Before the crown

Mornings in Rajgarh were always quiet.
The sun rose gently over familiar streets, carrying memories I never asked to remember.

I’m Noor.
Once, I believed love was simple.
Back then, he wasn’t a prince.

Kim Taehyung was just a normal boy when we studied together in Rajgarh.
No crown. No guards.
Just shared classes, silent smiles, and feelings I never meant to confess.

But I did.

“I love you,” I said softly, my hands trembling.

He looked at me, pain flickering in his eyes.
“I love someone,” he replied, voice low,
“but I don’t know if she loves me or not.”

That was all.

The memory fades, and I find myself smiling—not because it didn’t hurt,
but because I survived it.

The school bell pulls me back to the present.
I adjust my dupatta and step into the classroom.

I write HISTORY on the blackboard.
Funny how life works—
I now teach the past for a living,
while carrying one I never truly forgot.

Somewhere out there,
the boy who loved someone else is now a prince.

And I am no longer the girl he left behind.

Somewhere out there,
the boy who loved someone else is now a prince.

And sometimes…
I still wonder—

Is he in a relationship with her?
Or was I just another unfinished chapter in his story?

Taehyung’s POV

The memory comes back without warning.
Her voice. Her eyes. The way she said she loved me.

Noor.

A sad smile touches my lips.
Not because I didn’t care—
but because I cared too much at the wrong time.

I shake my head, pushing the thought away.
This is not the place for memories.
Not the time for regret.

I tighten my grip on my sword and step back into the training ground.
A prince does not look back.
A prince fights.

And so do I.