reinwa
although soonyoung might not seem like it, on the inside he was a little bit of a romantic. always dreaming about finding true love and growing old with that person. he put great value on the idea of ruling a kingdom with someone he truly had feelings for, not someone to strengthen trading relationships and whatnot.
the idea of spending the rest of his life with some stranger his parents arranged him to be with sounds like a nightmare. the scary thing was, was that nightmare have a very large chance of coming true. the thought of that always put soonyoung in a fowl mood.
ever since the young prince hit eighteen, his parents have been pushing the idea of marriage. the idea of marriage is completely absurd! he's eighteen, eighteen! there was no way he wanted to marry some random princess just so it would strengthen the relationship between other kingdoms.
now nearing his nineteen birthday, the topic was getting brought up more than ever. his parents- or more like his father, was trying a little too hard and it was irritating. meeting a new girl every week and forcing to be interested in a conversation he really gave no shit about was getting tiring.
jisoo walked him to the doors of the throne room and patted him lightly on the back. "this is as far as i can go," he said with a sympathetic smile. "good luck with today, i'll be waiting for you in the tea room."
soonyoung let out an exaggerated sigh before giving jisoo a flimsy wave and heading into the throne room. the room was spacious, more spacious than it needed to be, and beautifully decorated with blue roses and abstract golden swirls.
at the very end of the well lit room, stood his parents and another girl he had never seen before and her own parents. straightening his back a bit more, he threw on a charming face and stood in front of the people.
his father, kwon shiwoo, cleared his throat. "son, i'm sure you've heard of the bodira kingdom. today, they've kindly come over here with their daughter."
the girl stepped forward. she was tall and bony with a pointy nose and pointy chin. everything about her was sharp from the tips of her fingers to her gaze. the princess curtsied. "bai chungha. pleasure to meet you your highness."
"kwon soonyoung." he said, plastering a fake smile on his face, "the pleasure is all mine." chungha smiled and extended her hand. soonyoung held it gently and bent over slightly to give it a light kiss.
it was all a routine.
walk in the room. get introduced to someone he's never met. introduce himself. kiss her hand. go to the tea room and talk. pretend like he actually cares about the whole thing.
"alright enough standing around," yoonsun clasped her hands and smiled. "let's go to the tea room, shall we?" see? soonyoung knew it all.
leading the guests to the tea room he saw jisoo standing inside by the door. seeing his friend was nice but soonyoung didn't dare to try and send him some secret message like he did with his tutor. any of his stupid choices done in front of his parents could easily get jisoo severe punishments.
everyone settled down awkwardly on the couches as jisoo silently poured tea. "so... how is bodira?" his father said, breaking the silence. "everything going well?"
the short man on the opposite side of the couch responded, "good. trade is going well, not much ruckus going around in the villages, crops are coming along nicely." he said in a deep voice.
as the adults started talking about soonyoung's attention started to drift again. jisoo was standing in the back, stiff as a board but looking professional but soonyoung could tell that jisoo was mentally sleeping.
he veered his eyes back to the royal family once he noticed an uncomfortable feeling of someone looking at him. it was chungha. when he met her eyes, she smiled a sickly sweet smile in his direction.
soonyoung forced his own lips to twitch upwards and the princess blushed. gosh, what was with this girl. yoonsun looked in his direction, saw their interaction and smiled. "the children look a little bored," she said, "soonyoung why don't you show chungha the flower garden?"
"i'd love to." he responded blandly. standing up, he offered the girl her hand before escorting her out the door like a proper gentleman. as soon as the door closed, the girl shifted closer and tightened her grip on his arm.
"now that we're away from our parents, we can do whatever we want." she said suggestively in a surprisingly high pitched voice. soonyoung let out a dry laugh as he led her outside. this was going to be rough.
"so how was the princess?" yoonsun asked eagerly as soon as the guests left, "she seemed like a nice girl." shiwoo stood beside her, waiting for an answer.
you have no idea how "nice" she was as soon as we left the room. she's so stuck up and arrogant, i honestly feel bad for whichever kingdom she ends up ruling over. "i don't think we're compatible." how many times has he said those five words to his parents? so many, he lost count.
yoonsun's face visibly fell.
"mom, don't you think it's a little too early for marriage? i mean i'm still eighteen-
the king cut in, "your mother and i got married when we were seventeen. you're going to turn nineteen soon." soonyoung sighed. again with this whole 'your mother and i' stuff. "why are you so picky? we've brought the best princesses across the land here."
"maybe because you're bad at choosing people," soonyoung huffed, "maybe it's because the best princesses in your eyes are nothing in mine. this whole marriage thing isn't going to go anywhere if we keep doing things like this."
"fine son, since you clearly have an idea, tell us what it is." shiwoo gruffed out sarcastically.
"let me choose."
"what?" the king gawked, "you're going to choose nothing but-
"let him finish dear," yoonsun said gently.
soonyoung nodded. "just let me choose. allow me to leave reinwa and find someone i like. i'll bring them back and ask for your approval first. and if i don't come back with anyone, i'll allow you to pick someone for me and i'll agree to the marriage."
the royal couple looked at soonyoung. finally his father spoke up. "...i agree with your plan," he said, "but remember in the end, the decision of marriage comes down to your mother and i."
soonyoung nodded again. "i'd also like to travel by myself. there is no need for guards and i'd also like jisoo to stay back."
with much hesitation, yoonsun finally agreed. "when do you plan to leave?"
"as early as possible."
soonyoung smiled. he finally gets to leave reinwa and hopefully find love during his time outside the castle wall.
