Swan Lake (ATEEZ JongSang story)

Chapter 2 - Marriage?!

'Perfect shot, Prince!' shouted Huening Kai. Prince Jongho laughed with him as they looked at the arrow which stood out from the middle part of the target.

'Thanks, Kai! But we should try to shoot something that's further away. This is getting boring.'

'What do you suggest?' Kai picked up the other bow and arrows. Jongho looked around, then his eyes found a big sack of wheat on the other side of the fountain, about a hundred meters away. Kai followed his gaze and squinted his eyes.

'Are you sure about that? We shouldn't damage stuff while practicing, your mother doesn't like what we are doing nowadays. Also, that's pretty far away.'

'Wanna bet?' grinned Jongho. 'The loser gives his piece of cake to the winner at dinner.'

Kai sighed but he knew the prince won't let him get away with this, and if he doesn't agree, he's going to tease him about it for probably the rest of his life. So he shook Jongho's hand.

'You go first' Jongho stepped out of the way. Kai took his bow and an arrow and aimed. The arrow flew across the castle garden and missed the sack by centimeters. It crashed into a pile of apples that were put there for the horses.

'Ugh' he sighed and let Jongho have his try. He stood in the place of Kai and raised the bow. He blew out the air from his lungs, narrowed his eyes and aimed the sack. He let go of the arrow which followed Kai's one, except that this one went straight into the sack of wheat. Jongho smiled at Kai.

'Nice one' nodded his servant and friend, and patted Jongho's back.

'You can keep your cake, by the way. I just needed something to bet on' Jongho smiled at the younger and ruffled his hair.

A middle-aged woman stepped into the garden. She was wearing a long purple dress and a crown. She also had several envelopes in her hand.

'Your mother, Prince' looked Kai behind Jongho's back. Jongho turned around and went in front of the queen.

'Mother' he bowed as he tried to quickly pull the arrow out of the sack, but the thing seemed to got stuck. He pulled at it with a bit bigger force, which made the sack tear at that moment and the wheat started pouring out of it. Kai was quick to grab the sack. He clumsily bowed towards the queen while trying to stop the sack from making a bigger mess. 'Your Majesty'

The queen was quick to catch up on the situation and turned towards her son. 'Are you playing here again?'

'We were just practicing archery' mumbled Jongho. The queen sighed and shook her head.

'Son, I said this a thousand times, but you should grow up soon. I won't be here to rule the kingdom forever. I want you to get married and take over the responsibilities as the future king of the country. Here, here are the accepted invitations of the other kingdoms for next weeks ball. You should find your future partner soon, and this will be an amazing opportunity.' She handed over the envelopes. Jongho took them.

'But Mother, I still want to travel and have fun before I settle down.'

'You can travel later on, after you found your fiancé. Consider this, Jongho. It's for our kingdom's and your own good. You're the heir to the throne, it's time to act like it.'

The queen then turned around and walked back to the castle. Jongho looked after her sadly.

'You okay, Prince?' he heard Kai's voice from behind. He sighed. 'No' he wanted to say. 'It's always the same thing everytime. I'm sick and tired of it.' But he didn't say it out loud. He knew his mother was right, that he has to take over the throne soon, which made him feel a thousand times worse. He felt like he is betraying her mother with his thoughts of not wanting to get married yet.

He stared at the envelopes in his hand. Princes, princesses, earls, aristocrats from the nearby kingdoms, who are waiting for him to find his future partner - which will hopefully be one of them. Why is everyone so immersed about his love life? Why is it that all people care about is who is dating who or who is divorcing who and why? Why can't they just think about their own life? It would be much easier for everyone if people minded their own business.

Jongho sighed again and went after her mother, leaving poor Huening Kai trying to save the sack of wheat by himself.

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A/N: Hiii~
I'll be updating the book daily until I run out of drafts (I have more than half of it written already so don't worry). Also, thank you for the reads, it means a lot that somebody actually read my story! I don't mind ghost readers as I usually am one, as long as you like my story, you are welcome here <3