He stared at you from across the ballroom. You returned his gaze, and when you made eye contact, he turned away, making his way out of the ballroom.

  "Go after him," Leon said.

  "I know how this works, I read romance novels all the time." You replied.

  "Never mind, don't go after him. Clearly, you're not ready for this if you're taking advice from books."

  You rolled your eyes as the song ended. You took the opportunity to leave the ballroom and follow Taehyung. But once you had left the room, he was nowhere to be found. You combed through the castle, looking for him, until you finally decided to head to the gardens.

  You were beginning to lose hope. You searched for him everywhere, but you couldn't find him. You looked through all of his favorite places. Maybe you really didn't know him as well as you thought. 

  You rounded a corner where tall rose bushes surrounded a fountain. You saw Taehyung standing at the fountain, staring at something in his hand like before after you woke up. The moonlight beamed from overhead, reflecting off of the water and lighting Taehyung's solemn expression.

  "Taehyung?" You called.

  He quickly stuffed the item in his hand into his pocket before he turned to you.

  "What are you doing out here? You should be celebrating." 

  "So should you, why did you leave?"

  "I just..." He paused. When he didn't continue, you gathered the courage to say what has been on your mind since you danced with him.

  "I trust you, Taehyung, with my life."

  "What?"

  "Every bone in my body trusts you, you are my family, and no matter what you've done in the past I will forgive you so long as you fix it, and you did just that."

  "Y/N..." His expression faltered as tears welled up in his eyes. He dropped his hands to his side and shuffled towards you before he rested his head on your shoulder to hide his face.

  You gently rested your hands on the back of his neck as he wrapped his arms around your waist. 

  You can't remember exactly how long you stayed like that. You just remember watching the moon as Taehyung silently cried on your shoulder. You had never seen him cry before. In all the years you've known him, he had not once shed a tear in your presence. He was always your shoulder to cry on, and now, you were his.

  Eventually, he pulled away from you and looked directly into your eyes. He placed his hands on either side of your face, gently caressing your cheek with his thumb. His brows were furrowed as if he was still sad, but he smiled at you.

  You waited for a moment, the anticipation killing you, until you finally decided to make the first move. You slid your hands to the collar of his dress shirt and pulled him close to you, kissing him deeply. You could tell he was surprised by your forwardness, but only a second had passed before he returned the kiss. 

  For years, you thought that the way you felt about Taehyung was simply platonic. But it wasn't. It was so much more. The beat your heart skipped and the flutter in your stomach when he called you 'princess' could no longer be brushed off. You were in love with him, and judging by the way he kissed you, he felt the same way.

  You pulled away from the kiss but stayed close to him. Taehyung moved his hands from your face to your waist to keep you close, though you had no plans of creating more space between you. You let go of his collar to place your hands over his chest.

  "I love you, Taehyung." Your voice was breathy, nearly a whisper.

  "I love you too, Y/N. And I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I'm worthy of your love." He replied.

  "You don't have to prove anything to me, Taehyung. You are worthy, you always have been."

  He placed his lips on your forehead, leaving a gentle kiss.

  "You're too kind to me, Princess." He muttered against your skin.

  "And you deserve every ounce of kindness I can offer." 

  He pulled you in for another kiss. It was much shorter and sweeter than the first one, but there was still the same amount of love and adoration behind it.

  "One more thing," He said as he broke the kiss. He reached a hand into his pocket to reveal a necklace. A necklace you almost forgot existed, "Happy belated birthday, Princess."

  "Taehyung..." You stared down at the necklace. The tiara charm was just as you remembered, with the same nickname engraved on it, "How did you find it..?"

  "A guard found it on the shore and gave it to Princess Claudia, who gave it to me." He replied.

  "I'm sorry..." You apologized, looking down in shame. Remembering why it would have washed up at shore in the first place.

  He shook his head, gently placing the thumb of his freehand under your chin to lift your gaze to face him, "In the end, it came back to me, just like you did. I take it as a sign of fate."

  "Taehyung..." You repeated.

  He unhooked the necklace and held it close to your neck, "May I, princess?"

  You nodded in reply and turned around, and as soon as you did, he gently placed the necklace around your neck, reaching around to hook the necklace in the back.

  "Can I ask you to promise me something?" He mumbled from behind you.

  "Anything,"

  "Promise that you'll always come back to me."

  "I promise."

  He placed his arms over your shoulders, pulling you as close as he could and resting his chin on the top of your head.

◇♡◇♡◇

  Time went on.

  You ended up deciding to take the throne. Leon was right. You were completely deserving of the role, and you believed you could take care of your kingdom, especially if you had Taehyung by your side the whole time. You and Taehyung didn't announce your relationship to anyone until after your crowning ceremony. Though, you didn't try to hide it either.

  After you and Taehyung finally got married and he was crowned, your people were skeptical of him at first. Especially after the role he played during the war against Worden. However, with time, Taehyung managed to prove himself a worthy leader, and you figured he would. Given his experience with royalty in the past and being a high-ranking political leader during the war, he adapted quickly to his role as king.

  Jimin and Claudia severed their engagement like he said he would. Claudia was upset at first, but she eventually came to terms with it. And much like her while you were in the coma, you were with her the whole time. Despite Claudia and Jimin's personal relationship, you kept good political relations with Dririth. Jimin was crowned, and the two of you were still friends yourself, and Dririth was a good ally to have either way.

  Sayaria also remained in good standing with Vraitis. You would see Hoseok sometimes during political gatherings, and you were still close friends. However, you saw Seokjin and Namjoon less and less. It wasn't because of any issues you had with them. They just became too busy to visit themselves.

  Jungkook continued sailing as a pirate. He rebuilt the crew Namjoon once had and became a formidable captain. He visited often, stopping by to check on you and Taehyung every once in a while. He remained on the hunt for something. He wouldn't tell you what it was still, but he wasn't quite as obsessed with finding this thing as he was before.

  As for Yoongi, you still missed him. Taehyung was aware of how close you were, and though he could never fully understand, he comforted you every time you mourned Yoongi. You gave him a place in the Royal Mausoleum to honor his sacrifice and thank him for everything he'd done for you. However, sometimes, as you're looking out of your balcony, you think you can see him on that same rock you met him on, watching over you like he always had.

  There was still no sign of Philomena. Part of you wished she was still alive. You hated feeling guilty for being the cause of her death. But as much as you wished you could mend your relationship with her, she was unsavable.