Royalty is not as easy as it may sound. Of course they are more privileged and will never know the torment of hunger pains or laying on a straw or wooden bed, but their duties are more taxing mentally than many of the other responsibilities of the kingdom. For one, they must watch over all of their citizens, make sure that food is evenly distributed and everyone is doing their job. If something goes wrong, it is up to the royal household to fix the problem. When neighboring kingdoms attempt to attack, the king must find a way to make sure there are no civilian casualties, and that means having the outer towns herded into the main village, making sure that everyone has somewhere to stay. He must keep the peace of the land and keep everyone in check.

Although second prince Chanyeol did not have as many responsibilities as his father and the first prince Yifan, he did know how taxing royalty can be. Since birth he was grafted to be the future king’s replacement. If his eldest brother were to be unfit or otherwise unable to rule, Chanyeol would take his place as king of Cadareswen. Though Chanyeol was being grafted to be a replacement, he wasn’t very noticed. All of the attention was on the king and Yifan, the heir to the throne. While this might have brought resentment into many hearts, Chanyeol was relieved that his actions were not regarded.

From a young age the second prince had noticed that he wasn’t particularly interested in the females that scurried around the kingdom. Their waving skirts and flirtatious smiles did little to him, but instead he found himself enjoying the tight pants worn by men. At the beginning of this new revelation, he figured it was only the legs he enjoyed, however, as time went on, he realized he had quite the fascination with males in general.

The revelation scared him, for he had never in his days heard of a male who courted other men, it was always boys and girls, males and females, men and woman. There was no room in this world for same relationships. So he ignored his urges and instead went for courting females, never managing to make it past a few heavy kisses before he gave up his hopes for happiness.

It wasn’t until he caught his younger brother Sehun intimately engaged with his bodyguard that he finally let himself be how he wanted to. His brother became his confidant and vice versa; it was surprising to him how much he needed to get the thoughts clouding his mind off of his shoulders and share his burden with someone who understood. Being involved with the same gender was not heard of, but if one looked closely, the signs of same attraction could be seen. The way males and females alike let their gazes linger just a tad longer than should be appropriate. But who was to say it wasn’t right? Just because it wasn’t seen often did not mean it was wrong or any less appropriate than opposite gender inclination.

Nevertheless, despite Chanyeol’s new acceptance of his preferences, there was still the lingering fear. For he knew that if something were to happen to Yifan, the second prince would take over. And aside from the usual responsibilities that fall under category of being king, he knew that there were also expectations; he was to find a wife. He knew that if that were to happen, his happiness would be a far off and unattainable dream, and that scared him. However, even if he was unhappy, he would not let his wife - speaking as if he were to be the king - be unhappy as well, so unlike other royalty, he would not take ‘mistresses’ or concubines, and he would not bed another, no matter how tempted he would be.

He had no doubts in his brother’s ability to lead the kingdom, so the fear was pacified. Yifan - although a bit brash and stubborn - had the innate ability to have people trust him. Despite his always-present scowl, he had a warm and kind heart. He ruled with love and compassion, believing wholeheartedly that his subjects would respect him more and stand behind him if he treated them with the same respect. Both Chanyeol and the citizens looked up to the heir, for in his spare time he personally went down to the villages to greet his subjects and gather a deep relationship with each of them, taking time to play with the children even if it dirtied his clothing. He was certainly loved by all.

Yifan often took his brothers with him, wanting to share the joy he got from interacting with people. Chanyeol and Sehun loved their time within the towns, often heading there on their own time without their older brother just to help out the subjects with their tasks. They thought they had met every last person within their kingdom, but when rumors started circulating about a boy more beautiful than anything on this earth, rivaling the night skies with his ethereal glow, the royal family knew that they had not indeed encountered everyone.

“I have failed as a future king.” Yifan muttered, his feet creating paths in the hardwood flooring with his constant back and forth movements. Chanyeol’s eyebrows disappeared behind his hair.

“Why, in all that’s holy, would you ever think that?” Sehun, their younger brother, asked incredulously.

Yifan’s head snapped towards the youngest, “I have neglected my duties - there was a citizen I have not yet met. I am not fit to be king.”

His siblings shared a look, mentally communicating their exasperation for their o