It was the day, the first ball of the season, a rather nerve wracking day for the young prince. The travel east didn’t give him enough time to calm himself and as the pine trees cleared, showing the city and the large estate of the Duke Trot, Seungmin only felt his stomach churn. It’s too late to ‘be sick’, pretend he has other duties to attend to but he must be here. He needs to court someone and as his father said: don’t leave Meldonia without a ring on someone’s finger.

Meldonia, a rich kingdom that’s best known for their beautiful and lavish spring balls, the sweet fruit they produce and their royal navy. Seungmin doesn’t know much about the sea having lived in snowy mountains most of his life but the prospect of being on the open water so days sounds terrifying… He shakes his head as the thought crosses his mind and he tries refocus on the estate’s lights that glow brighter and brighter as his carriage gets closer.

The carriage stops and so does Seungmin’s breath for a moment, then the doors open and he has to manually make his heart beat for a moment. He steps out and politely smiles to the doorman before he steps up to the mansion. Immediately he hears hushed whispers, “the prince”, “the prince of Elssia”, “Prince Seungmin’ and such. He wants a hole to swallow him whole. If he came here without the prospect of marriage then he’d wouldn’t be so nervous but he is and knows he has to pick carefully, look for a partner that does not want just his money or the title of ruler of Elssia when the day comes.

He looks around the crowd before ever making a move. There’s dancing and conversation, all which make him nervous to think about doing that with someone. But he spots a young royal with a bright smile, dressed elegantly in soft colors and for once in his life, his heart beats for another person. He strides to the royal before his legs even know what they’re doing as he feels like it’s an out of body experience when he softly clears his throat to get their attention. “Excuse me?”