“And here they are.” Lord Seungjin mumbles as the first row of House Jeon’s soldiers enter the gate. Jinyoung bites his lower lip, an action he will do whenever he’s nervous. There, in one of the carriages, sits the girl who will change his life forever. He will spend the rest of his life with her in order to raise the new generation of Bae together and to secure the alliance between House Bae and Jeon.

Jinyoung is only eighteen years old, the perfect age to start exploring this big world, going to places so foreign he can barely speak the language of. People might think he has a careless desire, but he’s a curious person to begin with, hence the risk of getting lost in the woods without the guards towing behind him only excites him even more.

Yet here he is, standing still between his parents on the land he’s known too well, just like the back of his hand, and in nineteen months, at his 20th birthday, people will no longer refer to him as the son of Lord Bae, but a Lord Bae himself. In nineteen months, the beings of 120,748 lives (and counting) of North Gyeongsang will be in his hands and if he , the other lords will be delighted to overthrow him. No, even if he doesn’t , there’s still a fat chance for betrayal.

Jinyoung is only eighteen and the responsibilities upon his back are too heavy for him to handle right now, but it’s not like he has a choice anyway, not when he’s the only offspring Lord Seungjin has.

Lady Sooyoung is a wonderful woman. She’s beautiful, smart, hardworking, patient, and most importantly, coming from House Park, one of the greatest houses in Essos. Her cousin is none other than Park Jinhoon, the current king of the country. With her enchanting look, likeable personality, and powerful background, men should have been lining up in front of her house.

Unfortunately, she had a weakness, and she made it known to those who were interested in taking her to the altar; her period was irregular, indicating a weak reproduction system. This news would hold most men back and when Lord Bae offered her a marriage proposal, the other lords thought he was crazy. In an ideal world, marriage should happen between two people who are in love with each other, yet in this cruel world, marriage is all about political move and producing an heir.

“Is Lady Sooyoung Lord Seungjin’s soulmate?” No wonder people would assume it that way, albeit their inability to see the red string between them. The said string can only be seen by the connected parties, so only one other person in this universe, besides yourself, who knows for sure who your soulmate is. Seungjin and Sooyoung would only give a small smile every time this question is asked.

“Father, is mother your soulmate?” This time, a curious, seven-year-old Jinyoung dropped the question after Maester Sungwoon told him about the red strings of fate. Jinyoung was always perplexed about the red string around his right pinky finger. The length seems endless and he has found no success in finding the other end. One time, at the age of five, he almost fell into a pond trying. Seungjin immediately fired that irresponsible caretaker.

“Your soulmate probably doesn’t live in this land. They can be living in the neighboring land, or maybe in the neighboring country, who knows? Sometimes people find their soulmates at the most unexpected places.” Sungwoon said when Jinyoung voiced out his complaints. “I found mine in the most sinful place you could ever imagine. And don’t you dare ask me where it was. You’re too young for that.” Sungwoon interrupted the young lord even before he could open his mouth.

“Now, where was I?” Sungwoon continued. “Ah, yes, and of course, being a logical person I was, and still am, I chose not to pursue her. My father would’ve killed me if I associated myself with that girl. Although, I have to admit, the irrational part of me is dying to see where that relationship could’ve gone. I probably wouldn’t be here, teaching you stuff, if I followed this red string.” Sungwoon put his pinky finger up in the air, as if he was showing the mentioned string. Sadly, Jinyoung could only see the finger, no string attached.

If this was just a random person asking, Seungjin would just smile mysteriously at that person, but this was Jinyoung asking. There was no point in lying to your own son. Family is built up with trust. “I’m afraid not, my dear. Your mother and I, even though we’re not soulmates, we care for each other a lot. She’s a reliable woman to begin with, therefore I chose her because I believe she will be a fantastic mother for my children.”

Jinyoung stared at his father in disbelief. One would think his parents are the definition of true soulmates, by the way they can communicate with their eyes if people are watching, as if they know exactly what the other is thinking about. In theory, soulmates understand each other the best, so it’s not far-fetched to believe there’s a red string wrapped around Seungjin and Sooyooung’s fingers. “If you’re not soulmates, why did you lie then?”

