Royal ~ Minsung

-3-

The sound of utensils hitting the plates filled the room as the 3 boys ate together with their father. The chair on the opposite side of the king was left empty, as it had been for years now.

Everyone was silent. They rarely spoke during their meals, only when their father wanted an update on how their lives were going. The king rarely had enough spare time to spend it with his sons. Especially now that his eldest son was gone on a trip with his husband, and the king had to do all the work himself.

"How are your studies, Seungmin?" The king asked, not looking up to look at his youngest son.

"It's going well, father. I got an A on my most recent test, and my professor is moving me to a more advanced math class." Seungmin answered, low key afraid of saying something wrong.

"Well done, son. How about you Felix?" The king continued.

The blonde gulped and put his fork down.

"My studies are good as well, father. I got a B on my geography test, and a C+ on my math test." Felix answered in his unnaturally deep voice.

"Good. And you, Minho? How are your grades?" The king continued, finally looking up to look at his second son with strict eyes.

"My grades are fine, thanks for asking." Minho answered with a sarcastic smile, before shoving a small bite of bread into his mouth, while leaning on his elbow.

"Minho, that is no way of answering your father. And sit up straight for the love of God. You were taught to act better than this." Mr. Kim, the king said in a strict voice while sending Minho a glare.

Minho only rolled his eyes and removed his elbow from the table. Felix and Seungmin were forcing their food down their throats, terrified that Minho was gonna cross a line with their father.

"One of my business partners have promised me their only son. I want you to marry him, Minho." The king continued, taking a bite of his food.

Minho looked up with raised eyebrows.

"Not gonna happen." He answered, hating the thought of being bound to another person.

Minho wanted to be in control of his own life. Marriage had always been one of the things he hated the thought of. The prince absolutely despited the feeling of not being able to do what he wanted, when he wanted, and marriage was the one thing that could ruin his sence of freedom. Marriage, and his father.

"It's about time you settle down, Minho. You're 21 years old and still single. The kingdom is expecting you to marry soon. Do you really want to be a disgrace to the kingdom, and to your family?" Mr. Kim asked.

Minho only shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not getting married." He lazily said, not even looking up from his plate.

"Lee Minho, I have let you do as you wanted for years now. It's about time you do something for me."

"What? What did you do for me? Lock me up in this fucking castle? Treat me like your property? I am my own person, father." Minho growled back, making Felix and Seungmin flinch.

"I let you take your mother's name after her death, even though you are supposed to carry my last name, together with the crown. I let you slack off at school, hoping that you'd get your life back on track somehow. I let you stay single, even though you were supposed to marry at 20, like Woojin did. I let go of the servant you hated so much, even though he was one of the best servants this castle held. I have let you live the life you wanted for so long, it's about time you start repaying me." Mr. Kim growled, gripping his knife and fork to the point where his knuckles turned white.

Minho didn't respond for a little while, thinking through everything his father had just said. It was all true, there was no denying that. But did he care? No.

Minho looked up, giving his father one of his obviously fake smiles.

"I'm not getting married, father."

The king sighed. Minho had always been stubborn and unreasonable.

"Felix. How would you feel about marrying? I know you're a bit younger than what's traditional, but the date for the wedding is already set." The king said, hoping that his third son would be easier to persuade than his second son.

Felix's face went pale. He was already in a relationship, and deeply in love. He couldn't marry another man. The lead archer had stolen his heart.

"I-... Father, I have something to confess to you." Felix said, gulping.

He had promised Changbin that he wouldn't tell anyone about their relationship, because it could cause trouble with both their fathers. Minho and Seungmin had of course figured it out though, since they all knew each other inside-out.

"Yes?" Mr. Kim said, looking at Felix curiosly.

"I-.. I am already in a relationship." Felix said, closing his eyes.

He was waiting for his father to yell at him like he had yelled at his older brother.

"You are already in a relationship? Without my permission?" Mr. Kim asked in an uncomfortably calm voice.

Felix nodded his head, keeping it low out of guilt and shame.

"With whom?" The king asked, making Felix gulp again.

"The main archer, father." Felix answered in a soft voice.

The king looked at Felix in surprise.

"General Seo's son?" He asked.

Felix nodded his head. His bottom lip trembled between his teeth as he bit back the tears in his eyes.

"Yes." He said in a small and shaky voice.

The king stayed silent for a minute, just thinking it seemed. He finally sighed and spoke up.

"Come to my office after dinner, Felix. And bring your boyfriend."

Felix nodded his head and kept eating, feeling like he was going to choke on every bite he took.

"Seungmin." The king said, turning the the youngest twin, and his fourth son.

"How would you feel about getting married?" The king asked.

Seungmin gulped. He had no reason not to get married. He didn't have a boyfriend like Felix, and he didn't despite neither his father or the idea of marriage like Minho did.

"I'd be ok with getting married, father." Seungmin said, showing his father a small smile.

The king smiled widely in return.

"Now that's a real prince speaking." He said, making Felix sink deeper into his chair.

Seungmin smiled shyly and looked down to his half eaten plate of food.

"I'm glad to have at least one reasonable son left. The Hwang family is coming over in a week to meet their future son in law. Woojin will be coming back at the same time, bringing his husband." The king said, making Minho crack a little smile.

Woojin's husband was one of the people he liked the most in this world. The latter was so much easier to deal with than everyone else in this fucking castle. He was easy going, extroverted, and acted more like family than their own father did.