Royal Duty [Minjoon]

17th part

It had officially been a month since the foreign princess and her entourage had arrived at the castle. Jimin throughout this month, had barley even seen the princess, and his father was clearly annoyed by the fact that. When the two did cross paths, a tense silence was the only thing that made its way between them. As Jimin made no attempts to impress the other, or even initiate a conversation with her at all, his father had taken the matter of his son's relationship into his own hands. He had made arrangements for the two to have lunch together.

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Jimin sighed as he was seated on the back of his horse, the princess seated behind him with her hands tightly wrapped around his waist as they rode towards the flower meadows a short distance from the castle on horse. "A lunch date." The king had announced smugly, handing his shocked son a new pair of marine blue robes and a jewelry box, most likely filled with an expensive gift for the princess. The prince had sighed as inaudibly as he managed, feigning a fake smile towards the king. "Thank you father." He announced to the royal , bowing curtly while biting his lips. Despite his words, he was not at all thankful for the gesture of the royal.

He felt annoyed thinking back at yesterday's events with his father and he felt even more annoyed feeling the princess's grip around his waist tighten. She had arrived on horse, hence she knew how to ride a horse, why was it then that  the two of them were sharing his most precious stallion? Jimin scoffed, taking a harder grip around the reins of the horse and forcing it to go faster, portraying his anger and intense want to run far away, away from here,  away from his duties and away from his responsibilities. He shut his eyes, exhaling a deep breath before opening them again. He couldn't run away, he knew that. That would be equal to betraying his father, his kingdom his heritage, everything that he was constantly reminded would someday be his. Had to become his, because the king had no more children, no more heirs for the throne, in other words, it had to be him. For Jimin whom didn't really wish for any of those named privileges to become his, he only felt this mandatory future of his to be a burden.

"You will be king someday and the king needs a queen." The thought of the king's frequent words made him bite his tongue, this time trying not to make his frustration and evident in front of the princess.

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"Your kingdom is beautiful, prince Jimin." Princess Eunae proclaimed as the male gently took her hand to help her dismount the horse. She flashed him a bright smile, eyes crinkling slightly and teeth showing. Jimin couldn't help, but to think about how perfect her rows of teeth were. They were straightly lined in her mouth, as pure white as the clouds on the sky above them. It almost looked as though they had been forced into a mold of perfection before being put into the only mouth deserving of them, hers. Like they were made especially for her. The exact reason for that choice being that the royal in front of him was no other than perfection itself.

This was yet another reason why Jimin didn't understand why he was so infuriated to be in this situation, why he wanted nothing more than to get back up on the horse and travel beck to the castle, leaving her behind and alone
He had no reason to dislike her, she was beautiful, kind and she had done nothing wrong. The only reason he had was that she, just like him, was just there to fulfill her duty to unite their kingdoms and profits. For a happier people, that is what their roles as royalty was and unfortunately, that wasn't what Jimin wanted and he thought that it neither was what the beautiful other wanted.

He knew he had to get it together. He was not acting this situation out fairly. After all, the only thing his precious father had asked of him was a lunch. The king was not yet pushing the situation further than that and Jimin was grateful, that's why he bit his lip to force a smile, still holding on to her hand as he led them towards the part of the meadow that roamed a huge oak tree, and he answered: "Thank you your highness, I am glad it is to you satisfaction." After that they both quieted down, no further words were exchanged before they had sat down, food from a basket lined up nicely in front of them into a true feast. Jimin was sure the royal chefs must have woken up especially early this morning to finish making all the treats.

"You can call me princess Eunae, even Eunae if you please. Y-you don't have to of course. I just thought that there was no need to be so formal." She spoke up, but she wasn't looking at him as he said it, instead she was eying the grape vine that she was holding in her hand. "Thank you princess Eunae. I am honored." Though her eyes were still focused on the vine, Jimin could see a small twitch in the corners of her lips and a red tint color her ears. "How do you like the food? Some dishes are form our traditional cuisine." He knew he needed to keep up a conversation, and truth be spoken, the princess did seem like a good person. If it wasn't for the circumstances of the current situation, Jimin was sure she would be someone he would like to befriend.

"It tastes great!" She said, almost too enthusiastically. "It's strangely different form the food from our country, but it is quite enjoyable." This time she looked at him as she spoke, the same bright smile as earlier showing on her face. "I am glad. What is the food like in your country?" Eunae looked surprised at the question, like she had not expected him to ask her anything concerning herself. He internally snorted at her reaction. "I am sorry for my rude demeanor." She told , as though she had just read his mind. "It's just that, a lot of prince's have tried asking for my hand in marriage, but none have actually tried to get to know me and my opinions. I guess it's not that usual for men to concern themselves about such vague matters." She quieted down more and more towards the end of the sentence, once again looking away. It was as though the royal regretted the words she uttered as she were saying them. She knew that such dumb and unnecessary opinions were the reason why those questions were not asked and she did not know why she had spoken up about it today, while making and important connection. The prince could see that she started playing with the bracelet on her wrist, obviously uncomfortable.

"Maybe not." Jimin finally replied, looking up at the clearing blue sky above them. Eunae tensed further at the words, clearly feeling upset at the current situation. "Unless they are actual gentlemen that is." Jimin added, smiling at her playfully. He could hear the princess giggle softly, both happy and relived about the advancement of their wholehearted chat. "I must say I am wondering prince Jimin." She started and met the other's eyes waiting for a quiet hum to leave his lips before she continued: "Was this just an excuse for you to proclaim yourself as a gentleman?" Her tone was teasy and Jimin had to admit that getting to know this girl would not be as difficult and awkward as he had firstly assumed. Quite the contrary, he genuinely enjoyed this beautiful girl's company.

Maybe marrying her would not be so bad after all.

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I have many things to apologize for. One being that this was a very straight chapter and I apologize to all those who are here to read some good homosexual action, we'll get there ;). Also I want to apologize for the lack of updates. I have been very inactive on Wattpad lately and I really appreciate all of you and all your patience. Thank you ❤️