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“Your highness, the second prince of Ombra has arrived.”
Yin looked up from the papers in his hands when his perusing was interrupted by the news of his betrothed arriving at the royal palace. He carefully cleans out his desk and stands up to meet the guard by the doorway.
“Wasn’t he supposed to arrive tomorrow?” The prince asked the guard who looked like he was still breathing heavily after running from the throne room to the prince’s quarters. “Was I informed of the wrong date?”
“Not at all your highness, we weren’t aware of his arrival until a few minutes before he landed at the terminal.” The royal guard replied.
Yin tsked as they walked briskly to the throne room, not wanting to keep their guest waiting for too long. The royal guard blanched when he heard the irritated sound coming from the prince’s mouth, it was evident that the crown prince was not pleased by the unprompted arrival of this stranger he would soon call husband.
“Get his room ready and tell the kitchen staff to start preparing our meal, see to it that it has everything that the Ombra royal has requested.” The crown prince ordered swiftly once they reached the large doors of the throne room, quickly taking control of the situation.
“Yes your highness.” The guard bowed deeply before scurrying away, leaving the prince to face the imposing doors on his own. He nodded once to the man guarding the door and the guard pulled the doors open, announcing his arrival.
The crown prince of Argia was what people would call the perfect royal, he was the darling of the press, always depicted as the perfect heir to the throne. And he carried himself with that same grandeur, head held high and eyes sharp, he had the charisma and the wit to live up to his reputation.
Yin bowed to his parents and before turning to the new addition to the table. “My apologies for not being here to welcome you, I was not expecting your arrival today.”
He looked up and met the eyes of his betrothed for the first time, true to his position as a member of the royal family of Ombra, the second prince was nothing short of ethereal.
“Not at all, I wasn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow but things in my schedule have been rearranged. I hope it doesn’t cause you too much trouble.” The foreign prince replied, looking at him closely. “My brother sends his regards, I’m afraid he's quite busy after his coronation and wouldn’t be able to join us until Christmas eve.”
“No trouble at all.” Yin replied smoothly, sliding on the seat next to his mother. “Your quarters are being prepared as we speak.”
The two prince’s unabashedly sized each other up and the crown prince was pleasantly surprised to be met with a pair of fierce eyes. He’s done his research about the rambunctious second prince of Ombra. Unlike his brother, there was little that the public knew about the other prince except for the fact that was a patron of music and arts and that he often caused trouble for the palace guards by sneaking away. The second prince was portrayed as a playful, carefree and easy-going royal who enjoyed a bit of mischief on the side. But as Yin met the foreign prince’s eyes, he knew that there was more to him than what the public knew.
When the night deepened and with their bellies full, the king and queen retired for the night, leaving Yin to show the foreign prince to his temporary quarters next to his room.
The crown prince couldn’t help but glance at the foreign prince who seems to be unbothered by the fact that he was miles away from home and about to be married in two short weeks.
“I’m sorry it was very rude of me not to introduce myself to my future husband.” The foreign prince laughed once they were at the door, breaking the silence and eyeing Yin with a stare that he couldn’t quite understand. “I am War Wanarat, the second prince of Ombra, it’s nice to finally meet you, your highness. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I can’t say the same about you.” Yin replied and War smiled mysteriously. “I apologize if I wasn’t able to meet you any sooner, my schedule hasn’t permitted a visit to Ombra.”
"It's quite alright, I don't spend much of my time at the palace." War replied with a smirk. "Although I'm sure you're well aware of that."
"I hope everything is to your liking?" Yin said as they surveyed the room. "I have consulted with a few members of your party about what you liked and didn't like but if there's anything you want to add or remove, I'm sure we can make some arrangements."
“Are you always so proper?” War asked, turning to look at him as he sat on the mattress. “I’m trying to figure out how much of the perfect prince is real and which is a facade.”
The crown prince merely raised a brow, unnerved by the brash behavior of the Ombra royal but unwilling to take the bait. “Goodnight War Wanarat.”
Yin turns to walk away but before he could close the door, the foreign prince had one last thing to say.
“I’ll figure you out soon enough husband.”
---
In the next few days after the foreign prince’s arrival, the palace was privy to the sight of the crown prince being tailed by what could only be described as an overexcited puppy. Wherever the crown prince was, his betrothed wasn’t far behind. The Ombra prince was a ray of sunshine and it wasn’t long before the palace staff and even the king and queen were taken by the foreign royal.
