The Prince and The Matchmaker

His Royal Pain In The . . .

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"Orabeoni, what does Prince Yin looked like?" A young maiden of five and ten asked her older brother. The said young miss is one of the many eligible noble ladies whose names were submitted for a preliminary elimination before being an eligible candidate for the Royal Selection of the Princess Consort position.

The older brother she is currently asking is one of the newly-appointed Astrologists in the Royal Astronomical Bureau of the Kingdom. Also one of the young masters of the House of Wanarat, her Third Brother is the genius who despite his young age became the top passer of the last Imperial Examination and the youngest newly-appointed official in their Bureau. His achievement at the age of six and ten is a feat no other young master can match up to and is a source of pride of their clan.

"I've only just entered the Palace not many moons passed and have not yet had the chance to meet His Highness. It would better to ask our Eldest Brother or even Second Brother. They've been court officials for a few years now and have met the members of the Royal Family in several occasions already."

The said older brother looked up from the book he is reading to answer his curious little sister.

"But I've already asked them, Third Brother. And with what they told me, I can't even pay them a single coin even if I decided to be generous. You see, Eldest Brother Mew only said that Prince Yin seemed to be a good man. That would probably sound like some good news for most people but thinking back on it, I've never really heard Eldest Brother describe someone 'as a seemingly bad man' so I don't really find this piece of information worth any at all. On the other hand, Second Brother Krist said with a frown on his face that the Prince is downright annoying and that he almost snapped at him but then again he snaps at everyone else even at his superiors in the Bureau so what's the difference?"

The older brother quietly listened and only nodded from time to time. He can imagine their two older brothers saying those words.

"Now tell me Third Brother, must I trust their words? Do those observations mean anything at all? Should I just walk in this path with my eyes shut and my ears covered and get married to a total stranger? I must know the man who will potentially become my husband. Can't I be accorded with that information in the least? Am I asking for too much?"

The Fourth Miss had such a sad tone to her voice that her Third Brother had to put down the book he is currently reading and place both of his hands on her shoulders.

He intently looked at her and with a serious expression said,

"No princess. You were right. We need to know what kind of man he is and determine whether the rumors are true or not. And whether he is deserving of our precious little sister or no. Leave it to me. I work in the Palace, it might be a bit difficult but not totally impossible for me to gather information on His Highness."

With this promise in mind, Deputy Inspector and Astrologer War is deep in thought on how to gather information on the Prince. The next day at the Bureau proved to be a good time to do some investigation as Chief Astrologer Kan delegated the task of handing a few documents to the Chief Eunuch at the Cold Palace to be passed eventually to Prince Yin to the young official.

Deputy Inspector War saw this as a hard to come by chance and he immediately set out to perform his assigned task.

After walking into a supposedly deserted pathway of one of the outer courtyards of the Cold Palace for a few minutes, the young official chanced upon two gossiping female attendants.

"Have you seen His Highness' piercing glare earlier this morning? He wasn't exactly looking at me but the sight alone is enough to freeze the blood in my system. Doesn't he know how to smile? If only he will smile ever so slightly then I'll have no regrets in life and will happily go to the Afterworld." The first female attendant uttered the words in a wistful tone.

"I'm not sure about the Afterworld but there's one thing I know for sure, and that is, His Highness has never learned how to smile. I've been working here in the Cold Palace for five years now and not once did I see him smile. Even in the presence of the Royal Family, the Prince has never smiled. He'll have a stoic expression at best but a smile is a foreign thing to him."

The second female attendant, apparently more senior than the other when it comes to her years of stay in the Cold Palace has vouched for the Prince's inability to produce a smile with a confident air of a seasoned servant.

"He only ever opens his mouth to eat and drink and talk a few times a day. It must felt stiff by now. I think His Highness must practice on moving and opening it a bit and more often. That will help him in easing up into a smile." The first female attendant mused.

"His Highness should probably do so if he has the slightest interest in the mechanics of a smile and how to make one but I doubt that the thought has ever crossed his mind." The second palace attendant replied with a shake of her head.

"But if that's the case, then I would pity the young lady who will be chosen as the Princess Consort. She will have to live the rest of her life seeing a husband who will always look annoyed at her and never give her a smile." The first female attendant said with an expression of unfounded sadness.

"You naive little thing, just be thankful if His Highness would know how to kiss her. Him giving her a smile should be the least of her worries." The second female attendant said and the two gossiping female attendants both laughed at her remark. But they are the only ones who find amusement in the conversation. Not far from them, two other people listening in on their conversation had each a frown on their faces.

The young official who thinks that the two had already gossiped about their superior enough and in a highly inappropriate manner decided to come out of his hiding place and glare at the two.

The senior female attendant was quick to bow at the young official and stated in a slightly louder voice addressing her companion,

"Court Lady Choi has delegated a task to me. I will have to go on ahead now." Then with a deep bow left the place in a hurry.

Deputy Inspector War has no intention of reprimanding female attendants in somebody else's residence and with a deathly stare motioned for the other female attendant to follow her companion and get out of his sight.

"These gossipers . . ." Deputy Inspector War can only mutter under his breath. Little did he know that there is someone else completely outraged at the two female attendants and was fuming at the next turn.

Shaking his head and walking briskly again to reach his destination sooner and complete the task given to him, Deputy Inspector War was caught unawares when someone suddenly grabbed him at the next turn and pushed him hard on the concrete wall.

"Wha-?" Deputy Inspector War tried to protest but was silenced immediately. A pair of cold lips were then harshly pressed unto his own and he found both of his hands trapped in a firm hold at the top of his head.

***

09.05.21