Royal Duty [Minjoon]

18th part

This chapter is not completely edited yet. In other words some parts really suck, but I have been dying to update and because the chapter is so long (over 3000 words new record 😄) it will take a while to finish editing the whole thing. This author's note will be removed when I am content with the chapter, till then enjoy it in its raw glory. ❤️❤️

The frequency of the two royals' dates increased and as they did, their previous awkwardness subdued. Quickly, the tense silence and the forced conversation of getting to know each other, turned to comfortable smiles and easy flowing word exchanges. The prince could feel himself liking the princess more and more every time they met. The thought of her face made his cheeks heat up. The touch of her silky smooth, long hair lingered on his fingers. When she smiled at him, it made even his worst days become bright. Jimin swallowed hard, and then there was her lips. Her pink, plump lips that oddly enough almost made Jimin feel a strange longing that he couldn't explain. Is this what love felt like? He didn't know for sure. How could he? He had never been in love.
The prince sighed gracefully, thinking about the situation. It was different in the books he had read, those always pinpointed how their hearts felt connected to one another when they were in love. He did not feel that, no ethereal and unmistaken feeling of his own heart connecting to her's, not yet at least.

In a way, Jimin also felt that it was too soon to say he was in love. He felt that he was being easy. All these years, all the royal balls that had gone to waste and all the pretty girls he had turned his back on, and now suddenly, there was a girl he genuinely liked. Not loved, it was more like a teenage crush rather than actual love. Something that could be gone one morning when he opened his eyes. He most definitely did enjoy the girl's company though, and maybe marrying her wouldn't be that bad. Marrying a sweet, pretty and kind girl that he liked and enjoyed talking to definitely wouldn't be the worst. Better than what he had expected two weeks ago: to marry a random princess that his father had decided for him, just because it was his duty to unite their kingdoms.

Yet Jimin's biggest wish was still to feel that connection of two hearts. The true love that his favorite books always spoke of. Deep inside, he knew that maybe his father had been right, that there was no such thing as "true love" that it was all made up. After all the chances he had had at finding it, maybe it wasn't strange that one part of him had already given up that dream.

Still, everytime those thoughts of doubt roamed, the same memory played in his head. The memory of the time when his mother's portraits still hung on the walls. The way his father looked at them, with an adoring and soft look in his eyes that Jimin had not seen in ages, not since the last picture was taken down three years ago.
His father had never told him much about his mother. Once, his father told him how they had met, he had sounded bitter while telling him the story, almost like he was sad that the time had passed, rather wishing it would be replayed as an infinite roulette. They had met at a royal knight tournament. She was a noble, supporting the knights from her kingdom from the tribunes. Her seat had been right in front of the king's own one, and he had said that there was something special in the way her eyes lit up as she cheered, the obvious enthusiasm she had when she jumped up from her seat in applause, smiling from ear to ear. The king said that there had been something special about that, something that made him feel very much intrigued by the young woman.

After the tournament had ended, the king had approached her, asking her opinion of the day's warriors. Without knowing who the man in front of her was, she had answered lightheartedly. "I remember her exact words." Jimin recalled his father saying. "They were brave, fighting for their country in such a manner, as if their lives were on the line, even if it is only a competition. They are what we need. Barve men, willing to sacrifice their blood, sweat and tears for their kingdoms." Jimin also recalled the sad expression on his father's face every time he mentioned the late queen. Hence, he stopped asking, not wanting to force sadness upon his hardworking father.