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When Jeongguk told his parents that he agrees with this proposal, they were over the moon. Such big smiles on their faces that Jeongguk hasn't seen in a long time. He did make sure to tell them that this doesn't mean they should start preparing for the royal wedding as he wants to know the future Queen before all that.

He needed to spend time with this princess who he has to spend the rest of his life with. He can't jump into the marriage without even knowing her name if it wasn't for Jimin.

The King and Queen had no choice but to agree to his conditions. They knew it wasn't the same as it was before, you get married without even seeing each other's face and you see that on your wedding night, it's newer times now and it's also better If the two get to know each other. Who knows something beautiful like Love comes out of it.

After a few days of alerting Arothian King that Jeongguk has agreed to the proposal but first he would like to get to know the princess before the engagement. If he likes her then he will say yes. The princess had already said yes to everything so she wasn't a problem. The response from the Arothian kingdom finally came.

"Jeongguk, They have invited you to their kingdom. They said according to their rules the bride and groom shouldn't meet up before the wedding but since it's you, Elestial's Crown Prince. They can make an exception but they still can't let you guys meet anywhere outside as that goes against their ways and it's just a sign of disrespect if a girl hangs out with a boy she likes.  So that's why they want you to stay at their Palace for a week and court her." Jimin told him he was the one who read the letter as Jeongguk didn't want to open it.

"They are very close minded but I think Elestial is just more progressive than them. However, I'm delighted they agreed, I can stay in their Palace for a while. It will be good for me to know about Arothia and its people too. Besides, staying underneath these Palace walls has me tired. A change of scenery would be nice while I get to know the queen." Jeongguk said, leaning back into the wall. 

Jimin stared at him, sitting at the desk, putting the letter aside and getting a new paper and pen out. "So what should i write?" 

"Tell them to prepare for my arrival as I'm honored to be in their presence and get to know my future queen. They shall expect me very soon." Jeongguk said to the guy who sighed and nodded, starting to write the letter for him.

"Oh and add I will be bringing you along with me." Jeongguk added and Jimin halted, turning his head to look at Jeongguk in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me."

"Why?? Why shall I go? Your majesty would never allow that."

"My father is really desperate for this wedding to happen, Jimin-sshi. He would say yes to anything I say to him. So you are coming." Jeongguk shrugged, grabbing the peanuts off the little bowl on the table and munching on them.

"But why me?"

"Well obviously, someone from the guards would come along too as my personal guard but I also need a friend with me in that foreign Palace. Jimin, you have been there, you have been to more place than I have been. I just want someone who knows about things with me, so just be a good friend and accompany me? don't make me pull the crown Prince side because then you won't even have a choice then." Jeongguk explained his reasoning to the man who rolled his eyes.

"You are already not giving me any, Your highness but fine, I will go. I'm running back the second I get the chance."

"Sure,now write."

The response to the second letter came almost immediately. Arothia was more than honored that the Jeon Jeongguk would be staying with them, courting their princess so they told the Prince to arrive anytime he seemed fit as the doors to their Palace are always open to him.

Jeongguk started his preparation almost immediately, since he's the Prince he didn't even have to lift a finger, the servants packed his bags and got a carriage ready for his journey. He just had to get himself mentally ready and say goodbyes to his family. He quickly went into the throne room to say goodbye to his parents and hopefully he would bring good news when he comes back.

Lastly he made his way to his little brother's room. The guards alerted the little Prince of his presence and opened the door for him. He entered the bright room to see his baby brother playing with his toys on the carpet. 

The little boy looked up to meet eye to eye with his brother who he barely sees and suddenly there were stars in his eyes. Immediately getting up from the carpet and running towards the boy, hugging his leg. The Prince was only 7 years old so he wasn't tall like his hyung.

"Hyung!! You came to see me!!" He nuzzled his face into Jeongguk's leg. He chuckled and got down on his knees to be face to face with the boy. 

"Yes, Hanbin-ah. I wanted to see my brother before I go on a journey."

"Journey?" Hanbin questioned Jeongguk, a confused look all over his face.

"Yes,baby. Hyung is going to find his princess."

"Princess?? Are you going to get married?" Hanbin kept asking questions.

