#Peasant gwen au | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

aphroditesmoon · 1 year ago

Text

♡-;meadowlarks (I)

gwen stacy x fem!spidergirl!queen!reader (medievel au)

summary: when miguel accidentally sends gwen into a medievel timeline instead of her own after revoking her watch privileges, she sees it as a curse, but you, currently facing multiple challenges after the death of your father, the king, and the escape of a wild beast, finds that you'd appreciate the help.

warnings: hurt/comtort ,fluff, typical medieval sexism, trauma, kissing/makeout(INCOMING CHAPTERS), gore, grief, hesitant partners to friends to lovers, reader has fire powers, tiny bit internal homophobia, reader needs a nap, reader is touch starved, death, mutilation, witchcraft.

taglist; @kamaluhkhan @rissslays-parttwo @marytargaryen @darkstreaks @gwenisasilly @asher-kaden @macncheesemonster @miikshook @marianeski @reeags @goosetheluce @4cepink @yuennie

@primaviva

wordcount; 6.5k

a/n: testing out the waters w this one! 100 notes and I'll do a part 2 <33

▪︎ “AS THE WINTER TURNS THE MEADOW BROWN, YOU GO WHEREVER YOU GO TODAY” ▪︎

°°°°°

THERE ARE THREE thing anyone who’s lived in Old York Meadowlarks for at least a year would notice. The first, is that there had not been any Meadowlarks for nearly two centuries. The specific bird had been declared extinct. The second thing is that it never snows here. There are colder seasons sure, seasons where the winds could freeze you. But no one existing in the realm knew what snow even was. And finally, the third one is, there are no beasts in Meadowlarks.

The people survived through their fair share of thieves and criminals, and wild animals too. But monstrous beasts had remained a folklore. Bedtime stories to scare the children into doing their chores and stay off the woods past 8 O’clock.

And yet, here you are. Not a week after your father’s death, his only heir, now queen, and of course, the secret but very much known Lady Spider, standing inside a layered forest, currently covered in thick white flakes and ice-cold snow , meeting your fate against a minotaur.

Unlike the folktales, this minotaur doesn’t speak. He only growls and chases you to your death with incredible speed. “What the fuck?” was the only thing you’ve been asking yourself for the past 8 hours. You’ve caught mutants before, deformed humans, a consequence of their own black magic curse, but nothing completely inhuman as such.

What’s next? A unicorn?

The beast claws at the tree you’re currently hanging on, climbing up quickly despite his heavy weight, forcing you to latch on other trees faster. It wasn’t that you were incompetent, but merely confused. You wonder if you’ll just swing yourself at him if you tried to fight one on one. You weren’t taking the risk. Making sure he stayed chasing you, the path you were leading him on was into a bear trap. Something to keep him still for a while. Your fingers ache as they clench and unclench with your jumping from tree to tree.

Bold and dim as you expected the beast followed and fell into the hole with a roar, the net set immediately tying themselves around him. “Silly bull, should’ve stayed on all fours.” You muttered to yourself. It grumbles incoherently. Not a second of peace after, peasants from the further parts of the wood scrambles to view the dangerous state you were in. The bear trap being set off, including the terrible sounds the minotaur made, had called for attention. “Armageddon is coming!” An older woman shouted, shielding her son. The crowd makes a circle around you and the monster. Clutching their crosses in fear yet remaining like they're enjoying a circus show.

“Please, everyone. Unless you’d like it eat you first once it breaks free, run.” You yelled out, only gathering more people in. “Gods above, help me.” The minotaur growls again, tearing itself through the net. The people flinched and took steps backwards as the beast tosses and turned. “Move away or get burned.” You shouted, warning them for no less than a minute before blasting fire towards it. Smoke flew all around you as the children and their parents screamed while running off. That’ll do it, you thought as the air began to clear.

But gods no, the unconscious beast jolted, and your heart dropped. It’s fur and skin were already burnt off, but it’s still moving. You swung yourself on a tree above it, sword sliding off your hips into your hands. You hesitated at first, but once the creature’s eyes snapped open, You jumped. Your sword pushed through its right eyeball, earning a screech from it as blood flowed out from the now empty socket.

You pull your sword back out and flung your webs around him, tightening the trap.

The monster clawed at you then, from his restraints. The aggressiveness making you flinch and drop your sword to the ground. “Fuck.” Its arm stretches out against your web, and shoved you hardly off the net. Your balance fails and you a screamed a rare scream as gravity wins. Flinging your arms around, you panic when you found no stable source to swing yourself on. As quick as a flash, your heart lept when instead of banging your head on hard and now apparently cold snow, You’re swung hard to your left, making you scream louder before your hands make quick to wrap themselves around the body that just saved you.

“I’d love to just be fighting minotaurs all day, we don’t have that much in New york.” It was a girl.

And that wasn’t the most bizarre fact. She was wearing an apparel like no other, and she was swinging with you attached to her like a monkey, the same way you could. “Oh my god this is a dream.” It had to be. You must be hallucinating. The priests had told you it could happen. Grieve often leads to hysterics, especially for women.

But what the church and council didn’t know, is that you do not grieve your father or the man that he was. The man he could’ve been, maybe. But that was a different story.

You feel the wind howl harsher, the cold feels like a bitter sting at your skin. "This is not a dream, unfortunately for us both.” The girl spoke before she loosen her grip for you to swing yourself again. “This doesn’t make sense. Who are you?” You countered. Too many questions to ask. “I’m spider-girl, like you.” She answers simply, retangling the creature. “You’ve got any idea how to fix this?" Rationalizing enough remaining stabilty, you nodded. “Yeah.” You let her try to maintain the grip while you snatch your sword back up and move towards it, aim sharp.

“Back down.” You warned before slicing it through it’s neck, cutting off the minotaur’s head.

You land on your feet the same time the head falls. Your toes are freezing as it steps on the ground. The blood from the bull's decapitated head spreads all over the snow. It's body still inside the worn out net. That is a problem for the townsfolk to handle today.

The girl lands behind you, footsteps gentle when she moves. “A sword, pretty cool. Pretty heavy too huh?” You turn around to meet her. She wears a skin fitting white suit with a hood over her head, the type of clothing that would’ve had her burned as a witch a few hundred years ago. “If you’re not careful with your next words, you’ll feel just how heavy.”

She backtracks immediately, putting her hands up in defense. “Woah-hey, I just helped you kill that thing.” She reasons with you, hesitating to come closer. “That thing, came out of nowhere, and so do you. For the past 5 years, I’ve been the only Lady-spider here, how do I know that everything going on has nothing to do with you?”

You were fiercer than usual, maybe. But you would take no chances with the amounts of passings and tragedies your kingdom has gone through this past week. “Lady-Spider? That sounds old, no offense.” You frowned. “Look around, you’re in Old York!” Her shoulder drops. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense.” You realized then that she’s probably not a threat to you. But it does not mean she’s not the cause of all this.

Sighing tiredly, you cracked your knuckles and rubbed them together to ease the sharp winter it’s feeling. “Why are you here?” You demanded again as you begin to walk back out the forests, eyes tracking the dead beast's footprints againts the snow, now beginning to fade. Following from behind, You hear her talk distantly. “I’m…from a different universe. I wish I could give a better explanation, but that’s it. There’s a whole spider society of other spidermen like us in other universes, and I kind of accidentally got thrown here.” You stop in your tracks, turning to her again.

“Other Spidermen?” She nods. “So, you’re me?’ Her eyes widen through her mask as she shakes her head. “Oh no, not at all. I mean sometimes there’s a version of you somewhere else that is also Spiderman, but I’m pretty sure you’re not me.” You take a moment staring at her, trying to process the most insane thing to happen today.

“Take off your mask?” She cocks her head. “Take off your mask, and tell me your name. Only then I’ll believe you.” She scoffs at your words. “I don’t owe you anything, and what would I need you trust for anyways?” It was your turn to be amused now, smiling under your mask. “There is nowhere in this place you could roam freely, without my permission. And no, I’m not exaggerating.” You notice her hesitancy and waited for an answer. “My name is Gwen. Gwen Stacy.”

She would not take her mask off yet, but so far, her name would do. Giving the sky a quick glance, the sun burns a bright reminder for lunch. You wondered how much chastise you’d get from Alistair. “You’re coming with me, Gwen.”

^^^

You had made sure you’d be left alone after your coronation for grieving’s cause. The ceremony was a gloomy one for both you and the council. Dislike was etched all over their faces as the crown was fitted on your head. A 17 year old girl was not their idea of a good ruler. But everyone who knew the game of politics would also know well that the worst kind of law breakers are the ones who made the laws in the first place. They'd rather a corrupt man for their own advantages than a queen of peace.

Slinging back into your room with Gwen, you decided that grieve had to wait, for the worst part of all this was yet to come. She takes a seat on the edge of your purple sheeted king bed, eyes roaming around the rest of the large bedroom. Soon, you noticed how she focuses on the large painting of your late mother. Your hand instinctively went the long necklace with a single pearl on your neck that she had worn for the painting. “Maybe, this is your canon event.” You hear Gwen suggest as you change into a black dress with silver lines drawn by the waist. Your hood and leather jacket is tossed into your closet after you stuck your mask under a drawer.

Giving yourself a glance at the mirror, running your fingers through your dishevelled hair and hoping everyone else would excuse the red rims under your eyes for a state of mourning.

“Your father died, and not a week after, things you claimed to be impossible here, happened.” You trusted her words easily, though the terrible anxiety you’re feeling in the pit of your stomach worsens with the thought of something even worse was to come.

“Maybe you’re right. But that would still mean that there’s a cause for all of this, a starting point.” You could feel her stare as you fix your hair. Her existence was both nerve-wrecking and comforting. To play two roles in one life, is the kind of tiring not every person could understand. “So, are you like, a princess?” She asks finally. “Was” You clarified. “Oh…wait-“

You cut her off impatiently. “I’ve been queen for less than a week, and the worst weather phenomenon just happened, a non-existent mythical appeared, and there’s two spider women. Do you realize just how bad that looks for me, in the eyes of the people, the council?” You challenged brazenly, hands holding your waist as you stared at her. Gwen turns silent again, though her eyes held the same old sympathy that you hated.

“If…” You began, eyes moving from her back to the floor again. She raises a brow. “If I dared to ask for your help..” Her gaze brightens in understanding as she fiddles her fingers. “I would help you. At least until I figure out how to leave here.” Your body relaxes at that, finally seeing the shape of your plan. “I need you to pretend to be me.”

“What?” her voice was incredulous. “If I am to fix this situation, then I’ll need to be both the queen, and Lady-spider, which is impossible. So, I’ll need you to be me.” Gwen stared at you in confusion, “And what exactly will you and Lady-spider be up to?”

“That, will be explained in the meeting.”

The meeting was set that afternoon. The letter was sent the morning you woke up. An emergency meeting with the councils of the state from all over Old York. The men were easy to read. They had attended the meeting with the expectation of the queen’s begging for help and guidance. But you’ve already seen more than you should at a young age to consider yourself a lamb given to the slaughter. You could hear them from behind the doors before you entered.

She’s 17, and unmarried. What will the kingdom be with a child as a queen?

Her ruling is already cursed, It’s a fucking blizzard out there. Have you seen anything so white and cold?

A minotaur was killed by Lady-spider this morning. I would’ve thought it a lie if Jim himself didn’t see it with his own two eyes. A minotaur! What insanity-

The door pushes open with a loud creak as your guard, Alistair, announces your present loudly, stealing away the mayor and minister's attention from their gossiping. The room is silenced as they move to stand in honor of your entrance. Taking your seat at the end of the table, you meet their false smiles with your own. "Please, sit." 7 men are sat around the long table while a thick white candle is lits in the middle of it with the carvings of ��WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.’ written.

Till this day, you refuse to read upon the lines with any devotion or loyalty. You had carried the responsibility since you were born. What has it done for you in return?

Ignoring the changing glances shared right in front of you, you intertwine your fingers together, placing your fists on the table.

“I apologize for the late notice, and I thank you for being able to attend.” You said, with a pretense of gratefulness. They nod their heads in a respectful manner. “As you all can see, dark days are upon us.” Murmurs of agreements spread around the dark room. “If I was superstitious, I’d call it god’s wrath. But the falling out of this kingdom is happening too strategically, too clean. I’m aware I might not have seen this kingdom in it’s worst a thousand years ago, but I’ve been quite lucky to live long enough to know that only black magic could be the answer to this.” The table becomes a dash of confused expressions along with agreeable ones. You notice how some of them have taken to leaning on their wooden chairs with irritable expressions.

There's one thing men do not like than being told what to do by a woman, is being told what to do by a little girl.

“Magic is powerful, but it would take a terrifying level of sorcery for one to be able to summon impossible weather, and, mythical creatures.” Lord Jameson interjects with a raised brow. You could hear the tapping of the heel of his shoes on the stone hard floor amidst the eerily quiet room. It was like a small sign of defiance. "How are you so sure in something that's not even fully investigated yet?" You slowly spin your head at him, a glare embedded in your expression. “-Your majesty,” He adds too slowly.

”Yes, well, a powerful witch, given our kingdom’s track record, is much more believable than one of the gods purposely turning your bulls into beasts. And i'm sure if the gods were to punish us for our sins, they would have done it ages ago, it's not like we've been angels these past few years." You responded, reminding him of his slave trading scandal that happened two years ago. Snickers were heard from the other seats.

Glances were exchanged at your words and his, a gist of hesitance and cowardice amongst other things. “Word from my men is that this drastic weather change first started in the east, where most of our plantations are done in. Half of this year’s profit from it is gone, ruined. The people there will eat nothing but last month’s stock, and hunt their own animals, if they’re even lucky to find any in this weather. But afterwards it all went down like dominoes, snow, everywhere. And yet, the minotaur was found here, in town, 2 casualties, only because Lady-spider was quick enough.”

Lord Haycinter acts as the first to actually ask the question you yourself have been. “And what’s the correlation of those two?” The secret glances and talking stops, and all eyes are on you.

“Significantly? Nothing. But if you pay attention, both the town here and in the city have one similarity, their massive population.”You give the old men a few seconds to understand what you mean, the light switch in their brains finally clicking.

“Whoever is causing this, is trying to cause a purge.”

••••

Hours passed after the meeting, you’ve found yourself soaking in the tub for at least an hour now. Your fingers were wrinkly and the water had turned lukewarm. The rose colored walls of the bathing room were bringing back old memories, memories you can’t afford to remember.

So, you closed your eyes and think of the white snow again, and the blood the minotaur had splattered when his head fell off.

Tomorrow a scout of your men, alongside you and Lady-spider will be heading east. Food stock would be divided before an investigation started running. Lord Haycinter and a few others had triedbto persuade you to stay in the castle, let them and the given guard handle the investigation. But you needed the people to see their queen strong and contributing. You needed them to know thate whether they liked you as their ruler or not, you would not abandon them. The good and the bad, they are all under your responsibility.

The last time a deformed beast was made, it was by a witch who managed to create an group of brain eaters, solely to end her rival family’s bloodline. Aethella, old, wicked and spiteful. A long time witch of Meadowlark. Those were the stories spread of her. But you had met her, right before she was executed in your father’s order. She looked 60 in age, white hair clashing with faded black, a single gold tooth that made her look demonic when you see the whole mix of the look.

What would you do if all 8 daughters of yours were murdered with their hearts ripped out and hair shaved off for another man’s magic spells and joke. For another man’s ego and amusement, she has asked you at the ripe age of 15. So she killed his sons back in return. A punishment he deserved, but your father never gave. And she brought them back as the living dead and made them feast off of their father’s living body until he too, ceased to exist.

“But she’s dead now.”

How many witches are there in this town anyways? None as powerful to turn animals into mythical beings.

Your eyes are closed. The tiredness forcing it shut. What you would you would give to not have to carry the realm’s fate on your shoulders for a week. You flinch at a touch against your shoulder, slipping from unconsciousness to consciousness again. “Gwen.” You could tell. “You’ve been in here for 2 hours, I got worried.” Has it been 2 hours? It only felt like 1. Gwen kneels by the tub, palms remaining on your shoulder. You say nothing in response, too tired to speak. She wears one of your long dresses that you had given earlier. It was becoming of her, despite the clashing of the style with her odd hair.

Seeing how your knees buckle as you try to stand she slips an arm under yours and helped pull you out. Her eyes are trained on your neck until she could grab a hold of your robe and passed it to you. Tying it up in a ribbon, you give her a light push when she tries to help you into your bedroom, refusing it. You revel in the comfort of your dimly lighted room and it’s warmth, the candle by your bedside as the only source of light for you to get dressed. Feeling Gwen near, you say nothing until she’s walked over to your side.

“We need to go over the plan.” You stated in a matter of factly tone. “Alright.” She agrees. “Tomorrow, before 9 possibly, we’ll ride to the east side of Old York, Fullmar. My people there are made of farmers, hunters, you get the gist."

"They’re the most independent of us. They live near the crops and mountains, so every year, their supply of food are always checked off first. But with the unexpected snow, a lot of the folks are not sure how to maintain healthy crops and plants, they’ve never gone through the extremes like this. So first things first, we’ll divide 10% of Meadowlark’s fruits and vegetables spring stock for them, and then afterwards, I’ll have half of my unit guards search the seaforest for any signs of wild animals or witchcraft.” Gwen listens carefully, her gaze never leaving yours as you continue to explain.

“I thought you said the beast thing only happened once this morning?” She asks in confusion. You shook yourself and gave her a sarcastic smile. “I thought so too."

Rubbing your hands on the back of your neck, you fought the urge to pass out. “An official letter was sent to me from the minister of Fullmar from three hours ago, who unfortunately could not attend today’s meeting, that apparently two girls who had gone missing 3 days ago have been found dead in the woods, their flesh chewed and bitten off.” Gwen grimaced, “fucking hell.” You pursed your lips tiredly. “You’ve got that right.”

You muster up the courage to sit on your own bed next to her, the soft cotton sheets calling you to sleep. Eyeing up Gwen as subtly as possible, you feel guilt crawling it’s way into your moral consciousness when you realized how tired she looked too. Her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. You wondered if she noticed that you have too. “I’m going to figure out how to send you home.” You said aloud, making her laugh slightly. “That’ll be great,”

There was an unspoken bond made when the two of you met eachother. Something along the lines of, 'never actually mention your fathers, even though his name lies on the tip of your tongues.' She missed him, you could tell, despite her only mentioning him once that day.

You have not missed yours. In fact, you suffer in every second that you can't forget him.

“You mentioned something about a watch this morning, my Queensguard, Alistair is quite the technician. Perhaps he could help?” The blonde smiled sadly. And at that moment, all you wanted to do was wipe it off in any way you could.

“Thank you, but I don’t think your timeline’s technology are the same as Miguel’s or mine.” You hummed in understanding, deciding that you’d ask Alistair of it anyways. A sudden realization makes you jump as you quickly move to grab a pillow from your bed. “We should sleep. I forgot to tell you, you’ll be sleeping here for a while. I can’t risk the servant’s gossip of Spider-girl sleeping here, you can have the bed.”

Gwen makes a noise of disagreement, making you halt. “You do realize your bed is a bigger than an elephant, right? We could share, princess.” You feel your face physically heats up and frowned at her. “That is indecent, if we were to be seen even sitting on the same bed, the punishment is worse than tangling with a man.” Gwen’s eyes widen and her mouth hug open. “But that’s bullshit! What kind of man feeding patriarchy system is this?”

You shrug at the obviousness. “The kind that is a man feeding patrhiarchy.” She tilts her head and accepts the answer after considering it for a few seconds.

“Yes well, either way I’m not letting you sleep on the carpet. So we share, or I’ll sleep on the ground.” Her persistence was annoying. You can’t understand how she fails to see the problem in this. Women have been killed for far lesser sins. This was as if you’re asking to get tied to a stake. But her eyebags are deep and her back is hunched. So you put your pillows back down, and slipped under the covers next to her before turning the opposite side.

”You love your people.” She whispers out in the dark once you’ve blown off the candle. You could feel the slow rhythm of her breathing next to you.

“Someone has to. God knows my father and his father didn’t.” The both of you let the silence lingers between the space you make, concluding the conversations. “Goodnight.” She wishes, her voice caressed you like the soft winds that pushed through your lilac collored window curtains. “Goodnight."

You could feel sweat rolling down your forehead in an excruciatingly slow motion. The ice was beginning to melt as you ride to the east side with Gwen. The sun now had taken over in the case of extreme weathers. You fixed the shawl covering your head and face and presses your horse to move faster. It’s been at least an hour and a half since you started your journey. You made sure all royal sigils were hidden for now, not wanting to catch any unwanted attentions until the stock arrives.

Despite Alistair’s insistence on you riding in the royal carriage, you stuck through your horse, Merry anyways.

You decided to ride for an hour earlier than the food stock carriages to get some privacy with the investigation. And although you do not regret your choice, a 5 minute break in a carriage doesn’t sound that horrible now. The road was wet with melting ice and it stank of cow shit, but the fogginess from the cold had disappeared and the road seemed clearer. Gwen, who apparently has not rode on a horse for years, ended up behind you on Merry so you could save more time.

You could hear the amusing jokes the rest of the guards made about Lady Spider not knowing how to ride a horse and internally curses her for embarrassing your name.

Your loyal guard rides closer to you until he is side by side, and you could see him giving sideway glances to the girl behind you, judging her. He eyes her up and down. You raise a brow when he turns to you instead. “You know, I’ve been wondering since this morning when you announced that the infamous lone ranger Lady spider would join us, how did you two meet?” He asks, cocking his head at Gwen who’s currently holding onto your waist like her life depends on it as the horse gallops harder. “That’s none of your business, is it Ali?” He hums quietly, looking back on the path in front of me. “Forgive me for questioning you, your majesty. I just worry you trust easily.” You hear Gwen scoff as she sits up straighter. You would punch him in the face for saying those words, if you could. Being treated as a child by someone you trust was worse than being treated that way by a council of slagging, sexist old men.

