A soft knock echoed through Seokjin's luxurious bedroom, pulling the Prince put of the thrilling tales of the books he borrowed from his Lisa noona. It was the second week of his banishment from the royal stables and all he could do was busy himself with books. Usually he'd go out to the woods with Kimchi and venture into nature. He liked detaching himself from the royal palace, away from his title, away from his prison. Moreover, being banned from the stables meant he couldn't pay his friend, Jungkook, who was the caretaker of the horses, visits.

"Come in." Seokjin permitted the person to enter his chamber.

Hoseok entered, almost too excitedly as he tripped over his own feet and faceplanted on the velvety carpeted floor.

"Hoseok hyung! Are you okay?" Seokjin got down on his knees to help his friend up.

"I'm great, Seokjinnie." Hoseok assured the Prince with one of his blinding sunshine smiles.

"In fact, I'm so zealous that I may start jumping!" Hoseok exclaimed.

"I can see that." Seokjin chuckled and lead his hyung to the cluster of cushiony seats.

"So what's going on, hyung?" Seokjin asked as they settled down on the feather-soft couch.

"The Royal Family of Nahae has invited the Royal Family of Gyeongsong to their kingdom!" Hoseok said with a squeal. "And the Queen said every one of you siblings can choose two companions to serve and ensure your safety at Nahae."

"You're gonna pick me and Jungkook right?" Hoseok said, his eyes eager and bright.

"Ofcourse I will!" Seokjin said but then he paused, his posture stiffening.

If they're visiting Nahae now, did that mean the marriage is soon to be held?

If so, did Jisoo really agree to the marriage so easily or was she being forced?

Seokjin needed to talk to his sister.

"Is there anything wrong, Prince Seokjinnie?" Hoseok inquired, dipping his head to the side, as if trying to read the Prince's mind by eye contact.

"Don't bother yourself over it, Hoseok hyung." Seokjin said with a forced smile. "Will you start preparing my trunk for the stay at Nahae? I need to talk to one of the princesses."

Hoseok bowed, sunny smile and all, and got to work.

Seokjin exited his quarters and made his way to his twin's which was on the North Wing of the palace. He bowed to the guards who stood at his sister's chamber door and proceeded to go in, after knocking ofcourse.

"Seokjin?"

Jisoo was getting her nails painted. The dresser was on her knees, her skillful hands coating a pale shade of blue on the princess's rectangular nails.

"Is this preparation to meet your prince?" Seokjin asked with a brow raised.

Jisoo blushed at the question and cleared her throat, saying, "Mother wanted me to look presentable to my future husband, dongsaeng. Call me noona, by the way."

"Aish, we are twins! Must I address you as noona?" Seokjin grumbled.

"Yes." Jisoo concluded, finger pointed at Seokjin's face, causing a sprinkle of water to wet the prince's face.

"Don't take advantage of your powers, noona." Seokjin dragged the o to mock his sister, who in return splashed more water at her twin.

"Fine, fine!" Seokjin surrendered with his hands in the air, spitting a bit of water on the blood red carpet, an act which would have made Jisoo flood Seokjin's chambers but thank Heavens the dresser was with them.

"Did you come here to simply irritate me or do you have anything important to say?" Jisoo asked will curling her first gers to check her newly polished nails.

When the lady had gone out of the room, Seokjin took a seat next to Jisoo on the bed and held her hands gently.

"I can help you out of this, Jisoo. Just tell me what's making you do this?" Seokjin asked softly, genuinely worried about his sister.

Jisoo sighed and said, "Brother, I assure you I'm doing this on my own will. Surely, I was very defiant of this arrangement in the beginning but now I understand that I must do this. It is my duty as one of the princesses of Gyeongsong to take any necessary action for its welfare."

"But are you, considering your own self, okay to get married to a foreign prince whom you have never laid eyes on? You don't even know if how old he is!" Seokjin exclaimed.

What if that Prince of Nahae is a power-hungry, abusive man who thought the world revolved around him?

What if he saw Jisoo as a toy and controlled her like a puppet?

The thought of this prince boiled Seokjin to the core and made him want to gut him with his sword. It's just that Seokjin deeply cared about his sisters and knowing that one of them, his twin, was going to be handed over to a whole different kingdom made him so anxious and fearful.

It just increased his hatred towards Azadelle. If not for that rotten land and its even more rotten rulers, none of this would have transpired.

"Yah, Seokjin-ah," Jisoo said in a tender tone, "I'm going to be fine, alright? Don't worry too much about me. I will send you letters and gifts every week when I'm settled over there, and you must as well!"

Seokjin smiled and nodded, wiping the tears that he didn't realise had been streaming across his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ride to Nahae was uneventful, excluding the third night when the royal carriages got attacked by a pack of wolves. Thankfully, the guards were excellent swordsmen and had driven out the beasts in the matter of an hour.

