Chapter Text
🍁 autumn 🍁
Three piles of sealed envelopes were spread out on the table in front of Tooru, nearly complete with the list of those around the various kingdoms that the prince wanted to invite.
The smallest pile on the left was addressed to the princes and princesses that Tooru personally wrote messages to, they'd be delivered by couriers who were trusted not to screw around and have them delivered in a timely fashion. Karasuno, Shiratorizawa, Nekoma, Fukurodani, Johzenji, Itachiyama, Inarizaki, Date Tech, Mujinazaka, and Kamomedai were all on the extensive list and Tooru spent the last two weeks personalizing his letters to them.
The pile in the middle would be for wealthy noble houses, notable merchants, champions of the coliseum, legendary hunters, remarkable artists, and others of the sort. Tooru took recommendations from his inner circle and his mother on who would be fitting to join this month-long courting event.
The biggest pile to the right would be split up and distributed throughout certified guilds for the commoners to have a chance to win a teal ticket into this event. They were not to be sold; the letter would disintegrate upon any monetary transaction, and that had been an interesting enchantment for Takahiro to work out. They were to be earned through competition such as hunting, dueling, cooking, painting, games…whatever put their skills to the test over simply buying their way in.
Plus the letter would be branded with your name once the royal seal was broken.
All in all, there'd be around one hundred and fifty potential participants from nearly every kingdom seeking out their future mates or possibly just wanting to network or party their ass off next summer, Tooru wasn't going to be too picky about what these people did. What specifically mattered to the prince was throwing a grand courting event that would be remembered for decades to come, one that was inclusive and didn't just invite the same brats over and over.
He might've had other motives too, this was Oikawa Tooru after all.
"I asked my mother for advice about letting Nohebi in," Tooru said as he held up one sealed envelope, idly flipping around in his hand. "She said that she trusted me to make my own decisions concerning a kingdom that may or may not try to kill everyone present."
"That'd be fantastic for the drama." Issei was standing off by the table too; they were surrounded by the taller shelves of books that made up this floor in the castle library.
"Didn't you invite their prince to your birthday last year?" Shigeru, Tooru's personal assistant who'd been helping with writing and sealing all these letters, chimed in "I thought you two got along well… or no one got poisoned and died at least."
"As far as we know." Issei said.
"Suguru swore up and down that his people would behave if they were to come, plus it's been what, fifty, seventy years since their banishment from the courting season?" Tooru replied. "Other than the skirmishes with the kitty cats and owls, it's true Nohebi hasn't thrown themselves into a war as of late…"
"Seventy-five years," Shigeru corrected, "I do think that's more than enough time for them to repent and reflect on their past actions. Plus, you've also shown desires for wanting every kingdom to attend, no matter their past rivalries."
"My mother and sister were absolutely shocked when I said Shiratorizawa was on my list," Tooru mused, getting a few laughs as his friends remembered the queen's reaction quite fondly, "and personally, I have nothing against Nohebi, they've been useful trade partners as well… I do think they've atoned by now."
There weren't any objections as Tooru glanced around; Issei probably didn't give a shit either way if it meant bedding a cute omega, Shigeru argued harder against Shiratorizawa, Takehiro would have more letters to enchant later, Akira had his head in a book, Kentarou had his eyes on Shigeru's ass.
"Hajime? Any comments?"
Tooru's knight was standing opposite of Issei, closer to the prince, but without his full regalia of armor and weapons much like everyone else in here. "Nekoma and Fukurodani won't like it, Karasuno was already iffy on them since you know Kozume and Hinata are tight, but… it'd be hypocritical to keep shunning them for their past generations’ mistakes."
"Alright, then Suguru is in." Tooru set the letter on the royalty pile and they still had a few more matters to sort out before everything could be set into motion. "Have you got my travel itinerary settled?"
Shigeru handed Tooru a smaller, leatherbound notebook from his bag and right on the first page was just what Tooru expected. "Bokkun, that stubborn knothead, he'll be the most difficult to drag away from his precious dragons."
"Just bait him with dragon hunting out on our lands, easy," Issei said, "he has a very one track mind."
