SO HEY GUYS!!!!!!!! I am back and I'm happy to wish all of you a belated happy new year. That's me trying to remind you guys of the fact that I like you guys and I was not torturing you intentionally.

I have been working so hard on this chapter and life has been stopping me so many times so I wouldn't work on this chapter!

And I'm sorry for being so late wit this chapter! But please continue~!

The castle buzzed around with the soon arrival of the Yiwen emperor, his empress and his son. Yunho had received a confirmation by raven a few weeks ago announcing that they were accepting to their marriage proposal but that the final decision would belong to the prince and that they would arrive to Asterrania in two weeks’ time. However there was much discussion from the members of the court and the clan leaders due to what this would mean:

“So you want the prince of Yiwen to come and marry Prince Minseok just to avoid a war?” One of the clan elders Ji Seung questioned Yunho while court was taking place.

“That is the plan.” Yunho barked back at him. “Are you disobeying your king’s orders?”

“No, but this is a disrespect to all of us!” Ji Seung answered back and many of the court muttered in agreement. “The Emperor of Yiwen has been accusing us for years for the disappearance of his sister simply because you were coincidentally in their lands at the time of her disappearance! And you want a legitimized bastard to come and produce heirs for the Throne!”

“Silence Lord Ji, you’re just upset that your daughter was unable to seduce the prince into her legs. I believe that you will have a better chance at seducing one of the younger princes though I doubt that one of the princes will have such terrible taste.” Lord Do Ji Sung had spoken while his wife stood next to him glaring at Ji Seung causing Ji Seung to choke in silence. “At least the legitimized bastard has royal blood and it will be an advantage for us to create connections with Yiwen since we have lost much of that connection when the scandal with the princess happened.”

“Besides it is more advisable that Prince Minseok marries fellow royalty instead of a mere noblewoman.” Another lord included.

“I will not speak more about this!” Yunho roared. “What has been done is done, and no matter how much you whine and about it! For my order is law.”

Once a few weeks had passed, there had been many scouts had announced that they were to arrive that day before sundown were to arrive, Minseok thought that it was amusing to see Queen Boa and his mother running up and down worrying about the dining menu, the rooms, the events that they had planned but the funniest thing was that they were both dragging Yerim up and down with them. And Yerim would always whine to her court ladies and Junmyeon about it saying that if that was what she will have to do when she’s queen then she doesn’t want to be a queen anymore.

“Prince Minseok, you look so charming.” One of the royal tailors hummed as they placed the delicate silk robes on him. The colors of the robe were reminiscent to the colors of the royal House which were gold, royal blue and black, it had a completely blue as primary color for the robe whilst the decorations were in gold and certain markings were in black. “If the Prince of Yiwen doesn’t want to marry you then I can offer you a brother of mine, he is quite attractive My Lord.”

Minseok chuckled at that before smiling at the tailor. “Until Prince Luhan gives a verdict then I fear that I cannot look for another to sooth the ache.”

The tailors laughed at the answer before they flocked over Minseok by arranging his hair and his outfit, sundown was to be in around 30 minutes so he needed to be there to wait for his possible fiancé.

“Is the prince ready?” He heard Jongdae asked after he had knocked on the door. Minseok walked towards the door and opened it and saw his younger brother looking very much presentable for what was about to happen as his robe was similar to his however Jongdae’s did not have the same markings as Minseok’s. “Wow, you look good for once Your Highness.”

“Well, you look like you finally took a bath.” Minseok jabbed back at Jongdae after he whacked him on the shoulder, and Jongdae looked at him with a pout as he rubbed his arm.

“So mean, you’ll be a tyrant. I feel bad for your possible Queen Consort.” Jongdae muttered, causing Minseok to laugh as he heard his words, as they started walking towards the entrance of the castle to wait for their guests. “I’ll tell the Prince that you’re not worth it and that he should run away with General Oh.”

“As if Sehun would do that, he’s too loyal to the country and us.” And by us, I mean that he’s loyal to Junmyeon specifically. Minseok wasn’t stupid, he could see the looks that Sehun gave his brother and vice versa also he saw them once locking lips in the corridor that lead to the east wing which was where Junmyeon’s chambers was located. He knew that they had already slept with each other, luckily if Junmyeon didn’t have to marry another man he would be in the clear. Yet he couldn’t find himself telling Junmyeon about what he knew. “Besides you got that idea from Mother’s books and as far as I’m sure, that doesn’t happen in real life.”

As they arrived to the entrance he saw Junmyeon, Jongin and Yerim being placed into position by Queen Boa along with the fact that they were all wearing similar robes to his own but Yerim’s was more feminine and delicate because she’s a girl obviously. Queen Boa looked beautiful, he had always heard that his mother was a traditional Asterranian beauty whilst Queen Boa was an exotic beauty as her mother was a noblewoman from one of the closer isles and her children had received the same beauty.