"Maybe, I don't know yet. I will be gone for a short time so don't miss me too much okay?" 

"I will miss you,hyung. Please come sooner, I wanted to play with you but you are now going." Hanbin pouted and Jeongguk chuckled at how cute he was.

He ruffled his little brother's hair. "Hyung is sorry, I promise when I come back, we will play okay?"

"Okay!!"

"Right,now I have to go. Don't give mother and father too much trouble, okay? you are the big brother now that I'm going to gone, be responsible. Hyung will be back soon." Jeongguk kissed his brother's forehead, giving him a big smile. The little boy nodded before hugging his brother. They hugged for quite some seconds before they pulled away.

He exited his room, going to the main entrance of the Palace so he could leave. When he reached it, Jimin was already there, stomping his feet on the ground. Still not on board with leaving but he has no choice once the Prince himself wants him to come with him. 

"You hate me, don't you?" Jimin said to him, making Jeongguk chuckle.  

"Glad you found out. Now let's go, Arothia is waiting for me." Jeongguk walked by Jimin, going over to the carriage which was already loaded with his bags. 

He sat inside, with Jimin sitting next to him and his personal guard being the one who was the driver of the carriage. This would be a long journey because even though they are neighboring kingdoms,Elestial is quite big and with the carriage pace, it would take them about 6 hours to get to Arothia. 

Jeongguk tried to sleep on the carriage because six hours in this confined space would just tire him out. It's better to fall asleep, unlike Jimin who was knocked out ten minutes into the journey. Jeongguk was awake.

There were so many thoughts making their way around Jeongguk's mind. He is moving forward to the next chapter in his life. Finding a Queen to sit next to him when he gets crowned the King of Elestial. The chapter he has been trained for all his life, the tremendous responsibilities that are about to fall on his head. Even though he has been waiting for this day.

He still has his own insecurities, being a King isn't easy. You have the power to change the life of not only yourself but also everyone else in your kingdom, each and every single person in Elestial  becomes your responsibility. That is a huge burden he has to take. The weight of the crown on your head brings hardships that he has to get himself ready for.

Which is why finding a perfect Queen is an extremely important task, he can't let silly little things bother him and he has to take this seriously and back off when the Princess seems unfit for the rule. He wants someone like his mother, who supports his father and helps with the kingdom affairs. There is love between them too, they just got lucky but Love is something Jeongguk can look past. 

He isn't eager to have it, if he isn't romantically attracted to the princess that wouldn't be a problem as he wouldn't let Love come in the way of betterment of his kingdom.

Eventually the long six hours pass too. Jeongguk didn't sleep a second, too busy just thinking and thinking, while shifting around in the uncomfortable seats. He looks outside and sees Arothia, the kingdom isn't that much different to theirs as the architecture is still the same.

 They soon arrive inside the Palace walls. With the big gates opening, he sees how the Palace is big but their Palace is bigger. The carriage comes to a halt. Finally stopping after the long journey. Jeongguk didn't even wait for anyone to open his door as he immediately made his way out. 

His legs being at ease, being able to stretch, it was nice truly. He was suddenly met with three Palace guards bowing to him and welcoming him to the Arothian Palace. Jimin and his own guard stood behind him too. 

"Let us take you to meet the royal family. They have been waiting for your Arrival. We will be going to the dining room first. Please follow us, Your highness." One of the guards spoke up. Jeongguk told them to lead the way.

They walked inside the Palace, huge white walls filled with carvings, a big chandelier right in the entrance. He was mesmerized, that's for sure. They walked down the big hallway to the left. Reaching another huge door to the dining room he supposed. The doors opened for them and Jeongguk entered first.

He saw a big room with a dining table with about 20 chairs. He guesses this is where the big feast happens. The room was on the darker side with dark oak wooden floor and brown walls with white carving on them. There were two medium sized chandeliers here too. The room was heated up quite well despite the big size.

He then landed on the three people standing right beside the dining table. There were two men and one girl. He has never seen the royal family of Arothia so this must be them. Walking towards them, he held his hand out as the king shook it. 

The guy looked at least 60 years old, he was old that's for sure. With his beard and hair fully gray, wearing a black royal hanbok with a crown on his head to show he's the king.  He had a very grumpy face so Jeongguk could already predict what this man's personality would be like.