Seungjin chuckled, amused by his son’s reaction. It was more hilarious when he imagined the entire Essos’ reaction if they ever find out. “Well, I didn’t outwardly say yes, did I? It’s interesting how people interpreted my smile as an affirmation, even though it’s not always the case. A smile can hide thousands different meanings. I smile because people are too nosy about my personal life. It’s just easier this way, to make them think that your mother and I are soulmates.”

Born in a great house means you’re automatically will be in the public eye. Your personal life will be a public’s consumption. Every move you make will be watched. One wrong step is enough for the disloyal lords of the minor houses to accuse you of being a bad leader, and with some convincing speeches, the public will support the coup d’état. It’s amazing how House Bae can still hold the title of Warden of North Gyeongsang for two generations amidst the power play.

“Have you ever met your soulmate?” Jinyoung asked again after several seconds of silence. He saw his father smiled hearing the question, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They conveyed nothing but sadness. “I have. It was a long time ago, long before you were born.” The Warden paused for a moment, deep in his own head, before he went on. “Nonetheless, we shouldn’t dwell in the past, should we? The only thing that matters now is the future and my future is you and your mother.”

Jinyoung could see how uncomfortable his father was with this topic. Something tragic had possibly happened between him and his soulmate. To say that he wasn’t curious about it was a complete lie, but he respected his old man’s privacy, so never once in his life would he ever mention the word soulmate in front of him anymore.

Jinyoung steps out from his reverie once his mother secretively nudges his left elbow. He catches his mother mouthing focus before turning back his vision to their visitors. The carriages have been pulled to a stop by now, but the passengers have yet to be revealed. There are two carriages in total. The front one probably carries Jeon Jeongwoo and Jeon Aalya, while the back one is for their children.

While waiting, Jinyoung decides to observe the carriages. The sigil of House Jeon, a white tree embellished with a black sword pointed downwards, is proudly painted on the right sight of each carriage. This house is famous of its teak wood shields. It is believed that those shields are the strongest in Essos, unbreakable, unless the opponent uses a Valyrian steel to cut through. Those shields were one of the winning factors during the infamous Underdog’s Uprising.

‘Wait, what the hell?’

Jinyoung almost gets a heart attack when he finally recognizes that thin, long, red object that leads to the door of the second carriage. He averts his gaze to his fingers, then back to the carriage, and a wide smile makes its way on his face. His mother notices the sudden change in his expression. She looks at him funny, but she doesn’t say anything.

The young lord doesn’t mind the judgement though. He usually hates being judged, especially by those who are close to him, yet he’s just unbelievably happy that he doesn’t care about other people’s opinion at the moment. All that matters now is the person sitting in that carriage, finger wrapped with the same string that Jinyoung has around his finger, the person who he has been searching for in the eighteen years of his life.

How luck can be on his side, Jinyoung has no idea. It’s such a wonderful coincidence that the girl whom his parents set him up with happens to be his soulmate. While his romanticist uncle, Bae Minhyun, needed to sail across the ocean for eight months to find the other end of his endless string in Southoryos, all Jinyoung must do is to say yes to his father’s proposal to form an alliance between House Bae and Jeon.

It was a day before his 18th birthday when his father proposed the idea for the first time.

“Son, please have a seat.” Seungjin made a gesture towards the chair in front of him. Once Jinyoung followed the order, he continued. “Time passed by so fast, don’t you think? It seems like yesterday when you were born, when Sungwoon stepped out from this room and said congratulation my lord, your baby boy and Lady Sooyoung are in good condition. It seems like yesterday when you said your first word at the age of sixteen months, when you tried to parrot Youngmin’s my lord, but you said mao instead.”

“I don’t want to exaggerate anything, but honestly, you’re a miracle to us. You and Sungwoon precisely.” Jinyoung cocked his eyebrow in confusion, but opted to stay silent and just listened. “Your mother, she’s the best wife a man can ever ask for, but the best doesn’t always translate to flawless. Her flaw is that her reproduction system is rather weak, so it’s nearly impossible for her to have any children. At first, I had my doubt to marry her, but Sungwoon convinced me that he can change her condition if given the time. I decided to trust him and married your mother, despite of the protest from your grandparents.”

