It was a glorious day for the Han Kingdom! The first baby of the royal family had arrived! It was a boy! The new prince was the talk of the kingdom. Everyone was waiting for the reveal of King Han and the Queen's son.
The kingdom was at a time of great stress, and now, there was some relief. However, what most citizens didn't know, was the agreement that had been made.
In the neighboring country, tension was high. There was a royal baby in the Han Kingdom, the sworn enemy of the Lee Kingdom. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the royal family was having the most trouble. At this time, the king, the eldest son of the late King Lee, was sitting on his throne, his head aching.
"What do you mean, it's a boy?" he asked, shaking his head, the beads on his crown shaking in his face. "We were promised a girl!"
The king's right hand man stood at the foot of the throne. He was a wise old man, who wanted nothing more than to help the young king. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I was assured... but-"
"HOW ARE WE TO STOP A WAR, WHEN THEY HAVE A BOY?" King Lee let his rage slip as he shouted loud enough for the servants passing by outside to be spooked.
Advisor Bae bowed his head. "Your Majesty! They will have more children! We can make a new agreement, when a princess is born!"
King Lee shook his head. "No... I don't know if these kingdoms can wait that long. Advisor Bae... what should I do?" he said in a broken voice. "I... I don't know how to fix this!"
Advisor Bae stayed silent for a while. "We... we must wait. There is no way a prince can marry another prince. So, we will... have to wait for a princess!"
King Lee nodded slowly, gaining back his composure. "But, we need... some way to diffuse the tension in our kingdoms... What if we were to send Prince Minho, Prince Min-hyung, Prince Jihoon, and Princess Ji-eun to the Han Kingdom, to greet the new prince. How would that do?"
Advisor Bae thought for a moment, before nodding. "That.... that's not a bad idea, Your Majesty!
King Lee sighed, slumping into the throne. "Good. Make the arrangements now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
~oOo~
"Hyung! Hyung! Hyungnim! Please, don't make me go!" Four-year-old Prince Lee Minho shook his head in disbelief as he hung onto his older brother's leg.
King Min-hyuk stared down at him with a sigh.
King Minhyuk loved his youngest brother the most, all the princes did. All three did, and their sister too.
While Princess Ji-eun and Prince Jihoon's mother had been the queen, King Minhyuk, Prince Min-hyung, and Prince Minho's mother had been the first to rule. And King Minhyuk had been appointed Crown Prince by his father. This was what the kingdom had wanted, and now, Prince Minho was the crown prince. Everyone wanted it this way, and he was the most loved in the kingdom. All the siblings agreed. However, that did not mean that he was the most mature at this point.
Prince Jihoon picked up his brother and tickled him as he walked towards the horses that stood by the box that Princess Ji-eun would be riding in. "Come on, Minho. You're riding with me right?"
"Right!" the youngest prince declared, his unwillingness forgotten. "I want to ride with Jihoon-hyung!"
"Hey! Aren't you going to say goodbye to your loving older brother?" King Minhyuk smirked as Minho squirmed to look back at his older brother. "Let me down, hyung! Let me down!" Jihoon set Minho back down on the ground, and the little prince ran towards the king.
King Minhyuk squatted down, ignoring the fact that his robe was dragging on the ground. "Hey!" Minho ran right into his arms. "You be good, okay? Say hello to the Han Prince, alright?"
"Yes, hyungnim!" Minho looked up at his brother with big, bright eyes. "I promise!"
"Good boy!" King Minhyuk stood up and looked down fondly at Minho. "Go! Ride with Jihoon-hyung! He'll give you the most room!"
"You know, just because I'm short, doesn't mean I'm deaf!" Jihoon declared to his older brother.
Princess Ji-eun shook her head. She was the eldest here, a year older than the king. She would be the queen, if her brother didn't marry. And he may not... since he didn't not love females. She picked up her brother. "Or do you want to ride inside with your sister?"
