After the Southern state royal family made up the decision to ask the Nubian sen to visit, they prepared to welcome him. Although not every elder or court member agrees to the match, they still had to respect the King's orders.
A week later, Jang Malchen was officially invited to dinner at the Yun royal palace in the Southern state on a weekend. He came baring rare but thoughtful gifts and dressed impeccably. His beautiful brown skin like the most premium bourbon and full dark long afro curls neatly packed in a bun and braided all the way to his back. His mythical sharp grey gold wolf eyes, added with his sweet mouth, impeccable manners and most impressively -his height, gradually won the hearts of the MinJun's parents.
He introduced himself as Minjun hyung's boyfriend who has the prospect of marriage.
That added another point of approval from the royal family. It was quite a nice dinner date all together. Minjun was told to take the charming sen around the palace and then show him to his quarters.
To say the least the crown prince was surprised but felt warmth creeping in his heart. He shyly nods in response. MalChen gave a deep elegant bow to the king and queen. The older couple gives a nod back. A gentle warm smile etched on the faces.
'As long as our baby is truely happy and safe, everything else doesn't matter' his mother thought to herself
'My boy has fantastic taste. Went straight for the most dangerous family in the Empire. Who dares stop his rightful ascension now will definitely ascend to the neither worlds. Like father like son!' the king proudly thought
Since his ascension to the throne, the King has had to fight with his father's siblings and their children. He was the only surviving child of his parents and there are many other strong sens in the royal family. But fortunately he was well trained by the water and ice nomads from his mother's side. That's how he met and fell in love with his Queen. They were only 31 percent a match and she is a mermaid princess but he had insisted on marrying her.
Which was the best decision he had ever made. After their engagement was set, it was revealed that her twin brother is to be an Imperial Emperor consort. The entire southern court was stunned at the turn of events since the Imperial family are very private about the identities of the Emperor and his family. That had firmly consolidated his seat as King. Now that his first child is going to take over the throne, his choice of partner will determine how well the court will support him. And the Jang family is more than strong enough to back his little Snow-Fish. That eases him up a lot.
After the young ones left, the king and queen shared a look of satisfaction and headed to their chamber to rest. They calmly shared memories of their little ven who grew up to be a menace in the financial world and now bringing home his first boyfriend.
"Our baby is all grown up now yeobo"
"Mm. Our little Snow-Fish is a big Snow-Fish now" king Yun chuckles
********
The next day, the king and queen bid good bye to the sen and their son as they return back to the capital with lots of gifts for MalChen and his family. After that, they went to face the morning court with a deep breath in and calmly released it.
As predicted, a few councillors still had a thing or more to say about the Sen's densely packed tattoos.
"It is in his bloodline and culture. Incase you forget he is half Nubian Councillor" The King says rather impatiently now. He is getting tired of the insistent nagging
"Just like the crown prince's glittering diamond body and hetochromania eyes" the queen adds referring to her glittering pearl like body. High gene grade mermaids are birthed in rare magical pearl sacs. Which acts as a nutrient source till they are two years old before coming out to see the under water magical world. After that they spend a good chunk of their lives in the in the ocean and rarely come to the surface world. Except for the wealthy and nobles who tend to send their children to the surface world to learn, the bold merfolks wanting to persue an active life on there and those that represent their colony. When these merfolks get to the surface they are as pearly white as the the finest rarest naturally glazed pearls.
"Also my royal self do think it quite adds to his charm. Doesn't it your majesty?" the Queen is full of smiles. How great it is to have such a charming handsome future son-law. Now she can boast to her annoying siblings and cousins who always tease her for being the youngest. She's going to be a mother inlaw!!
"But Your Royal Majesty.. the sen is a demon wolf"
"Don't be silly Councillors" the Queen retorts with a frown "sen Jang MalChen is a mythical Hell Hound and young holy priest from the powerful Jang family and Nubian Holy tribe. A strong devil blood mix with human and holy blood"
"My future son in law is more powerful than a mere demon" she states almost too proudly
"..."
"..."
"Does the Council know the Jang siblings are now every noble aristocrats dream son in law?" The King asks looking around his council.
They nod.
"So that is more than enough to have him with us before it's too late don't you think?"
They all agreed.
"And from what the Crown Prince has told us, there's a high chance sen Jang Malchen's older brother- sen Jang Jisoo-ssi may marry a Min ven in the future" he reveals. Looking at the stunned looks of the council.
"No need to mention how interconnected the Min family is to the entire upper class. My royal self don't think you all will want to miss this great opportunity right?" He teased
"..of course not!! Your Majesty I vote that we let them love and marry each other" a minister encourages
"I vote in support!!"
"I also vote in support!!"
Suddenly the entire court voted in agreeing to the the union of the two young men. The king and queen laughs in amusement. If they had known, they would have pulled out the Min card in the beginning of the session and they wouldn't have needed to prolong the issue.
After that day, it was anonymously agreed that they will be extra mindful and welcoming of the young sen the next time he came for a visit.
**************
On the other side, Minjun is all cuddled up in his boyfriend arms as he lazily glides through his clan work. They are on their way back to the capital and still in MinJun's private jet.
