sehyun only scoffed. He stepped closer to his son and gripped onto his shoulders to talk to him, “You don’t think you aren’t one, do you?” The grip felt strong that Taehyung was sure it would leave a mark. This was the first time his father had ever made direct eye contact with him. But it wasn’t out of love, it was out of anger.
“What?”
“Monsters are supposed to be trapped in their cages.” Sehyun seethed, “Until I’m ready to let you out and kill.”
Taehyung felt himself tremble. He knew that he was being trained to kill and lie. But the words being said to him from the mouth of his own father just felt different. It felt like it hurt more than anything. The truth was laid out in front of him now. He didn’t see an ounce of love from his father’s eyes when he said that. The only thing he saw was disgust.
“Why?” Taehyung asked, “Why are you doing this to me?” Sehyun only laughed and gripped harder onto Taehyung’s arms who only whimpered in pain. “What did I do?”
“You were a killer the moment you were born.” King Sehun told his son, “I’m just speeding up the process.”
Tears stinged Taehyung’s eyes and he felt his heart almost break a little. That’s all he was to the King. All he ever would and will be to the King. He’s not a son.
From then on, Taehyung knew exactly what he was to his father. He knew that his father didn’t love him. There was never any love that Taehyung received even if that’s the only thing he gave his father before. He grew emotionless once he realized that he couldn’t even receive love. He knew exactly how the man had felt about him and it hurt. Hurt to know that his own father only saw him as an object.
A weapon.
He continued to train. Continued to let himself be trained into a weapon, into a monster. Until the day that his father finally let him out of his cage at the age of 16. He was sent on his first mission and it was to kill the princess and her groom. His father had told him they weren’t allowed to marry or else the Kingdom of Baekje would have a bigger enemy than before.
He didn’t pay much attention anyways. He played a prince from a distant kingdom and ended up growing close to the couple. He played his part well and when he was alone with them in the dining room. He stabbed through their hearts. The hesitance almost killed him when he did it. The groom stabbed him in the side when he saw the look of fear on the princess’ face.
He groaned in pain and grabbed his own dagger to slice at the groom’s throat. Watching as the body fell and the blood sprayed onto his face and hands. He got up and ran out of the palace while ripping a piece of his cape to wrap the cloth on his wound.
Once he was hidden in the forest, he laid on the tree and saw the blood on his hands. He threw up on the grass almost immediately after he recalled the dead bodies and the sickening scent of blood.
He killed someone. Not only one person but two people with their own two hands. He knew what his father was raising him to do. But when he actually was faced with having to do it, that was a different story. He felt sick to his stomach but he ignored it as he snuck around the palace and pulled his mask back up to cover half his face.
Once he found his horse, he rode back to his kingdom to report his mission. His father didn’t say anything as he saw the blood on his body or the trauma laced in his eyes. He just received a nod before being escorted back into the grounds of the castle. His brother had looked at him that day and he saw his pitying look that he almost felt like throwing up again. But he swallowed it.
But this was what he was. He was just a weapon in his father’s arsenal. Just sent to go back to the armory and wait until the dust cleared and he was used for another mission. By then, the scent of blood and the dead bodies on his hands would only be a common pattern in his life.
He truly was the monster that was kept in his cage until the King decided to use him. That’s all he was. But at least, his father would pay attention to him in a way. It was more than he could ever ask for.
These missions only kept continuing as he grew up. His father would send a servant to assign him his mission. As he still resented Taehyung and couldn’t lay his eyes on him for the fact that he resembled his mother so much with his eyes. He would accept the mission without any questions asked, kill the people he was assigned to kill, and leave without a trace.
He was the spy for his kingdom, the second prince who turned into the weapon of the king. He learned all the ways to kill a man or woman and only adapted to it as he grew. He was taught to be a spy, to lie and deceive. He was a quick learner and the hidden prince of a kingdom.
“Why are you like this to him?” Seokjin asked as he stepped onto the balcony, staring at his father’s back. The man only leaned onto the railing, looking up to the moonlight. “Why shouldn’t I? This is who he is.” Sehyun replied to his son and didn’t notice the way Seokjin’s fists clenched.