The staff were also quite surprised that their crown prince wasn't adverse to the new addition in his life, in fact a few of them could've sworn that they saw him crack a smile whenever his betrothed entered the room.
Yin was in his study, reading the reports about the children’s shelter that the palace supported when the door opened, revealing his soon-to-be husband.
“What are you doing today?” War asked as he sat on the chair in front of Yin’s desk. “I’m bored.”
That was another one of the foreign prince’s quirks that the crown prince was only starting to get used to. War was not one to mince his words and he was not one to shy away from saying whatever he thought about.
“I’m studying the reports about the children’s shelter.”
“A children’s shelter?”
“One of the royal charities, I’ll have to send a few men to see what their needs are before I can send them though.” Yin replied as he turned another page.
The silence that followed that statement was unexpected, the Ombra royal was rarely quiet and when he was, it meant that there was something in his mind.
"You have thoughts about this?" Yin asked, putting his papers away and turning his full attention to the other royal who was biting his lips. "I'd like to hear it."
"Well, don't you think you need to be more involved?" War asked with a thoughtful smile. "It is one of the things that I noticed about you and about my brother, you are too focused on the bigger picture that sometimes you forget your people."
"How do you propose I do that?"
War hummed. "You need to be there. Get to know the children in the shelter, maybe spend a day with them. I'm sure you'll find it enlightening."
"It's never been done before." Yin said thoughtfully. "We've always had people to do those things for us."
"Which means it needs to be done sooner rather than later." The foreign prince replied with a shrug.
"Then let's do that." The crown prince replied, sending a quick message to his staff.
"You're learning how to be a good husband already." War teased after he made the call. "You listen."
Yin laughed, making the shorter prince look at him in shock.
"Would you look at that, the crown prince can laugh." War said, feigning shock. "And it only took me a few days."
"That you know." Yin said with a hum, ignoring War's shocked protest.
"What do you mean by that?" War asked, grabbing the papers in his hands and looking at him with wide eyes.
"Nothing."
-----
The crown prince was walking back to his quarters when he spotted a lone figure crouched by the walls.
"Why are you out here?" The familiar voice asked. "It's cold, we should go find your mother."
Hiding behind a pillar he watched as the Ombra royal carefully picked up an animal from the floor and cuddled it in his arms, cooing at the creature and making small animal noises.
"It's dangerous to wander away from your litter, little kitten. There's a giant prince in this palace and he's clumsy and even though he tries to hide it he might step on you accidentally."
Yin hides a small laugh, not knowing how the Ombra royal could possibly think that he could step on a kitten. He doesn't know why he stayed hidden but as he watched the foreign prince continue to coddle the furry creature, he couldn't help the smile from slipping on his lips.
---
Yin was about to open his door when three sharp knocks interrupted him.
"Are we going?" War asked as soon as he opened the door, practically bouncing on his feet. "Can we go?"
The crown prince laughed, making the guard who was walking by do a double take when he heard the sound.
"Breakfast first." Yin said, ruffling War's hair and taking his hand so that they could walk together.
"But can't we go already?" War asked with a huff.
"No amount of huffing and pouting will help you." The crown prince replied sternly.
War was bouncing to the car as soon as they were allowed to leave the table, practically thrumming with excitement.
"You love going to shelters?"
"This is one of the things that my brother allowed me to do back at home." The shorter said with a grin. "It's not that they restricted me because of my status, it was mostly because I kept running away and he was having none of that anymore."
"The king is too patient with you." Yin replied.
"I'm his brother and you're my husband. You both kind of signed up for it." War replied easily.
"Not yet your husband."
"Why? Do you plan on breaking the engagement any time soon?"
"Never."
Throughout the whole ride, War was watching the passing city with wonder in his eyes. Argia was beautiful but even more so during the Christmas season. The Christmas cheer was clearly in full swing. Yin's eyes however, never looked at the scenery around him, eyes firmly glued on the man seated next to him.
---
“You visited the children’s shelter?” His father asked.
“I was going to send a few men to go but War wanted to go and he made me realize that I was forgetting the important part of being a prince.” Yin said thoughtfully, remembering the day they spent at the shelter.
“Oh, and that is?”
“To be more involved with the people, to see them with my own eyes and to hear them with my own ears.”