Music plays in the background as MalChen adjust his position to lay down. Carrying his Cheonsa along.
Minjun wasn't surprised and let his body be adjusted. His eyes were tired from all the work he might as well sleep.
"Would my Cheonsa like to meet my family?" MalChen sleepily asks
"I would love to" Minjun answers softly
When they arrived to the capital, MalChen gave his parents and siblings the heads-up he wants to introduce his boyfriend to the family.
The Jang family agrees and extends the invitation for the next family dinner.
When crown prince Minjun got the invite, he was a bit nervous. He had to consult with his uncle on what to do. The Imperial Emperor Consort sent someone to help teach the etiquette and prepare him for the upcoming dinner. Days later it is the day of the Jang family dinner. To say Minjun was nervous from beginning is an understatement. He made sure to look his best and crossed check all the gifts he was taking several times.
MalChen had to kiss him for a few minutes before he finally calmed down. To the sen, it was amusing to see his usually composed and calm boyfriend be all nervous and fidgety. He had to reassure the senior several times that everything will be fine. Before they got to the Jang family territory, MalChen turns to his beloved and ask for his right hand
Minjun gave it to him. He is amazed to see MalChen write a spell on the back of his hand with his left pinkie finger. Blood like mist integrated into his hand. Turning into an inscription that Minjun can't read.
"There's a boundary wall surrounding our territory. Without an official invite or key, no one can find the way in" Chen explains
"This is a temporary key and also a protection barrier against the devil energy in there. It can corrode the soul in seconds without good protection"
Minjun is impressed. Every family that has territories has various ways and reasons to create gated enchantments that keep curious intruders away. Some barriers also act as teleportation walls to a different country or dimensions.
And for the first time in his life, Minjun was going into the devil territory. Unlike the demons who are the second tier of the spiritual dark side, the devil's are the first tiers. And the top tier is the one whose name has been wiped from existence. Although the name and entire worshippers has been wiped from existence, their blood and tales still makes them the top tier evils. The devils now are more like prisoners in hell that were unjustly stolen and locked there as a way to retaliate against the Almighty. Their souls are too corroded so they went through the cleansing of rebirth. That's how some have inner hell beast that contains their true soul and power. The Jangs are mythical hellhound that have been reborn into an immensely powerful and blood lust spiritual family.
MalChen is amused to see Minjun curious and awed by his little spell. They entered the barrier and Minjun can clearly tell the difference as his eyes go wide. He is surprised to see lush vegetable and fruit farms on each side of the very wide road. Then they drove through different streets before finally arriving in the simple villa like home. Infront stood the Jang head butler and a few servants standing behind someone waiting to welcome them. MalChen introduced the stunning dark skinned ethereal being who welcomed then with a smile and a bow.
"This is Nan Sha-ma. The family's spirit guide"
Minjun gave a formal royal curtsey which the ethereal being returned with a gentle smile
"Welcome your highness" it says
Minjun hears in his head. He is stunned and a bit frightened. He turns to look at his boyfriend who gently nods at him. That somehow eases his heart.
"Thank you Nan Sha-ma" he cautiously replies
They are escorted in but Nan Sha-ma didn't follow them. The head butler made sure all the gifts brought were carefully carried inside. Which didn't really surprise the Jang family. They welcomed the two and Minjun finally gets to meet the entire Jang family.
Seeing Jisoo, his clan member also eased him up a lot more. But it still felt a little intimidating meeting his boyfriend's family for the first time. Now he understands how the sen had felt just a week ago.
The Jang parents told Minjun not to bring gifts the next time around. There are a lot of treasures from the Northern Snow Seas as part of the gifts.
Minjun deflates a bit.
"Ammah just thinks that as elders, we should be the ones giving you all the gifts as a welcome into the family" A Di-Sa smiles.
He feels affectionate towards the beautiful little merman.
MalChen chuckles at his very adorable boyfriend.
"You are soo cute my CheonSa" he pecks the pale white cheek.
Making MinJun blush a cherry pink with a stunned look. He is still trying to get used to the random smooches from his Sen. And he likes it. A lot.
'But we are in front of his family!!' he blushed hard
It was safe to say, meeting with the Jang mafia family went very well. Crown Prince MinJun was born with immaculate ethereal looks. And as a snow merman, he has seen his fair share of godly beauties.
But for all that he has lived, MinJun can swear to all that is Holy that, never had his swirly snow like eyes been blessed to see such unworldly devine graceful gorgeousness of pure breathing melanin before. The Jang family are just too highly favored.
But now, Minjun felt he was being too highly favored himself. Because he wanted to stay and explore the territory the next day, Abbah and Ammah set up a special villa close to them so the young ven could comfortably stay and explore around the next day.
Abbah did another spell inscription on the back of his right hand. Much stronger than MalChen's spell.
The first two daughters were surprised by their parents sudden gentle nature.
"Bring me a son or daughter in-law and I'd still treat them better than you all" Ammah states
"Same" Abbah agrees
"..."
"..."
"..."
MalChen laughs as Minjun brightens up. He really likes his future in-laws.