“Minseok, you look so handsome.” Queen Sohee cooed at him as she placed him next to her and made sure that he was as presentable as he should be. “Bring to me the Crown Prince’s crown.”

“Yes. Milady.” One of his mother’s closest court ladies, Lady Lee Sunmi, said with a bow.

He soon saw Sunmi return with a royal red box incrusted with gold, Sohee opened it and he saw the Crown Prince’s crown, he had never seen it in his life well as much as he remembered; the only time he wore it was when he was crowned Crown Prince shortly after his parents were crowned as King and Queen. It had a simply design yet behind that simplicity there was so much beauty, it was a white gold crown with a certain design pattern in which there were inverted heart shapes and the tips of the hearts ended in something similar to three-leaf clovers without any incrustations of diamonds nor gems for those were only things that belonged to the King and Queen’s crowns. He leaned down so his mother could place the crown on his head, once it was placed on his head he truly felt that he was the Crown Prince. (An example for XM's crown is here)

“There, you look so handsome. Now it finally looks good on you, it didn’t fit you when you were a baby.” Sohee cooed with eyes that were glistening with tears as she rearranged his hair so it would look appropriate. “My baby, used to be so small and now he’s going to get married.”

“Mother, don’t cry. We don’t even know if he’ll want to marry me.” Minseok laughed trying to lighten the mood.

“If he doesn’t want to marry you then the men and women from Yiwen have terrible taste.” Sohee replied with a stern face causing Minseok to chuckle and shake his head. Soon they heard the familiar sound of galloping horses nearing the castle and they got into their positions. Yunho stood in the middle, closest to the entrance while his Queens were by his sides –Sohee, as his first wife stood to his left, and Boa, as the second wife stood to his right- and their children were on the side of their respective mothers and in the order in which they were born –on Sohee’s side stood Minseok and Jongdae while on Boa’s side stood Junmyeon, Jongdae and Yerim-. They saw two bannermen riding into the entrance, one with the flag of Yiwen and the other with the royal family’s symbol/crest and they stopped a few meters from them. Soon a royal guard entered and lined up on their horses for the royal carriage to stop where the lineup of the guards had begun.

“Presenting to you, the royal family of the Grand Empire of Yiwen.” A guard –most likely a royal Commander from the garments that Minseok noticed that he was wearing- announced, the door was opened by another guard and Emperor Hangeng stepped out of the carriage looking as regal as an Emperor could look, he lifted his hand so that his Empress could walk out of the carriage. Minseok had only heard rumors regarding the beauty that the Empress of Yiwen possessed but he saw that the Empress was a beauty of her own; Empress Bingbing stood out in all her regal glory while looking at the royal family with interest (Example of what the empress looked like is here), she walked to the side to stand next to her husband as the prince was escorted out of the carriage by the royal guard and Minseok felt his breath leave his lungs. The Yiwen prince was a mix between handsome and beautiful for him; the prince had a deer-like appearance to him as his eyes had that almond-like shape, a beautiful smile, pale skin -that looked almost like ivory to Minseok- and dark brown hair that was settled over his forehead.(Lulu's outfit is right here)

The family –after they had positioned themselves, Emperor Yunho and Empress Bingbing walked together while Prince Luhan walked behind them- walked forward with their escorts towards the royal family and once they were in front of each other and they bowed to one another before they rose and the King and the Emperor both walked forward and shook hands.

“It’s a pleasure to see you once again, Hangeng.” Yunho said with a cordial smile.

Hangeng nods. “Of course, I have never visited your land before. It’s too…”

“Beautiful?” Yunho winked with a laugh.

“Sunny.” Hangeng deadpanned. “We don’t see much sun in Yiwen. It’s a cold country.”

“Ah, yes I forgot about that. Well, these are my wives. Queen Sohee.” Yunho presented Sohee who curtsied to Hangeng.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace.” Sohee announced with a soft smile and Hangeng smiled as he lifted her hand and kissed it.

“The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness.” Hangeng said with a flirting smile.

“And Queen Boa.” Hangeng’s eyes shifted to Boa who had a smile on her face as she curtsied to Hangeng. Hangeng and Boa stared at each other for a while until Boa blinked and gave a smirk.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Emperor.” Boa said firmly as Hangeng lifted her hand and kissed it.

“Likewise Your Highness.” Hangeng replied. “When was the last time we saw each other? Was it 20 or 22 years ago?”

“21 years ago, during the war if I must remind you.” Boa answered with a smirk and the look in her eyes was mocking. “When I accidentally attacked you for thinking that you were an intruder in our camp, and I beat you.”