“I know what I’m doing.” You silence him before giving your horse a light kick to move faster before it’s lunch time.

Alistair was 5 years older than you. He was assigned to you as a personal guard since you were 12. He was more like a brother than a bodyguard. And seeing how most days, he would be the only one willing to risk the king’s rage to save your arse whenever you’d sneak out or disappear entirely to do your job as Lady spider, his worry and protectiveness was warranted. And yet, as much as cared for you, he was still older, stronger, and still a man. He could not understand you if he wanted to. He was not made as you were.

Gwen eyes Alistair until he’s out of sight again, behind you. A glare embedded on her face. “Is he always like that?” You hummed positively. “He could use a smile and a less condescending tone.” She says sarcastically, making you smile.

“Don’t be offended, He’s like that with everyone I’m around. He’s just protective.” Gwen makes an ‘ooo’ sound and pushes you with more questions. “What, are you guys like, what’s the word?- Courting! Yes, see I know some slangs too. So are you guys courting?’ You were grateful that she’s behind you so she can’t see how wide your eyes are, hearing her question. “Heavens no.” You breathed out. “He’s like a brother to me, hell, I’ve once made him play tea party with me when I was 12.” Gwen laughs in surprise, eyes brightening. “Him? A tea party? What I would give to see that.” You hummed as an answer, trying to forget the insinuation she just made.

You were never comfortable with questions of courting or marriages. And it’s already terrible enough how much proposal letters you receive from many of the ministers and their sons, even the north King with already two wives had sent you a proposal. When it comes to marriage for politics, there was simply no one good enough or beneficial to help your kingdom so far. And in case of marriage for love, you just haven’t met any man you’re genuinely interested in.

The flat surface of the road was beginning to get bumpy, as are the short cut grass that’s mixing with overgrown weeds. If that wasn’t a sign that you have entered the borders of Fullmar, the broken and faded signboard that lays on the ground with the words ‘FUL M R’ is.

Your bend your neck and letting it stretch while you continue to ride on poor tired merry. “We’re here.” You tell Gwen who’s trying very hard not to fall asleep or fall of the horse. “Finally.” She mumbled back with a yawn. “Now, remember what I told you, no talking unless it’s completely necessary, no showing off your spider tricks, and no w-“ “No wandering off, yeah I got that.” She cuts you off in annoyance. “So do you guys talk like that all the time?” You frowned slowed down your horse. “Like what?”

“Like you’re in a Pride and Prejudice book?” You tilt your head up and try to remember a book with that title. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.” Gwen lets out a short laugh. “ Of course you son't."

You waited until the rest of the guards that came with you caught up. “what’s your call?” Alistair asked. “We’ll ride further east until we reach the seaforest, I’ll need at least two guard checking the waterfall area and the caves. Any prints of blood, any signs of hair or human body parts, you take it with you or you call me. Alistair, you search up the old church and the houses near there. Ask questions if necessary. Lady Spider, and the rest of you will be searching the rest of the forest with me.” A murmur of agreement and ‘yes, your majesties’ were said quickly before all 8 of you part ways as you’re told. You pull your horse into a left as you ride into the seaforest’s direction with 3 men behind you.

5 minutes more into riding, you finally reach the said forest. The seaforest was the most known forest of Old York, The trees there are a mix of greens and blue tints. It is known for growing rare fruits and plants mysteriously. Back during the age of witch burnings, is was rumoured that if you were to take anything without the forest’s permission, they would die before they could set foot outside the woods.

But you were sure that it was just an excuse to burn women who used the herbs they got for healing purposes from there without actual valid reasons. Still, you notice how your men quiver and flinch at any small noises of the birds and tree branches.

“Do not get cold feet now.” You attempt to motivate them weakly. “Oh wow, that’ll help them.” Gwen whispers as you help her off Merry after you. “Shut up.” The 5 of you spread ways, two of the guards headed to your right while the other one goes forward.

You were quick to your left, checking the condition of the bushes and trees to see if the extreme weather had affected them. They hadn’t. “Well this is odd.” You said to yourself.

“What? What did you find?” Gwen asks, basically sprinting from your right. “Nothing. Everything is fine.” She makes a face of confusion. “Okay…?” You ignore her and move to call your men. The three guards came quick to the center. “So far, everything looks fine where you were, yeah?” you questioned them, receiving fast nods.

“And what about snow? Has any of you seen even a bit of melted snow or ice, even a hint of it? Water?” You can feel the tension filling the space between all five of you when you said that. “None…” One of them spoke, the others not disagreeing. “Alright then.” You sighed in frustration. “If all of you are sure there’s nothing, we head over to the waterfall. It's all too good to be true.” The dark skinned guard who spoke up earlier raises his hand to speak. “You don’t have to- just, you know what, just speak.”

“Oh, right, um. Well, we can’t really call it a clue that, everything, is normal, right?” He asks. You shrugged at that and pursed your lips. “Perhaps not, but the fact that the forest is too normal, while the whole realm was in a shitshow of a snowstorm yesterday, is in itself very odd, yes?” The men make a face, considering what you just said. “Uh, I guess?”

“Good. Now let’s see if the others are going through something just as weird.” You spare them no more explanation, walking off to Merry with Gwen to help her on the horse.

The ride was short as the waterfall area wasn’t that far and is still inside the seaforest. You keep a straight face despite your awe in the colorful grown trees. The leaves are almost turquoise and from a far, the whole forest, illuminated by the brightly shining sun, looked almost as blue as the waterfall.

The heat was starting to get to you, you wiped you’re your shawl across the beads of sweat on your hairline, feeling how warm your face is. “I don’t see any of them.” You stated out loud. “Wait let me-“ One of the guards gets off his horse and sprints closer to the caves near the waterfalls. “Tristen?” You heard him call out. But Tristen, hadn’t went alone, he had another one with him too.

“Who was the other one with Tristen?” You ask one of your own. “Fred.” You frowned and looked back. Fred was a shitty name, did not fit him at all.

You watch the guard, Emery, disappear into the cave in search of his friend. A few second later, he exits it alone. “I can’t find him, your honor!” He shouted. “It’s your majesty, dingus.” The guard next to you yell. “Oh.” You ignore their banter, heart sinking at Emery’s earlier words.

“What about Frank?” “Fred.” The guard corrects you in a whisper, “Fred! Yes, not even a sign of Fred?” You can see Emery tilting his head with his mouth hung open in confusion. “Who’s Fred?” Gwen chokes out a laugh, quickly hiding it with a loud cough. You groaned loudly, rubbing your face with your palms. Sweaty and annoyed, you called for Emery to come back before he too, disappears.

Gwen squeezes your shoulder once she realizes how worried you actually were. "Hey, I'm sure they're just with Alistair." You huffed. "I told them to be here, not with Alistair." She says nothing, eyeing you worriedly. "I hope for their sake, they are with him." You sighed out before you rode to the church.

•••••

They were not with Alistair. The concern he looked at you with when you yold him that you couldn't find them, haunts you still.

You made sure the stocks were divided quickly, asking your guard of the news spread around here of the forsests and homicide tragedy that recently occured.

"The twins, Alia and Ana, both had their organs taken off, and their hair shaved. It's textbook dark magic." He exclaimed. And you agreed with his words. Witchcraft wasn't hard to spot. it's the witch, that is. "Their skin looked like it was bitten and chewed off by dogs, beasts. And that's not the worst part." He speaks in a grave tone.

"Their corpes was hung for all to see." You felt a closh shiver running down your spine. Their blood is in your hand. As a rulerr, you've failed. And now your own guards goes missing. "The air here is haunted, Alistair." You had told him after the stock dividing was done.

"There is a stench so foul, only some could smell. And an ugliness only some can see behind the faux magical looks of the forest." And yet, many times have you been in Fullmar with your father, but this time, something sinizter hasve found it's home in the city. He knew what you meant, he felt it too. "We'll camp by the church tonight, alright? We'll wait for Tristen and Fred." He pulls you into an embrace, and you ket yourself relax slightly. Whatever was to happened, you're not leaving anyone behind.

The 6 of you make camp a bit further from the church in the woods, but not in the seaforest. You made sure the spot you chose was still near to the church and streets, in case of medical emergencies.

The moon was currently making it's appearance, in replacement to the sun. The men are talking amongst eachother as they finish their portion of porridge, a fire made in the middle of your circle.

Gwen watches as you stand still by a tree, gazing out at the empty darkness, searching. She places her finished bowl by her pack before slowly pushing herself up from her crossed legged position to walk towards you. She was worried for you. The way you held yourself and your position was respectable, but how yoy deny yourself personal satisfaction and joy is harmful.

You could drive yourself to madness. You cared for your people, too much, to the point where you thought that you'd do a much better job as a queen if you cared for yourself less.

You flinched when you feel her arm on your shoulder. Somehow missing the sound of her loud footsteps meeting the noisy sound of leaves crunching together. "Princess." Your cheeks warmed at the title despite the situation. "Are you trying to cause a scene, starving yourself like this?" She scolds softly, pulling you by your arm to turn around and face her. "I can't eat when I'm too worried." You defend yourself. She raises a brow before dragging you to the circle again.

You don't fight against her, knowing that she's right. You were punishing your body for the mistakes you didn't mean to make.

But it had been 9 hours since your two guards vanished. You wonder if you had sent them to their deaths.

Emery and Yusof is singing together, a soft melody on their tongue to fill the uncomfortable silence and elephant in the room. "I thought I was going to die." Emery serenades slowly, dragging the last word. "But you taught me how to fall, before you taught me anything at all." Both he and Yusof sang.

Gwen is nodding her head to their singinv as she scoops a spoon of your porridge. "Open up." She wiggles her brows as the soon moves in a wavy motion to your mouth. "No! You're not spoonfe-" The words die at the tip of your tongue when she shoves the spoon in your talking mouth, making you swallow it by force. She grins proudly at her victory, making it hard for you to be angry at her.

You glare at her as she continues to feed you a few more times, enjoying the act of embarassing you. The group of 4 men are gently clapping their hands now, making a beat of their song. "I'll take first watch." Alistair announced. "Emery can take after me." The younger whined at that, earning a slap on his shaved head.

He meets your eyes momentarily before looking away at the same emptiness you had just gazed upon before. They're not coming.

Your eyes shut closebin frustration and painful acceptance. Gwens fingers finds yours, intertwining your cold hands and her warm ones together as she leans closer to you. "It's not your fault." She whispers in your ear. You open your eyes to stare back at her, your back against a tree. "They went there on my order." You replied, evidently.

"You didn't know what would happened, no one did." Her gand tightens on yours. "Gwen." You called out tiredly, fighting the urge to cry. "Yes?" She leans her head on your shoulder, her breathing hot in the crook of your neck. "Don't let go, please." She squeezes your fingers. "I won't."

You notice just how blue her eyes are when she's sitting this close to you. And so you fell asleep with her eye color as the last thing you thought off.

You weren't sure how long you had slept for. But when you awoke, it was still dark. You were shaken by the cold wind, jolting you up. Gwen was stuck to your arm, your fingers still intertwined.

She snores slightly, mouth slightly open whem she's dozing off into a dream. You let yourself smile at the girl clinging onto you. Out of all the things you've done wrong, trusting her hasn't been one yet, so far.

Your daydream was shooked away when a sudden sound or rusting leaves makes you flinch. You turn to your front, seeing none other than Alistair. He has his back towarfdyou as he's staring far up front. "Ali?" You called.

He stands still, voice low when he finally speaks. "Do you hear that?" You frowned. "Hear what? And how long have you been up?" He turns his face to look at you. His expression was full of the deepest fears. His hands were trembling. "I've been hearing that for an hour now, but I can't find the source." You say nothing, trying to listen to what he mentioned of.

"Come here." He beckons you in a whisper. You shook your head. "You're scaring me Alistair." He sighs. "I'm sorry, I- look, I'm serious, I heard something, but you can only hear better here." Your fingers squeezes Gwen's arm, making her mumble in her sleep. "Come on." He repeats, stretching out a hand to you. You move from your position to slowly crouch betore standing up, taking his hand.

He walks slowly to where he stood, shielding you as he walks front first, a protective hand still holding yours. "Now, listen." He whispers. And so you follow.

You try to clear your mind as best as possible, searching for the sound he told you off. And right when you were about to tell him off, you heard it. A howl. You gasped and meets his eyes. "Wolves?" You asked. He shook his head. "That's not an animalz that's human. And it's too visible to be far in the seaforest."

You understood then what he meant. "We need to see." He takes a deep breath. "I know but-" you huffed aloud. "No but, I'm going." You push off his grip on you as you stride towards the deeper parts of the woods, with only your missing guards' condition in my mind.

"Damnit, wait!" You hear Alistair curses before foorsteps were hearf getting more far from you, he was waking the others.

"Tristen? Fred?" You whisper yelled. A howl of pain, alike to a scream was heard, louder. Oh my god. You called for them again. Your hands hold onto the tree barks like walls in the dark, the trees being too tall, limiting the moon's light. You curse yourself when you accidentally tripped on a stick, hands finding a tree bark immediately. "Gods sake- Tristen!" You yelled out once more.

"Princess." You jumped at Gwen's voice. Her eyes were droopy and hair messed up, and yet as she watches you longer, her eyes beginnto widen. "Princess. " she repeats, slower. "Gwen." You breathed out in relief. "You scared me." She says nothing, eyes moving up before it remains staring above your head. Her lips quiver as she stutters out incomprehensible strings of words. "I-I heard them." You explained plainly before following the arrow her eyes pointed at.

Your body detaches itself from the tree, and a hysterical scream escapes the deepest parts of your chest and throat.

On the stealthy branches of the tree you held onto just now, were two naked men, with the middle parts of tbeir body torn open, and hung on it. Their blood smears the leafs and bark, and it drips still, falling down onto the grass. Their faces stayed intact, and you recognizes the looks of Tristen and Fred easily.

#gwen stacy fanfiction #gwen stacy x reader #spider gwen #ghost spider x reader #atsv #spiderman across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #gwen stacy

178 notes · View notes

merlinrarepairfest · 1 year ago

Text

Round Up 2

The second week of posting has brought us another bunch of amazing rare pairs! A huge thanks to everyone, and you can find them beneath the cut! <3

Title: Sweet violet and cherry blossom Writer: Skydragon05 | @skydragon05 Rating: General Audiences Warnings: None Medium/Word Count: 1528 Pairing/main characters: Arthur/Gwen/Elena Up to 10 tags: Fluff, Wedding, Polyamory, Established Relationship, Flowers, Canon Era, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Episode: s03e06 The Changeling (Merlin), Oneshot

Summary:

There could hardly be more contrast between now and the last time Arthur had stood in this spot anticipating his imminent marriage. This time, not only was he the king, but he was also happy. Today he was here entirely by choice, and for love, and he knew the warmth he felt today was shared equally amongst both of his brides. Wedding oneshot for Merlin Rare-pair Fest 2023: Elena/Arthur/Guinevere

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51389851

---

Title: The Wild Goose Writer: littlegreyfish Rating: E Warnings: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings Medium/Word Count: Fic/30,000 | Chapters: 1/6 Pairing/main characters: Balinor/Hunith Up to 10 tags: Hurt/comfort, Angst, Strangers to lovers, Injury recovery, Physical disability, Age difference, Character study, Canon era, Pre-canon, Canon compliant

Summary:

Fleeing the slaughter of his people, the last dragonlord finds home with a peasant girl.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51400252

---

Title: [ART] Two of Us Artist: Mischel | @magicalmischel Rating: G Warnings: none Medium/Word Count: Art Pairing/main characters: Gwen/Merlin Up to 10 tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gwen Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Gwen Has Magic (Merlin), BAMF Gwen (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Digital Art

Summary:

Gwen/Merlin or Gwen & Merlin fanart for Rare Pair Fest 2023. Prompt: AU where Gwen has magic

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51388438

---

Title: left unattended Writer: Sage_Owl Rating: Mature Warnings: None Medium/word count: Fic/4,078 Pairing/main characters: Leon/Lancelot Up to 10 tags: Canon Divergence, Time Skips, Character Study, Wings, Mild Smut, Magic, Loneliness, Mythical Creatures, King Arthur Pendragon

Summary:

It started as a way to escape. No, that wasn’t right. It started because he was drunk.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51328009

---

Title: Something for the pain Writer: Ace_Teagirl | @aroaceteagirl Rating: Gen Warnings: None Medium/Word Count: fic 11,960 words Pairing/main characters: Merlin & Mordred Up to 10 tags: Canon era; Canon divergence; Child Mordred; Past child abuse

Summary:

“Who is this?” Gaius finally asked. Merlin yelped in surprise as he turned fast enough to almost lose his balance and stumble. The purse of Gaius’ lips and the raised eyebrows told Merlin his mentor was struggling not to laugh at the display. Merlin wouldn’t admit it, but he appreciated it. “I found him on the street, I think he’s a druid. He can use mindspeech, but he can’t or won’t speak to me. I don’t really know who he is or where he’s from, but he needs help, Gaius. I couldn’t just let him freeze and starve out there. It’s just for a few days, I promise –” Or Merlin finds Mordred on the street on a cold and rainy night and decides to take him in. He starts teaching the boy how to control his magic and Mordred soon becomes Merlin's ward.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bbcm_rare_pair_fest_2023/works/51374515

---

Title: distance your emotions Writer: Ceewelsh | @mayonnaisetoffees Rating: M Warnings: Major Character Death Medium/Word Count: Fic/1779 Pairing/main characters: Gwen/Merlin/Arthur also involved Leon, Morgana and Elyan Up to 10 tags: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Order 66, Angst

Summary:

The world seemed to be heading for a tipping point, and Arthur could only hope it would be for the better. Perhaps soon the war would be over. Once the galaxy was safe… Maybe then he would be free to leave the Jedi Order and live out his days with Gwen and Merlin. Meeting them, training with them, their bond was unmistakable. It was not the Jedi way, but not every life is built for the Order. Arthur knew that, now. His duty came first, protecting those who needed it was more important than his feelings. But maybe once there was peace, it wouldn’t feel like such a betrayal to leave.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51385720

#bbc merlin #merlin rare pair fest #round up post

14 notes · View notes

the-king-and-the-druidess · 2 months ago

Text

Gwencelot, background Armor, S2 AU

That night, Lancelot wanted to leave. He packed his things, looked at Gwen one last time. She wasn't sleeping. And there was no power to move him from the spot once her glance fell on him. She stood up.

"Where are you going Lancelot?" She has always been so smart, sensitive, understanding.

"I want you to be happy. With me, you won't. You deserve better." A crown, castles, and cloudless summer skies.

Gwen smirked sadly, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "That's not for you to decide, Lance. Only I know what my heart is calling me to."

Merlin and Arthur were asleep. Something strange, new, moved in Gwen's soul, and with one tug she severed the thread of fate, just as she always tore the thread when had a dress for her lady finished. "Let's run away together. All I said there, it's true. We can live a thousand years but my feelings for you —"

"You have no idea, Gwen! I'm an outcast, I'm stripped of my knighthood, I can't condemn you to this kind of—"

"But I can." Gwen tiptoed up and pecked him on the lips. "Do you want to leave with me?" After her father's cruel death, Camelot wasn't something worth holding on to. But Lancelot was.

So they picked up their travelling bags and left the woods together to become a legend.

Lancelot and Guinevere travelled a lot. They lived in secluded caves and forest cabins, stayed in noble manors and abandoned castles. They knew poverty and great luck. Lancelot protected her, provided for her. Every feat he performed, every innocent soul saved and villain defeated were in her honour and name. Guinevere sewed, and her dresses and needlework appealed to peasants and ladies alike. They were together. They waited for the winds of change to blow and bring them back to the new Camelot where they could be who they are.

Sometimes Gwen thought of them. Of Arthur and the future she thought they might have. Of Morgana. She hoped they were happy together. After all, that was what she once was sure of: that Arthur and Morgana were always meant for each other.

When news of King Uther's death spread throughout the kingdoms, Gwen and Lancelot realised their hour has come. They could go home and get married before the face of God and the people. They returned to the white and golden town of Camelot, and Gwen learnt that Morgana was not here, that no one called her anything other than "The Witch" for she had tried to destroy Camelot with her powerful and black magic; and that Arthur never married.

#gwencelot #otp: my feelings for you will never fade #a work of mine again

3 notes · View notes

cynthia39100 · 1 year ago

Text

@themerlinlibrary August Writing Challenge

Prompt 3: Royalty

Merlin & Arthur

Arthur x Gwen (They break up at the beginning.)

AO3 link

(A little Modern Royalty AU fic. I had little knowledge and imagination of royalty so bear with me... and I swear I'm not purposefully using Gwen and Arthur's broken relationship as an opening every time. )

--------------------------------------

Arthur should have seen this coming.

He was in his bedroom in Windsor, holding a sobbing Gwen. She was saying how she loved him and how hard she’d tried and that she couldn’t do it anymore.

“ I’m not royalty, Arthur. I thought I could learn to become one, but I will never be. You deserved a better wife who can support you through all odds. People… ” She trailed off, but Arthur knew what she didn’t say. People deserved a proper queen. They always did. Arthur was born to serve the people after all.

Arthur comforted her with random words while feeling hollow and unreal. Everything was like a scene in the movie. He was just an observer.