Reaching Nahae, which took five days exactly, Seokjin and his sisters exclaimed in awe.

The kingdom was situated on top of a snowy mountain. The buildings and small cottages were covered with white. The ground was coloured in the same shade. Vehicles with sledge blades were being driven by horses or donkeys, a much similar version of the transport at Gyeongsong except that the people of Nahae didn't use wheels.

As they travelled further into the town, Seokjin was utterly surprised to see wagons drawn by wolves. He wondered how those people managed to tame and train such free-spirited animals. There were enormous glasshouses which had a variety of crops and plants growing in them. Seokjin remembered in one of his lessons that it was a greenhouse. He started to notice that the trees were decorated in ribbons and ornaments; the people of Nahae had probably done it to welcome their arrival, or maybe they just liked to celebrate Christmas early. Whatever the reason was, Seokjin couldn't help but admire their work.

If the kingdom wasn't impressive enough, the royal palace totally was. Pristine white walls and pillars held up towers with purple domes. Sapphires and pearls were embedded on the pearly gates, which were guarded by men in silvery armour and, again, wolves.

They were greeted by a man in blue robes. He called one two other men, one who escorted the servants to their chambers and the other who showed the stable boys were the horses resided. The man in green bowed to the royal family of Gyeongsong and led them into the palace.

As they were taken to the throne room, Seokjin couldn't help but compare the palace to their own back in Gyeongsong. Nahae's walls were a very pale shade of blue, similar to Jiwoo's nails, and illuminated by the sunlight that crept through giant windows. In contrast to that, Gyeongsong's palace had its windows covered with curtains and the dark walls were lined with torches.

When their escort swung open the doors to the throne room, there was the loud sound of a trumpet to indicate their arrival and a man's voice boomed.

"THE ROYAL KIM FAMILY OF GYEONGSONG HAS ENTERED OUR HUMBLE ABODE, NAHAE!"

As the King and Queen entered, the announcer called out their names, followed by Jennie's, then Rose's, then Lisa's, then Jisoo's and atlast, Seokjin's.

The rulers, along with their sons, of Nahae dismounted their thrones and bowed infront of the other royal family who returned the bow. Both kings and queens shook their hands and began to talk while their children stood stationery behind each set of parents, like players on opposite teams, waiting for the whistle to be blown.

The two parties regarded each other with smiles, the least communication they could have. Seokjin looked over (and maybe checked out) each of the four princes of Nahae.

The first in line was a lot shorter than Seokjin. He had the face of a cat whose tail got stepped on; a bit comical if you ask Seokjin, but quite attractive never the less. He bet the prince would look even more handsome if he erased the obvious look of I don't wanna be here from his face. Seokjin noticed his hands were clenching and unclenching deliberately, as if he wanted someone to hold them.

Next to him stood a tall male with eyes so beautiful that Seokjin could practically get lost in them. He must had noticed Seokjin staring so he smiled at the Prince of Gyeongsong, causing dimples to ripple across his face. The Prince held himself in such a way that radiated leadership and intelligence. Seokjin thought he would make a great king. That must be the Taehyung.

The third son was tiny (more than the first one) but had the body of what Seokjin could only describe as perfection. He had a slim frame but the muscles underneath the silk fabric of his shirt was prominent. His face was out of the world, starting from his juicy lips to his flawless skin. The third prince looked like the sort of person who would either hug you when you cry or choke you until you die. Seokjin made a mental note of avoiding that prince's bad side at any costs.

The last one in line stood infront of the miniscule gap between Seokjin and Jisoo. If the third prince was perfection, then the fourth was something beyond that. His face made Seokjin wonder how many decades God took to sculpt it; symmetrical features and a few dots of moles, complete with a mop of shiny golden locks. His molten dark chocolate orbs were filled with so much warmth and and liveliness than it made Seokjin giddy for no reason. He was tall but not as tall as the second prince. For a moment, for a miniscule of a second, Seokjin saw a quick wink from the gorgeous entity. Thank goodness Seokjin had to travel through a freezing weather because je atleast had an excuse for his bright red ears.

The Prince of Gyeongsong was busy running a few (definitely not romantic) scenarios with the fourth prince through his head when the rulers of Gyeongsong and Nahae turned towards them.

"Children!" The king of Nahae said in a deep, warm voice, reminding Seokjin of freshly brewed coffee. "Why stand so still when you can tie the strings of friendship!"

"Indeed," the Queen of the land agreed. "But first, shouldn't Prince Taehyung greet his future Queen, the beautiful Jisoo?"

Seokjin waited for the second prince to step forward and bow and kiss Jisoo's hand, but alas!

Seokjin's prince was the one to smile courteously at Princess Jisoo and bow gracefully, before taking her hand in his to place a soft kiss on it.

Maybe the wink wasn't for Seokjin afterall.