“You’ve changed son.” The king said with a small smile on his face. “You seem happier. I was worried that growing up with the burden of the crown, you’d lose that light in you but it seems like the second prince of Ombra was able to bring that back.”
“War is different.” The crown prince said fondly. “He asked me the first day that we met if the perfect prince was just a facade?”
“On the first day?” His father asked with a boisterous laugh. “He really is something else isn’t he? Is that why you’re already wrapped around his fingers?”
“Maybe.”
---
"Can we cook?" War asked one day when they were in the library.
"Cook?"
"Yes, your highness." The shorter prince said, kicking his feet under the table. “Cook.”
“Are you hungry?” Yin asked, pulling out his phone. “I can ask the staff to bring food for us.”
“But I want us to make it ourselves.” War said with a huff and a pointed stare. “We’re about to be married in two days and yet we haven’t spent that much time together.”
“As you wish.”
The appearance of the two royals at the kitchen caused a stir in the kitchen staff who were not used to seeing the crown prince in this area of the palace. In record time, the two found themselves wearing aprons and with the table laden with ingredients.
“What are we making?”
“Cookies.” The smaller man said happily, bouncing around the table and picking out the ingredients. “Christmas cookies to be exact.”
The crown prince hid a laugh when he saw the other man struggling to get the flour on the top shelf of the cabinet, fingers barely grazing the package.
“They put everything down except for the floor, who even puts flour so high up on the shelves? Are you all giants here?” War complained with a huff. “First order of business, tell the kitchen staff to lower these cabinets.”
“Let me-”
“No I got it-”
As soon as the crown prince stepped in, War accidentally moved the flour with his fingers, ripping the bag and drenching them in a cloud of flour. The two royals looked at each other with wide eyes, surveying the damage.
“Oops.” War said, failing to contain a laugh when he saw the usually prim and proper crown prince covered in head to toe with flour. “You look good.”
“Really?” Yin asked, raising his hand and wiping his flicking his flour-covered hands on War’s face. “You too.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“I don’t know, is it?”
And all hell broke loose as the royals engaged in a messy game of throwing flour at each other until they were covered in white. As soon as they were out of flour, War tried to run away but Yin quickly grabbed him by his waist, caging him in his arms in a backhug.
“Your majesties?”
They looked up when they were interrupted by the voice of one of Yin’s staff but the crown prince’s arms stayed firmly around War’s waist.
“Yes?”
“The king of Ombra will be arriving tonight.” The man said with a cough as he looked away from the two royals who were still entangled around each other.
“My brother is coming? Already?” War asked brightly.
“We were informed of his departure from Ombra a few minutes ago, he will be here around dinnertime, your highness.”
“Thank you.” Yin dismissed the man with a wave of his hand, disentangling his arms from War’s waist before trying to remove the apron around his neck. “What is it with you both showing up a day early, do you want my staff to panic?”
“Well who do you think taught me everything I knew.” War replied with a smirk. “Where are you going?”
“Your brother is on his way, we should get cleaned up.”
“All the more reasons to bake cookies!” War insisted with a bright smile.
“Should we really serve the king of Ombra handmade cookies?” Yin asked hesitantly.
“Of course! My brother is a sweet tooth and he loves homemade cookies.”
“Very well.”
---
“Hyunnie!”
War met his brother at the entrance of the palace and was immediately engulfed in a hug by his older brother.
“How are you? You didn’t cause too much trouble did you?” The king asked, making War laugh in his arms.
“Well you can ask my future husband all about that.”
The first thing that the crown prince realized was that War and the king looked startlingly alike and the second thing he realized was that the brother’s were clearly very close. It wasn’t uncommon that some form of animosity would sometimes grow between family, especially when it came to royals. But as War excitedly introduced them, it was clear that it was not the case for these brothers.
“Your majesty.” Yin bowed. “I hope your travel was well.”
“Prince Anan, sorry for dropping in on you so suddenly.” The king said after they exchanged pleasantries.
“It’s quite alright, you are always welcome at Argia.” The crown prince replied, heart light as War directed a bright smile at him. “You are War’s family so you are ours as well.”
The dinner went smoothly, the king of Ombra was someone who was easy to please and he was even happier when War pulled out the cookies that they baked together.
“Son, I didn’t know you could bake?” His father asked with a twinkle in his eye.