"Well yes, but I need him to stay for the whole event, not just spear some poor lizard in the throat and then fuck off back home," Tooru huffed. "Do you know how many courting balls and galas that alpha has been invited to? Do you know how many he's actually attended? None."
"There a reason why he won't go?" Akira's soft voice spoke up in his corner, still looking down at whichever book he was occupying himself with.
"Hates omegas?" Issei said.
"Third in line, no point in getting married when he won't be sitting on the throne anytime soon." Shigeru added.
"Probably wants to hunt more than getting roped into raising a family." Kentarou replied. He would know; it was rare to even see Kentarou in the castle, the famed hunter was always out trying to find the next monster to kill.
Unless he was missing a certain omega.
Tooru clicked his tongue as he skimmed through the excessive history that Shigeru jotted down, Tooru had known Koutarou since they were mere pups and he was always obsessed with fighting and bringing home trophies of the ridiculous monsters he killed. Tooru participated in his own fair share of hunting throughout the years, but Koutarou was carving out his legacy in Fukurodani and throughout their continent as a whole.
Dragons, hydras, griffons, minotaurs, orcs, demons, imps, fae… that alpha was unstoppable. Omegas would soak themselves at the mere mention of his name, fawning over how strong and handsome he was, wishing they could be his mate. Unfortunately that brute hadn't ever courted a single omega in his life and he'd immediately shut down the prospect as well, but Tooru wasn't going to let him skip this.
He would drag that owl kicking and screaming.
"Prince Kozume…" Tooru remarked under his breath, "I just need to pester him enough and he'll give in, I'm not too worried about that kitten."
"He's close with Bokuto and Hinata too, we've got one of them on lock." Issei said with Tooru humming in confirmation; prince Shouyou was the very first to jump on board with the idea in the first place.
"Nekoma also borders Fukurodani, it'd be fitting to visit once you've managed to convince Bokuto to confirm his attendance," Shigeru said. "If not, he may be amenable to coming with us to see Kozume and with his best friend there…"
"Peer pressure, love the strategy Ya-chan," Tooru mused, "Bokuto does have a very hard time saying no to Ken-chan, maybe if he didn't hate the very concept of settling down, they would have shacked up already."
"Their alliance is already dangerously powerful, do not suggest a marriage between the two." Hajime grumbled off to the side.
Tooru wasn't too worried about Kenma rejecting his invitation; he may be known for his reserved and shy attitude, but Tooru knew Kenma had a type if his lingering eyes told Tooru anything during his last birthday party. On the other hand, Kenma's parents were extremely picky, an alpha would need to jump through a dozen hoops to impress them and coming to this courting event would cut them out from the process completely.
Kenma just needed a little shove.
"… Sakusa…" Just the name rolling off of Tooru's tongue had the others sighing or rolling their eyes in distaste, "butter me up with Bokkun and Ken-chan then throw me into a dilapidated hellhole, you hate me, Ya-chan."
"I'm only following your requests, my prince," Shigeru flatly responded. "I would suggest skipping them since they'll be forced to accept the invitation nonetheless in some attempt to save their failing kingdom."
"Why did you listen to past me?" Tooru clicked his tongue as he paused on the sketched out photo of the omega he'd been eyeing, "I'm only showing my face there so we'll secure Kiyoomi, those morons will send their alpha son and no one is idiotic enough to marry into that psychotic family."
"Could always take both," Issei said, "last I counted the ratio was fairly even between omegas and alphas, no?"
"I'm not cruel enough to inflict that alpha on any poor omega, but… I'm willing to compromise." Tooru said, "I'm sure they wonder why no one wants anything to do with them when they're still trapped in their completely backwards ideals."
"I'm just curious how that raggedy nation is still standing, it's ripe for the taking when you consider their resources alone," Kentarou said.
"They invest every gold coin into their army, it's not worth a full scale invasion when it'll turn into a meat grinder and you'll waste your best soldiers trying to force your way through," Tooru replied. "Neither the kitty cats nor owls… or even the snakes are interested in diving into that god awful mess of a kingdom, never mind all the starving peasants you'd need to feed, clothe, properly re-educate? Let them fester until the king dies."