His whole life was like it, wasn’t it? There were always rules, traditions and scripts to follow. Every word, every action was properly designed and calculated by a group of “writers”. Because there is always someone watching. Because it’s his duty to be the perfect Prince people expected.

It’s better now, of course. Rules became more flexible, and some old traditions no longer applied. He could date a peasant girl and even consider marrying her, as long as she adapted to the culture and duties of a royal family.

He didn’t realise that was the most difficult part.

Whenever Gwen stood by him, He felt that he finally had a little freedom and control in his life. Gwen must have felt the contrary. Arthur could only offer her wealth and title, neither was what Gwen needed in life.

And so he let go of Gwen, told her it was alright, and sent for staff outside the room to escort her out. Arthur didn’t bother to chase out Merlin who silently sneaked in. He just lay on his bed, determined not to react to any of Merlin’s comforting words. Surprisingly, Merlin didn’t do his usual cheering or rambling to distract him, only standing beside the door like a security guard.

Arthur supposed Merlin still knew when to leave him alone. Or he for once just didn’t know what to say.

“ Don’t stand there like an idiot. Don’t you have more productive things to do? Writing my break-up announcement for one.” Arthur finally spoke up, couldn’t tolerate the silence.

“ I already asked George to do it.”

Another silent moment passed. Merlin was still standing beside the door, and Arthur was still lying on the bed.

“ Am I wrong not to listen to Father and marry Elena?”

“ It’s 21 century. Even the prince is allowed to choose his partner.”

“ Gwen backed off. I’ve refused all the legitimate noblewomen in the country. What if I can’t find another one? What about the succession?”

“ I’m sure Morgana will be happy to succeed. Actually, it should be Mordred. Have you met him recently? He has grown quite a lot.”

“ And I’m just going to become this lonely old king?”

“ Well… on the bright side, you still got me.”

Arthur finally surged up from the bed, looked at Merlin incredulously.

“ Is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“ Thought it might.” Merlin shrugged unapologetically while showing his iconic goofy smile.

“ You really are an idiot,” Arthur said exasperatedly, but he turned to cover the smile he couldn’t quite suppress.

Merlin seemed to sense the smile anyway. His voice became lighter and more cheerful.

“ Since Your Highness feels better now, your father wants to meet you whenever you are ready. Do you want me to notify His Majesty?”

Arthur sighed and got off the bed. He didn’t want to face his father, but the sooner it was done, the better.

Merlin opened the door and was about to leave, but Arthur called him back.

“ Aren’t you coming with me?”

Merlin winced. “ The King is horrifying.”

“ And you’re going to leave me alone? Right after you swore to serve me forever?”

“ I did not!”

“ Yes, you did. Anyway, It’s your prince’s order.”

Merlin mumbled some inaudible insults under his breath, and Arthur smiled again. It seemed that whether he could find a new love or not, he would always have his best friend hanging around. It made the future just a little less horrifying.

#bbc merlin #merlin fanfic #merlin prompt #august writing challenge #merlin #arthur pendragon #arthur x gwen #merlin & arthur friendship #my merlin fanfic

14 notes · View notes

dreamedfyre-a · 4 months ago

Note

“As women we control so little of our destiny.” ( merrystrong / in her greens au ♡ )

@merrystrong // PROMPTS.

❝ A truth that seems invariable from peasant to queen alike, ❞ Her mother's crown is set aside first, as carefully as one would hold something that belonged to another. Violet eyes watch it a moment longer, captivated by the way the light catches in the emeralds. Dark and light and shades in between; so nuanced, to be reduced to simple green.

The Lady Gwen has been through much worse than she has faced, Helaena knows. So have other ladies at court, many of her maids, and certainly countless amongst the commonfolk. One cannot know the pain of another in full without having lived it; yet one needs only have eyes to see how often that suffering was tied to men — one way or another.

Decisions were for fathers and husbands; and ofttimes, the husband's fate dictated that of his wife just the same.

Helaena doesn't want to be queen. There is some solace to be found in the fact neither does Aegon want his crown, that her will is not the only one ignored, yet she can take no pleasure in that. They had been of one mind in regard to their wedding, as well; what had it ever meant other than that they had both been miserable?

Though she turns her face to Gwen, their gazes do not meet. ❝ I should not complain. There are fates much worse than mine, however little say I may have on it. ❞

#* in character: { dragonrider & dragondreamer }#merrystrong #nile 😭 what if i tell you this was in my drafts and i forgot to post

0 notes

ultravioletqueen · 3 years ago

Text

Les presento a mas de mis personajes de mi au de King arthur,también Quero decir que me tomaré un descanso de tumblr ya que me quedan pocos días de vacaciones y pronto haré un viaje por carnaval que me faltan ideas,espero se entienda, ahora si les introducire a cada uno de los personajes

MABEL(su diseño está basado en genevieve de @miwachan2)

personaje secundario del au de gwen campesina,ella en el au de gwen campesina es la esposa de lux que conoce en camelot,siendo la figura de madre de gwen desde su preadolescencia hasta su edad adulta,además de ser una de las pocas personas que creyeron en lux y que siempre lo entendió y jamás lo juzgo por su abuso sexual ya que entendió que el era la víctima de su situación(donde el no tenía nada de poder ante mirra),en el au de gwen campesina lux y mabel se casan debido a que lux de esta línea alterna logra romper su maldición,supera sus inseguridades y tiene una vida plena al ser una línea alterna donde una o varias cosas pueden cambiar.

en el au principal ella fue una criada que la trataba a gwen como su hija junto con las demás sirvientas siendo una clase de "hija de todos", la razón por la cual lux y ella no terminan juntos en el universo principal es porque lux tiene miedo de hacerla sufrir ya que en el universo principal lux no logra deshacerse de su maldición y tiene miedo de poner triste a mabel cuando muriera en el caso hipotético de que realmente consumaran una relación,por lo que siempre mantuvo su distancia pese a que si llegó a sentir atracción hacia ella(angustia😵😭)

LANCELOT DEL LAGO

lancelot es uno de los caballeros de la guardia real del rey y miembro fundamental en la mesa redonda,a diferencia de la versión original el no tiene ningún tipo de romance con gwen y su relación es completamente platonica y unilateral,lancelot tiene mucho interés en gwen pero ella no le hace ningún caso. Es el único del grupo(junto con gwen) que posee magia Sanadora, que se le fue heredada por su madre elaine(la dama del Lago) y tiene un estatus gracias a su padre(el rey ban de benwick) lo que lo hace bastante arrogante, sin embargo tiene un lado suave por sus compañeros.

GAWAIN

El caballero más leal de la orden,con una lealtad feroz al rey y a su familia,es un defensor de los pobres y protector con los caballeros más jóvenes siendo una figura de mentor para ellos,es el más amigable de los caballeros y tiene orígenes humildes,además de que de vez en cuando suele afrontar las situaciones peligrosas con humor.

KAY

El hermano mellizo de Arturo, habiendo nacido unos meses después que su hermano,kay es el tipo de hermano burlon que le llega a dar consejos a su hermano,kay desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar y traer dinero a la casa junto a su hermano,gracias a un desempeño admirable fue ascendido a caballero de la guardia real con merecimiento.

TRISTAN

El segundo caballero más valiente después de lancelot,con un humor constante y llegando a usar varios trucos a su favor con tal de conseguir la victoria,pese a esto podría considerarse el más inexperto ya que es el que menos tiempo lleva en la orden, pero sus habilidades excepcionales y sus valores morales lo hicieron un digno recluta de la mesa redonda.

BORS

El tío de lancelot y el caballero que lleva más tiempo en la orden,el sirve como una figura de autoridad para los caballeros más jóvenes y los mantiene a raya cuando hay conflicto, debido a que es el más viejo también es el más tranquilo de todos y el más sabio.

GARETH(CRIMSON)

El segundo caballero más sabio y el segundo más viejo de la orden,gareth o crimson es el caballero más apasionado en cuanto a cumplir su deber,muy leal al rey y daría su vida por su familia,además de ser el encargado de civilizar a hudr y entrenar a los caballeros más jóvenes y siendo una figura de autoridad muy respetada entre ellos.

MORDRED

El protegido de morgana y el traidor a camelot,mordred a órdenes de morgana se infiltró y sacó toda la información que pudo de los caballeros, sin embargo su culpa por lo que estaba haciendo lo estaba consumiendo lentamente,pero al final mordred terminaría muriendo a manos de Arturo de forma accidental, siendo que para proteger a morgana de Arturo se interpuso entre los dos cuando Arturo le iba a asestar un ataque mortal a morgana dándole a él en su lugar,debido a que las heridas provocadas por excalibur no se pueden curar mordred moriría en brazos de su madre adoptiva.

I present to you more of my characters from my au of King arthur, also I want to say that I will take a break from tumblr since I have a few days of vacation left and soon I will make a trip through carnival that I lack ideas, I hope you understand, now yes I will introduce each of the characters

MABEL(his design is based in genevieve from @miwachan2)

secondary character of the peasant gwen au, she in the peasant gwen au is the wife of lux that she meets in camelot, being gwen's mother figure from her pre-teens to her adulthood, as well as being one of the few people who believed in lux and that he always understood him and never judged him for his sexual abuse since he understood that he was the victim of his situation (where he had no power before mirra), in the au of gwen peasant lux and mabel get married because Because Lux from this alternate line manages to break his curse, overcomes his insecurities and has a full life as an alternate line where one or more things can change.

in the main au she was a maid who treated gwen like his daughter along with the other maids being kind of "everyone's daughter" the reason she and lux don't end up together in the main universe is because lux is scared of make her suffer since in the main universe lux cannot get rid of her curse and is afraid of making mabel sad when she dies in the hypothetical case that they really consummate a relationship, so she always kept her distance despite the fact that she did feel attraction to her (angst 😵😭)

LANCELOT OF THE LAKE

lancelot is one of the knights of the king's royal guard and a fundamental member of the round table, unlike the original version he does not have any kind of romance with gwen and their relationship is completely platonic and one-sided, lancelot has a lot of interest in gwen but she ignores him. He is the only one of the group (along with gwen) who possesses healing magic, which was inherited from his mother elaine (lady of the lake) and has a status thanks to his father (king ban of benwick) which makes him quite arrogant, however he has a soft side for his peers.

GAWAIN

The most loyal knight in the order, with a fierce loyalty to the king and his family, he is a defender of the poor and protector of the younger knights being a mentor figure to them, he is the friendliest of the knights and has humble origins. In addition to the fact that from time to time he usually faces dangerous situations with humor.

KAY

Arturo's twin brother, having been born a few months after his brother, Kay is the kind of mocking brother who comes to give advice to his brother, Kay from a very young age had to work and bring money to the house with his brother, thanks to an admirable performance he was deservedly promoted to knight of the royal guard.

TRISTAN

The second bravest knight after Lancelot, with a constant humor and coming to use various tricks in his favor in order to achieve victory, despite this he could be considered the most inexperienced since he is the one who has been in the order for the least time, but his exceptional skills and moral values made him a worthy roundtable recruit.

BORS

Lancelot's uncle and the longest serving knight in the order, he serves as an authority figure for the younger knights and keeps them in check when there is conflict, due to being the oldest he is also the calmest of them all. and the wisest.

GARETH(CRIMSON)

The second wisest knight and the second oldest of the order, Gareth or Crimson is the most passionate knight in terms of fulfilling his duty, very loyal to the king and would give his life for his family, in addition to being in charge of civilizing hudr and train to the younger gentlemen and being a highly respected authority figure among them.

MORDRED

Morgana's protégé and Camelot's traitor, Mordred, under Morgana's orders, infiltrated and got all the information he could from the knights, however his guilt for what he was doing was slowly consuming him, but in the end Mordred would end up dying at the hands of Arturo accidentally, being that to protect morgana from Arturo he came between the two when Arturo was going to deliver a mortal attack to morgana hitting him instead, because the wounds caused by excalibur cannot be healed mordred He would die in the arms of his adoptive mother.

#oc #msa #mystery skulls oc #msa au #king arthur #Peasant gwen au

5 notes · View notes

radiorenjun · 3 years ago

Text

eine kleine || h.rj

¤ pairing : huang renjun x reader

¤ genre : fluff, angst, slight humor, romance, drama, slight fantasy!au, royalty!au, arranged marriage!au, slight unrequited love!au, 1880!au, enemies to lovers!au, prince!renjun x princess!reader.

¤ synopsis : your selfish, ignorant parents had sent you off to be wedded with a stranger you’ve only met once to save your kingdom from falling into poverty. Fortunately for you, the Huangs welcomed you into their family with open arms, except for their stone-hearted son (alias your fiance), Huang Renjun, who believed that you were just after his family’s wealth and fortune.

Will you manage to finally live the happy life you’ve been craving for all these years of neglect?

Will you manage to thaw his heart like an ice cube in the summer heat?

Or will you crumble under the pressure of being wedded to the cold hearted prince?

¤ warnings: the reader is often described to wear a dress here, mentions of murder, mentions of alcohol, falling from a great height bcuz magic, MAJOR character death, HEAVY angst, child neglection, toxic parents, financial problems, mentions of blood, loss of family member, historical inaccuracies is sexy, heartbreak, the reader gets sick, mentions of being overworked, mentions of war, slight swearing, execution, death, despair, renjun is a dick, renjun is a tsundere, threatening to behead someone *looks at renjun*, arguments, hISTORICAL INNACURACIES, crying. probs yangyang slander.

¤ word count : 27.6k

¤ a/n: this fic features a few of my moots hehe. also, special thanks to @chicksung for proof reading some of this lmfao IM SORRY THIS FIC WAS TOO LONG

¤ DISCLAIMER: PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS PLAYLIST TO SET THE MOOD WHILE YOU’RE READING -> here

"Do you think Renjun and I would like each other?"

The way your voice carried your words was quite similar to a pin dropping in a silent classroom : unexpected but soft and calm. Your personal maid slash nanny who has been taking care of you since the start of your pre-teen years, Gwen, grunted as she tugged on the strings to tighten the corset around your upper body.

Gwen let out a soft "huh?" In response, pushing her spectacles up to the bridge of her nose as she stood up straight to grab the brush that was placed on your dressing table. "L-like?" She stammered out nervously, you could almost hear the gears working inside of her head, desperate to fish out a response. "I'm sure you will eventually, it's impossible to dislike one forever, your highness," she responded, she didn't even know if she was telling the truth or not. And neither did you.

"He's such a grumpster, it's preposterous how a human being could be that cold- no! Stone! That's the word, stone-hearted! It’s like the man has never experienced joy in his life before!" You exclaimed, putting your chin on your palms as you looked back at your reflection in the mirror, softly admiring the light make up Gwen had applied on your face moments prior to this conversation.

"I'm sure you'd thaw his heart out, my lady," she chuckled softly, turning to some other maid behind her to go fetch some hair clips from the other room. “Like ice!” one of your other maids exclaimed with an enthusiastic nod, you couldn't help but let out an incredulous laugh at their words. "Thaw? I appreciate the encouragement. I really do, but I can't thaw out something that's made out of literal stone! I swear, Medusa stared into his heart at birth or something," you grumbled under your breath, rolling your eyes.

You leaned forward to set one of your arms on the dressing table, groaning miserably. "It's almost been a year since we've started this engagement, his coronation is coming up next summer, we’re going to get married a few months afterwards too! I can't believe he's still treating me as if I were a miserable peasant pathetically begging for crumbs for a living," you uttered under your breath with a heavy sigh, closing your eyes for a small moment.

"I couldn't even care less about wealth at this point."

Your frown deepened at your own words. You couldn't even put into words how your kingdom was falling into poverty. Your parents had very high social reputations, therefore they spent most of their time on raising tax prices to appear as wealthy as possible in front of the other nobles and royals. They weren't even present in most of your childhood, and to them? You were merely an investment in their lives, just like everything else that had been so graciously bestowed upon them by the citizens of your kingdom. They have been counting on you to be wedded off once they begin to lose their fortune.

This was their plan all along.

Your parents were infamous for their snobby behaviors as royals, pretending to be oblivious to how the kingdom was slowly crumbling down to their knees. They may be ignorant people, but they certainly aren't dim-witted. They were involved in many social circles, especially your mother, who had a pristine reputation considering she was known to be one of the most popular and sociable queens known in history.

And so, they wedded you off to the richest kingdom they (more specifically, your mother) could find in their nearest social circles, and thankfully for them? Their "precious" princess was the perfect item to send off so that they could live a good life while you had to work hard on becoming the next Queen to rule, not only one, but two kingdoms with a stranger you've never even met in your life. Hell, they didn’t even mention once that they had the contract signed, they would send you off and run away to a place where no one could find them. You were beyond grateful that your new family(in-law) was way better than your biological one.

The Huangs.

Fortunately for you, the Huangs were lovely people. Kind Hearted, generous, soft-spoken, loved by everyone around them. Except for their only son, their only child, Huang Renjun. Infamous for being at the top of his all-boys private academy, ravishingly handsome, (they say) he owns the voice of the purest angel in existence, yet heart cold-stoned. You were the unlucky-yet also quite lucky- princess who got betrothed to him. Unlucky for having to spend the rest of your life in a loveless marriage because as far as you know, he sees everyone he deems unworthy of his presence a complete nuisance.

But fortunately, once you’re married, there will be an increase in your popularity. Hence, more royals will look up to and respect you (or feel pity on you, that could be a possibility as well. It works either way, though)for being the intimidating Prince’s wife. If you survived long enough until the wedding ceremony, that is. You never know if (or when) Renjun will execute you behind doors before the reception out of annoyance or anger.

“Don’t say that, your highness. His highness might be outside of the door listening,” Kai, your butler, snickered softly in a quiet tone, earning a soft smack from Gwen. “Don’t listen to her, your highness. Think of how you'd be living at ease once you get wedded off and settled down with the Prince," she grabbed your shoulder to pull you back against your seat so she can have an easier access to brush your hair.

“Yes! You’d have plenty of bonding once the current King and Queen sends you off to some romantic honeymoon to bond, not to mention the first night,” Kai nodded in agreement, giving you a suggestive smirk at the mention of the first night, causing you to roll your eyes at her, sticking your tongue out. “Calm down, Princess. You’ll feel more at ease once you get closer to the Prince,” she reassured, patting your shoulder somewhat comfortingly with a firm nod from Gwen. You scoffed gently, crossing your arms against your chest as you watched your other maids scurry around your room to prepare your new dress for the dinner meeting.

“Ease, huh?” you mumbled almost inaudibly, your mind drifting back to the words your parents told you before sending you off to live with the Huangs.

“Mother, Father, do you think Renjun and I would like each other once I start living at the Huang’s Palace?” you asked softly, the soft sound of metal scraping the plate filling the spacious dining room. Both of your parents paused the joyous conversation they were having before you spoke up, their expressions darkened, growing annoyed at the realisation that your presence had disrupted whatever was going on between them as they tried their best not to roll their eyes at you.

Your mother cleared her throat, putting on a calm and collected facade. “Like?” she sputtered out with an incredulous laugh. “ As if that has anything to do with marriage, marriage is a partnership between two individuals,” your father exclaimed, shaking his head at you as if it were an obvious statement, taking another bite of the wagyu steak on his plate. You gulped, looking down at your own plate to avoid eye contact. “That, I know, father. But-” you were cut off before you could even finish your sentence with a small huff from your mother.

“Y/n, my dear. Do you suppose your father and I.. like each other?” she asked, lifting a brow at you, her face contorting with disgust at her own words. “Surely, you must. Just a teensy bit?” you gave them a nervous smile, putting your index finger and your thumb close to each other before earning an incredulous and offended gasp from the two adults in front of you. “How preposterous! Of course not! You’ve been reading too much of those fictional novels,” your mother placed a hand on her chest in offense.

She shook her head in disappointment. “This engagement doesn’t need like or love, or whatever your ridiculous self is pointing at. Remember why we’re sending you off to the Huangs in the first place, Y/n. You two aren’t engaged to like each other, this is just to save our kingdom from falling and crumbling into poverty. To save us, your own parents, from the poor house,” your father told you in a stern and strict tone, furrowing his brows as he pointed his fork at you almost threateningly. Your mother nodded in agreement with an affirming hum.

“Your sole purpose here is to be an investment for us! You know this. You are to marry the Prince once you turn 18 and manage to stay by his side as his fiance until his coronation on the boy’s 18th birthday then you are to marry him a few months afterwards and take your seat on the throne as Queen. It’s not a hard task, you shouldn’t be stressing over such useless topics!” Your mother lectured, her tone growing annoyed as if you were a bratty child throwing a tantrum in the middle of the local market. You could feel yourself visibly deflated as your parents continued to lecture you on how you’re supposed to live your life for the next four years.

Your father started spewing out nonsense out of anger. “In this world, we must store up for ourselves and leave nothing behind once we land ourselves in heaven. We must store treasures up and work hard to land a good role on this earth, for where your treasure, there your heart will be also. You know this, we’ve told you this countless times! There should be no questions,” he barked, slamming his hand on the table in anger as you stared emotionlessly at the two people you call ‘parents’ as they continued on and on for the next few minutes or so. And you were forced to look them in the eye and listen to every single word like some obedient dog.

“Leave us. We’ve had enough of your nonsense this evening,” your father hissed, rubbing his forehead in distress with one hand and waving you off with the other. “Kai! Take her to her room,” your mother called out as your butler came up towards you to remove the napkin from your lap and place it back on the dining table with a sympathetic smile stretched across her face. You didn’t say anything as you bowed at your parents before leaving the dining room, leaving your plate, which was almost full, on the dining table as you didn’t turn to look back.

“Princess, are you ready?”