“He’s a member of this family.” Seokjin argued.
“He’s a murderer.”
“He’s not an object.” Seokjin retorted.
“He is my weapon.” Sehyun replied, a little louder this time.
“He’s your son…”
“He is not my son!” Sehyun yelled loudly as he turned to glare with fire in his eyes at the prince. “From the moment he was born, he was never my son. That monster is not my son… he is only a weapon for this kingdom. Nothing more.”
Sehyun’s deep breaths could only be heard as he tried to calm down after all the yelling. Seokjin felt the water in his eyes sting the corners. Trying so hard to hold the tears that were threatening to drop. His fists clenched white at his sides.
“Mother wouldn’t want you to treat him like this.” Seokjin said slowly and a little quieter.
Sehyun clenched his own fists at the mention of his wife.
“Your mother is dead.” He spit and Seokjin felt the tear fall down his cheek.
“The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will realize who your brother truly is.” The king spoke harshly before walking past his son and hitting his shoulder with his own.
Seokjin lowered his head and let a sob through. The tears fell from his eyes as he thought of his mother. The mother who would always protect him from his shyness as a child. Who would always tell him that he was perfect in every way and that he shouldn’t let him say otherwise. Her kindness made Seokjin feel so warm and safe.
He missed that. But when he thought of his brother who would never get to experience that… who would only grow up with no warmth but cold. Cold as ice and only bruises and cuts on his skin. No safety and only danger.
He wouldn’t let his brother experience that. He can’t do it especially since the guilt of giving his father such an idea when he was born still lingers. He would be there to provide that warmth and comfort as his mother was no longer able to. Because no one else would.
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His brother at times would speak to him before missions and after them. Always telling him to ‘be safe’ and things like that. Taehyung didn’t know why the elder talked to him a lot. He believed that the older would have held the same resentment to him as his father did for killing their mother when he was born.
But there was none of that behind Seokjin’s eyes. The only things that he saw were pity and some sort of fondness in his eyes. Overtime, he let himself open up to his brother when he found no ill will behind his intentions. He was the only person he could trust in the castle after all.
Which was why when the elder told him that he would come with him on his mission, he felt the pressure weigh his shoulders down.
“Father assigned you to play as my royal advisor.” Seokjin explained, “The goal is to get information on the king and his alliance with the Busan Kingdom. In order to get you in, I have to play as the heir looking for an alliance with Daegu.”
Taehyung felt hesitant at first with his brother coming, he didn’t want him too. It felt dangerous and Taehyung didn’t know if he could protect the older as well as complete his mission.
“Who is the king of Daegu?”
“Min Yoongi.” Seokjin informed, “They are the most powerful kingdom before us at the moment and father needs to change that. Father wants you to gain the trust of the king so that he will tell you the secrets of the kingdom and their weaknesses. Anything to aid you in breaking off the Busan and Daegu alliance so they will destroy each other while we pick up the remaining pieces.”
“What will you do?” Taehyung asks his brother. “I’ll act as if I want an alliance by buttering up the advisor so that he puts in a good word for us.” Seokjin explains his plan, “Father gives us a month to do all this.”
Taehyung nods. The time frame isn’t too short, he’s had little time to do harder things. It wasn’t like he was able to refuse so he could only agree to the mission without any refusal. He didn’t think this mission would be much different than a lot of his other missions.
He was always a spy to gather information and to kill as well as infiltrate. That’s who he was. That’s who he was molded into and there wasn’t changing any of that.
“We leave tomorrow at sunrise. Get lots of rest.” Seokjin says to his brother with his hands on his shoulders.
“Yes, Hyung.” Taehyung agrees and Seokjin lets out a sigh of relief. He smiles before patting his little brother’s head and walking out of his room.
Taehyung sighs, letting his tense shoulders relax. He lets his gaze drift to the picture frame on the shelf on the wall. The picture of his mother sits there, looking back on him. The picture always brings him a sense of comfort in a way. He smiles as he looks at it and feels himself grow tired enough to go to bed.
It was time to be who he was. To let the monster out of his cage.