Pairing: Prince Taki x Knight K
Arc 1: The Reinstatement
Arc 2: Hidden Letters
Ending: Public reclamation of love, loyalty, and something more than both

🛡️ Arc I: The Fight

K leaves.

Not disgraced—but not honored either. Quiet exile.

The halls are colder without him. Taki walks straighter, speaks sharper, pretends harder.

Until the council calls him into a session and dares to say:

"We protected your reputation, Your Highness."

Taki stands. Voice like winter steel.

"You didn't protect me. You protected yourselves."

"He broke the rules."

"Then change them."

Gasps. Murmurs.

"The knight I trusted didn't dishonor his post—he redefined it."

Taki looks each noble in the eye.

"And I will not wear a crown built on the silence of someone I love."

The court splits. Whispers everywhere.

But Taki doesn't care.

He files the writ of reinstatement himself.
Signs it with the royal seal.

And has it delivered.

To K.

By hand.

💌 Arc II: The Letters

In the time apart, they wrote.

Never anything too bold. Never enough to be intercepted.

But enough.

Hidden under plates. Tucked into boot soles. Slipped between books in the royal library.

Taki's first letter:

"They expect me to forget. I expect you not to."
"I still dream of that morning when you didn't ask me to say anything. Thank you."

K's reply, sent through a loyal servant:

"I would kneel again, if only to get closer. But I'll rise when you do."

Taki's last letter, never delivered:

"When you return, I want it to be because we finally can.
No sword. No orders. No space between us."

👑 The Return

K comes back during the midwinter parade.

He's wearing the old uniform—but with the new insignia. One Taki designed himself.

The crowd cheers.

But K only looks at one person.

Taki meets him at the end of the stairs.
Doesn't say anything.

Just removes his crown.

Holds it in his hand.

"This doesn't matter today," he says.

Then reaches out with his other hand, palm open.

K takes it.

No kneeling.

Just two hands. Two truths.

From that day forward, they walked beside each other.

Not as prince and guard.
Not as ruler and servant.

But as two men who chose—
again and again—

not to let silence speak louder than love.

Epilogue: Ours

Pairing: K x Taki
Setting: Years after the reinstatement—peaceful, quiet, and deeply theirs
Tone: Soft, full-circle, reverent

🕊️ The Confession

They're older now.

Not old. Just... settled. Solid.

K still wears his uniform, but only for ceremonies. Taki rules quietly, with fewer sharp words and more sharp decisions. They live in the west wing—no longer hiding.

On a slow afternoon, K finds him in the garden. Same bench. Same calm.

Taki is holding a letter. Yellowed, creased.

"From the pile under your mattress?" K asks, smirking.

"From the one I never gave you."

K sits beside him.

Taki doesn't look at him. Just says it—plain, careful.

"I loved you then."

"I know."

"I love you now."

That part—the one K thought would feel monumental—
Feels like breathing.

Because Taki had said it all along.

In every defense. In every letter.
In every time he reached out and never pulled away again.

"I love you too," K says.
"Always did. Even when I didn't think I should."

Taki folds the letter and places it into K's hand.

"Keep it this time."

📖 The Book

Years later, after they've passed, the letters are found in a locked chest beneath the floor of the west wing.

Some are sweet. Some are cutting. Some are only three words long—but they all carry a truth that once had to hide.

A young historian—who'd once trained as a guard—collects them all.

Binds them in gold.

Stamps one word on the spine:

Ours.

And in the front, a single dedication:

To those who fought not to be seen—
but to be known.

💬 Final Line:

The book becomes a whisper in the palace.
Passed from page to page. Hand to hand.

A reminder that sometimes, love doesn't ask for thrones—
It just asks to stay.