The soft voice of one of your maids snapped you out of your thoughts, causing you to hum softly in surprise, pulling your cheeks away from your gloved hands. You turned to the entrance of your room to see one of your maids, whose name you’ve already forgotten, smiling gently at you. You took a deep breath, standing up from your chair to save up whatever energy you have inside of you to face your fiance at the dinner table.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” you chuckled softly as you exited your room and headed towards the dinner table, your heart beating erratically in your chest as you passed the grand clock standing a few meters away from the dining hall. With every tick tock it makes, you felt your anxiety spike up and crawl beneath your skin as you spotted your personal butler, Kai, who gave you an encouraging smile, her expression silently asking you if you were ready to face the Huangs once again.

You gave her an affirming nod and a reassuring smile before she and the knight beside her, whom you assumed was named Lucas, opened the grand doors for you to enter. You took in a deep breath as the light from the dining room illuminated the dark hallway you were previously walking through, causing your eyes to squint to adjust to the bright, shimmering yellow light. Your eyes widened slightly to see the prince eating at the other end of the table all alone in silence. His parents were nowhere to be seen.

Gulping at the awkward silence already settling in the atmosphere, you took a seat on the chair across the table from his, clearing your throat lightly as you placed your napkin on your dress. “Where’s everyone else?” you asked almost quietly, tightening your fists anxiously under the table as Renjun made no effort to look up at you or greet you. He cleared his throat, as if he hadn't spoken in a while.

“Mother has a meeting with the nobles in town and Father has some business with the Grand Duke in the council room,” he replied shortly, an annoyed expression placed on his face as you mouthed a small ‘oh’ as you nodded. You waited a few seconds, expecting him to say something else, but you weren’t surprised when he chose to stay silent. You purse your lips as you try to muster a small smile to appear on your face.

“So-I-” you stammered, trying to find the right words to spew out your mouth. “Uhm, how was your day, your highness?” you grimaced at how awkward you sounded, knowing how your parents would’ve sent you a terrifying death glare if they caught you speaking without a single hint of confidence in your tone. You couldn’t read his expression very well, but you could see a small glint of surprise in his pupils when you decided to speak up once again.

“It was well,” he responded firmly, the sound of his fork tapping on the plate as he chewed was almost mocking you for the lack of mutual communication. You swore Renjun and his fork was making more conversation than the both of you have in the past year. You took a deep breath, deciding to throw away your own shame and pride just for a brief moment to turn on whatever social battery you have left from today to muster up a long conversation with your fiance. Without his parents to keep the atmosphere bright and busy, you couldn’t help but suffer under Renjun’s intimidating aura.

You grabbed a fork and knife and began munching on your food, mustering up a genuine smile as you tried to make eye contact with the boy across the table. “You know, I just realised that we’ve never had an actual dinner with just the two of us,” you spoke up again, swallowing down the saliva that was building up at the back of your throat. Renjun let out an uninterested hum, placing his cheek on his palm as he made no effort to contribute to the conversation. “Do the afterschool tea times not count as ‘dinner with just the two of us’?” he asked with a dull expression, finally glancing up from his plate to look at you with a lifted eyebrow.

You gulped once again, internally motivating yourself as you shook your head at him. “That’s different! Tea time is for tea and small snacks and treats? This is dinner, is it not? A good feast is set in front of us in a spacious room, indoors-I mean, it’s sort of different,” you spluttered out, fighting the urge to facepalm yourself considering you’d be embarrassing yourself even more if you did that in front of Renjun.

Renjun squinted his eyes at you, his gaze darkened at your words as a scowl formed at his lips. “My, my, so you aren’t that much different than your parents. So you do see this as some sort of money making negotiation,” he spat, glaring daggers at you as he tightened his grip on the utensils he was holding. Your eyes widened at his statement, terrified yet also confused on how he got to that conclusion. You shook your head vigorously, aggressively waving your hands around in an attempt to say that he misunderstood your words.

“If it wasn’t obvious, which it already is, I am not fond of you, Y/n.”

You felt a shiver run down your spine as he made no effort to listen to your small rambles. “Considering our parents are putting us in this miserable engagement to save your kingdom, I suggest you start using that brain of yours to try and not piss me off. You should be grateful I’m even talking to you considering you’re nothing but a mere peasant begging for money sitting on the same table as I am,” he spat, causing your frown to deepen at how familiar this situation felt.

“Oh how if it were up to me, I wouldn't even spare a glance at your direction. If you wish to survive here, I suggest that you make sure you spend as little time as possible with me. I don’t care if you’re my wife or my fiance, I won’t hesitate to talk down on you considering you’re here for my parent’s money and nothing else,” he spat as he placed his hands on the table and stood up from his seat, the sound of the wooden chair grinding against the marble floor causing you to wince slightly.

Throwing the fork on the table as hard as he could, causing you to flinch at the sound. “Piss off,” he barked before stomping out of the dining room, gulping down the juice that filled his golden cup before wiping his lips with the back of his hand. The loud booming voice of the grand doors closing behind him was enough to cause you to sigh heavily into your palms in exhaustion, biting your lips to prevent yourself from screaming in frustration.

Who was he to say that you were only doing this for money? Despite what others say, you didn’t mind having him as a friend. You may be here under your parents’ wishes but it wasn’t like you had any other choice! You didn’t want to get engaged either, it wasn’t your fault your parents were two selfish bastards that resulted in the financial destruction of your kingdom. Couldn’t he be at least a bit more understanding? it ‘s not like you even want to be here.

Nonetheless, you swallowed your frustrations down like the princess you were, taking a deep breath before proceeding with your dinner to keep yourself calm. You recited the words your father had always told you over and over before you were handed over to the Huangs as you proceeded to bitterly swallow down the food on your plate.

‘For where your treasure is, where your heart will be also’

"Blessings and glory upon the Huang Dynasty."

“Peace and fortune upon the L/n Kingdom.”

You and your parents bowed before the Huangs, earning a bow from the two adults in return with a welcoming smile etched across their faces. You tensed up when you felt your mother lay her hand on your back: a warning to make sure you keep your mouth zipped shut until they leave the palace. You bit your tongue as you watched the contrast between the Huangs’ genuinely welcoming expression to your parent’s fake ones.

“Ah, so you’ve arrived, Y/n!” The Queen exclaimed, raising her hands up in the air before walking towards you to give you a big hug. “We’ve been looking forward to your stay, I just know you’re going to love it here!” she placed her hands on your cheeks, patting your head softly with a motherly smile. You felt your chest lighten at the soft gesture, letting out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding as you gave her a sincere smile.

You gave her a small bow, “thank you, your majesty.”

“I’ve been looking forward to being in your presence,” you clasped your hands behind your back, a form of habit you had developed to deal with your anxiety. “I am so delighted such a beautiful and bright princess would join in the family, a worthy partner for my son,” she turned her back to Prince Huang standing intensely beside the King. You almost let your smile falter at the sight of Huang Renjun, your fiance, standing a few meters away from you with the most menacing frown you’ve ever seen in your years of living.

You gulped as you tried to give Renjun a kind smile, earning a deep scowl instead from the young Prince. “Of course she is,” your mother giggled, her smile so wide you swore her cheeks were going to tear apart by how she was forcing it into her face. It almost made you sick to your stomach.

“Well, we must be off now. My husband and I have other errands to attend to.”

‘Ah, leaving already?’ you couldn’t help but think to yourself. However, you weren’t even surprised in the slightest.

“We understand. Princess Y/n will be safe and sound in our hands,” the King nodded with an understanding smile, coming up to lay a hand on your shoulder. You bit your lip from saying how they won’t care considering you’d be transferring them money every month to keep them wealthy and stable. Wherever they decide to escape to? You don’t know. All you knew was there was going to be some secret ‘nursing home’ they had set up so you can stock in a "few goods" for them to spend on at every end of the month.

Your father gave them a light laugh, your mother joining in. “That’s a relief to hear, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to our little princess,” the expression your parents had sent you was almost uncomfortable, it was sinister and sly. And you knew that they were only doing so to use you as their little money maker. You didn’t even know what was going through the Huangs’ minds when they agreed to this engagement.

Do they not realise that your parents are practically using you to slowly rob them off their fortunes? Do they not realise that once your parents step a toe out of this palace, they’re never going to return? You knew better than to expect them at the wedding, if you even survived that long that is. Nonetheless, you didn’t say anything. You couldn’t. All you could do was grip onto the mask you were putting on and proceed to smile in front of everyone.

“We must take our leave now. It was such a pleasure seeing you again,” your mother giggled, wrapping her arm around your father’s, giving him a knowing look. You couldn’t even turn your face to look at the Huangs, your eyes fixated on your parents who were just aching to leave the palace. You felt your heart beating rapidly, something dark clawing deep inside of your chest like a cat scratching on silk curtains with its freshly sharp claws.

It was the terrible realization that they were finally getting rid of you like they always wanted but still being able to benefit from it.

You wanted to scream, to plead, to let your rage and despair out for them to not be selfish for once and stay with you. But you knew it wouldn’t be worth it, you weren’t a child anymore. You’re sixteen years old and you’re about to be wedded off to this stranger once you turn 18. You knew even if you get on your knees and beg, they would all just laugh at you and continue to play you off like some kind of marionette.

“I assume our next meeting will be soon?” the King chuckled.

Oh how envious you were of the Huangs. How innocent they were, how oblivious they were to the strings your parents were using to tug you around. Envious of how perfect of a family they were. Envious of how they didn’t have to feel their hearts plunging down into their stomach as the people who were your personal knights were now escorting them out of the castle with emotionless expressions on their faces. Your parents gave each other another knowing look, a bittersweet smile stretched across their faces.

“Only time will tell,” your father exclaimed with a bright smile.

“Blessings and glory upon the Huang Dynasty.”

You had just returned from your daily studies at the princess academy when you decided that you were going to walk around the vast garden the Huangs owned behind their palace. You swore you spotted three different carnation gardens in the past few months and you even heard from Kai and Gwen that Renjun was especially fond of yellow flowers. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of the menacing prince being all soft and nice when it comes to flowers.

‘I wish I were a flower, they seem to have a great relationship with their fellow flowers and insects,’ you thought to yourself, kneeling down to pluck a yellow carnation from the row of flowers. Smiling softly as you recalled the true meaning behind the pretty plant: rejection and disappointment. It almost seemed as if the flower was mocking you, the bright and pretty petals making you wonder if you were any prettier, would people like you more? Would your parents consider you as their own child instead of an investment? Would your fiance be kinder to you?

All life taught you was disappointment and rejection. Your own parents had rejected your affections and ignored your needs, disappointment spreading through their sinister aura whenever you came into their line of vision was evident to anyone who was standing in the same room as they were. Shaking those thoughts away, you tucked it above your ear, smiling lightly at the feeling of the plant’s soft petal grazing your temples. However, a small sparkle in the distance caught your attention. You turned your head to your right to be faced with a rose wall, something was sparkling in between the leaves.

Curious, you walked towards it, your hand reaching out to it only to feel something round and smooth. You realised it was a door handle, nervously biting your lip, you decided to turn it open. After hearing a small clicking sound, you pulled the door with your heart beating anxiously in anticipation. You were surprised to see that inside was a secret garden, you couldn’t help but laugh to yourself at how ironic it was to find a secret garden in a garden. You didn’t even know if that made any sense.

What surprised you the most was that this garden, unlike the others, wasn’t filled with yellow carnations, petunias or buttercups. The garden was fairly large, for it had two benches, a set of swings, a grand piano, a large willow tree and a small pond with a few orange lilies gathering around the perimeter. Not to mention the massive rows of erica flowers blooming around the garden. It almost felt like you were intruding on someone’s secret safe place.

It was spacious, it was a good place for your thoughts.

You slipped off your shoes, feeling the blades of grass below you as you picked up your shoes with your fingers, deciding to explore the garden. You noticed how this place wasn’t as dusty as you figured, which meant that there’s someone who’s cleaning as they walk in and out of this place. There were some vines wrapped around the benches, which also indicated that this was a pretty old garden and the benches and the swings have been here for quite a while.

Walking towards the massive row of erica flowers, you furrowed your brows as you reached your hand out, hesitant to touch them. You remembered reading a book about flowers and their meanings not too long ago at the Huang’s royal private library (which you may or may not have snuck in whenever you realised Renjun wasn’t inside) and you remembered how you’ve seen these flowers somewhere in between page 167 to page 172 of the limited edition book. But you couldn’t remember for the sake of your life what the flower meant exactly.

You turned your head around to the pond a few meters away from you, furrowing your brows at the orange lilies surrounding it. You stood up straight, gripping on your shoes tightly as you recalled the meaning of said flower.

Hatred.

Pride.

Contempt.

You didn’t know why such a pretty flower held such depressing meanings. You wondered if the person who had planted them here knew about it. Yet you were quite interested in the erica flowers right in front of you, you knew they had something similar to the orange lilies. You couldn’t lie, it was a fresh sight from all the yellow flowers blooming everywhere in the kingdom, they aren’t classified as the ‘Huang’ Dynasty for nothing.

As you leaned in to pluck one out of their stamens to take back to your room so you can examine them even further with your book in hand, you were abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice not too far behind you. The loud sound of the door opening caused you to flinch as you quickly turned around to see none other than your oh-so-lovely fiance, Huang Renjun, himself.

“What in the bloody hell are you even doing here?” he exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest.

You felt thorns prick yours as you tried to keep yourself from deepening your frown, gulping nervously as you mentally prepared yourself for another scolding. “How the hell did you even find this place?” he hissed, walking towards you with his eyes blazing with anger. You assumed he was done with his afternoon fencing practice considering his hair was slightly wet from sweat, it appeared that he had taken off his blazer earlier, leaving him in a white button up shirt with long sleeves folded up to his arms.

“I felt tedious and I happened to stumble upon this garden,” you answered truthfully, putting your shoes behind your back so that he does not notice the fact that you were in his(??) private garden barefoot. You weren’t one to tell lies unless it counts on your survival but it seemed that your answer had angered the prince even more, his darkened glare had effortlessly made your heart sink into the pits of your stomach like a boulder falling off of a cliff.

You could practically hear his teeth clenching despite the fact that you were standing meters apart from each other as he gritted out the words “under whose permission?” under his breath. You pressed your lips together in a tight line, gripping on your shoes even tighter you almost swore that the fabric was going to tear by how hard you were digging your nails. “Forgive me, in the nine months I’ve been staying here, I didn’t realise that this was a private and restricted area.”

“Hell, did you forget what your position is here?” he barked, taking a few steps closer to you as he spoke.

You took a deep inhale as his face got closer to yours, trying to maintain eye contact with him for as long as you could muster. You could almost feel yourself crumbling under his intimidating glare, his jaw clenched, eyes dark and gloomy, filled to the brim with hatred and disgust. Did he despise you that much?

“No, I did not. I just thought-”

“Well then, you thought wrong! Remember your position, princess, you’re nothing but a mere beggar who happened to crawl their way here and managed to deceive everyone in the kingdom that you’re on the same level as I am,” he spat, venom lacing his words as he balled his hands into tight fists. Your lips parted as you tried to come up with a response, but chose to decide upon it and stay silent.

“Your highness!” a familiar voice exclaimed, causing you to turn your head to the entrance on instinct. The head of the guards, Lee Taeyong, stood in the doorway, panting in exhaustion as if he had been running everywhere to search for someone. “There you are, I-” the poor man couldn’t even finish his sentence when Renjun silenced him with a single glare. He then turned to you with a heavy sigh, rolling his eyes as he waved his hand. “Taeyong, escort the princess to the dining room. Tell my parents I can’t attend tonight’s dinner,” Renjun ordered, his eyes glaring daggers into your head.

“Leave the room, I don’t want to waste any of my time.”

“Your highness! What a pleasure,” Joanne, your friend slash mage in training exclaimed as you came down to her chambers at one of the towers in the castle. Joanne and her lover, Sungchan, were born from noble families who happened to be descendants from powerful mages in history. Therefore they have been taken under your Royal Wizard’s wing and trained as his apprentices until they’re both at a legal age to be your personal wizard and witches.

You gave her a sweet smile as you spotted Sungchan waving at you from the back of the room, stirring a small pot filled with ominous pink liquid. “It’s been so long since you’ve last visited, do you need anything?” she invited you in, closing the door afterwards as you walked in and took a look around the messy yet dim room. Shaking your head you gave her a light smile, gripping on your dress nervously as you spoke. “I felt tedious so I decided to pay a small visit to my two favorite mages in the Huang Kingdom,” you giggled, earning a soft scoff from the taller boy.

“Mages in training! We aren’t allowed to do this magic business legally until we’re 18, remember?” he pursed his lips at you as Jo walked over to the small pot, sprinkling a few bits of red petals into it. The action caused the liquid to turn purple for a small period of time before Sungchan added small dust-like particles and mixed it for another few seconds before it turned back to its original pink state.

“What are you two doing this afternoon? Where’s Sir Jungwoo?” you asked, furrowing your brows when you saw the messy bed in the other room completely empty. You couldn’t even call your Royal Wizard a wizard considering all he does is snooze around all the time and tell his apprentices to make potions for the King and Queen whenever they catch a random illness. Nonetheless you couldn’t complain about it to his face before he fell asleep in the middle of your sentences.

“Jungwoo’s out to find the Eden Tree for a couple of weeks, he mentioned something about a fruit blooming there? Once every 500 years? I’m not sure,” Sungchan shrugged, his hand raising up to scratch the top of his head as Joanne held up a spell book, you could practically hear the gears running in her head as she read through the instructions thoroughly. “What are you two even making?” you asked curiously, carefully walking over the books and papers scattered all over the stone floor to head over to the small pot on the table.

“Jungwoo told us to try making this new potion he came up with,” your friend replied briefly, scratching her cheek with her wand in her hand as she furrowed her brows in concentration. “He said it was a flying potion of some sort? I don’t understand what these ingredients have to do with flying, though. Most of these ingredients are just ominous,” Sungchan added, leaning over his partner’s shoulder to take a closer look at the book. Their confusion made you furrow your brows.

You crossed your hands over your chest. “Why do you two sound as if you don’t know what you’re doing? That’s a spell book, I’m assuming, couldn’t you just read the items written?” you asked, attempting to take a peek at the book before Joanne shut it close and placed it back on the table with a deep frown. “You know how Sir Jungwoo is sometimes, he likes to… experiment. This is one of his homemade spells,” she sighed heavily, shrugging her shoulders hopelessly.

Letting out a small ‘ah’, you nodded in understanding. Being an apprentice of a lazy wizard was hard work and you needed to understand that.

Then, a sudden thought entered your mind which made you perk up. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you two this for a while but I never got the time to. I almost forgot,” you exclaimed, placing your hands excitingly on the table as you watched Sungchan stir the pot a bit more. “Do tell, your highness,” Joanne nodded with a small giggle, it was a rare sight to see you this excited in person and she was quite surprised when you suddenly perked up like a light bulb lighting up.

With a clap of your hands, you gave them a hopeful and excited expression. “So, I’ve been looking through the books in the library and I’ve discovered some sort of traditional message sending method in the Huang Kingdom?” you said almost questioningly, putting a hand on your chin in thought. “I’ve heard how if you put something, like a handwritten note or some sort of message, in a glass bottle and send it out to the sea at the nearby beach. It said you could send messages to the dead or something?” you exclaimed.

“Oh, that old thing!” Joanne caught on with a nod, raising her index finger at the mention of the traditional method.

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried that method before, but legend has it that if those bottles never come back that’s a sign that the person you were trying to reach has received it!” she added enthusiastically, a wide smile stretching across both of your faces. “Imagine sending a bottle out to sea, that seems like a very endearing action,” you said with a soft expression on your face. You’ve always wanted to try it ever since you’ve even heard of it.

“Do you honestly believe in such fairytales? I figured you were a fool but I didn’t know you were such a fanatic.”

You turned to face your fiance standing at the door, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned his back against the doorway. An emotionless expression spread across his face as his eyes darted from yours to the mages behind you, unimpressed and unbothered. Sungchan and Joanne gasped at the sight of his highness in the doorway, quickly halting all of their actions to bow respectfully to him.

“Blessings and Glory upon the Huang Dynasty!”

He clicked his tongue, waving them off to indicate that they didn’t need to greet him so respectfully as he walked over to you with a brow raised in suspicion. “I can’t believe I’m getting wedded off with someone as delusional and foolish as you are,” he tsked, crossing his arms back against his chest as he tutted slowly while shaking his head in disappointment. You fought the urge to roll your eyes as you sat down at one of the arm chairs in the middle of the room with a heavy sigh.

“One can dream for happiness, your highness,” you muttered under your breath, trying your best to make your words as inaudible as you could muster. But sadly, Sungchan overheard you, which made him chuckle as Renjun walked over to the pot in curiosity. “Ominous looking potion you have there,” he commented with a tone void of emotion, picking up the ladle in the pot and giving it a little stir.

“You know, your highness. Maybe if you’d let yourself live a little, you’d be half as lively as the princess,” Sungchan snickered, towering over the older boy as he placed his hands on his hips, earning a small nudge from his lover in response. Renjun raised his brow at this, his frown never leaving his lips, not even a bit. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand why I need to be as lively as someone who believes in pointless old tales. And frankly, I don’t care,” he deadpanned, his sharp response causing Sungchan to visibly shrink in his stance.

“I don’t think it's pointless,” you exclaimed in offense, earning an incredulous glare from the fellow mages as Renjun turned his head to look at you, unfazed by your sudden retaliation. “Oh?” he said, surprised that you were talking back to him for once.