Seungjin’s eyes became glassy as he recalled the hardship of his marriage in the early years. “I loved my parents a lot, but sometimes they could be too much, you know. They wouldn’t stop putting your mother down at whenever chance they got. Despite her effort to give the best, everything that she did was just wrong in their eyes, and they didn’t shy away to shame her, be it in public or behind the closed door. Then, they would call me an ungrateful child when I defended her.”

Jinyoung’s grandfather died when he was only fourteen months old, followed by his grandmother two years later, therefore he had little to no recollection of this situation. It was heartbreaking to discover how his mother had to suffer because of a condition she had no control over. “Every night before we went to bed, we would pray to Seven Gods, saying please let one of your children comes to us so that we can stop this madness at once. It took us four years of praying for the Gods to finally grant our wish, through Sungwoon’s miraculous medicine.”

“When you came into this world, everything just changed right away. Your grandparents were literally on their knees begging for your mother’s forgiveness. I guess their cruel actions were caused by the fear of having no one to give their legacy to. They earned this legacy by sacrificing blood, sweat, and tears.” Jinyoung was a little angry at his grandparents, but at the same time, he could sympathize with them. After the Underdog’s Uprising, which his grandfather, father, and uncle were involved in, House Bae had become one of the most respected houses in the country. It was a pity to see it fall just because they had no suitable heir.

“And here you are, growing up at the speed of light. I wish your grandparents could see what a fine young man you’ve become.” Seungjin sighed dejectedly. His father was only 47 when he died, while his mother was 48. They didn’t have the opportunity to spend more time with their beloved grandson. When they were still alive, they treated Jinyoung with such fondness, feeding him food with the highest quality and buying him clothes with gold and silver embroideries. They even invited all lords from the great houses to his first birthday party. It was recorded as the biggest first birthday party in Essos.

“Speaking of which, the older I am, the more I understand their fear. I initially thought their fear was a little bit irrational, since even if I and your mother would end up childless, Minhyun and Madhavi already have two in Southoryos. My naive-self wondered why they were so reluctant to tell him to come back home with his family to prepare either Hakyeon or Jongin becoming the next Warden. I asked them just that once and my father answered with it was the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.”

“My naive-self still had no clue why they considered my idea stupid, but when I recounted that event to Sooyoung, she just said because they’re half-Southoryan and everything finally clicked in my head.”

If only Minhyun was married to a Westerosi woman, no one would’ve looked down on him and his family. With skin as white as snow and hair as gold as coin, Westerosies are everything Essians wish to become. On the other hand, Southoryans are often belittled by both Westerosies and Essians. Some dislike them because of their physical features, saying their skin and hair make them look like they haven’t washed in years. Meanwhile, the others think that the lack of civilization makes them more similar to apes than humans, saying which civilized human would run around in nothing but underwear?

Little did they know that not every Southoryan would run around only in underwear. Madhavi is the second daughter of Kwanza Iweala, a respected chief of Ice Stag Tribe. Their territory is located at the northern part of Southoryos, closer to Westeros, hence the weather is rather cold there. No human being would ever survive without any fabric on, so Madhavi, like her other female siblings and friends, was taught how to make coats using animal’s fur. Girls in Westeros and Essos are basically taught the same thing, therefore their accusation of Southoryans being uncivilized can be easily dismissed.

Madhavi indeed has dark skin and natural curls, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t wash herself regularly. She marries Minhyun for God’s sake, the walking epitome of hygiene himself. When he still lived in North Gyeongsang, he voluntary helped his servants by cleaning his own room. Sometimes, if he had enough spare time, he even cleaned Seungjin’s room. Unlike his younger brother, the Warden was never a tidy kid, so Minhyun often lectured him about how being hygienic is important.

Nevertheless, Westerosies and Essians have clung to the stereotypes long associated with Southoryans. It’s unlikely that they will change their close-minded perspectives anytime soon, so naming either Hakyeon or Jongin as Bae family’s heir would surely cause a riot in their regency. Why would we want to be led by these barbarians? They would scream it on top of their lungs, conveniently forgetting the fact that both boys still have Essian blood running in their veins.

