"Let's always stay by each other's side.
Never let go of my hand."
All With You - TaeYeon

It's already 9 p.m. when they finished their dinner. Earth and Fluke are heading toward the Royal Vault from the dining room. Earth's public proposal is in two days. The official proposal for the whole country to witness. That is why he is heading to the Vault.

The Royal Vault is located on the third floor, East side of the Royal Palace. It contains all the precious jewelry, tiaras, and crowns that the Royal Family has. Many of them were gifted from different countries, dated back a few centuries. Therefore, all the jewels in the Vault are priceless. Yes, PRICELESS. They are one of a kind, wore only by Royals. No money could ever pay for their worth. The Vault has high security technology. Only the King, Queen, first and second person in line of succession have access to the Vault.

Every time there is a Royal event, the family would come here to choose their jewelry, including engagement rings. Fluke is helping Earth picking for Kao's engagement ring tonight.

The two Princes slightly gasp when the Vault's door opened. No matter how many times they have came in here, they are still in awe with the beauty of all the jewelry. Every piece has its own history, its own specialty to captivate the human eyes. They head toward the glass tables that hold all the rings.

"What do you have in mind for him, Earth?" Fluke asks his brother while he takes out a sapphire ring and try it on his finger. He saw his father wore it once.

"Something that fit his personality and has his favorite color. He likes black. It cannot be so extravagant because he does a lot of physical activities. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable while wearing it, fearing of damaging the ring." Earth tells his brother. He takes out a band that contains 3 black diamonds surrounded with small blue sapphires around the band. "What do you think of this one?"

"Ouch Earth, you are gonna hurt people eyes with that much diamonds." Fluke manages to pull a joke while rejecting his brother's choice.

They move to the next table when they couldn't find anything that they like in the first one.
"How about this one, Earth?" This time Fluke takes out another ring. It is a black band with a rose gold cut surrounding the ring. There is a white round diamond on the cut.

(A/N: Imagine the black line is rose-gold)

    "That is a nice one. I like it!" Earth exclaims on Fluke's choice.

    They look for another 30 minutes, taking out some more rings only to put them back. Then, Earth takes out another black gold ring. On top of it is three small diamonds that run down the ring. The three diamonds are in white, blue, and green. This ring was actually the wedding ring of the 20th King of Alethea. It was a gift from Egypt, offer to Alethea for the happy celebration.

(A/N: Imagine the band as black instead of silver)

    "OOOHHH! I really like that one Earth. I think that will look really good on him. You should pick that one." Fluke excitedly says.

"Really? Then I will pick this one. I'm glad I'm able to pick one that fit him." Earth looks at the ring in his hand. His eyes are sparkling with the thought of putting it on Kao's finger. His cheeks flush with color. His face expresses only happiness.

Fluke absorbs all of that into his memory. It has been awhile since he saw his brother look so happy like that. He is glad that Earth had found someone that can stay by his side for the rest of his life.   

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The Throne room is filled with the press today. There are at least 50 different news channels surrounding the room. Tina is busy walking around the room, making sure all the cameras and reporters are where they are suppose to be. Beside the press, the room is also beautifully decorated for the special event that is occurring soon.

The Crown Prince's Public Proposal.

As a tradition and rule of Alethea, the Proposal of the Crown Prince/Princess must be public. The person being proposed would have to swear, in front of the whole nation, that he/she would put the nation first, supporting the Crown Prince/Princess for the rest of their lifetime. The ceremony is almost as close as the swear-in ceremony of soldiers. Others could say it is the same as becoming a soldier, since getting married into the Royal Family is getting married into the battlefield. Rules, drama, etiquette, and many more.

Kao is mindlessly sitting on the armchair of the guest room. He has on the newest tailored black tuxedo. His hair styled up, showing his manly face to the world. The sunlight casting on his body, giving him the godlike appearance that many men would get jealous.

In a few minutes, his life will change to another page, a page that his father had been waiting for. It's funny how a few months ago, he loathed his father for making him doing this, being a pawn in his father's hand, once again. However, Earth changed his heart. He healed his heart, after being broken by many people. Yet, he is still fighting with himself. He doesn't know what to do, whether to wholeheartedly loving Earth back or following the promise he had made to a person. A person who he did, does, and will still love no matter what. Each day he spent with Earth, he can feel how wildly his heart beat for the man. And yet, another part of him kept on reminding him about the promise.