“He couldn’t at first but teaching him was easy.” War said slyly. “Although we did cover the kitchen with flour.”
Once they were done with their meals, War’s brother asked for a moment to talk with Yin in private. The second prince looked at his brother reproachfully but the elder merely laughed and ruffled his hair.
“I’m not going to scare your groom off, don’t worry.”
“You better not or I'm going to send your husband a quick complaint and a compilation of all your escapades as a teen. I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear all about them." War threatened before turning to Yin. "If he says anything weird, don't believe him."
War walks away with one last glare at his brother and the crown prince is left alone with the king of Ombra.
“How do you feel about my brother Prince Anan?” The man asked as soon as he was sure that War was out of earshot. “I know it is irrelevant now that you are in an arranged marriage but humor me.”
“Your brother is spontaneous and not at all the man I expected to meet.” Yin said honestly. “But he has taught me things that I have never thought of before. He tries to hide behind his playful persona and a lot of the members of the royal council underestimated him when he first arrived but it became quite evident that he is more than capable of running a kingdom.”
“I know all that, he is my brother after all. What I meant is how you feel about him. My brother may be one of the smartest people I know but he is soft-hearted and if you are a heartbreak waiting to happen then I will not hesitate to break this arrangement.”
Yin paused for a second to consider the other royal’s words. “I care about him, a lot. In such a short amount of time he has managed to worm his way into my life and I honestly can’t imagine a day where he won’t be knocking on my study to drag me away to some adventure.”
“Then I have my answer.”
----
Christmas eve at the palace was a blur of activity as the royal staff prepared for the banquet that night and for the royal wedding the next day. Come evening, the staff and the members of the royal family were at their wits end about all the preparation but it was tradition to have a banquet on Christmas eve and it was also tradition for the royals of Argia to get married on Christmas day.
When they gathered for the banquet that night, everyone was in all states of exhaustion, more so the grooms who were whisked off in a flurry of fittings and interviews. The banquet went well, save for a few quips about married life thrown in the soon-to-be husband’s way but they took it all with a stride.
At exactly midnight, Yin pulled War out of the party and brought him to the pavilion at the center of the palace gardens.
“What are we doing here?” War asked, looking up at the flickering lights surrounding the area. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I realized that-” Yin pulled out a velvet box from his coat pocket. “-I never gave you a ring.”
War’s eyes widened as the crown prince kneeled on one knee, opening the box to reveal a simple silver band. “Yin-?”
“I know our wedding is tomorrow, well today technically, but I want to do this right. We haven’t known each other for long but that’s okay, we have our whole lives ahead of us. I’m not sure what the future will bring but I am sure of one thing, I want to welcome that future with you by my side, War Wanarat will you marry me?”
“Of course I will.” War replied as Yin slipped the ring on his finger. “Only you would propose to me eight hours before the wedding.”
“What can I say, my husband-to-be is rubbing off on me."
---
The wedding was picturesque as the royal palace was covered in white, dressed in satin and fairy lights. But all that was ignored in favor of the grooms who had no eyes for anyone else but each other.
"I can't lie and say that I didn't look up my future husband, I can't lie and say that I wasn't the least bit curious about the perfect prince. But what I realized soon enough was that what people said about you didn't matter, what mattered was the man I came to know and the man I fell for. It's not hard, falling in love with you Yin, it was embarrassingly easy for me if I was being honest." They laughed, the twin silver and gold bands in their fingers glinting in the light. "You like your order and I like my chaos but since you chose to marry me, I think it means that you'll have more chaos in your life."
"I'll deal with the chaos if it means getting to have you in my life. The choice was not ours but in the end everything was right and I won't have anybody else but you. I did my research about the elusive prince of Ombra but I realized that they didn't tell me half the things that I know about you. Little by little you've carved your way to my heart and you're still going, I'm afraid there won't be much space in there when you're done." Yin paused, taking War's hand in his. "I like my order and my rules but I like you more. I can live without those but I don't think I can live without you."
With hands tightly wrapped around each other, the officiant finally said the words that everyone has been waiting for.
"You may now kiss the groom!"
Their cheeks flushed and their eyes hooded, the husbands finally share their first kiss.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the crown prince, His Royal Highness Yin Anan Wong and his his husband, His Royal Highnes War Wanarat Ratsameerat!"