"I've set up a betrothal agreement that involves you, with the Enchancians," The King said the moment Sehun sat in front of him.

"I'm sorry, I believe there's something wrong with my hearing," Sehun said. "Because I could have sworn you just told me you set up a betrothal agreement with the Enchancians. A betrothal agreement involving me."

His father smiled his sad smile and nodded, which told Sehun no, he hadn't misheard a damn thing. "I have discussed it at length with King Heechul. It's the best solution he can come up with." he said turning away from Sehun.

“So you marry me off?” Sehun asked in bitterness.

“I signed a treaty that has ended the war and secured a reassurance that the kingdoms would remain allies,” the king tiredly corrected Sehun's assumptions.

“I won’t,” Sehun quickly stated. His fist clenched around the pummel of his sword, gripping it painfully tight.

“You will,” the king firmly stated. “There is more riding on this treaty than our own personal feelings, Sehun,” he sternly added. “Don’t think I signed that treaty lightly. I gave up valuable land in order to guarantee that you control most aspect of the politics that will affect our kingdom—as well as guaranteeing the positive treatment of your wellbeing. I signed it with a heavy heart, Son.”His father picked up the parchment and passed it over to him.

Sehun frowned, feeling guilty for blindly accusing his father. He softly nodded, looking down at the parchment. “Who … who am I to wed?”

A small flash of guilt covered the king’s features before he was able to recover. “Your union will join the royal families—joining our family to the Kims– the prince.”

Dread and sorrow sunk in Sehun's stomach as he closed his eyes."Father– the prince? Why him?" 

The king sighed, leaning forward to rest his face in his hands. “We’re not as strong as we used to be, Sehun,” he continued as he looked up at his son. “We’re weakening. We need to end this war–.”

"Father please don't do this, there must be another way to end this war"

The king lifted his head to face his son. "You think I will agree to this if there was another option?" He shook his head. "No Sehun, this is our only option. Or Enchancia will kill what is remained of our kingdom."

"How can I marry a man? It is against our custom for a man to bed with another man, let alone creating nuptials ties."

"I agree but it did not make a difference in their realm, a man can marry another man and a woman can marry another woman. Their magic will allow another man to beget a child."

"But I am not one of them, I can't give the prince an heir."

"Yes you can, the moment you become bonded to their prince, their magic will flow in your vein  and it will allow you to give him an heir." 

Sehun clenched a fist and turned away."You promised me. You promised I wouldn't have to do this."

"I know I promised I would never make you marry for duty. I am sorry, Sehun,” the king offered, uncertain how he could possibly comfort his son when he was the one that sealed his fate.

Sehun shook his head. "This is wrong father,We cannot possibly give in to such hedonistic demands i–"

"This is important. He had proposed a formal marriage alliance to bond our two kingdoms together.,” the king said "he had offered the hand of his son, prince of his kingdom, heir to his land and holdings. Any child of your body shall stand to inherit his kingdom and ours, and join them in personal union.”

Sehun raked a hand through his hair. There had to be a better solution, but even he wasn't coming up with one at the moment."No" he shook his head once again. "This is too good to be true."

"I know, there's more to it"

"Another reason why we shouldn't go on with it father."

The king moved closer and took his son's hand. "Think of this as a quest– think about your people, the lives you'll save if you agree. Think about the harmony this alliance will bring–"

"You think this alliance will stop King Heechul from continuing the war? You really think that would keep him from continuing this war of pride?"

"He gave me his words."

Sehun scoffed."they are demons father."

"I know it might not be the best for you but I am sure you'll prefer being with the prince than any other princess or noble lady across the realms –"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're my son Sehun, I watched you grow for twenty two years, and I've never seen you take interest in any woman before, not for the pleasures of the flesh nor for duty. Did you think that I wouldn't notice that no girl ever turned your head? Every girl had the prettiest smile for the future king, but you were always so careful not to encourage them, far beyond a young man's awkwardness. I know your preferences, that was one of the reasons I agreed to it. And I know you'll prefer a husband over a wife."

Sehun stared at his father with wide eyes, unable to blink. "Y-you knew?"

The king nodded. "I do," he said, “I know your heart is…" he paused. "different." His father added, but there was no accusation in his tone. He was just stating the facts. "I know why none of the ladies in Ilda interests you, and I have never cared. Sehun, you are my son. My pride. I love you, wholly and completely.”

Sehun blinked back tears.

For so many years, he had hidden away. Buried himself headfirst in the royal duties like he was supposed to."Why didn't you say anything?"

"It doesn't matter now." the king pulled him towards the window, they were right at the top of the tower, and the window looked out over the town just outside the castle walls, a sheer drop a few hundred feet straight down. " all that matters is for you to say yes, if not for yourself, then do it as a duty to your people," he looked at three burnt villages from the previous war, that his kingdom still hadn't been able to rebuild and something tugged at his heart, he had failed his people once again. " your family. Think about your sist–"

"Yes," Sehun said, with determination. "I will do it, I will marry prince Junmyeon of Enchancia if it will keep my people and family safe."

"It's prince Kai, you're to marry, Sehun not the oldest prince." The king said.

Sehun's sword fell to the floor.

In shock, his hand had flexed; the weapon clattering loudly onto the stone floor. His feet suddenly felt lodged into the floor. It was like he had been rooted into the spot as he felt his eyes widen and his mouth gape in horror. "What?"Sehun breathed out,  "The pygmy? The beast?"

Thanks you my shop for the amazing posters. 

Quick note : I'll be using a lot of modern syntax in my English as a kind of “equivalent modern day translation.” I will not be using garbled words or attempting to write in another irl language and instead just note when things are not understood. And there will be some references to Cassandra Claire mortal instruments. Also note that English is not my first language, if you come across some weird Gramma do point it out or ignore it. I will be posting the intro chapter soon. Then will start updating the real story on 28th of this month. Again this one is not a Korean historical fiction, it is more like Western historical, you can tell from the posters. Thank you.