"Prince Jeongguk, we are glad you accepted our proposal. I hope you enjoy your stay in my kingdom. This is my daughter, Kim Iseul, the one who you would be marrying if this all goes well." He put the hand behind his daughter's back and pushed her forward to greet the Prince.

The princess didn't look up, too shy to meet his gaze. With her black shiny hair pinned back,some makeup on her face to make her look softer. She was slim and short, she was probably about 5'3 maximum. Wearing this blue hanbok,that fitted her perfectly. 

She was pretty,a bit too shy as she didn't even say anything, just bowed to Jeongguk. Who tilted his head. "It's nice to meet you, Princess. I hope we have a good time here." Jeongguk said to her and she just nodded again.

He would have to warm up to her it seems. Changing his gaze to the last member of his family, the Prince. There was silence for a second when the King noticed Jeongguk was looking at the Prince to introduce himself. Who was looking down too.

The king fake coughed to get the attention of the Prince. The guy looked at his father confused and then a more understanding expression. He faced Jeongguk with a smile on his face. "This is my…son, Kim Taehyung."

"It's an honor to be in the presence of you,my prince. I hope you don't have any difficulties during your stay here." Taehyung grabbed Jeongguk's hand and kissed his palm. 

The gesture took Jeongguk back for a second,feeling the soft lips of the Prince on his palm was new. He has heard about this greeting but it isn't practiced in their kingdoms so maybe it's different here. That's what he thought when he saw the king glaring at the Prince too. Maybe it's just the Prince.

"It's nice to meet you too, Prince Taehyung. I am Jeon Jeongguk, the Crown Prince of Elestial and I'm here regarding the proposal of Princess Iseul being wedded to me. We will get to know each other during my stay here and If all goes well, I'll go back home and finalize our engagement." Jeongguk paused for a second, getting nods from the three people in front of them.

"I think I should introduce my people too. This is Jimin, he's the son of our head chef but here he is my friend so treat him as that and this is my private guard for my protection. That's about it." Jeongguk introduced the two people with him and they both bowed to the family.

"Your friend is our guest too. We have prepared rooms for you both. The journey was long and you must have been hungry so that's why we asked you to come here first. Before the food gets cold, we should all start eating." The King went towards the dining table, taking the seat in the front. 

Jeongguk sat down on King's right,taking the napkin from the table and putting it on his lap. Jimin sat right next to him,he knows Jimin is nervous because even back home, he doesn't sit with the Royal family like this so being treated like royalty here is a new experience for him.

The servants started to put the food on their plates, Giving them a little of everything. They started to dig in as soon as they were done with serving because they were hungry, their stomachs were growling for food to be put inside. Everything tasted quite good, the taste was different from back home but that was expected.

It was pretty nice and he couldn't get enough of it. He was too busy eating and he wasn't able to even talk.

"How's the food? If anything isn't to your liking, tell us and they will make something new for you." The king told him and Jeongguk shook his head.

"No need for that, the food is amazing, the chef has done a good job." Jeongguk said to the king who nodded, going back to eating. Jeongguk looked up to see the Prince sitting in front of him with the princess by side. 

He wasn't able to look at him before but the Prince was quite handsome, the mop of brown hair all slicked up to give him a neat look. The pink lips that slurped on the noodles and those eyes were…so mysterious. He cannot explain it, he feels like he should explore it more. Kim Taehyung is definitely interesting.

He suddenly felt a foot bump into him,looking up again to meet eye to eye with Taehyung. The guy gave him an apologetic smile and mouthed a sorry. Jeongguk mumbles that it's okay. One thing these siblings have in common is that they are so pretty. He cant take his eyes off them, eyes of him.

The Prince is more intriguing than the Princess as the princess is more shy he can't figure her out and Prince is…something else he can't pinpoint, the curiosity is getting the best of him.

He just knows the next week is about to be the oddest week of his life.

Jeongguk was walking down the hallway back to the room he was given. He had gotten out to get some fresh air before he went to bed. While walking, he heard some familiar voices from the opposite side, He turned to the left hallway to see Jimin standing with some unfamiliar man.

