forced marriage - jaesung

[two]

Jaemin loved art.

He had tried almost every existing form of art and found a particular interest in those, which involve written letters. Reading poems or stories was what he spent most of his free time with. It was fascinating to him how simple words are able to make someone feel a variety of emotions, if they are put together correctly.

And so he sat there, on his balcony with a book in his hands and a beautiful view of their garden before him. His eyes roaming the pages in a calm manner, caring only about the world he had sunken into by reading.

The sun was setting and he knew that it wouldn't be able to illuminate his book much longer, so he sat up and went into his room, closing the door behind him.
Just as he was about to change into less formal and uncomfortable clothing, a knock on his door could be heard.
"Come in", he said loudly, wondering who would be at his door at this hour. One of the royal knights of the kingdom entered, Wong Yuk-hei. 
"Prince Jaemin, His Majesty asked to see you in the throne room. It is an important matter", he said after bowing, a certain urgency lacing his voice.
"Thank you, I'll be there in a second."
As the knight walked out again, of course not before bowing, Jaemin let out a sigh.
He was exhausted after spending about the entire day with his tutor, being taught the history of his familys lands, manners of a prince and how to wield a sword. Basically all he needed to know in order to be a good king one day.

Closing his eyes for a second, he mentally prepared himself for the important role he had to play as a prince once again. One look in the mirror told him he still looked acceptable enough for the throne room and so he left his room. His personal guards, Seo Young Ho and Nakamoto Yuta, who were previously standing before his door now followed him to his destination.

The knights guarding the door to the throne room opened it as soon as they saw their prince. He strode through it with a gracefulness only a trained prince could have. There were many people surrounding his father, including his council of royal advisers, so he knew that it really had to be an important matter. His fathers hazel eyes met his as the heavy doors shut with a loud thud.
"You called for me, father."
"Yes, my son. We received a letter from Nora this evening, suggesting to find a way for peace between our kingdoms", the king said with a drop of hope in his eyes.
Jaemin was more than happy, his hopes of a peaceful future for his kingdom and him taking a step closer to becoming reality.
But he knew better than to show it yet and voiced his question: "And do you think it's genuine?"
"That question is the reason as to why we are already planning precautions for the worst of possibilities, but we should take the risk if it meant for peace to return."

It took Jaemin a lot of strength to not let his hopes up too high, or else he would fall too low if all those possible bad scenarios were to turn out to come true.

"Your Majesty, we consider that to be the wisest decision as well", the youngest of the advisers, Kim Dong Young, said. "We suggest sending back a letter as soon as possible. It would emphasize Your Majestys wish to accept the offer."
The king nodded, agreeing with him.
"Then send back the following", someone rolled out a piece of paper and took out a pen, ready to write down their kings words.
He took a moment to think about them.

"Kingdom of Nora,

we hereby choose to accept your offer to find a compromise to end this horrible war, which caused both of us such losses. To prove us your genuineness, we wish to have the meeting in our castle. Additional conditions can be agreed on with the arrival of your decision. Furthermore, we wish to bring the war to a stop until both sides can come to an agreement.

Respectfully,

The Kingdom of Fores"

After more discussions about the draft and which precautions to take, his father told him that he was to participate in the meeting.
And when the sun was long gone and the halls were lit by candles, Jaemin was finally able to go to his room.
"Goodnight, Jaemin", one of his personal guards offered, being less formal after knowing him for his whole life. He could sense the princes happiness.
"Thank you", a genuine smile appeared on his lips, "have a good night as well."

As soon as he closed the door to his room, a feeling of euphoria and exhaustion hit him at the same time. Changing into his nightwear, he wasn't able to think about anything but the potential meeting that could change everything for the better.
He was always afraid of war, more so of having to be in charge of the decisions that involved it when you are the ruler of the kingdom. Plus, there was no denying that Jaemin was a dreamer and hopeful romantic, which may be because of him having read too many stories with happy endings.
All of this resulted in him having hope.

His sleepiness took over as soon as he covered himself with his blanket and that night, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Just outside of his chamber and before his door the two guards and childhood friends of the prince were whispering to each other.
"When was the last time the prince smiled like that?"
"To be honest, I don't remember."