"And you're intent on taking Kiyoomi away from them?" Issei asked.
"I have a soft heart for beautiful and tragic omegas," Tooru flashed a smile as Issei just scoffed, "it's not fair for him to be trapped there. Maybe you can take him as your wife, Mattsun, join me in performing a good deed."
"I'd rather chain myself to Daishou for the rest of my miserable years."
That invoked another round of laughter as Tooru moved onto the next kingdom in their travel plans, by next spring he would have gone through all eleven kingdoms on the continent. Some were huge with piles of wealth and high populations like Karasuno, Fukurodani, Inarizaki. Others were much smaller and powerful in their own right from certain resources and leaders who wouldn't bow down to the bigger nations like Kamomedai and Mujinazaka.
Then there were the ones inbetween… and Itachiyama. Tooru never went there in person, but there were plenty of galas that invited the heads of royalty to gather and that omega often caught his eye once he was old enough to travel with his parents. He had zero interest in mating him, that was way too much potential baggage even for Tooru to handle, but he took pity as Kiyoomi was forced to isolate away from everyone else.
Mistreated by his older brother and father and… who knows what else happened behind closed doors. If anything, this was also a great opportunity for omegas to escape their home life and hopefully wind up with a decent alpha, if there was an alpha who would look past Kiyoomi's dreadfully heinous lineage. Tooru could only try to pull strings where possible…
Their group settled on their travel plans just before dinner was to take place, they'd be leaving for Fukurodani next week and Tooru wanted to keep their party light and somewhat covert. Kunimi would be trusted to stay behind to take care of any affairs on the prince's behalf, while Shigeru, Kentarou, Issei, Takehiro, and Hajime were traveling with him.
The letters would be sent off in the morning and Tooru was excited; Seijoh had been host to courting events in the past, but nothing on this scale, nothing that'd have the attention of all. People would be vying to get in, they'd read the snippets and updates in the papers on their favorite princes and princesses, they'd be privy to those falling in love and fighting each other over an omega.
Things were in motion now…
"Hajime~" Tooru was wrapped up in a fluffy robe after exiting his steaming bath, he should take advantage of the royal treatment he's been spoiled with… soon enough he'd have to be sleeping under the stars with all that… wildlife.
His knight smelled freshly washed too, the omega lingering by the balcony as the door was wide open and Tooru took him in a hug from behind. He planted soft kisses along Hajime's neck, getting a faint purr when his tongue licked his unmarked scent gland. Mine.
"Are you going to mate anyone?" Hajime was blunt with the question as Tooru tightened the hold around his waist.
"You know I'll be too busy running everything behind the scenes, I don't have time to entertain any omegas who aren't you."
"But they'll still want your attention."
"And I'll play along, but you're the only omega that I've ever put my knot in and that'll never change." Tooru's hand went to slip into Hajime's yukata, shamelessly groping his chest. "I love you, Hajime, no one else."
Tooru smelled the sweetness spilling from Hajime's scent gland within moments, that faint purr was a steady rumble as the omega turned his head to press a kiss to Tooru's lips. They'd been together much too long for Tooru to have eyes for anyone else, if that were even possible…
He remembered his father trying to keep them apart, claiming Tooru shouldn't associate with a filthy peasant like Iwaizumi, but that man was long dead by now. It was only a shame that he wasn't around long enough to see that scrawny pup transform into a big, strong knight that devoted his life to Tooru.
"Were you actually worried or did you want to hear it?" Tooru's hand slipped down a little further, fingertips grazing Hajime's tan skin and defined muscles.
"Both… you know they'll be on your ass about getting engaged…"
"I'll keep telling them to fuck off, I'm the prince and I can do whatever I please, including you."
Hajime absolutely rolled his eyes at that, but didn't stop his prince from walking him over to his bed, watching as one of the most powerful men in all of Seijoh fell to his knees.
"I'll make you forget all those silly thoughts, my love."
This time next week they'd be bound for Fukurodani, but Tooru was only interested in the glorious, slick bounty between Hajime's legs right about now. Couldn't have his knight doubting his love for him.