“I love Hakyeon and Jongin, although I’ve only met them twice in my life, such bright kids they are. It’s a pity you haven’t had the chance to meet them yet. Maybe I should invite them some time.”

Jinyoung has heard about his cousins only through the letters Minhyun sends to Seungjin every month. Hakyeon is a boy three-years older than him, is a chatterbox, and has a soulmate also from Essos named Han Sanghyuk. He found him at the age of six. Jongin however, is younger than him by a year, is very quiet unlike his sibling, and is extremely bitter because he has yet to find his soulmate even though he’s already seventeen. Both boys apparently have passion in dancing and their father is their biggest fan. He once wrote you should’ve seen them dance to Atilogwu, they were so majestic that I almost cried.

“I don’t mind if one of them takes the throne instead of my own bloodline. At the end of the day, the three of you are still parts of this family. Still, the public would never want to be ruled by a half-Southoryan, and our rivals would see this as the perfect opportunity to rise. We’d be thrown in a ditch, with nothing to pass on to our next generation, and House Bae would be nothing but a memory written in those dusty historical books.”

Jinyoung couldn’t help but sighed. He knew exactly where this conversation was going, and he didn’t like it one bit. “You want me to marry a girl so that I can produce an heir.” He deadpanned.

“I know this is too much for a boy your age. My reaction was oddly similar to yours when my father brought this topic up for the first time.” Seungjin said comprehensively. “But this is your duty as the future Lord Bae. So now I’m asking you, have you found your soulmate yet? Because if you have, I don’t oppose to the idea of you marrying her. It will be a different story if your soulmate turns out to be a boy though.”

Jinyoung admitting I haven’t leads to the present situation; House Bae inviting House Jeon to their beloved home for a two-week partnership meeting. While the adults discuss about exchanging resources, he and his bride-to-be are given the chance to get to know each other. The latter process doesn’t matter anyway, not when the deal has been sealed. He might hate her by the end of this meeting, yet in nineteen months, he still needs to share his bed with her.

Nonetheless, seeing that red string, perhaps this arranged marriage isn’t that bad after all.

Some seconds later, the passengers finally get off the carriages. Jeon Jeongwoo, upon a closer look, is everything the rumors said about him. He has a tall posture, towering nearly every of his guards (Essians are never famous for height anyway). His orbs are as dark as charcoal, intimidating yet composed simultaneously. His skin is pale, in contrast with North Gyeongsang’s people’s tan skin. It’s a perk of living in the colder area.

Jeon Aalya meanwhile, is not exactly the typical Westerosi that Essians are used to. Her hair is more of dark brunette instead of blonde. She was once a Mormont though, not a Targaryen or Lannister who has that legendary shining locks. Still, she has the pale skin every Essian longs for. Don’t forget about the height too. She’s almost as tall as her male guards, and she just looks right standing beside her gangly husband. If Jeongwoo had married his country’s woman, she would’ve been overshadowed.

Among all of their children, Wonwoo, the eldest, is the one who looks the most similar to the father. If Jinyoung hadn’t known better, he would’ve mistaken him to be a pure Essian. The only thing that makes him stand out is his high nose bridge. Jeongkook on the other hand, is a mixture of both of the parents. His features make him look like an Essian and a Westerosi at the same time. His eyes are big, but the corners are upturned. His nose is big, but the bridge is high. His height isn’t that outstanding, but he has a big built.

Last but not least, Somi, the youngest of the three is a replica of the mother. Her long, dark hair is an antithesis of her pale skin, falling delicately on her shoulders. Her eyes are doe, tinted with teenage innocence. Her nose is small and high, something that Jeongkook would definitely be jealous about. And of course, her tall body generates a more Westeros aura to her. Somi’s real-life appearance indeed lives up to its reputation, and many other lords would kill, literally, to be in Jinyoung’s position.

The said boy however, experiences nothing but a major disappointment. Sure, Somi is beautiful, but the other end of his red string is not around her finger. His enigmatic soulmate remains hidden behind the second carriage’s closed door.