The knock on the door interrupted him from his thoughts.  He mutters a "come in" to the person outside. The guard opens the door and announces that it's time to go. Kao quickly stands up, fixes his outfit, and follows the guard. He quickly arrived in front of the Throne Room. The door is closed. He can spot The Royal Family, who are standing in front of him, waiting for the time to enter. Kao's eyes stopped on Earth's body. His lover is wearing his ceremony uniform, white dress pant and black button down vest. Even the crown on his head is special, for events like this. Each spike contains different diamonds.

Like an instinct, Earth turns his head when he felt an intense stare at his back. His frowning face immediately changes into a gentle smile when he realized it was Kao. He smiles wider when Kao gave him a small wink, assuring him that he is there, ready for the next event between them.

The loud voice of Tina broke their little moment. The King and Queen stepped into the Throne Room when the door opened. All the reporters stand up and pay respect to their leader. Follow them are Earth and Fluke. The camera flash fills the room, blinding the already bright room. Every reporter wants good pictures to report later. The live cameras have also started filming the ceremony.

Kao stays at the door, waiting for his turn. The King greets  his citizens through the cameras. He announced the important ceremony of the Crown Prince. Kao tried to focused on the speech of his future father-in-law; yet he couldn't. At that moment, the eye contact between him and his lover took hold of his world. His heart, once again, beats wildly whenever the man is in his view. In a few minutes, he will officially become the man's fiancée, in front of a while country, or a whole world.

"The promise, Kao. It's my last favor I asked of you, please don't forget." And yet, once again, the voice of that person intercept his wild feeling; causing his emotion to wince in agony. Will there be one day when he can abandon this plan and promise for Earth?

Earth and Kao's eye contact is interrupted when Earth moves to the center of the throne room. Earth looks straight into the camera, his smiling face is appearing onto every televisions of the country.
"Hello, Alethea citizens. It is my pleasure to have everyone attention, today, on my important day. I am the Crown Prince of Alethea. As the heir to the throne, I have many responsibilities for my country. One of my responsibilities is to choose a person as my life partner, who has all qualities that can help me serve my country. As you have known, I have been in a relationship with the son of Duke Dechaphatthanakun, Earl Kao Dechaphatthanakun." At the mention, the cameras briefly turn to Kao's father, who is standing near the throne at the front of the room. "After 4 months, I have observed many good qualities from him. Hence, this day has come. Today, I will offer marriage proposal to him, asking him to stand by my side and serving Alethea with me for the rest of our lives."

As Earth finishes his speech, Tina signals for Kao. All the cameras change their focuses to the door of the Throne Room. Kao confidently walks toward Earth. His eyes never leave the man in front of him. He stops, 3 steps away from Earth. Then, Kao kneels down on one knee, his head bowed, like a Knight who is swearing in to his King. "Your Majesties and Your Highness."

Earth slightly smiles at the man in front of him, small enough that nobody could see. He speaks again, "Earl Kao Noppakao Dechaphatthanakun, I present myself and Alethea today, to ask for your hand in marriage, to become my Prince Consort. Will you take this offer and promise to all the citizens of Alethea that you will stay by my side, supporting me in serving the country,  and giving it the top priority for the rest of your life?"

The whole room becomes silent, waiting on Kao's response. Although, everyone already knew the answer. Yet, the intense silent in the room is still nerve wrecking. After 5 long seconds, Kao finally speaks.

"I, Earl Kao Noppakao Dechaphatthanakun, accept your offer in marriage. I promise to give all my life in serving my country and staying by your side. In every situation, I will put Alethea and its citizens as my top priority."

As Kao finished, Fluke walks toward the couple. He gives the ring to Earth. Earth then takes the ring out of the black velvet box. He holds Kao's left hand and puts the beautiful black ring onto his finger. "Please take this ring, let it be the symbol for your promise today to Alethea."

The ring fits perfectly on Kao's finger, like it was meant for him. Kao feels the weight of it on his finger. This is it. He is officially the fiancée of a Crown Prince. He should be happy; but, he can't feel it. All he felt is despair.

Is it too late for him to get out of this mess? To stop becoming a pawn for others? Can he save himself and his heart?

A hurricane is forming in the horizon.