You nodded at him. “I think it’s quite intriguing. Sending something to the dead, it gives grieving families some sort of comfort,” you shrugged, putting your hand over the other on your lap as you looked up at him with the calmest expression you could muster, knowing full well that he’s probably going to comment on it afterwards. “Well then, your highness,” his tone was almost sarcastic when he addressed you as so.

“It doesn’t even work. It gives false hope for imbeciles like you,” he took a step forward to poke your forehead. You pressed your lips together, crossing your arms over your chest as you looked up at him from your seat. “How do you even know if it works or not? It’s not like you’ve even tried it before, your majesty. You can’t just call it false hope when it’s a traditional method,” you huffed, blowing a puff of air in annoyance, earning a grunt from the Prince in front of you.

“I just do, it’s a silly old tale elders tell children to give them false hope that they have a way of contacting them once they pass away. You can’t be that ludicrous, can you? Princess?” he furrowed your brows, slowly beginning to grit his teeth in frustration as you opened your mouth to snap back at him for calling you synonyms of ‘idiot’ for simply believing in something you’ve read in a book.

You two were too engrossed in your little argument you didn’t even hear Joanne’s sudden scream as Sungchan accidentally stirred the pot too aggressively to crush the crystals they added in the pot that the liquid came splashing out of the container and onto the Prince’s clothing. Your eyes widened as the back of Renjun’s shirt was almost completely drenched in the pink liquid.

“Bloody hell, watch it, Sungchan!”

Before you knew it, the short, low-tempered Prince in front of you, whose hair was originally a dark woody brown slowly turned into a bright pastel pink, like a water on fabric. Your jaw dropped as Renjun stood there, unfazed as everyone else was internally gulping for their lives. You almost swore Sungchan was wetting himself by how pale he became as Renjun looked around in confusion with his bright pink messy hair.

“What’s with the face?”

You couldn't help but let out a laugh. A loud, genuine one. Wrapping your arms around your stomach as you doubled over laughing with your whole chest as Renjun stared at you in confusion, his cheeks growing pink in embarrassment and confusion. “Why are you laughing!?” he exclaimed, his hands balled up into fists as he looked around for a mirror to find out what you were laughing over. You couldn’t help but find it quite endearing to see the prince so normal, so harmless.

You weren’t one to lie but you couldn’t help but admit how adorable and pretty the prince was when his cheeks turned flush, the way he yelled for a mirror as he stomped out of the room and out of the tower in pure confusion and embarrassment as you continued to laugh it all off was purely adorable.

At that moment, you didn’t even know if the man who despised you so much was the same person as the person whose cheeks flushed as pink as his hair.

Disclaimer: after Renjun had found out about his hair and how it’s basically irreversible, Sungchan was sent on probation for a whole week for damaging his quote unquote ‘aura’. It took you a whole month to stop laughing at how much he looked like someone had plopped a pink rose on top of his head whenever you saw him. You didn’t know if Renjun got used to your random laughing or if he chose to ignore your existence as usual.

But what you did know was that that was the most you had laughed in your whole time of living with the Huangs.

“Your highness, how have you been faring?” Yeji exclaimed, reaching over the table to pick up one of the red velvet cupcakes her servants had prepared beforehand. Another day, another tea party with the princesses from your academy. You gave her an encouraging smile, putting the cup filled with hibiscus tea to your lips. Your friends let out an enthusiastic gasp, eyes now on you as questions bombarded and filled once was a calm and serene atmosphere.

“I heard you and Prince Huang are going to get wedded in a year, do tell what’s it like to live with his highness!”

“A year? My, wasn’t it a year and a half? Do be specific on your time, Lady Brooklyn.”

“Marriage already? We’re all barely 17 years old!”

“Oh hush, you! Your sister got married when she turned 18 as well, you have no right to comment on that.”

“At least she wasn’t stuck in a marriage by force.”

“Ladies, one question at a time! The poor lady can’t answer all of them if you’re going to gawk at her like a bunch of seagulls!”

You let out a light laugh, shaking your head. You were the one of the few princesses who’s already betrothed to someone else in your academy, so it didn’t surprise you very much once the questions started rolling off of their tongues once you got to the table. However, they were your closest friends in the kingdom, therefore you didn’t mind the constant questions considering you’ve asked them similar ones.

“Don’t be silly, I’m still very young. I’ll be getting married when we turn 19,” you had to bite your tongue to keep yourself from mentioning how fast time was passing by. It had almost been a year since your parents had left you under the Huangs’ care and you couldn’t be more grateful for the immense love and support you’ve received from the King and Queen. But you couldn’t say much about your ‘beloved’ fiance, however.

“That’s still a very young age! Don’t you have other dreams? I know that you’re going to have etiquette queenly trainings until Prince Huang’s coronation but that’s a lot to handle for someone, I can’t even imagine being betrothed to some stranger,” Lacey shook her head with a sympathetic sigh, waving her pink fan in front of her face. “That’s because you still have your eye on Prince Guanheng,” you commented with a light chuckle, earning a few giggles from your friends.

“I can’t imagine thinking about marriage at this age when I’m still having trouble finding a suitor,” she snapped back jokingly at you, turning her head up dramatically before joining in your little fit of giggles. “Though, I can’t help but feel bad for her highness,” someone commented with a bittersweet tone, the faux sympathy basically rolling off of her words as you all diverted your attention to Lady Yundong, who was the daughter of the Marquis. She had recently made her debut to society, she was quite infamous for sticking her nose in other people’s businesses in the academy.

“Pardon?” you furrowed your brows, not exactly liking where this conversation was heading.

“It’s unfortunate that someone like her highness is getting married to someone like Prince Huang,” she explained, a mocking frown stretched across her face, lips forming into a pout. “I’m sorry, I am not understanding,” you frown briefly as you tighten your hold on your cup. She let out an exasperated sigh, putting her cup down on her saucer. “Pardon me for speaking so rudely of the Prince but I don’t think someone that menacing is worthy of marrying such a kind-hearted soul like you, Princess,” she explained, shocking most of you with her bold tone.

“Menacing? Prince Huang has the face of an angel as far as I’ve seen,” Lady Ningning exclaimed with a surprised gasp, putting her hand over her lips in shock. The daughter of the Marquis nodded eagerly. “Haven’t you heard how cold hearted the Prince is? I heard that he didn’t even greet the princess when she first arrived at the castle,” she gossiped, watching as the other ladies’ eyes widened before their eyes turned back to you.

“Is that true, your highness?”

“So rude!”

“I can’t believe it, he looked so kind in the papers.”

“I-”

Before you could get a word out, Yundong had beat you to it to continue bringing up your fiance. “Oh, and I’ve heard that the Prince would also look down on people he didn’t seem worthy of his presence. Going as far as to calling them peasants even if they came from a family of high nobels with great reputations,” she added with a deep frown on her face, earning a few agreeing nods from the other girls. “The lady isn’t wrong! I’ve even overheard my brother saying that the Prince threatened to slice his tongue off or something,” one of the princesses at the table nodded in agreement, joining in the conversation.

You couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in this situation. Sure, Renjun had treated you equally as bad as these girls were saying but for some reason, it didn’t feel right to talk badly about your fiance like this. Especially when he was going to be the future king of both of your kingdoms and your life partner, it didn’t feel right to be talking about him in the first place. He was the last thing you wanted to think about.

“I’m so thankful I wasn’t the one who got betrothed to the prince, that would be unfortunate,” Yundong exclaimed, putting a hand on her chest as she fanned herself dramatically. “I agree, I feel so sorry for the princess for having to put up with someone that rude and uncouth for the rest of her life. Royal marriages are almost impossible if you don’t have some extreme reason,” another lady nodded in agreement, you didn’t even know who this lady was and suddenly she had the right to remind you that you’re stuck in this loveless marriage?

“Ladies, that’s quite rude of you! Do I need to remind each and every one of you that the Princess is literally sitting on this very table, listening to every word that spills out of your mouths?” Lady Yeji exclaimed, hissing in between her words as she glared at all of the ladies in the table. They gasped, indicating that they truly were so engrossed in their little gossip that they forgot they were talking about you in your face.

“Your highness, forgive me! We do not mean to look down on the Prince!”

“We were just being honest and careless of our words, we completely forgot that his highness is your fiance, do forgive us.”

“You’re making this even worse! Your highness, I-”

“It’s alright,” you smiled sadly, pressing a napkin to your lips as you looked down at your hands so as to not show any specific expressions to show how uncomfortable you felt. “I understand you all have opinions, but I suggest that you all do try to watch your tongues when you open your mouths around my fiance,” you didn’t even realise you were defending him until you replayed your own words in your own head after the ladies’ faces turned pale. Clearing your throat to cover how awkward you sounded you clasped your hands on the table before continuing.

“As the future Queen of both the Huang and the L/n kingdom, I am opposed to hearing lowly insults of the Prince in front of my own face. It is very disrespectful and rude. Nonetheless of what you think of the Prince, he is still the heir to the throne and he has been working very hard to prove himself worthy for the position,” you didn’t even know why you were so determined to defend him after all of the mean things he’s said and done to you throughout your whole stay at the Huangs.

There was a pregnant pause. You couldn’t take the tension in the atmosphere anymore as you coughed softly to remain in your composure, standing up from your chair as the royal guards who were in charge of you for the day came rushing back in at the sound of your chair grinding against the tile floor. “I think this is where I draw the line. Lady Yeji, a splendid party, as always. Forgive me for ruining the mood, this is where I shall take my leave, thank you for inviting me,” you placed a hand on your chest as you bowed slightly.

“Your majesty, I-”

“I look forward to your next party, Lady Yeji,” you said with a genuine tone, picking up your handkerchief as you gave all of the ladies at the party an apologetic smile before turning to leave.

“Peace and fortune upon the L/n Kingdom!”

Ever since your parents had fled the country, your citizens are now handed over to the Huangs via your engagement to the Prince. Your parents and the Huangs had been planning to gather your people together and make an empire once your marriage is finalized, an empire for you and Renjun to rule together. Since your parents had called for a retirement before you reached a legal age, you were the unofficial Queen of your subjects, hence you weren’t granted a proper coronation even after your marriage with Renjun.

At least, that’s what your parents had informed you before sending you over.

You didn’t mind very much, you weren’t ready for the official title of being Queen. At least, not alone. Considering you’ve been dealing with more things behind the scenes with your parents’ quote unquote “retirement”. Sometimes, it would be too much for a teenager like yourself to deal with education, social statuses, personal financial issues and the future of your Empire all at once. And sometimes, you couldn’t help but break down every once in a while.

Earlier today, you received a scolding by one of your Headmasters for not reaching the minimum requirement for one of your examinations. You couldn’t study much for said test as your parents had ordered you to send them more money(via gold) and you were too busy making arrangements for the transportation of the items all week in private to study for your exam. Then, you received another letter from your parents saying that 2000 pieces of gold weren’t ‘enough’ for their weekly budget, which brought more stress upon you.

You were doing your nightly walks in the garden before you went to bed when it all hit you like a brick. Your parents’ letter crumpled up in your hands as you made no effort to wipe your tears, squatting and facing downwards to hide your face as you squeezed the life out of the letter like it did to your heart. You were beyond exhausted, you even received a scolding from Prince Renjun earlier for spacing out during dinner, he told you how you were acting ungrateful in front of his parents for idly playing with your food. The fact that he told you how you didn’t even deserve the food on the table made you even more upset than you previously were.

Crying even harder into your palms, you tried your best to keep your cries as inaudible as possible but it didn’t stop the pain in your chest from increasing drastically as the seconds went by. You were overwhelmed, stressed, anxious. Eyes were on you at every second of the day, high expectations burdening your back, your parents living their best life out there with you as their money-making marionette was enough to make you breakdown for the first time in a few months. Everything was becoming too much and you didn’t know or have anyone to trust.

You just wanted your head to stop spinning, your heart to stop aching, to stop acting like the Queen you’re expected to be when you’re not even at a legal age to be one yet.

“What the hell are you doing here this late?”

You froze, gulping down the lump in your throat as you wiped the tears away as best as you could. “Your highness,” you quickly stood up, turning your back on him as to not let him see you in this pathetic state. “What were you doing? Squatting there like some kind of idiot? Are you lost or something? I thought you knew better than to be lost here considering you wander around the palace more than I can count,” Renjun spat, clicking his tongue as his scowl deepened.

“Forgive me,” you mumbled, your voice cracking as you couldn’t stop your heart from hurting. Of all people, why did HE have to find you in this state?

“... Are you crying?” he asked hesitantly after a pregnant pause, his strict tone going soft in an instant, you could hear a tint of guilt lacing his words. You sniffled, looking up to keep your tears in as you shook your head vigorously. “Crying? That would be pathetic of me, why would I-” you couldn’t hold back another sob that escaped your throat, raising an arm up to cover your eyes. You felt fingers wrap around your free arm, pulling you to turn you around, which caught you off guard.

Your eyes met Renjun’s soft ones, his pink hair fluffy and messy as he had just gotten up after tossing and turning around in bed. He was wearing his nightly attire, which was a size too big for him, you might add. The tips of his ears grew pink at the sight of your tearful face, eyes growing wide as they bore into your bloodshot ones. His hold on your wrist was soft yet firm, reassuring you that he wasn’t going to let go of you anytime soon.

“See, your highness? I’m not crying,” you chuckled sadly, sniffling as you used the back of your hand to wipe your wet cheeks.

Judging from the sad look on his face, you knew that he didn’t believe you. You watched Renjun bite his lip nervously before turning away, tugging your wrist to indicate that you should follow him. “Come with me,” he said softly, his tone almost angelic as the two of you jogged towards a familiar area in the garden. He fished out a key from his chest pocket as you came in sight with a familiar rose wall, watching the Prince in front of you unlock the door and open it. He gently coaxed you to get inside before closing the door behind him.

He let you sit down on one of the benches, where you tucked your knees to your chest immediately, pressing the crumpled letter to your chest. The fresh scent of flowers easing your senses as you continued to cry your heart out, squeezing the fabric of your nightgown as you leaned your forehead on your knees. You didn’t care anymore if the Prince was watching you, it was getting too much and you couldn’t keep it in anymore.

You heard him sit down right beside you silently, yet you paid no mind as you cried silently. Suddenly, you felt a hand patting your head, fingers caressing your hair, stroking it gently. You looked up slowly, turning your head to the only person who was in the secret garden with you, Renjun. HIs face was glossed over with an expression which was what you could identify as sadness and concern, two emotions you’ve never witnessed before from the boy. Yet, you didn’t question him when he proceeded to caress your head. You didn’t tell him to stop either.

“Do you wish to speak about it?” he asked in a hushed voice.

Hugging your knees tighter to yourself, you shook your head, refusing to speak even more. Renjun nodded in understanding, kissing his teeth as he sucked his lips in, trying to think of something to break the awkward silence that had settled in between the two of you. With a click of his tongue, he began to speak. “My grandfather got me this secret garden back when I was merely a young child,” he started, looking around the garden with a soft expression, leaning back against the bench with a heavy sigh.

“Not long afterwards, he passed away from a terminal illness,” he turned his head away from you to look at the small pond a few meters away from you. You didn't say anything in response, letting him do all the talking to keep the atmosphere less awkward than it already was. He took a deep breath, "he loved orange lilies and erica flowers, it silently symbolized how he felt inside waiting for his passing ever since my grandmother passed a few years prior to his."

"Loneliness? Hatred?" You sniffled, pulling away from your knees to set your chin on them instead, looking down at the green grass with an empty expression mirroring his.

He let out a soft chuckle, confirming your words. "A few months later, I still couldn't stop grieving. He was a good man, he always thought of others before himself. Even when he was just on the brink of knocking on death's door," the way his voice carried his words was like music to your ears. You turned your head to face the prince, mesmerized at the sigh of the light from the moon that had illuminated his face, capturing his facial features in the most breath-taking way possible.

His empty eyes staring off at the distance, his lips parted as his mind wandered to look for his next words. Pink hair disheveled and messy like the candy flosses from the village fair, his eyes shimmering under the moonlight like diamonds you couldn't even tell if they were reflecting the stars or getting glossy with tears. You couldn't express how ethereal Huang Renjun was to you at that moment, it was a moment that made you ponder if you've thought wrong about this engagement being similar to a never ending torment.

"My parents took me to a beach not long after. My grandfather told me if I ever needed to tell him anything, I should deliver him a message by the sea."

There was a small, sad smile stretched across his pink lips. "I was a foolish boy. A quite miniscule boy, in fact," he chuckled sadly once again, leaning over to pluck out one of the erica flowers from its stem, looking down gently at the flower that was facing downwards in between his fingers. "I didn't know if it was because I threw the bottle from the shore or if the traditional message sending method truly was a weak coping mechanism for grieving families but I found the bottle a few months afterwards," Renjun smiled thinly, his dimples protruding from his cheeks as he spoke.

You couldn't help but feel guilty over your argument at the tower a couple of weeks earlier. Biting your lip, you felt your heart sink for the Prince. Choosing to go against your pride, you mindlessly leaned your head against his shoulder, ignoring the burning feeling inside of you as your mind scolded you for your unprofessional actions. "The book I read earlier informed me that you should at least be waist deep in water for it to deliver. Perhaps you should do that instead of throwing the bottle as if you were a human catapult," you muttered in a weak attempt to comfort him.

He let out a small laugh, “perhaps.”

Letting out a sigh, you looked up at the moon. The stars were a rare sight in the Huang’s palace; it was so scarce that you thought you were imagining the two shimmers on the blanket sky beside the moon. “I want to send someone a message through the bottle one day,” you mumbled, almost inaudibly as you continued to lean against the Prince’s shoulder. Renjun let out a soft hum, his eyes never made an effort to meet yours. “To whom?” he asked shortly, earning a soft shrug from you.

“I don’t have anyone to send to, but I would like to send one someday. Even if it were just some kind of fake tale, it would be nice to send a message through the sea,” you mumbled, your swollen eyes grew heavy, eyelids drooping slowly as the exhaustion began to take over you. All that crying really took a lot of energy out of your body, you couldn’t help but feel sleepy in the Prince’s presence. “Maybe we should do that together someday,” he suggested after a long pause. You couldn’t see the smile that stretched across Renjun’s face because you had fallen asleep on his shoulder while waiting for his response.

“Where your treasure is where your heart will be also as your father liked to say,” he whispered into the quiet night.

The next day, you assumed Prince Renjun had carried you back to your quarters considering Gwen had no idea you even went out before bed when you asked her who carried you back into your room after midnight. When you asked Kai, all you received was a sly grin which told you everything you needed to know. Your day proceeded with your usual morning routine, dinner with the Huangs with Renjun giving you that same scowl on your face.

You’d like to think that Renjun only felt guilty for you last night, you’d like to think that Renjun was internally disgusted with you when he found you crying in the middle of his precious garden. You’d like to think he still hated you, no-you can confirm that he still hated you. The dark glare he gave you after you greeted him a pleasant morning was enough to tell you that the nice Prince who comforted you that night was nothing but a facade he put up as pity. You can lie to yourself that you were used to this. You could lie to yourself that you wished he was as nice as he was that nice.

You were terrible at lying to yourself. For something bloomed in your chest like a flower after that night.

“Your highness?”

“Oh, forgive me, I got lost in my thoughts. It’s tea time, isn't it?”

“Your highness! We’ve finally perfected the potion!” Sungchan and Joanne ran up to you enthusiastically, carrying a small glass tube filled with ominous sparkly purple liquid as you sipped on your tea. You lit up at this, a smile stretching across your face at the news as you clapped your friends enthusiastically to congratulate them on their success. “Congratulations! I knew you could do it!” you beamed with a wide smile stretched across your face.

Jo and Sungchan shared a knowing look, cheshire grins stretched across their faces as they popped the lid open and lifted their brows up in suggestion. “Your highness, would you do the honors of trying out our magnificent flying potion?” Jo asked, getting ready to pour the liquid in your almost empty tea cup. Your eyes widened at this, fear creeping up your spine as you gulped down the remains of your tea. “Me? You want me to try on your potion?” you asked, nervously pointing at yourself as you stared at them incredulously.

They nodded enthusiastically in unison, causing you to be even more flabbergasted than you already were. You clasped your hands together as you tried to come up with the right words to say no in the most polite way possible considering you didn’t want to ruin their mood. You were more than happy to help people but after that incident that ended with Renjun’s hair turning bright pink, you weren’t sure if you were ready to face the consequences if their so-called ‘potion’ goes wrong.

“I am honored that you think I am a good candidate to try this potion but shouldn’t you ask one of the maids or something?” you asked, raising your brow at them as you observed the suspicious liquid from your seat. “Well, we were going to test it on Kai but she was too busy writing letters to Donghyuck from the Matahari Kingdom,” Sungchan went on before gulping nervously, knowing how he would’ve been roasted alive if he were to interrupt Kai’s special letter writing session. “So we decided upon her highness! Plus it’s perfect timing as well considering you’re having tea time on the balcony today,” Joanne nodded in agreement, sucking her lips in.

You took a deep exhale, you weren’t one to deny one of your closest friends considering they were the ones who had to listen to your countless rants about the Prince being a complete jerk. Sighing, you gave them a somewhat genuine smile as you stood up from your chair and walked towards them. “I would love to try your potion,” you nodded nervously, hands gripping on the fabric of your dress as Joanne and Sungchan cheered in glee. You then watched as Joanne poured the liquid into your cup, filling it halfway.

“So I just gulp this down? Just as I usually would when drinking tea?” you asked nervously, wrapping your fingers around the handle, not forgetting to lift your pinky up as you swirled the liquid around in your cup. “Yes, your highness,” the young wizard nodded with a small bow as his partner screwed the cap on. You internally cursed before downing the liquid without a second thought, ignoring the terrible tea infused taste that came afterwards as Joanne let out a loud gasp.

