Hurry

"Let's have dinner first. Please sit, my Prince," father said and sat without waiting my reply.

Probably, I was looking at him as if I wanted to run away. So, he regretted bringing up the marriage subject right away.

"Your tanned skin reveals the blue color of your eyes more." His first words during the dinner made me a little surprised. It was obvious that he had put too much thought into how he should talk to me, especially since he started the subject in this way.

I looked at the same eye color as mine without say nothing. "Your eyes aside, with this skin you look so much your uncle. He had the same wavy brown hair, face and height. I'm sure she got emotional when the Queen saw you on the horse." He continued to talk.

While he was playing his salad, I continued to watch him without any voice. I know my silence is making the situation more tense but I like this man when he hesitates when he commands a thing he doesn't like. But before he starts to talk about the weather, I know I should stop him.

"The weath—" he was about to start. I  interrupted him and said "Your heighness!" He startled and stopped playing with his salad. After I gave a breath, I began to talk.

"Pardon me for interrupting you but you are the king of this great kingdom. The words coming out of your lips are the absolute command for this land. These commands go for the crown prince, too. I wonder why you hasitate so much while talking to me."

After a short silence, he sighed once and muttered "You say 'Get to the point.'" Then, he stared at me.

"My hesitation while I am talking with you shows how much important you are for this kingdom and me. I'm not talking about your prince status. You are a special citizen with all the good things you've done to this kingdom. However, I care your happiness than the happiness of this kingdom. I admit that this is my only weakness. Now, I can't keep this weakness secret, my son."

Woah! I was not waiting this explanation. 

"The Poet King! King of the Poems!" They are my father's nickname which are given by other kingdoms. These nicknames don't just come from being good with words. My father, Lunaland King, Alexi Earn Lunaria II, is a voice mage at the same time. He can impose their ideas with words. It's even said that in The Precious Valley War fifteen years ago, he took the fertile valley from the north emperor using only this power.

However, he knows this power does not work on me but he still wants to use his poetry talent for me. If my father gets so emotional about me this much, it means that I have a big trouble about a politic situation.

"Thank you for your kind and honorable words, Your Heighness!" I replied and waited him to continue.

"The General who was killed in South War... Do you know who he is, My Prince?"

"Genuel Somon Venuer. Even though he is a general of Venuera Kingdom we fought, he is the nephew of the Great Emperor."

"The Great Emperor is used to fond of him so much."

"What is the connection between my happiness and him, Your Heighness?"

"I think you have a guess. The Great Emparor requests a compensation. More than a request, it can become an order." After he said that, father drank a few water slowly. I waited him with patient.

"Do you know how The Great Empire became so great?"

"As I learnt from the history classes, they won a lot of war. And they have a lot of strong mages. Even their princes are great mages. "

"Those are the results like being strong, my son. They became strong because they made genetically beneficial marriages to give birth to children with various magical powers. And now, they want our unique royal magic. In short, The Great Emperor wants to marry you to his third daughter."

"What if we reject?"

"If I could reject, I wouldn't bring up this subject to you. I'm afraid that he will threaten me about attacking on Holy Valley."

Geez... I can't believe the Emperor found such an excuse to take our magic style. What the hell was he wandering on a war area if  that general was so precious for the Great Emperor?

"Your Heighness! My being single aside, you don't want to give our unique genetic powers, do you?" I asked.

"Of course, I don't want that. Look son! I can offer another nice compansation to the Emperor. But I need an excuse, too. If you... I thought if you had a fiance, I could use that as an excuse. So, I told that so."

"You lied to Emperor?"

"We can find a fake one! "

"Do you think he let me go? How long can I keep this fake engagement? No matter how much time it will take, when the engagement is over, the emperor will find another excuse."

"Then find a real wife for yourself!" he shouted. I was not waiting this. He tried to be calm by deep breathing. Then without waiting my reply he continued to talk with a rigid tone.

"Your mother and I... We both supported your happiness. We didn't want you to involve any diplomatic marriage. You didn't want to be involved any romantic realtionship, either. You are the oldest bachelor prince in the history of the kingdom. At first I thought you were looking for a real love. But now... I'm worried about not being attracted to any woman."

"What do you mean, Your Heighness?"

"You may be the most magnificent prince the kingdom has ever seen. Your intelligence, your talents, your magic power... Everything is extraordinary. Since you are the first candidate to sit on the throne, you try to make everything perfect as the crown prince. Making a good marriage is also part of the job. I am looking for a reason behind your persistent cold attitude towards the marriage issue. Do not laugh but for a while I thought you really liked men. But then I found out that you are looking for someone."

I can't believe my ears right now. And this is not the only issue about my ears. I can feel they turned red because of embarrassment. The thing that I keep secret between my guard and me for years is known by the king now.

Without letting me calm, my father continued to talk.

"I'm not asking you details. I don't wonder your circumsentences but I don't understand why you still couldn't find that girl, either. You are the crown prince of this kingdom. You are mocking me about my being kind and humble as a king but you are a humble foolish as a prince, my son."

Then he got up slowly and began to walk towards me. He put his hand on my shoulder and "Find the future queen of this kingdom by using all the means at your disposal," he said and left the dining room.