eternal

the crown princess / tobi-q

"she's what?!"

qq's brows were furrowed in horror and her jaw was slackened in alarm, staring at her father who was calmly drinking coffee out of a teacup.

"like i said, your sister is to be married to the crown prince of the nothern kingdom of hon," the grand duke repeated calmly, his eyes never lifting from the newspaper he held in his hands.

"how can you just sell your daughter off like that?!" qq's tone was full of disbelief, "she's only fourteen, for goodness sake!"

qq's sister's age was merely an excuse. everyone knew that the nothern kingdom's nineteen-year-old crown prince was not a particularly stellar candidate in the marriage market: despite being revered as a war hero for his impressive swordsmanship skills and won the kingdom numerous battles, he was also known to be callous, bloodthirsty, and generally a menace. rumours went that he would just kill anyone he liked, and that if anyone wanted a one-way ticket to their deaths, pissing the crown prince off would just do the trick. no woman in their right mind would accept his hand in marriage, so the story went that the king and the queen were finding a woman who would be their son's fiancé as well as the crown princess of their kingdom. hence, it seemed that qq's sister (who was not of age) was the target.

"what do you expect me to do?" her father's eyes looked up from the newspaper to flit over to her face, "the king asked me to send a daughter off to wed the nothern kingdom's prince. who else could i send?"

the king in question was her uncle: a man who knew nothing but to womanise. in her opinion, no one was fit to rule the kingdom more so than her first aunt, who was now a single grand duchess residing somewhere in the west and made generous donations to the church on a monthly basis.

qq held his gaze with a challenging one of her own, "send me instead."

his eyes widened by a fraction, "what are you saying?"

"i said, send me in her place," qq said, enunciating every syllable clearly, "you can't just send my sister off to her death just because uncle ordered you to."

"you can't," her father said, narrowing his eyes, "you're the heir apparent to this duchy."

that was somewhat true. she was the heir apparent (it only became so after it was concluded that no more sons were able to be conceived, hence she, as the eldest child, would be the heir instead) to the duchy, so there was no way she could just throw her duties aside no matter how she liked. however, when there was a will, there would always be a way.

"ruling a dukedom is easier than ruling a whole kingdom," qq said, "it'll be easier for everyone if my sister learnt how to be a duchess rather than to be a crown princess. i can give up my title as the heir apparent to marry the crown prince in her stead."

her father opened his mouth to say something, but qq simply stood up and cut him off, "father, i know you love me, but there are times whereby you have to see the big picture." she paused, then continued, "then, this case is now settled. i'll be the one who will marry the crown prince."

+

and that was how qq ended up in a carriage headed towards the nothern kingdom of hon, clad in a rose pink dress and her shoulder-length brown hair curled and done up. this day would be the day she would meet her in-laws, and her parents sent her off with worry in their eyes. she could tell that they were wondering how long she could survive alongside the notorious crown prince.

she chuckled, who do they think i am? i can handle a bitching husband if he dares overstep his boundaries.

the carriage came to a halt and the door opened. qq picked her skirt up and placed her hand in the coachman's hand, stepping down from the carriage and walking up the steps that led to the entrance of the main castle.