“You were supposed to fuse it with more tea, don’t just gulp it all down, your highness!” she exclaimed, almost dropping the glass tube in the process as she cupped her mouth in shock. Your eyes widened at this as Sungchan’s eyes widened in fear. “You didn’t tell me that? It wasn’t specified in the book either!” he exclaimed, turning his body around to face his partner as Joanne bit her lip nervously. “I know but Jungwoo told me so a couple hours prior to his departure!” she exclaimed, causing the both of them to look at you with equally terrified expressions.

You gulped as you felt a funny feeling run down your body.

“What’s happening-”

You didn’t even know what happened but in a blink of an eye, you were high up in the sky, falling through the clouds. Your eyes widened as you started yelling and shrieking for your life, cursing Joanne and Sungchan’s names as you wrapped your arms around yourself and closed your eyes to prepare yourself for the impact of your body hitting whatever or wherever you were falling on. You felt the harsh wind blowing against your face as your legs kicked and moved around in panic.

‘Oh god, I’m going to die! I’m going to die! I haven’t even finished my brioche! I haven’t even gotten my first kiss! I thought I was going to have my head chopped off my fiance but clearly God has other plans!’ you cursed, squeezing your eyes shut as you began to desperately pray that you landed on something soft, you prayed and begged that some mythical creature would scoop you up from the sky and into safety like some kind of guardian angel. The ones you read about in story books and novels in the library. Then suddenly, just then your back finally landed on something, something hard yet soft. Your body didn’t ache as much as you think as you groaned in pain, you were sure they weren’t broken considering you could still move without feeling too much pain.

But then, you heard another soft groan of pain. One that did not belong to you, one that you were sure was too familiar. You gulped as you prayed to whatever God was listening to you that it wasn’t who you think it is as the Prince below you began to curse under his breath on how his body ached. You turned around to see that your face was merely inches apart from your fiance’s, butterflies began to flutter inside of you as if something had triggered it. The prince’s pained face caused you to sit up, rolling off of him as you began to fear for your life.

“Your highness! Are you alright? Oh my god, I didn’t even- are you okay?” you asked frantically, tripping over your own words as the Prince sat up, his brows furrowed as he glared at you. “What the bloody hell were you even doing? How the hell did you end up in the sky?” he snapped, silencing your annoying rambling as an annoyed expression spread across his face, leaning his neck from side to side to crack his bone, groaning in pain afterwards. You couldn’t even reply as you continued to stare at the Prince’s messy attire, how he was wearing a white button up top with light brown trousers.

How the sunlight shone upon his bare face, his hair slightly messy and how his cheeks were red under the heat, paint smearing across his cheeks, indicating that he was painting before you had to unfortunately land on him. “Hey! It’s rude to not answer the Prince when he’s asking you,” he snapped his fingers right in front of your face, attracting your attention before leaning back against his palms behind him. You didn’t know if it was just you (it probably was) but it appeared that he wasn’t as mad as you expected him to be. (To tell you the truth, you expected him to execute you on the spot with his paintbrush)

“I- I swear I didn’t mean to fall and land on you- in fact, I didn’t even know how I got there, I was just drinking this potion Joanne and Sungchan made and-” you stood up abruptly, brushing the dirt off of your dress. You were so panicked that you didn’t even realise Renjun was holding your waist as you both stood up, his hands slowly retracting back to his sides as you both got to your feet. “What did I tell you about consuming whatever suspicious trinket those two came up with? Stay out of it,” he hissed, his jaw clenched.

You gulped, nodding softly as you took a step back, only for one of the heels of your shoes to snap off and break. Stumbling as you tried to regain your balance, you didn’t know whether to thank the Prince for his reflexes when you felt Renjun grabbed your arm tightly. You winced as you felt a sharp sting on the back of your foot, right above the fabric of your shoes. Looking down you saw that your foot was bleeding, the sharp rock not even an inch behind you practically laughing at you for embarrassing yourself in front of your fiance.

You heard Renjun click his tongue at this, letting out a groan of annoyance before taking a deep inhale. “God, why are you so clumsy today?” he hissed, bending down to swing his arms behind your back and behind your knees, lifting you up bridal style before walking back to the palace with an emotionless expression on his face. “Your highness, I can still walk, you don’t have to carry me,” you yelped, hesitantly wrapping your arms around his neck nonetheless as you sucked in your bottom lip nervously.

“I can’t have you further embarrassing yourself in front of me and getting injured, I can feel second hand embarrassment too, you know,” he clicked his tongue stubbornly as you felt heat flush through your chest, choosing to nod instead and let him carry you back to the entrance, where a tall guard stood in alarm. “Lucas, carry her to the royal infirmary, I don’t have the time for this,” he bellowed to the taller boy, handing you to the guard without a second thought. The action had effortlessly caused your heart to plunge into your stomach as you speechlessly looked at the prince.

Renjun sighed, furrowing his brows as he rubbed his temples. “Try to use that idiotic brain of yours and at least keep yourself alive, I don’t want a useless, clumsy Queen by my side on the throne,” he spat at you, turning away from you and Lucas as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “My cousin, Yangyang, from the Liu Island is coming to pay us a visit until my coronation, do keep yourself in line until then,” he informed, tugging on the collar of his shirt before walking away.

You didn’t say anything as Lucas asked you if he should put you down or carry you to the infirmary. Choosing to shake your head with a slightly sad smile, indicating that you could walk by yourself. “Thank you, Lucas. You’re always so kind,” you said, mustering up a smile on your face as Lucas slowly placed you down on your feet. “Of course, your highness. Forgive me, the Prince was never one to show his emotions and affections,” he nodded with a light-hearted smile.

“I don’t even know if he has those,” you muttered under your breath as you walked side by side with the older knight with crossed arms, ignoring the stinging pain in your foot as you both made your way to the Royal Infirmary. Lucas let out a light chuckle, “the Prince is quite stubborn. He’s always treated everyone like this. Please do not take any of his actions or words to heart,” Lucas placed a hand on his chest as he knocked on the door before grabbing the handles and pulling it open.

How could you not take his actions to heart? After that night in his secret garden, the way his warm tone had melted your tainted heart like ice on a summer afternoon? The way he opened up to you about his family, a sign that you were making progress in your relationship? The way you two shared a touching moment together on that bench as if you were two souls who had happened to find into each other’s presences like fate had told you to? You were sure as hell that he was the one who carried you back into your quarters considering none of the staff even knew that you two were out of your rooms after curfew hours.

After the sparkle of concern that glossed through his eyes for a split second when you both stood up after you had unceremoniously landed on top of him? The way his touch was soft but firm when he held you to his chest as he carried you into the castle? How were you not supposed to take his actions to heart when all he does is give you hope that he might be feeling the same things you have been?

The knight’s words failed to lift your spirits, the ugly feeling that came with Prince Renjun’s scowl never leaving your chest as you let out a light nod. “Thank you, Lucas,” you said as you walked into the room, where Gwen was innocently sitting at her desk, waiting for patients to enter the infirmary.

“Blessings and Glory Upon the Huang Dynasty.”

“Dear cousin, your favorite member of the Liu family has finally arrived!” a loud unfamiliar voice boomed as the doors of your study room bursted open unceremoniously.

You flinched at the loud sound, not used to the loud noise in the castle considering your life here was equivalent to living in a castle made out of glass, as if a single sound would tear this place apart. You looked up from your study desk, finally taking your eyes off of the endless amount of papers the Huangs have given you a couple of weeks ago. The Huangs had received information from your parents that they have given you some documents to read over to grasp more information on the poverty that’s currently building up in your kingdom.

Causing you to overwork yourself for weeks just to deal with each and every single individual document your parents had handed you from afar. You didn’t even know when was the last time you got any sleep, you haven’t touched your bedroom in days and you were sure as hell that you wouldn’t be able to do so in the next couple of days considering the documents have been piling up on your desk drastically as the days go by.

“Oh? Am I in the wrong room, perhaps?”

The voice snapped you away from your thoughts, causing you to furrow your brows at the stranger who had barged into your study room with no permission or warning. He seemed to be a boy your age, maybe even a bit younger than you. He was tall, definitely taller than Renjun, and unlike the people in the palace, this boy held a large gummy smile on his face as if he had carried news that even the Heavens couldn’t grant.

“Pardon me, I think you must be mistaken,” you stood up from your desk, rubbing one of your eyes as you dropped the quil you were previously using into the ink bottle on the table. “Forgive me, is this not Prince Huang’s study room? The last time I visited, I’m pretty sure I kicked down enough doors to remember which room is which,” he laughed teasingly as the boy’s eyes wandered around the room as if he owned the place.

And that’s when things clicked into place.

“Ah, forgive me for my informality. You must be Prince Liu Yangyang from the Liu Islands,” you bowed before him, lifting the edges of your dress as you gave him an exhausted smile in an attempt to give him a good first impression. You heard that Prince Liu was very much close with your friend, to the point that he was even considered one of the Prince’s best friends. Which was very hard to believe considering the boy in front of you resembled that of a 5 year old toddler who had just found out his parents’ weren’t his boss.

Oddly specific, I know.

“Yes I am! Though I prefer to be known as just Yangyang. Judging from your elegant attire, I’m assuming you must be the lucky Princess who happened to get the Golden Ticket to marry my uptight cousin! How’s that going out for you, Princess..?” He placed an arm before him and in front of his body, bowing in front of you with a playful smile, earning a genuine smile from you. “You can call me Y/n, no formalities here considering we’re both going to be family and we’re of the same rank,” you shook your head, waving your hand off at him casually.

“Ah, of course! I like you already, so the rumors have been true. Frighteningly menacing Prince Renjun of the Huang Dynasty betrothed to the angelic and soft-spoken Princess Y/n of the L/n Kingdom, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head when I read ‘soft-spoken’, ‘angelic’, and ‘Renjun’ in the same sentence,” Yangyang placed the back of his hand on his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut as he wailed dramatically. “I pondered the health and sanity of the unfortunate soul who had to be betrothed to my cousin,” he added, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“I’m sending you my prayers, your life will be equivalent to climbing Mount Everest after your wedding reception,” Yangyang patted your shoulder sympathetically, earning a soft laugh from you as you shook your head profusely at the male in front of you. “My, you’re quite entertaining. I contemplate how a funny fellow like you could get along so well with the Prince,” you shook your hand, pushing his hand off of your shoulder as you placed your hands over the other in front of you.

Yangyang gave you a wide grin, turning his head up as he waved his hand off at you. “Who doesn’t want to get along with a charming fellow such as I? The Prince practically begged me to be his friend back when we were young, he was such a quiet and shy boy,” he bragged, jokingly and almost narcissistically as you let out a small giggle, shaking your head. “I would appreciate it if you do not make prude jokes and spread misleading information around the Empire during your stay, Yangyang,” Renjun’s voice sent shivers down you and Yangyang’s spine.

You could see Yangyang visibly gulp his nerves down as he turned his body around to face the doorway, where a stone-faced Renjun was leaning against the door with his arms crossed against his chest firmly. “Renjun! I have been looking for you all over the palace, my good friend!” Yangyang spread his arms open welcomingly as he walked towards his cousin with a mischievous grin, ignoring the older boy’s comment. “You’re almost King now, how does it feel? Oh dear, you’re going to get married as well, time flies by so fast, doesn’t it?!” Yangyang beamed, letting out a fake sob as he wrapped his hand around Renjun’s shoulders, patting his back loudly.

“Stop being so dramatic, you’re going to be wedded off too sooner or later. Auntie said she even has candidates ready,” Renjun rolled his eyes, using a hand to pat his cousin’s back in return before Yangyang pulled away from the hug. “But hey, at least I won’t be king. I have Ten to do that for me,” he grinned, nudging the boy’s sides with a sneaky wink, earning another groan from the boy. “Don’t make me feel even more envious than I already have,” Renjun grumbled, rubbing his face with his hands.

Kai walked up towards you as the two boys got lost in their own little world, the atmosphere growing light as you watched Renjun interact with his cousin, a small smile tugging at his lips with every word that spluttered out of his old friend’s mouth. It was almost endearing, seeing the boy act like other Princes his age instead of preparing himself to be the next king. You couldn't help but smile at the sight, sighing heavily as Kai placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked in a hushed tone to keep the two princes from hearing you.

You turned to her, giving her an easy smile before shaking your head.

“Sometimes it feels better not to say anything.”

“Do you have a minute?”

Your eyes shot wide open as you glanced up from your papers to see your fiance standing in the doorway with his brow raised questioningly. You refrain yourself from yawning impolitely in front of him as you nodded, rubbing your eyes as you let out an ‘of course’ under your breath. Renjun closed the door to your study room, looking around the slightly messy room with an unimpressed expression. “I didn’t know a princess would be this messy when it comes to taking care of her own kingdom,” he commented without hesitation, causing you to frown as you looked around the room.

Books were scattered here and there, documents and papers filled the corners of your room, you swore you could see a few broken quills on the floor after the tip frayed from being used too much. Letting out a heavy sigh, you refused to meet his eyes, internally hoping that he would say whatever he wanted to say to you and get it over with so you can go back to your miserable schedule. “Do you need anything, your highness?” you asked with an exhausted tone, keeping the formality between you even though you knew very well he won’t even take a second to consider doing the same.

There was a small pause, awkward silence filling the atmosphere as Renjun hesitated on saying his next few words. “I have something for you,” Renjun asked, his tone growing awkward and embarrassed. Looking back up at the prince in front of you, you had to keep yourself from dropping your jaw to the floor as he glanced down at his two feet rather bashfully. As if he were some shy introverted 10 year old boy wanting to give his loved ones a flower he had picked in the garden.

“Oh?” you sat up straight, putting your hands over the other as you scooted your chair closer to your desk to hide your surprised expression. Coughing to clear your throat, you tried your best to conceal the curiosity bubbling within you. “What have you brought me?” you asked, leaning your head towards him a bit as he slowly glanced back up at you, taking a deep inhale before walking towards your desk and plopping down a neatly wrapped gift on the surface right in front of you.

The orange bow that was keeping it all together was also tying what you could identify was a yellow acacia branch. You haven;t seen any of these in the kingdom, which indicated that Renjun must’ve gotten these while he was out running errands in town with Yangyang the other day for a ‘pre-coronation gift’. (at least that’s what Yangyang said after Renjun told him he wouldn’t go to town with him) Nonetheless, it was a sweet gesture.

“Open it, I don’t have much time on my hands. You’re not the only one being overworked here,” Renjun placed his hand on the table, leaning against it as he observed your reaction with an unreadable expression spread across his face. You pressed your lips together, nodding as you leaned your body forward to pull at the bow to unwrap it from the small box on the desk. Pulling the lid of the box off, your eyes widened at the sight of a large brooch, which looked exactly like a chrysanthemum flower with red jewels scattered in between the empty space, gently placed inside.

You felt a surge of happiness bursting through you like some kind of strong wind had knocked every single hint of exhaustion in your body. Your stomach began to feel peculiar, almost fuzzy and warm. You felt a strong heat wave through your face as you suppressed the urge to smile, an expression of disbelief spread across your face as you delicately lifted the brooch up to inspect it even further. “You brought me a brooch?” you said almost questioningly, you still couldn’t believe the cold hearted Prince in front of you was shyly standing in front of you with a frown displayed on his face, his eyes staring directly at the window to your right.

“If you aren’t fond of it, you can just say so. I’m not ludicrous. You don’t like it, do you? I knew this was a silly idea, I shouldn’t have listened to Yangyang. Give it back, I’ll return it-” Renjun clicked his tongue as he started to ramble bashfully, reaching over to grab the box and brooch back from you. “No! I love it,” you exclaimed, snatching the box out of his hand and raising your arm behind you so that he couldn’t reach it from across your study desk as you shook your head profusely at him.

Renjun furrowed his brows in confusion, placing both of his hands at the edge of the desk as he glared daggers at you. “Give it back, I can tell you’re not fond of it. There’s no point in faking it, just give it back,” he ordered sternly, eyes boring into yours to make you heed his words. But alas you were too stubborn and determined when it comes to things like this. “No, I love it! I didn’t mean to offend you or make you upset, it wasn’t my intention! I promise you in the L/n Kingdom that I’m not lying! I really do appreciate the gift you have bestowed” you shook your head desperately, going against your anxiety as you glared back at him with the same determined glare he was giving you.

“I am not giving this back to you. It’s a gift from his highness, it must be treated with care. It’s rude to ask for a gift back once you gave it away, your highness. You must've misunderstood my reaction, I was just flabbergasted and awed that his highness had given me a gift,” you exclaimed, deciding to go against your previous thoughts as you let your emotions out, giving him the widest smile you could muster as you stared at the small brooch in your hand with adoration and disbelief.

Renjun couldn’t help but stare at you speechlessly, surprised to see you so worked up over a small piece of jewellery yet also confused at the same time. You, just like him, had all the wealth and fortune you could ever ask for. Why were you so happy when he gave you a small brooch that wasn’t even worth 1% of his daily allowance? He wasn’t going to lie to himself, seeing you happy like that sparked something foreign inside of him, a spark that made him feel uncomfortable. It felt ominous.

“Do you like it that much? Such little things please you,” he asked, his frown slowly disappearing as his eyes never moved away from yours once your pupils moved to make eye contact, his hard glare never wavering as you gazed up at him almost innocently. “Well it is a gift. A gift is meant to be cherished, is it not?” you asked, easing your smile as you realised that you were probably acting too out of character in front of him. He was still your fiance, after all, you had to be professional.

Renjun rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “Yangyang made me buy it, I’d say it wasn’t 100% a gift,” he commented under his breath as he turned his head away to tear away his gaze from you to the beautiful scenery from your window. You let out a small chuckle, shrugging softly as you placed the brooch back in it’s box, putting the box at the edge of your desk, right beside all of the papers that were stacking up. “It’s still a gift from his highness, therefore I am delighted,” you said with a genuine tone, leaning your cheek against your palm.

He didn’t know why, but his heart was beginning to beat too loudly against his chest that it made him feel as if he couldn't stand to be in your presence any longer. “Now that I have given you the stupid thing, I should return to my study room. I have a meeting with the nobles next week to discuss my coronation,” he coughed, clearing his throat to prevent himself from sounding any more awkward than he already felt, scratching the back of his neck bashfully. You couldn’t stop yourself from smiling despite the fact that your heart ached slightly at the realization that he’s probably here because Yangyang wanted him to.

You pressed your lips together nervously, looking down at your hands before nodding at him. “I wish you the best of luck for the meeting,” you encouraged him weakly, your smile faltering as he turned away from you without saying another word. You weren’t sure if Renjun didn’t hear you correctly or if he just chose to not respond back to you, either way you didn’t mind. The gift on your desk that he had given you was enough to cause your heart to flutter and soar for the rest of the week.

One thing’s for sure, he may be the prince but he was the thief that had made you realise that your heart was no longer yours.

“Your majesty!”

The sound of the doors bursting open interrupted the serene atmosphere the two princes had as they engrossed themselves in a complicated conversation. The head of the royal knights stood in between the doorway, arms spread open to keep the doors from closing in on him as he panted to catch his breath as if he had been running around the castle for the past few hours. Yangyang let out a soft squeal at the loud, alarmed tone, figuring that they were under an attack as he reached for the red pillow on the chair he was sitting on.

“Taeyong?” Renjun furrowed his brows in confusion, his heart rate picking up as his nerves began to mess with him at the sight of his personal guard looking so worried and scared. He stood up from his chair, placing his cup of tea down on the table before walking towards him. “What happened?” he asked, he was almost afraid to even know the answer. But his parents were out for the day, leaving him in charge of the castle until they returned from their meeting.

“I have been looking for you all over the castle for the past fifteen minutes,” Taeyong gasped out, taking a step forward towards the younger boy only to put his hands on his knees. “I specifically told Lucas that I was going to be busy for the day with Prince Liu in the meeting room,” Renjun mumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms to calm himself down, taking a deep breath to maintain his composure.

“Are we under an attack?!” Yangyang exclaimed, peeping through the cushions he was hiding in as if he was a five year old child.

Just as Renjun was about to snap back a snarky comment at him, he felt a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly as Taeyong finally managed to catch his breath. “Your highness, it’s the princess,” the older man told him in a strict and worried tone, his three last words inevitably making the young Prince’s heart drop to his stomach in an instant, his body tensing up at the mention of you.

“What happened?” he asked, his gaze hard as his heart rate picked up drastically as the milliseconds went by, ignoring how worried he sounded in front of his cousin. “She fainted during a tea party with the duchess this afternoon. Head maid Gwen is currently looking after her in the Royal Infirmary,” Taeyong explained, causing Renjun’s eyes to widen, an ugly and ominous feeling sinking deep into his chest like a drop of black ink falling into a jar filled with water.

“Forgive me, but Head Maid Gwen informed me that you should not enter her room as of now but I couldn’t help but at least inform-”

“Where is she?”

“Who are you to tell me if I can or cannot enter this room?”

“Your highness, she is ill. If you enter this room now there's a high chance that you might catch it, she hasn’t been eating or sleeping properly for the past few weeks. We’re lucky nothing severe happened considering she only has a fever,” Gwen informed the stubborn prince with a deep exhale, rubbing her temples with her fingers as Renjun kept going on and on about wanting to see you. “You have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do, you’re just a maid,” Renjun crossed his arms at the older woman, who gave him a speechless expression.