They both were talking about something which wasn't that audible to Jeongguk but Jimin was standing up straight with this flirty smile on his face as the other guy had a poker face. Jeongguk chuckled, he would have been suspicious if it was anyone other than Jimin but it is him and for how much he knows him…

Jimin is probably flirting with that guy and that guy is too oblivious to acknowledge it. Living in a place where people like Jimim have to hide, it isn't easy for Jimin to find someone but he still tries his best and prays the guy he hits on isn't straight most of the time they are straight and Jimin gets thrown into the brother zone. It's definitely hard for him.

So he won't interrupt them, he hopes Jimin finds someone and stops annoying him. After all, his best friend deserves to find his happiness too. He turned to the right hallway, going towards where his room was.

The two guards opened the door for him, and he entered inside the room. The room was of a moderate size, it was simple with a nice decor all around the room. It was as good as a guest room gets. He did notice how cold it was though, the fireplace wasn't working.

He sighed,walking towards the fireplace to see if he could do something. It wasn't that cold but for someone like him who is pampered his entire life he did definitely notice it. He can survive without fire but why not find a solution If you can.

Jeongguk tried to change the position of the woods and tried to find some sort of match sticks or anything that could create a fire but there was nothing around.  He sighed disappointed at his lack of effort. He just has to sleep like this for the night. 

Suddenly, the door to his room opened. He quickly got up from the ground to see who came inside. He saw a man holding a pile of blankets, when he put the blankets on bed, Jeongguk noticed it was no other than Prince Taehyung who just entered his room with those extra blankets.

"Sorry for barging in your room like this, the guards didn't tell me you were inside. As you have already noticed, the fireplace is having some problems as the chimney for this fireplace has been clogged and we called someone to clean it out tomorrow so we apologize that you have to sleep like this. I brought these extra blankets just in case it gets too cold." Taehyung said to the Prince who raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

"You didn't have to do that, Prince Taehyung. Should have just sent some servant to drop these off."

"Nonsense, You are a royal guest and hopefully soon to be husband of my sister. You deserve special treatment." Taehyung said to the man with a soft smile on his face, fluttering his long eyelashes.

Jeongguk felt something inside for a second that he couldn't explain. He tried to ignore it but his eyes went to Taehyung's body, unlike the lose hanbok he was wearing,he was wearing a silk top now that had a deep neck,showing off his collarbones and smooth chest, the shirt tucked into the black trousers, highlighting the tiny waist. How is his body so..seductive even though it's simple clothes he's wearing.

When the Prince coughed to get his attention back on him, Jeongguk got embarrassed, his head held down as his whole face was probably going red. He can't believe he got caught checking the Prince out, what must he be thinking of him? That the Crown Prince of Elestial  is a pervert? Who ogles at other men? he wants to bang his head against the wall.

"So sorry for that,you were in a hanbok before and now you are in a simple top and trousers. I was surprised by the change of style." Jeongguk made up an excuse right on the spot to save the little dignity he has left. 

A deep chuckle escaped Taehyung's mouth which sounded like music to Jeongguk's ears.

"Don't worry, my prince. You are not the first one to stare at me like that." Taehyung told him, Making Jeongguk think for a second. Is he flirting with him?

"Right,Um..thanks for the blankets. I'll make sure to stay warm tonight. You should get going now, it's quite late and you should sleep too." Jeongguk said to the Prince.

"Ofcourse,please let me know if you need anything, my room is just down the hall. Oh and also, I wanted to invite you out to the garden to have tea with me and my sister, after breakfast, I hope that's alright with you?" Taehyung asked him.

"Sounds perfect,that's what I'm here for."

"Good,I'll alert my sister as well. Have a good night,Prince Jeongguk." Taehyung bowed to him, walking out of the door for his room.

Leaving a confused Jeongguk alone in his room as he fell back down on his bed because what just happened? 

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This story is set in the early 1900s but it's not historically accurate, like the palaces are more like victorian palaces than Korean ones, their dressing would be a mixture of hanboks and western long dresses and suits depending on the occasion. The language will stay formal like the old times, I'll make sure I don't accidentally end up using some slangs from now. Yes, I hope it makes sense. 
next update would be next week!!
-K