“Ah yes. The first and last time a woman ever beat me.” Hangeng hummed with a chuckle turning his head to look at Bingbing who was struggling to hide her smile at the announcement. “Is anything wrong, my darling Empress?”

“No, Your Highness. I just never heard this story before.” Empress Bingbing spoke for the first time, her Northern accent being quite strong.

“It’s not one that I would like to say.”

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Empress Bingbing.” Yunho walked forward and bowed to greet Bingbing who curtsied in reply. “They speak of your eternal beauty, and you look just as beautiful as the last time that I saw you.”

“You flatter me too much King Yunho.” Empress Bingbing said with a smile before introducing Luhan. “This is the 2nd prince Luhan.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness.” Luhan said fluently with the absence of the typical Northern accent. “I have heard so much about your prowess in battle as well as the political reforms that you have been able to do here in Asterrania.”

“Prince Luhan is very well-cultured in the history of the many kingdoms along with the fact that he has had many great tutors.” Emperor Hangeng spoke with pride.

“Thank you Prince Luhan.” Yunho answered with genuine smile on his face. “Shall I introduce you to my children?”

“My eldest son and Crown Prince to our humble Kingdom; Prince Kim Minseok.” Minseok stepped forward and bowed in front of them.

“It is a great pleasure for me to finally meet you, I am thankful to you for gracing our beautiful kingdom with your presence.” Minseok proclaimed with a smile to the Emperor and his family.

“Thank you very much for your greeting Prince Minseok, one of our kingdom’s rising generals. He’s great with the sword.” Emperor Hangeng replied.

“My second son Prince Junmyeon.” Junmyeon walked forward and bowed to Hangeng with respect, then he proceeded to kiss Bingbing’s hand.

“It is a grand pleasure for me to meet you Emperor, I have heard much about your prowess in battle from my mother.” Junmyeon began with a smile on his face. “Also I have heard much of your beauty as well, Empress. You look much beautiful from what I have heard, words must not be enough to express your beauty.”

Empress Bingbing blushed at his words with a smile. “Thank you Prince Junmyeon. You are very much a charmer.”

“It is not me trying to charm you Empress, I only say the truth.” Junmyeon said with a smile before turning to Luhan. “Prince Luhan, I hope that you have a nice memory of our home even if you decide not to, though I wish you could…. My brother is very lonely.”

Luhan laughed loudly before nodding back to Junmyeon while Minseok glared at Junmyeon. “We’ll see Your Highness.”

“My 3rd son, Prince Jongdae.” Jongdae walked with a smile and bowed down and realized the same formalities as his elder brothers. “And my 4th son Prince Jongin.”

Jongin walked forward, bowed down to them and replied with the same formalities as did Jongdae.

“And my only daughter and my last child, Princess Yerim.” Yerim walked forward with grace and a smile, curtsied to the Emperor and Empress and greeted them with a smile.

“She’s very much of a beauty, Yunho.” Hangeng said to Yerim who slightly blushed at the compliment.

“Thank you.” Boa answered with a smile making Yunho laugh out loud before he composed himself, all of his children were giggling and chuckling as well. Even Luhan was struggling to not laugh out loud.

“Advisor Kwon, please take the Emperor and his family to their quarters.” Yunho proclaimed. “Rest for a while, later today we’ll have a dinner in their honor.”

Don't worry guys! The next chapter will have Luhan and Min speaking properly and maybe so romantic things will ensue.

Also I loved Oh My Girl's comeback, I think I might start stanning them. I also liked MOMOLAND'S as well, it was really good.

If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in your reviews/comments. I sincerely hoped that you guys liked the chapter and if you think that something in the chapter isn't adequate when it comes to royal stuff then please tell and I'll correct it and if you guys could also refer me to some sources that I might use. Also don't worry, some of the other EXO members will appear in the next chapter.

So please review, comment, suscribe and upvote this story if you can. Bye bye!~

PS: Universe was a ing bop~~~~ Listen to the album if you haven't and if you have heard the chapter then if you could, then please say in the comments which was your fave track.

Also something that was pulling me back at the time when I was going to start writing the chapter was when Jonghyun had passed away and I know that this is late but I just needed to write this. I know that I may not seem like a SHAWOL but I really love SHINEE with all of my heart; they were part of the reason why I dabbled in kpop. Jonghyun was my ultimate bias in SHINEE because of his voice and who he was as a person, his solos and his way as a person gave me and many others happiness. I love him very much and I know that he's up there making the moon blue for us SHAWOLs. If you know someone with depression, try to be there for them and try to understand them and if you suffer from depression then I hope that your faves are able to give you happiness when you're in your dark moments. For Jonghyun who is now an angel in the sky partying with everyone else in the 27 club and finally stopped suffering; You did well and you have always done well no matter what people have said, thank you my angel. Rest in peace, I love you.