The Thirteenth Suitor

Oneshot

"This is it." Ji Min sighed to himself.

He was about to ready himself for an audience with his thirteenth suitor. He will be recorded in the annals of Gyeonggi for being the only prince or princess of his land to entertain more than eight. If he meets fifteen without finding a suitable spouse, he'll be refused the crown of his country. For most kingdoms, this is a trifling matter. If their heirs are incompatible with the chosen suitors, the royal family begins again with the next offspring. Unfortunately for the Park family of Gyeonggi, Ji Min is an only child.

"Relax, your highness. You are the crown prince of Gyeonggi, heir apparent to the strongest kingdom in Korea. There is nothing that you cannot best," Yun Ki, one of the attendants, offers as he draws a bath. His words are superficially comforting since he and Nam Jun are the prince's sole companions.

The ashen-haired royal grows increasingly anxious as his attendants dress him and prepare his makeup. The evening's expectations linger at the forefront of his mind, weighing him down to the point where he feels chained in place. He'd have to bed his suitor to assess their compatibility. That is how his kingdom and those in neighboring lands have selected husbands and wives for centuries. Ji Min has slept with twelve suitors and none of them have appealed to him to any extent.

The first four suitresses were beautiful duchesses and countesses from his homeland. His parents were hopeful that one of these women would ensnare their son because a bride would ensure biological heirs. They were quite stunning and felt good enough wrapped around him, but they left him unfulfilled. When he requested a male suitor as his fifth, Ji Min found that he's more partial to being the receiving partner than the giving one. Perhaps, he was a little too pampered to work up a sweat from thrusting. These eight men were all cordial, all fit nicely inside him, but they didn't incite desire within him.

For a while, Ji Min thought he was doing something wrong. He assumed he wasn't appealing enough, wasn't donning the proper fashion, or hadn't grasped the finer details of fornication. The idea gained traction in his mind when he queried his friends about how intercourse should feel. Both Nam Jun and Yun Ki had innumerable liaisons with male and female partners. His attendants touted the draws of intimacy--the consuming passion, the raging heat between bodies, the exultant feelings of release--like they were the most magnificent treasures on Earth. Ji Min had bedded twelve suitors and never once experienced any of these miraculous occurrences. The crown prince hadn't even properly orgasmed with the majority of them. Only a handful took heed. One would think that someone who wanted to become prince consort of his nation would at least aspire to gratify him.

Ji Min grew more despondent, almost doleful, as he envisioned his meeting. He could not prevent himself from anticipating that this suitor would disappoint him as did the rest. After his eighth failed pairing, he decided that he would eventually settle on the fifteenth suitor even if the man couldn't please him. The prince knew he had a duty to uphold his family name and serve as the next king. It was enough of an insult to their lineage that he would have to secure a surrogate to father children. The least he could do was marry someone his parents chose for him.

Ji Min rehearsed his kindest smiles and coyest flirtations as he waited in the courtship chamber. It was a vast room that served a dual purpose. One end was fashioned into a dining room, furnished with a romantic dinner for the potential couple. The other housed a large bed where the prince would test his affinity with the suitor. It was a space he had become very acquainted with in the last year, having seen a new possible spouse monthly.

"Announcing Prince Jeon Jeong Guk from Jeolla." Nam Jun's voice rang throughout the room.

The decree came as a surprise. Ji Min has never had a prince before. Usually, direct royal descendants were considered for their own thrones. Jeong Guk must be a third or fourth child for Jeolla to be comfortable sending one of their princes to wed someone from another land. It was commonplace to keep at least one heir presumptive within the kingdom in case anything happened to the first in line. As the Gyeonggian prince rose to greet his suitor, he was wholly impressed by the other man's audacity.