warning: cursing
 

Nothing could be heard but the sound of snickering from Jimin and a loud burst of laughter from Mirae. Kyung felt confused and humiliated, looking back at her father with her glossy hazel eyes holding back tears. She didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t tell if she was upset or angry. And her younger siblings did not make the feeling any better. A marriage contract, that’s essentially what it is, was held weakly in her hands.

What did this even mean?

She felt her cheeks heating up, hoping it wasn’t noticeable as she wore a counterfeit smile. But by the way Mirae and her laugh track changed so suddenly, she knew her pale skin was no match for the utter embarrassment expressed in her red cheeks. Kyung looked back at the document she still held onto and tucked her hair behind her ear, even though it was already there. She swallowed a large lump in the back of and took a deep breath.

“‘T-this agreement…” She began to read, voice shaking. “...on this s-spring day of -blank blank-, by and between Prince Jeon Jungkook of The Henao Dynasty and K-Kim Kyung, First Princess descendant of The Kingdom of Johwa…’”

Kyung couldn’t get herself to read anymore, she looked back up at her father with even more questioning in her eyes. She finally brought herself to ask what was going on, accusing him of lying to her about the throne. The two children quieted down, noticing the hurt emitting from their sister. Namjoon was quick to say he didn’t lie to her, in fact, as he never promised her the throne and she had misinterpreted him.

“Then w-what does this mean for me now? Who even is this ‘Prince Jeon Jungkook’?”

“Please take a seat darling, I’ll explain everything,” Namjoon responded.

Unbeknownst to the children, there was a war brewing between the neighboring Kingdoms. Without going into too much detail, Namjoon expressed his concern for the safety of his own kingdom as it was located right in between. He had been having so many conferences with the other officials to try and figure out how to alleviate the two lands. The villagers nor his own children deserved to be caught in the middle of a war. 

So the King struck a deal with them both, an offer for a truce. A proposal of an alliance.

“So...a proposal of marriage?” Kyung interrupted, probably a little louder than intended.

As Namjoon nodded profusely, Mirae responded to this with another fit of laughter. She was hunched over, clutching her abdomen and gripping at the armrest of her chair. Kyung darted her eyes towards her sister, her eyes like knives ready to cut deep into her. Jimin tried hiding a smirk by shoving a forkful of meat and potatoes in his mouth. It seemed he was more amused by the younger’s over-exaggerated reaction and not Kyung’s newest revelation. 

“Well if you would all let me finish,” Namjoon glared at the younger as well, her outburst not being appreciated. “I have expositions for the three of you.”

Everyone quieted back down and paid close attention to their father. He began to hand the rest of the documents amongst his other two children. All Mirae could do was groan and let expletives slip past her lips. As she was whining, Jimin stood quiet and carefully read his singular paper. His expression continued to stay blank, no one knew what he was feeling. Since he wasn’t complaining like the other two, Namjoon assumed he was the only one being appreciative.

However, this was far from the truth. 

“Now I will explain each of the propositions in front of you,” Namjoon began once again. 

Kyung was to be married off into The Haneo Dynasty. Their land was only slightly bigger than Johwa, but they also had exclusive access to the ocean. This meant their main source of food was fish and shellfish. This was also seen as a symbol of superiority for them as the other two lands were unable to catch seafood in freshwater.

They didn’t have a large commoner count as most of their population was made up of noblemen and women. Only the rich could afford to live in their well-developed society. The only few poorer commoners that lived there were family of the servants that worked in the castle or people who worked in the marketplace. Namjoon described their beautiful plaza and the many stalls to visit, knowing Kyung always loved and looked forward to shopping in their own village.

“B-but father, I-”

“Please darling,” Namjoon cut off his daughter’s disruption. “Please let me finish.”

Haneo had many of the resources Johwa needed. This included an obvious new food source, sand, glass, and they were the only ones using wind and water power. They were in their first stages of perfecting it, but Johwa could still benefit from this nonetheless. They also owned part of the mountains and had access to many more materials to build structures and tools. The two lands were arguing over ownership of these mountains. 

Johwa had a lot of wooded land surrounding most of the kingdom. Since the king doesn’t care to make use of it, both neighboring lands were also fighting for portions of it. Haneo admitted to wanting to use it for farmland. Since Johwa was mostly farms and crops, they wished to use their rich soil. Their dirt isn’t made for growing food, and even if it was none of the noble families would want to work and maintain the fields. 

“Sooo...why do they want the land then?” Kyung interrupted again.

“I’m not sure of his plans, I assume he’ll be forcing the families of the castle workers to help.”

Namjoon switched the topic from the village and into what Kyung was most interested in; the castle and her suitor. But first, he felt the need to start with a profile of the King. He explains that King Jeon used to be a good friend of his long ago. He spoke very highly and fondly of him, reminiscing in old memories from before the war.

The sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he mentions the tragedy of his death months before. He had suddenly grown ill and passed away in his sleep. He had heard the news second hand and didn’t want to believe it at first. But when he talked to the regent and the Prince, he knew it was true and couldn’t help but express his sorrow. 

The regent stated he wanted prince Jungkook to marry quickly in order to take up his father’s role. Namjoon asked Kyung to shuffle through the documents she held onto and asked her to find a specific one. She found a sketch of the Prince alongside some general info, kind of like a profile describing his features and personality.

Jeon Jungkook was the only male descendant to the Throne of Haneo. The fully colored sketch helped show some of his best physical features. The young man had wavy brown locks that almost reached his eyes, if it grew any longer he would be blinded by a thick, lustrous curtain. The part in his hair allowed anyone to see his face clearly. Skin cleanly shaven and soft with no trace of stubble. 

He had the body of an adult but looked very young. Like he hadn’t lost much of his boyhood. He had plump, pink lips paired with light brown and kind eyes. Jungkook had a fine jawline and small Adam’s apple. His facial expression was almost alluring, Kyung trying her best to keep from drooling over the paper. 

She must admit she did find him attractive, but she kept herself composed and focused on her o