The middle aged woman took in a deep breath, trying to remain professional in front of the prince. “Your highness, I know you’re worried about the princess but please calm yourself and be reasonable. What is the public going to say if you get sick as well with no one to keep the throne occupied?” Gwen furrowed her brows at him seriously, putting her hands on her hips in a motherly way, earning a small grimace from Kai, who was standing not far behind the Prince. Renjun let out a soft scoff, rolling his eyes before scurrying out of Gwen’s private office without another word.

Gwen took a deep inhale as Kai began to burst out laughing at her friend for getting so worked up. “I finally get why Brooke resigned from this job, that boy is more stubborn than a mule!” she exclaimed incredulously as she sat back down on her chair with her forehead in between her fingers as Kai continued to snicker playfully. “I was honestly quite shocked when she said she was going to resign considering her Head of the Royal Guards husband is walking around with a metal armor twenty four seven,” Kai laughed lightly, closing the door as soon as she saw the Prince out of plain sight.

A few hours after Gwen’s little lecture, the Prince was in your room, having a small conversation with you after telling his guards to heed his command and let him through your bedroom. He didn’t want to admit to himself that he was worried but dear god, hearing you collapse had elicited the worst feeling in his chest that his subconscious was desperately begging him to check on you. His heart was itching to make sure that you were okay. And honestly, it scared him.

The way his heart dropped and sank into his stomach was nothing like the excruciating feeling of finding out his beloved Grandfather’s passing, it felt as if the pain had increased tenfold. He didn’t know what to do when he found out that he couldn’t even enter your room considering he had documents and tasks to handle himself, he didn’t even know you had been skipping meals and staying up late doing the work his parents had handed you.

“I made you tea,” he mumbled, bringing over the tray from the nightstand beside your bed towards you as he sat on the bed next to you, placing the tray on his lap. You perked up at this, the mere thought of the cold hearted boy in front of you making tea felt like a myth, the sight of him handing you the tea he actually made himself (at least that’s what he had proclaimed before) was almost like a fever dream.

“I hope you like earl grey,” he mumbled bashfully, gently lifting the saucer and delicately handing it to you. You gave him a soft smile as butterflies began to flutter inside of your stomach, giving you a warm feeling amidst the fever you were enduring. “I can’t even imagine Prince Huang himself has made me tea, single handedly. This feels very much surreal,” you laughed softly, earning a soft smile from the boy but it quickly faltered when your words sank into him.

“What’s that supposed to bloody mean?” he asked, furrowing his brows in a rather adorable manner, his lips pressed together almost in an endearing pout.

You didn’t know if it was the fever getting to you but you couldn’t help but notice how adorable the prince is when he isn’t treating you as if you were mud staining his new shoes on a rainy day. You shook your head as you chuckled. “I didn’t mean to offend you, you’re so short tempered, your highness,” you laughed lightly. “I meant that I never thought I’d see the day Prince Huang himself would show up at my room, without being told to by his parents or cousin, on his own accord. With a tray carrying a tea cup filled with tea in which he had brewed himself,” shaking your head profusely at him before lifting the cup to your lips to taste test.

Renjun moved to sit down on the chair beside your bed, looking at you in anticipation as you popped your lips a few times after tasting it, furrowing your brows in confusion. “Your highness, is this iced tea?” you asked, letting out a small giggle as you turned your head to the boy with an amused expression. Renjun raised his brow, nodding in response with a small “indeed” escaping from his lips.

“Your highness, I have a fever. I’m not supposed to drink iced tea,” you laughed lightly, putting the cup down on the saucer as Renjun’s eyes grew wide in realisation. “Oh,” was all he could say as he avoided your eyes from pure embarrassment, causing you to laugh lightly as you placed your cup back on the nightstand, regretting it a bit as your head began to spin the moment you leaned over the bed.

Letting out a small chuckle at the bashfulness of the prince in front of you, you leaned over towards him to pat his hand gently. “It’s okay, it’s the thought that counts. The tea was delightful, I swore I felt flowers blooming in my mouth,” you complimented with a smile, clapping your hands together to cheer him up from his sulky state, causing him to lift his brow at you suspiciously. A small pout appeared on his lips as you held yourself back from pinching his cheeks in glee.

“That was humiliating,” he muttered with a soft scoff, earning another fit of giggles from you as you laid back down on your bed, relaxing as you laid down on your side to look at him. “You should go back to sleep, no one wants you to be sick for too long. It’s worrisome,” he muttered, hesitantly putting his hand on your head, caressing your head and stroking your hair with his fingers as your eyes began to droop. You were getting sleepy but at the same time you didn’t want to end your conversation with the prince.

Not when he’s acting like this.

“Your highness?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you sing for me someday? I heard from a few nobles that the infamous Prince Huang Renjun holds a melodious voice given by heaven,” you words were slurred as your eyelids grew heavy and half-lidded. You knew it was the fever getting to you considering you wouldn’t normally have the guts to talk like this to his face, however your whole body was feeling fuzzy so you couldn’t find it in you to care at the moment.

Renjun could swear he was going to scream if you kept speaking nonsense, immediately wishing for you to get well as his heart skipped a beat at your compliment. “Whatever you want,” he mumbled, feeling his face heat up as he watched a loopy smile spread across your lips. “Anything else? You’re more unbearable to be with when you’re sick, you better get well soon,” he mumbled as you closed your eyes, the sleep finally taking over you.

“One day, I just want to hear you say that you like me,” you mumbled almost inaudibly before dozing off on the spot, snuggling closer to your pillows as you gripped the blanket that was wrapped around your body even tighter to keep your body warm.

Renjun swore he was about to have a heart attack when he realised you had fallen asleep the moment you finished your sentence, he was sure he wouldn’t have survived if you didn’t fall asleep on the spot. Nonetheless, something moved in his chest that made his mind blur as he let out a soft smile, kneeling down on his knees to lean his head forward towards yours. Feeling his heart race as his eyes examined your features with a soft expression, admiring how innocent and harmless you appeared as your breathing evened.

With a soft smile spread across his face, Renjun pressed a soft, almost feather-like kiss on your forehead, stroking your hair before standing up to his feet and heading out of the room with a small smile on his lips.

“Coronation party is in two weeks, are you nervous, dear cousin?” Yangyang grinned with a raised brow, leaning back against his chair as Renjun sipped on his tea, his eyes never tearing his gaze away from the book in his hand. “Why should I be nervous? It’s just a ceremony,” Renjun replied shortly, tone void of emotion, licking his lips as he placed his cup down on the saucer. Eliciting an incredulous and loud ‘huh?!’ from his cousin, Renjun scrunched his face at the sudden loud tone.

“How are you not nervous? Renjun, are you sure you didn’t use black magic to get rid of whatever emotions you have left in your body?” Yangyang asked rather jokingly, raising his brow as he swung his arm to the back of the chair with a light laugh. Renjun let out a small chuckle, shaking his head at the younger boy across the table as he heard his cousin take another loud bite off of the freshly baked pastries prepared in front of them. “I would be rotting in bed all day if I were you, to think that time is passing so fast. Next thing we know you’re already king and married to Y/n, raising whatever demon child you two created,” Yangyang shivered in disgust, shaking the thoughts away.

Renjun paused in the middle of a page turn, Yangyang’s words echoing in the back of your mind. His heart almost stopped at the mention of getting married to you, has a year passed already since he first saw you? For once, Yangyang was right. Time was flying fast, a little too fast in his opinion. He pondered how he even got himself in this position, why was he treating you as if you were truly one of his loved ones?

“Don’t speak nonsense, it’s going to make my ears bleed,” Renjun snapped, glaring at his cousin as Yangyang continued to ramble on about how miserably single he was compared to his beloved cousin. Yangyang rolled his eyes at his cousin, knowing how oblivious he is to his own feelings. “Speaking of y/n, I just noticed how you never address her by her name or anything. Why so?” Yangyang asked, leaning forward to lean his chin on the back of his hand, his elbow supported on the table as he grinned mischievously.

The pink haired prince raised his brow questioningly, looking up from his book once again with a heavy sigh. “Why do you keep bringing her up? Are you in love with her or something, Prince Liu?” he asked, gritting his teeth through his words slightly as he spoke. Yangyang’s eyes widened slightly, putting his hands up beside him as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Hold on there now. We’re on honorific terms? Since when?” he teased once again, enjoying the glint of anger flashing through his cousin’s pupils.

Renjun was on the verge of snapping at his cousin before Yangyang let out an amused laugh. “Calm down, your highness! No need to get your corsets in a twist, I have no interest in taking your lover,” he shook his head, waving his hand off as he wrapped his other free arm around his stomach as his shoulders shook in laughter. He watched his cousin let out a puff of breath, possibly of relief as he relaxed back in his chair, swinging his leg over the other as Renjun went back to reading his book.

“I am serious about my previous question, though. Why don’t you address her like a normal fiance would? By her name? You two are too professional with one another,” Yangyang asked, furrowing his brows as he examined the trees and yellow acacias growing around them in the gazebo they were having tea in. Renjun let out another sigh, turning his head to pinch the bridge of his nose considering this idiot of a relative doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut considering he’s already pretty stressed out with the coronation preparations.

“Must we talk about this now, Yangyang?” he asked with an incredulous sigh, earning an affirming nod from the younger boy.

The pink haired prince sat up straight, shrugging briefly. “I don’t find it necessary to call her by her name,” Renjun said simply, reaching an arm back to rub the back of his neck in confusion, earning a soft scoff from the boy in front of him. “What’s with the scoff?” he asked in offense, furrowing his brows slightly as Renjun leaned forward to glare threateningly at the other prince.

“I’ve known you since we were young. Come on Renjun, I know you too well. That’s not the reason why you don’t want to address her by her name. After all, you didn’t start calling me ‘Yangyang’ three years after we became friends,” Yangyang chuckled, shaking his head as he reached over to drop more sugar cubes into his tea, playfully stirring the liquid in his cup with one of the golden teaspoons prepared on the handkerchief beside the plates.

Renjun rolled his eyes. “Stop speaking in gibberish and finish your bloody tea,” he said, smacking the book on top of the boy’s head as he clicked his tongue, earning a small yelp from the younger prince as Renjun rolled his eyes. “Y/n received a letter from her parents earlier, they told her they have something important to discuss with her or something,” Yangyang decided to change the subject considering he could lose any more IQs than he already has throughout his whole 18 years of living.

“Is that so?” Renjun asked, his face unbothered as he picked up his own tea cup once again, placing his book down in front of him as he looked up to pay attention to his cousin’s words. Yangyang hummed, nodding in affirmation. “They require her presence somewhere around your coronation, if I recall properly. I’m not sure when she’s actually going to go though,” he added with a hum, tapping his finger against his lips in thought as Renjun let out another awkward hum, not knowing what to say in response.

Yangyang suddenly perked up, leaning forward to lay his arms improperly like a toddler against the table, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Are you not going to bid her a goodbye? Parting is such sweet sorrow, you know, cousin,” he snickered teasingly, earning another roll of Renjun’s eyes as the pink haired boy crossed his arms across his chest. “Why would I do that? It’s probably a two day trip, we see each other every day. I’ll finally have a break from seeing her all the time,” Renjun answered, his tone unwavering as he nodded towards the maid standing behind them to refill his cup.

“It’d be nice of you to say goodbye to your fiance, do you not read those romance novels? And here I thought you were the smarter cousin,” Yangyang tsked in disappointment, crossing his arms against his chest before shaking his head at his cousin. Renjun let out a soft scoff as he raised his cup to let the maid pour the tea into his cup. “Why are you even scoffing? I’m serious! You always act so coldly towards the poor girl, dear cousin!” Yangyang furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Lighten up a bit, let yourself live a little and forget about professionalism. You’ve known each other for more than a year already, you’re about to tie the knot and be blessed by church bells soon after your coronation. You should at least call her name in a soft spoken voice considering she’s already living in the palace as if she were part of the family,” Yangyang exclaimed incredulously, disbelieving that his cousin wasn’t fazed in the slightest at his words. He loved his cousin but he could be so stubborn he wished he was the one who had the authority to smack a book on top of his head.

Renjun grew quiet, the gears in his head working like a machine as he thought over the younger’s words in his mind. Biting his lip as he furrowed his brows, Yangyang let out an annoyed groan. “Come on! Wouldn’t it be nice if you even shared your coronation dance with her? Call her by her name in the middle of the crowd and ask for her hand to dance instead of sitting on the throne for the rest of the ceremony?” Yangyang groaned, he clearly read too many of those romance novels he had mentioned earlier.

The prince got lost in his thoughts, looking at his cousin with uncertainty, who only gave him a pleading look in response. With a heavy sigh, Renjun slumped his shoulders.

“Give me time to think,” he muttered under his breath.

“Your highness?”

You turned away from the letter in your hands, eyes wide to see Lucas in the doorway with a comforting smile spread across his face. You quickly folded the letter your parents had sent to you and tucked it in between the cushions of the chair you were sitting on as you told Lucas to come in. The young knight walked in with an uneasy expression that made you feel quite worried. Lucas has been nothing but a good friend to you and you couldn’t bear the thought of your friends being upset.

“Blessings and glory upon the Huang Dynasty,” he greeted with a bow, a sympathetic expression spread across his face. “Your highness, I have come to deliver news,” he informed you, his sad expression never wavering as you furrowed your brows in confusion, intertwining your hands together nervously on the desk in front of you. “Please take a seat, Lucas. I’m all ears,” you said in a concerned tone, gesturing to the chair across the desk, earning a shake of the knight’s head.

“It is not about me, your highness. It’s about you, orders from the future King-to-be,” he informed, taking a deep breath as your heart rate started to increase rapidly at the mention of your fiance. These days, you didn’t know if Renjun has been avoiding you or if it was because you both were immensely busy with preparing for his coronation, you haven’t seen each other in days. And when you were in the same room, one of the two of you would be too busy to look up from whatever you were doing to greet the other.

You’d like to think it was because of the coronation, it was tomorrow, after all. You had been meaning to talk to Renjun on how you had gradually harbored feelings throughout the years you’ve been living in the same palace. You were almost sure (by observing his own actions) that he felt something rather similar considering he took care of you when you were sick. Gwen even let you in on the details of how he practically argued with everyone just to go check up on you. You weren’t going to lie, the information made your heart do somersaults whenever your mind wandered back to it.

“His majesty had ordered me to tell you this personally as he is too busy with rehearsals to tell inform you in person,” Lucas was stalling as best as he could, you could tell by the uncomfortable glint in his expressions as he tried his best to explain whatever Renjun wanted to tell you into his own words. You couldn’t blame him, Renjun was a complicated person and you were sure that whatever he wanted to tell you wasn’t that easy to convey. You gave him a soft, encouraging smile.

“Lucas, you don’t have to stall. Just tell me, I won’t get upset,” you coaxed him gently, feeling your skin crawl as you were anxious to find out what he was trying to say. Lucas gave you a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “I have no words to make light of the message but the prince would like you to do him a small favor?” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, fidgeting with his fingers as he swallowed.

“Lucas you can spit it out, you don’t need to stall,” you laughed lightly, getting a little uncomfortable with how the atmosphere was thickening the more Lucas attempted to explain whatever he was meaning to say. “What favor?” you asked, furrowing your brows, a spark of hope igniting inside of you like fire at the older boy’s words. Renjun has never asked you for a favor, the thought of him asking for your help made you figure that your relationship was finally improving.

“His majesty has asked you if you could not attend the coronation ceremony.”

Your heart dropped, just with a few words, the fire that was just ignited was soon wiped out.

"Excuse me?" You couldn't even hide the disappointment in your voice as you furrowed your brows, making Lucas even more uncomfortable than he already was. The boy cleared his throat, gulping nervously as he watched you physically deflate. "His majesty didn't have the time to tell you this in person, therefore, he ordered me to inform you that he asked you to not attend the ceremony," he explained slowly in a more elaborate detail.

Renjun said that?

"Your highness, I tried my best to make the Prince change his mind but he refused to listen or give a reason why," he stammered, every word coming out of his mouth sending small shards of glass into your heart. "But I'm his fiance, aren't I? I have to attend the coronation regardless," your eyes widened, your heart was aching like hell in your chest as an ugly feeling began bubbling inside you, a lump gathering in your throat.

Lucas sighed heavily, sending you a small glance before closing his eyes for a brief moment to compose himself. "Your highness, he's about to be the ruler of the kingdom. Until your official wedding ceremony, there's nothing her highness could do to go against his orders," he bowed politely at you to ensure that he wasn't overstepping boundaries. Your pupils were beginning to shake as reality hit you hard in the face.

Renjun didn't want you there.

Of course he doesn’t.

“Your highness?” the knight called out hesitantly as you began to get lost in your thoughts. “Are you-”

“Thank you for informing me, you are dismissed now,” you said as politely as you could, mustering up a smile as you tried to maintain your composure and keep your professionalism. Lucas sighed heavily before standing up from the chair, not forgetting to bow in front of you as he let out the usual royal greeting. “Blessings and Glory upon the Huang Dynasty.”

You didn’t meet the boy’s eyes as you felt your heart grow heavy, eyes blurring with tears as you heard the sound of his footsteps gradually decrease, finally letting a tear drop to the paper in front of you when you finally heard the booming sound of the door to your study room shut close. Your mind was screaming ‘I told you so’ repeatedly like an echo in a deep cave, you couldn’t make it stop as your heart was being ripped out alive. Getting your hopes up was the worst thing you could’ve done to yourself.

Propping your elbows up on the desk, you rubbed your face in frustration as you wiped your tears away with the back of your hand. You were on the verge of cursing everything out as you realised that all this time just when you thought the Prince was finally taking a liking to you, it was probably all out of pity or out of force. You weren’t surprised if the Huangs scolded his son too much to the point he pretended to care for you. Yet again, why were you the one who was heavily affected when reality crashed down upon you?

You were always polite to him, you made sure to stay out of his way whenever he was occupied with his tasks and you were always respectful to keep professionalism even though he has shown zero signs of giving the same respect. So then why was your heart the one falling instead of his? Is it too selfish of you to ask for something as rare as love? You never knew what love had felt like before considering you were neglected throughout your entire childhood, is it too selfish to ask him to love you the way you had grown to love him?

Why was the world so selfish that you couldn’t even claim anything as your own? Not even your own heart?

‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ was what your father would always say. Renjun had become your treasure as the days went by, you guess your father wasn’t wrong with his beliefs. Renjun had stolen your heart and you didn’t know how to get it back. You thought you were finally worthy of feeling happiness. Of feeling love. You were excited to live your life by the Prince’s side. You didn’t expect much but respect and kindness from the Prince, yet he failed to do so.

All those times you had to turn a blind eye to the nobles who had unceremoniously gossiped on how unfortunate you were to be married to a man like him, how you wouldn’t last a day after your marriage had begun, how you would probably be treated like a low peasant every single day. Oh the amount of times you had to snap back at those who had mocked him behind his back out of the love blossoming in your chest, the times you would lie to his parents on how well he was treating you everyday.

You were beyond exhausted. You weren’t even allowed to go to the coronation ceremony? What did he expect you to do in the meantime? Finish up all the duties you’re supposed to be taking a break from? Stay in your quarters until he comes back from the ballroom all grand and happy while you suffer in embarrassment at the fact that your own fiance didn’t want you there? YOu didn’t know why you were surprised at this point. Nobody in this castle wanted you. They just wanted authority over your kingdom to build this one into a brand new empire.

And so, you wiped your tears away like the princess you were before opening your drawers for an empty piece of paper and a stamp. You needed a break from this place, you needed somewhere to relax.

Yet you had nowhere to go. You had no home to come to. All you could think of at that moment was your parents, who didn’t even want you around.

Taking a deep inhale, you dipped your quill into a bottle of ink before beginning to write a letter.

“I’m heading down to visit the former King and Queen of L/n!” you exclaimed with a bright smile, putting the back of your hands on your hips enthusiastically.

Gwen and Kai let out an incredulous gasp of disbelief, shocked and flustered at your sudden announcement. “Your highness?! What are you saying all of a sudden?” Gwen exclaimed, almost dropping her duster as she walked towards you with wide eyes as if you were leaving for good. You couldn't blame her, it was 6 AM and Renjun’s coronation ceremony was commencing in a couple of hours. You were expected to be getting ready just like the prince, not calling two of your most trusted servants to your room for a private announcement.

“Your highness, the ceremony is going to start in a few hours! You’re expected to be there, aren’t you?” Kai exclaimed, waving her arms around deliriously in disbelief. You ignored the pang in your heart at her words as you gave her a sad smile, shaking your head at them. “I’ll only be gone for a couple of days. Don’t worry, I’ll return before you know it,” you chuckled softly, waving it off with your hand as you walked towards your window, waiting for the carriage you had ordered previously to arrive.

“Your highness, you mustn't! The safest road to that place is currently being repaired! You mustn't go now!” Gwen exclaimed with a shake of her head, gripping on the sides of her dress anxiously as Kai nodded in agreement. “If her highness decides to leave before the road is repaired, you must go through the forest path! Heaven knows how many crimes have happened there! Not to mention the bandits and gangs lurking around just waiting for scraps of food and bits of gold,” Kai added with a worried tone, her usual, joking demeanor evaporating into thin air as she expressed her concern.

You let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll be leaving in secret, so please prepare. Renjun’s coronation is today. As his fiance, I should at least give him a present, even though it’s only temporary,” you gave them a smile, putting a hand on their shoulders comfortingly to ease them. Worried looks glossed over your butler and head maid’s expressions as they couldn’t find the correct words to say as they watched you reach over your wardrobe, pulling out a golden chrysanthemum shaped brooch and pinning it on your dress.

“Your highness..”

