THE PALACE // JIKOOK

Chapter 1

Here's the bonus, for a statement I serious with this too like other stories!

The Jeon were an esteemed family, a family with a long and noble history of service to the throne for which they had been remarkably rewarded with titles and holdings, as on of The Imperial Family. They were one of the oldest Alpha families in the whole of the Empire, bluebloods bred and true. It was only within the last century that the mighty had fallen, so to speak. The family fractured beneath the weight of its dignity and power, outshoots flung to the four corners of the Empire, and new and startling notions became the norm.

The most startling of which was the fact that the Jeon heir, Jungkook, Marquess of Changdeok Palace, had studied to become a army doctor and actually practiced.

It was often overlooked that he did so on the battlefield as his duty to the crown. Overlooked, of course, by a Society quick to gossip; not overlooked, however, by a bevy of concerned relatives dreading every day of combat that sought to take their Lord-in-waiting away from them, thus leaving the lines of inheritance in question.

"Another letter, m'Lord," HoJoon said, pushing into his master's tent with the missive held in front of him, a look of acute dread on his face.

Jungkook took it, leaving bloody fingerprints on the ivory-colored paper, his face already falling into a grim frown which his valet knew all too well from his years of service. He opened it, brown eyes flicking over the paper, and sighed on a soft laugh, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"HoJoon."

"Yes, m'Lord?," was the immediate response.

"Do you find twenty eight to be an unusually great age?",

HoJoon froze, uncertain. "Not terribly so, m'Lord," He decided was safe enough.

Jungkook smirked. It was not a pleasant smirk, all things considered, but it was about as close to humour as he got these days and it relieved his valet to see it.

"Apparently," Jungkook said, tipping his head back on another sigh. "I have been given an ultimatum." At that HoJoon perked up, attentive to any conditions that might involve them going home to their own blessed country.

"My dearest grandfather has bought my commission," Jungkook said, his voice tight and dark and vastly unhappy. He handed the letter to HoJoon, who read it quickly, eyes widening. "I either return immediately or forfeit my place as his heir."

"He surely wouldn't—" HoJoon began, though he read it twice himself, disbelieving.

"My grandfather is not one to make idle threats and the lines of succession must be secured," Jungkook said, annoyed. "It is perfectly reasonable to act as he has, just incredibly annoying and overbearing because he knows I would never forfeit."

HoJoon finished the letter, swallowing hard at what he'd read there. "And the other, my Lord?," He asked, his voice a near whisper.

"On the matter of my wife?," Jungkook inquired, the polite menace of his tone making HoJoon wince, doubly so when those humourless dark eyes landed on him, sparkling with ire. "That matter, too, depends on my answer. Should I give up my place why, then, the young lady he has chosen will be given to my successor."

"His Grace has already chosen," HoJoon said, somewhat mystified but not entirely surprised. The missives over the years had become increasingly short and to the point. More than once the subject of a wife had been broached without answer.

"He, unfortunately, has taken my silence as assent," Jungkook said, glowering. He waved his bloody hand in a dismissive gesture and said, "It matters not. I am sure, as the daughter of a noble, she will be perfectly capable of providing the Alpha son he desires, as any other woman. She will serve her purpose and be rewarded with a title. No gently-bred woman would wish for more, would she?,"