"I want to ride the horse!" Minho declared, reaching out with his hands towards the two horses that waited.
"Which one do you want to ride?" Jihoon asked. "Hyung is riding that one!" he pointed to the lighter chestnut one.
"I'm going to ride the dark one!" Min-hyung declared, trying to get his brother to pick him. "Do you see that star? See how pretty that one is?"
Prince Minho shook his head, squirming so his sister put him down. The little toddler ran off, towards the barn that held the palace's horses. "Hey!" Prince Jihoon yelped, running after his brother. Princess Ji-eun picked up her dress and chased after him as well, while Prince Min-hyung just laughed, and King Minhyuk watched in amusement.
(An: First, I know this is not what the horses in Korea looked like, but please ignore that. Also, I'm going to stop writing prince, or princess, or king for the most part unless it's necessary.)
Jihoon last track of the toddler. "No! Where is he!" he bent over to catch his breath. Ji-eun caught up as well. "Did you lose him?"
"Yeah."
"HYUNG!" came a loud yell. Jihoon looked around, and spotted Minho standing at the entrance of the stable. "Hyung! Come here!"
"Yes?" Jihoon jogged up next to the youngest prince.
"I want to ride this one!" he was pointing up at a tall, grey, foreign looking horse.
Jihoon narrowed his eyes. "This one?"
Minho nodded. "This one!"
Jihoon turned to the stable-keeper. "Can he ride this one?"
The keeper gulped. "Your Highness, this horse has not been trained by us yet! He is very young, and he may bite, or-"
Jihoon glanced at the horse, who had lowered his head, and was being stroked by Minho. "I don't think that will be a problem... just get it ready alright?"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Jihoon nodded, and picked Minho up. "Just wait, alright?" he said, carrying Minho back to where the other horses were standing. "Do you think you can ride alone?"
"Yes! Of course Hyung! Min-hyung-hyungnim has been teaching me!"
"Oh really?" Jihoon carried Minho, and set him down in front of Minhyuk. "Then, you'll be fine right?"
"Do you really trust him on a horse alone?" Ji-eun asked, narrowing her eyes.
Min-hyung nodded. "He's good. He can ride by himself. Just, someone has to keep an eye on him, alright?"
Jihoon nodded. "I can do that! Plus, I don't think he'll want to ride with one of us now!"
Ji-eun sighed, but nodded. "Fine." she stared at the tall horse as it was lead out to the others. "That one?"
Minho nodded, with gleaming, happy eyes. "Isn't he handsome? Right, Cho?"
Ji-eun laughed. "You're naming him Cho?"
"Cho?" Min-hyung smiled.
Minho nodded. "He's handsome! So his name is Cho!"
Minhyuk nodded, before picking his brother up, and stepping towards the tall horse. He set the prince on the saddle, and smiled up at him. "Will you be alright?"
"Yes, Hyungnim!"
"Good. Be safe, alright?" Minhyuk nodded towards the herd of soldiers that would be riding or walking next to the royal family. Jihoon lifted himself up on his horse, and Min-hyung had already done so. Ji-eun stepped into her box, and the royal family started on their way to go meet the Han Kingdom's new prince.
Just some quick clarifying notes.
Minho, Min-hyuk and Min-hyung have a different mother then Jihoon and Ji-eun. This was not unusual, and in ancient Korean, the king often if not always had multiple wives. Jihoon and Ji-eun's mother has been dead for some time, and Minho's mother and father's deaths will be coming up in the future.
At the current moment, the queen's role is undecided and up for debate, as Min-hyuk's grandmother as well as Ji-eun could be set up in this spot.
Also, this is not real, so it is not the same as real ancient Korea, and a lot will be different. The way the siblings address their brother, the king, is not going to be realistic because I want them to have a close relationship as siblings. Realistically it would be far more formal.
Thanks for hanging in there, as our story begins. I hope you enjoyed it!