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‘But mooooommmm,’ Emil whined. ‘Why can’t I just choose someone I want?’
‘Because this alliance with the Sinosphere is vital. Remember, this isn’t just for you, it’s for your kingdom.’
Emil sighed. He hated this. He hated this entirely.
‘Leon, talk to me,’ Arthur called.
Leon ignored him.
‘Leon,’ his father tried again.
Silence.
Arthur sighed. ‘Leon, please.’
‘Jia Long, aru, please.’ Great, now his mom was here too. Awesome.
Leon cracked the door open. ‘Like, what is it?’
‘Can you let us in? We need to talk,’ Arthur responded.
Leon opened the door and his parents walked in, Arthur sitting in his study chair. Instead of sitting on the armchair like Leon thought he would, Yao took a seat on his bed, patting the mattress next to him.
Leon obeyed before asking, ‘Why, mama? I thought you’d know…’
Yao smiled softly, a mother’s face of understanding. ‘Trust me, Jia Long, aru. This is important for all of us, for future trading and allies.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Plus, he’s really cute.’
‘Mama!’ Leon squealed in embarrassment.
‘He’s right,’ Arthur said briskly, always the diplomat. ‘This is important for the future. Don’t you remember that old proverb from your place?’
Leon sighed (A.N: they seem to be sighing a lot in this fic). ‘Country before myself, yes I remember. But didn’t Confucius say not to do anything you wouldn’t wish on yourself?’
‘It’s a necessary sacrifice,’ Arthur replied, dismissing it.
Leon rolled his eyes. ‘Fine.’
Emil looked at Lukas. ‘Do I have to do this?’
‘Yes.’ Lukas replied firmly. No waver, no way to convince him otherwise.
Sitting by his parents’ side, it was a tense wait for the others to arrive.
The family of his future bride.
He had no verbal description of her (at least he thought it would be a her) apart from the fact that ‘they looks pretty much the same as their mother’ and he was quite nervous, to be frank.
Footsteps coming down the hall signified their arrival, and Emil sat up straighter.
The door was pushed open, and a man with blond hair and hilariously bushy eyebrows stepped into the room, followed by a feminine-looking figure with straight brown hair tied up in the typical Sinosphere way.
Then he came in, and Emil had to hold back a gasp.
He had his mother’s brown hair and amber eyes that seemed to see everything. He had his father’s eyebrows, but a lot less exaggerated. He wore an expression of boredom and almost-apathy, which shifted slightly when he looked at Emil dead in the eyes, causing a soft blush to spread across both their faces.
In short, he was beautiful. It was undeniable. He looked like an angel sent from heaven - nothing short of perfect.
Leon thought he was having a seizure. Smooth silver hair that looked like sea foam and lavender eyes, serious and mysterious, as if they were drawing him in.
Begging him to come.
They locked gazes and holy hell he was sexy. As they watched each other both of them started blushing.
Wait, he was blushing? Did he like him too?
‘I see you making goo-goo eyes, cut it out,’ Arthur whispered in his ear, snapping him out of his stupor. Across the room, King Lukas slapped the cute prince across the face. ‘Stop staring.’
Emil rubbed his sore cheek. He’d been staring at the hot prince and had to be slapped to remind him to behave properly. How humiliating.
‘Leon, this is Emil. Emil, Leon.’
The hot prince, Leon, waved. ‘Hi.’
Emil waved awkwardly in return.
‘I think they’ll be perfect for each other,’ King Arthur was saying. ‘Do you want to go somewhere else to talk?’
Emil nodded. ‘Sure.’
Leon took a seat in an armchair in the library. Emil took the seat across him directly.
‘Alright, I’m Emil, but you already knew that, so I don’t know why I said that, but moving on. I’m curious, how old are you?’
‘You have nice eyes,’ Leon blurted before clapping his hands over his mouth. ‘Please tell me I didn’t just say that.’
‘You did,’ Emil responded.
‘I thought I told you not to tell me that.’
‘What would you rather I say?’
Both boys laughed, knowing this would be the start to a great relationship.