“Everyone is desperately hoping for me to disappear anyways,” you gave them a light chuckle, shaking your head when you realised your negativity was contagiously filling the atmosphere. You turned to the two most trusted people you knew with a determined expression, pressing your lips together as you placed a hand on your hip and pointed at them with a concerned expression. “So do treat Renjun well while I’m gone! You do know that Renjun is the King now right? In a few months, he’ll be an emperor!” you exclaimed energetically, shocking your two companions with your eager tone.

“Don’t get on his nerves if you wish to keep your heads! You guys know that he has a very bad temper, I implore you to get on his good side!” you said stomping towards them and poking their foreheads jokingly before smiling widely at them, taking a deep exhale. Not letting them even respond, you let out a light giggle before turning them around by their shoulders and gently pushed them out of your room without a second thought.

“Off you go then! Everyone should get back to work! I’m not the main character tonight, Renjun is! So as the former king of L/n would say, ‘Pip pip and cheerio! Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’!” you exclaimed merrily, successfully pushing the two out of your rooms before waving at them and shutting the door behind you, hearing a loud muffled ‘your highness!’ behind you. “I’ll be scolding you two if any problems arise with the ceremony, okay?” you exclaimed before leaning your back against the door, taking a deep breath of relief.

Now that you’ve informed them, your mind began to wander back down into that negative abyss of dark thoughts. Replaying on your previous words as you continued to walk back to the window, patiently waiting for the carriage to arrive. Patiently waiting for Taeyong to tell you to move on ahead in the carriage as he had a few things to do before escorting you with the other three guards down the dangerous road.

‘Main character..’ you thought as Taeyong knocked on your door, opening it afterwards and giving you a light smile to say that your carriage awaits. You gave him a nod as you clasped your hands over the other in front of you as you made your way down to the entrance.

‘Have I ever been the main character?’

Taking the first step on the carriage, you held on to the doorway with one hand and your brooch with the other. You thanked Taeyong for his help as he wished you a safe journey, informing you that he would simply catch up 20 minutes after you departed. You gave him a soft nod as you sat back against the soft cushions of your seat, looking down on your brooch with a sad smile as if the brooch was the only thing that gave you comfort throughout this whole thing. As if it gave you hope that somewhere deep inside, the Prince’s affection lies within that small brooch.

‘I simply lived on for someone’s wish. I did my duties so I could survive,’ you thought as the carriage began to rock as the horses began to move, indicating that you were finally starting your journey. Reaching your hand out, you felt soft droplets make contact with your palm, signalling that it was about to rain soon. You could even see the forest not even a few kilometers away. Letting out another sad chuckle, you took a deep breath as you prepared yourself for another miserable trip to visit your parents.

“I hope Renjun has fun at his coronation,” you mumbled as you stared off into the distance, looking up at the bright blue cloudy sky. “What kind of bad luck is this?” you joked lightly as the rain began to pour. Leaning back against the cushions, you shut the curtains close before closing your eyes in content.

“I hope it stops raining once the coronation starts, I would hate Renjun’s special day to be ruined because of it,” you wished under your breath with an emotionless tone.

Needless to say, your wish was the only thing that came true that day.

Taeyong sighed heavily as his horse led him to the forest with every soft ‘clip clop’ of it’s hooves. He had to leave a bit later than intended considering the rain began to pour, but fortunately, it didn’t last very long so he had some time to catch up to the Princess of the L/n Family. He didn’t know what Y/n was thinking when she told him that she was going to leave as soon as the sun rose on the day of the coronation. Hell, he tried to stop her for fear of scandals rising or the wrath of the Huangs.

Alas, in the end she made him escort her along with two other guards. So technically, he couldn’t exactly face the wrath of the Huangs if he came with her, right? Taeyong wanted to rub his face in frustration as he entered the forest with a frustrated groan. It didn’t make any sense.

Why would the prince suddenly tell her at the last minute to not attend the ceremony? It wouldn’t take a scholar to see that the young prince had taken a liking to the princess considering he practically fought everyone who stood in his way when they all cautiously told the stubborn boy to stay away from the Princess when she was bedridden with a fever. Something wasn’t right, and even if he did, Prince Yangyang would’ve heard about this and attempted to convince his cousin to think otherwise, right? Yet again, he hasn’t seen the Prince much considering he was too busy with rehearsals, therefore he couldn’t really say anything.

It wasn’t his business anyways.

Suddenly, something caught Taeyong’s eye. The road in front of him was nothing but a mess of foot prints, signalling that you weren’t alone with the guards. He furrowed his brows as he began to move deeper into the forest, his heart beginning to pick up it’s pace as he saw something a couple meters in front of him. The light protruding in between the leaves from the trees around him was enough to illuminate the sight of two corpses lying on the ground and a carriage that’s been flipped to its side, one of it’s wooden wheels had been detached and two of them were broken in half.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Was the sound of Taeyong’s heart as he slowly got off his horse, sweat beginning to drip down his face as his hand instantly went down to hold the handle of his sword as he walked closer. The eerie atmosphere made the silence loud in his ears as he could hear nothing but the sound of birds chirping in the distance and his own footsteps hitting the muddy ground, snapping a few branches here and there. His eyes widened as his pupils finally got a clear view of the corpses near him. He could identify them in a millisecond.

“Doyoung?”

He looked at the other corpse.

“Ten?”

His coworkers.

Taeyong’s hand slipped from the handle of the sword as his head slowly turned to the carriage in front of him, eyes growing wide as he emotionlessly took slow steps towards the unmoving vehicle. He didn’t know what to think, he didn’t know what to think at that exact moment. There was the sound of his boot making contact with a puddle of liquid, looking down all he saw was crimson red. It was blood. It was still wet. And it was coming from the carriage.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

His throat ran dry once he stepped close to the carriage, his arm hesitantly reaching over the curtain covering whatever was hidden inside the vehicle. God, he hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was. His gloved hand gripped the magenta fabric, pulling it open to reveal the horrendous sight that lay within. He took a step back out of shock, the tips of his glove were stained with blood as tears began to gather in his eyes, his mind spinning as he buried his face in his bloody hands. Kneeling down to his knees, letting his cape dip into the puddle of blood under him, he let out a loud scream that could pierce anyone’s ears as the wind blew against him. His now blood cape flew in the air under the harsh impact of the wind as Taeyong let out another distressed scream.

A golden brooch that took the shape of a chrysanthemum stood by his feet, the jewels accenting the brooch had cracked, drops of blood staining the pretty gold.

“Hey Kai! Have you seen Y/n anywhere? I’m supposed to be picking her up to escort her to the ceremony but I couldn’t find her anywhere?” Yangyang scratched his head, looking around the halls excitedly in case you would pop up any second. Kai furrowed her brows as she picked up one of the Princess’ dresses in her hand, humming in confusion. “Did you mean the Princess, your highness?” she asked politely yet hesitantly, furrowing her brows as she peered up at the prince.

Yangyang nodded eagerly. “In fact, Renjun and I had planned that I would pick her up to escort her to the coronation where she would be having her first dance with my mule of a cousin,” he exclaimed joyously before throwing his arms up in the air enthusiastically. “It’s what I usually call a Surprise Event!” he added with a light giggle before giving the butler a knowing look, wiggling his brows as he placed a finger below his chin.

“My cousin and I are planning that once she gets to the chapel, she would be escorted to the dressing room where my cousin and all his now kingly glory will bestow her a bouquet of the finest flowers from the Lee Nation and give her a big hug!” Yangyang said excitedly, he was beginning to ramble as he listed out the things he had planned with Renjun. “Hell, he was even going to give her his first kiss, isn’t that romantic? It was my idea, of course,” he boasts proudly, putting a hand on his chest with a light laugh.

“We’re all so excited for this, so please, tell me where the princess is immediately!”

The wide smile and the hopeful eyes on Yangyang’s face made Kai’s heart fall as she gave him a sad smile, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes before opening them to inform him that the Princess had left the castle hours before to visit the former King and Queen of L/n. The light in Yangyang’s eyes turned into pure horror and sadness as Kai continued to explain that the Prince had told her that he didn’t want her to be in the ceremony just last night.

“Kai, you’ll get in trouble. Why did you let her leave? Why didn’t you stop her?!” Yangyang plunged forward to grab Kai by her arms, shaking her vigorously in worry as he realised that Y/n was probably across the border by now. Kai let out a small sigh, looking down at her feet. “She was very determined, your highness. After one of the knights visited her room to inform her of Prince Huang’s message, her highness looked very hurt,” Kai’s mind wandered to the sad smile plastered on the young princess’ face.

“We couldn’t even comfort her properly.”

Yangyang furrowed his brows in confusion. “Wait, you’re telling me one of the guards had informed her that Renjun didn’t want her to come to the ceremony? He didn’t inform her personally?” he asked, confusion lacing his tone as he realised that this isn’t what Renjun usually does. Kai nodded in affirmation, causing even more confusion in the atmosphere. “Renjun’s personality isn’t like that, he isn’t the type to make other people send his messages for him, he’s a straight forward man!” he exclaimed with an incredulous tone.

“He certainly wouldn’t have done it behind my back considering he isn’t afraid to say no. I’m sure he wouldn’t-”

“Yangyang, what are you doing here?”

Yangyang and Kai froze at the sound of the royal Prince not far behind him, turning their heads around to see the said Prince in his coronation suit, the royal mantle draped over his shoulders as the two guards beside him took their stance. Renjun furrowed his brows at the worried expression glossing over his cousin’s face as the butler beside him bowed politely and backed away. “What’s going on?” Renjun asked as he walked towards his cousin warily, surprised to see the unpleasant look on his face.

“Renjun, did you or did you not tell Y/n to not attend the coronation?” Yangyang asked, his tone going lower as he took a step closer to his cousin with a serious expression glossing over his features, eager to get to the bottom of this. Renjun’s brows deepened as he let out a noise of confusion, taking a step closer towards his cousin. “What are you on about? Where’s Y/n? This is no time for jokes, Yangyang,” Renjun said with a strict tone, gripping the bouquet of flowers in his gloved hand.

“Then tell me the truth! Did you send a random guard to tell the Princess that you didn’t want her to come to the ceremony?” Yangyang hissed back, showing that he was more than serious. “Why in the bloody hell would I do that? You know more than anyone in this whole kingdom that we’ve been too busy to even think of each other, why would I tell her not to come?!” Renjun barked, clenching his fists by his side before pausing to take in Yangyang’s words.

“What did you just say?” he asked, his eyes growing wide as his heart practically stopped beating in his chest.

“The princess got a message from a random guard that you had requested her to not attend the coronation ceremony, apparently she left to visit the L/n’s at dawn a few hours ago.” Yangyang informed with a distressed huff, looking down at the floor. He couldn’t imagine what was going through her head to lead her to choosing to leave for her trip early. He knew how much she disliked visiting her parents like the back of his hand. It must’ve been hard for her to come to that decision.

Renjun’s heart sank down to his stomach as the gears in his mind stopped moving. “Do you know who was the guard that conveyed this message?” he asked, his eyes darkening as rage bubbled up in the prince’s chest. Yangyang shook his head ‘no’, furrowing his brows in thought as he placed his fingers on his chin to think of something. Renjun gritted his teeth before turning around to his two guards.

“Inform every single one of you to find the princess and bring her back as soon as possible, the ceremony will not start until my wife is here.”

“Renjun, wait!”

Renjun stormed out of the halls, heading to the carriage where he would be taken to the chapel where the ceremony would be starting and where he would be waiting for his soon-to-be-wife.

“Renjun, everyone’s getting impatient. We’ve waited too long,” Yangyang informed as he stepped into Renjun’s dressing room, where the neatly dressed prince was standing on the balcony with a gloomy yet unreadable expression stretched across his face. “Everyone has been able to endure the delay until now as it’s said to be the ‘coronation of the century’. But now everyone is ready to return right away!” Yangyang exclaimed, looking back at the few servants peeking through the slightly ajar door, too afraid to even utter a word in front of the prince out of fear that the man would behead them.

“Even Duke Taeil is here! And I’m sure he’s about the be livid in a few seconds, we should at least show a sign that we are starting the ceremon-”

“Wait.”

Yangyang’s eyes went wide in shock. “We don’t have a choice! You can talk to Y/n after the ceremony ends and we can do the plan the-”

“Did you not hear me, Liu?” Renjun finally turned his head away from the balcony, his voice lowering an octave as he glared down at the younger prince. “When I said to wait, you wait. I do not care if we’re related, you have no authority to tell me what to do. We are not starting until Y/n is here,” he replied with a cold yet firm tone, he had never used that tone with his cousin before. It was so cold that Yangyang flinched, shivers running down his spine as he mumbled a small curse under his breath, knowing that the people are going to chit-chatter about this in the future.

Renjun's expression lightened slightly as he saw his cousin run out of the room at the sound of carriages stopping in front of the lobby in the corner of his eye, choosing to follow after him, Renjun walked out of his dressing room as he took a deep exhale to calm his nerves. Everyone in the chapel gasped at the sight of the marquess, Sir Choi San, standing in front of the lobby with his hat taken off and pressed against his chest with a gloomy expression stretched across his face.

Renjun’s eyes widened as he watched his mother run towards the older man, clutching his coat in between her fingers as she informed him on the situation at hand. Sir Choi laid a hand down on the Queen’s shoulder gently, giving her a soft expression before whispering down in front of her. Renjun’s eyes widened as he heard his own mother let out a loud, horrified gasp before turning her head back to meet her son’s gaze, tears starting to pour from her eyes as Renjun stood at the top of the stairs with a speechless expression.

“Renjun,” she called out with a horrified gasp, causing Renjun’s heart to stop for a moment.

Bells suddenly pierced everyone’s ears, the local messenger shouting at the top of his lungs as he cycled around the chapel with a deep voice. “Hear ye! Hear ye! We have sad news for the Huang Dynasty, misfortune has fallen upon us!” the messenger announced with a fearful cry, cupping his mouth as his compadre rang the bell vigorously, following after him.

“The Princess and Heir to the Throne of the L/N Kingdom, the future co-head of our kingdom, the fiance of Prince Huang Renjun was brutally killed in the forest near the capital by a group of Neo Bandits!”

Gasps and whispers began to break loose as everyone around darted their eyes to the distressed prince as Renjun stood in place, frozen in shock as the news sank into his mind. Eyes wide, expression unreadable, an empty yet searing feeling bubbling inside his chest as he tried to convince himself that this all was just a dream. As he tried to convince himself that he was just asleep, wishing that he was just having another nightmare out of stress. That you were okay and alive. That you were just sitting at your study desk doing documents, waiting and counting the days until you slip the wedding ring on your finger.

“With the cooperation of the capital guards and the police force, we managed to immediately restrain the one who was responsible for the disastrous case. With a thorough investigation, severe punishment will befall on those who are involved in this case. We hope that their majesties will work hard to rebuild the status of the Dynasty!”

Renjun’s pupils shook as a bloodied Lee Taeyong was pushed to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back, his cape drenched in blood and his head facing downwards as if he were ashamed of his actions. One of his most trusted royal guards, kneeled down in shame in front of him, the prime suspect of the murder of the love of his life. One he called a friend. Renjun didn’t know what to feel as he felt himself walk forward towards the older man. Hell, he didn’t even know he was walking towards him until he felt his shoe crush down a small rock, he couldn’t feel anything under his feet as the empty feeling inside of him engulfed his whole being.

“Prince Huang.”

Renjun barely turned his head as his eyes glanced at the co-chief of the police force, Cai Xukun, who was holding a small box which was opened. “This was the only thing left at the scene,” he informed with a firm voice, making brief eye contact with the Prince out of fear. Renjun’s eyes wandered down to the item in the box. A golden brooch sat innocently in between the fabric set in the box, it was shaped like a chrysanthemum and jewels accented the whole brooch. Dried blood stuck to the small object, causing every single rationality to be thrown out of the window as Huang Renjun finally snapped.

Renjun, in a fit of rage and holding back tears, quickly reached back to pull out his sword which was hanging right beside his hip as he gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw like never before. Fury and hatred glossed over his emotions, hiding the true sorrow hidden behind it all as the sound of his sword clanking to the floor at how harsh he had pulled it caused a few people to gasp in surprise, a few mothers covering their children’s eyes to shield their vision in case something dreadful were to happen.

“Stop the Prince! The suspect needs to be interrogated!” Sir Choi ordered, causing all the other guards around them to walk towards the armed Prince, whose eyes were slowly turning bloodshot as he tried to keep his tears back from leaking down his cheeks like a waterfall. “Why the hell are you looking at us all like that?!” Renjun gritted out, his voice growing hoarse as he hadn’t uttered a single word in the past few hours, he felt arms holding him back from slaughtering the guard he once called a friend, causing his rage to bubble up even more like a pot filled with boiling water.

Sir Xukun dropped the box down to the floor to help his comrades in restraining the angered and distressed prince, the loud sound of gold clanking down the tiled floor pierced everyone's ears as the brooch made contact with the hard floor. The jewels that were previously stuck to the gold accessory had fallen off under the harsh impact, some shattering like glass and scattered around. A symbol of the Prince’s love and affections for the kind hearted princess.

“Stop the Prince!”

Far away on the shore, in a town beside the sea. Alone stands a Prince staring off to the distance longingly, a bottle of alcohol in his hand as he weeped the sorrows of his heart out. Renjun groaned as he leaned back against the lounge chair, heavy lidded yet restless eyes glaring at the waves crashing against the sand. Chugging down whatever was in his bottle, he stood up towards the shore, a secret he held in his chest. A secret in which he dare never speak of.

His white button up top was unbuttoned, his sleeves unrolled and dropping down to cover his fingertips as he slowly walked towards the shore with the now empty brandy bottle in his hand. The dark eyebags were prominent and evident, a sign that he hasn’t been sleeping very well for the past few weeks. There was a hole in his chest, a place that was one filled by his heart which was ripped away from him by the heavens. The serene sound of seagulls hawking in the distance accompanied with waves of water splashing caused his head to spin even more than it was supposed to.

It hadn’t been long since the coronation day.

Ever since you were gone, ever since the heavens took you away from him before he could proclaim his love for you, nothing has been right. With your parents out of the picture and nowhere to be found, without you to lead your kingdom, your citizens were on the brink of starting a war with him. What was once supposed to be a united empire between two kingdoms was now torn into two halves of a whole. Life was a literal hellhole for Renjun. The coronation was delayed for the next few months, or at least, that’s what his parents told him.

He was old enough to know that he wasn’t going to be able to sit in that throne until all the political problems disappeared. In the meantime, his parents were the ones who were forced to deal with it. The citizens of your kingdom began accusing him of planning a secret assasination during his coronation without anyone finding out, accusing him of murdering their precious little princess, their only hope of surviving from poverty.

Considering you two were nothing but fiances, not officially wedded, he could do nothing but watch as your kingdom, the one you had worked so hard to keep afloat, crumbled down into ash and dust. He doubted they would even want him to take charge of them considering they’ve already got the idea of him killing you off locked in their heads like an echo in a cave. Gritting his teeth, he clenched his bottle as he internally cursed all of them to hell. Cursed on how he would behead all of them without hesitation for the accusation.

Grief and anger overwhelmed him.

A week after the coronation, Taeyong was proven guilty. Despite the fact that he hasn’t committed any crime, he was just there at the wrong time, he pleaded guilty. Taeyong blamed himself for everything that happened to you, therefore he accepted his fate of the death penalty. There was nothing Renjun could do to save his dear friend, the public wanted someone punished. Since those who actually committed the crime were never found for there was no evidence, Taeyong willingly volunteered to have a public execution to appease the public.

Renjun had to watch his friend of more than 6 years get executed in front of everyone with a helpless expression across his face, he remembered how his wife, Brooke, had stumbled into his office pleading down to her knees to save her husband. He couldn’t do anything but stand there speechlessly, his throat running dry as he watched his parents stress over the rumors and scandals going around as the citizens in your kingdom became reckless without anyone to rule over.

The accusations of Renjun using Taeyong to cover up for your death was growing larger by the day, especially since he doesn’t have the most pristine of reputations, meaninglessly threatening people in his youth whenever he lost his temper. He didn’t think much of it, he didn’t want to. He didn’t even want to think about how the ‘church’ in your kingdom was planning on starting a war between your two kingdoms.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen, how the hell did it even come to this,” he mumbled under his breath, his words slurring slightly under the influence of the alcohol in his system. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to present you with flowers during the grand dance at his coronation ceremony and ask you to dance with him, the first dance. He was supposed to call your name for the first time with a tone filled with love and adoration. He was supposed to profess his love to you in front of the whole kingdom without an ounce of shame in him, he was supposed to share his first kiss with you.

You were supposed to be standing beside him at this beach with a bright smile, a wedding ring stuck to your finger and a crown on your head. You were supposed to be here with him sharing information on flowers while holding his hand tightly, you were supposed to be by his side as he dragged you into the ocean water to send your very first bottle. Yet, he was the one who was sent here by his parents.

“Your highness, their majesties had ordered me to lend you my clothes. I know it isn’t much but you must be hidden from the public eye momentarily, they don’t have the heart to keep you cooped up in this castle so please wear them and escape the castle. Find somewhere to hide until this blows away,” one of the guards, Lucas, had informed him one night when Renjun was preparing for bed. At first he was confused, why would his parents send him away when everything was in total chaos.

But he listened nonetheless, he knew his parents’ must’ve been too busy with work to inform him personally. So he obeyed, snucking out of the castle before saying short goodbyes to everyone around him who was awake. He promised that he would write letters to his parents and Yangyang as soon as he finds a place to stay, yet it’s been three weeks and he hasn’t done anything close to picking up a quill.

He had found a home for himself in a small inn near the beach. The same place where he sent away his first bottle. He didn’t know what led him here, he’d like to think that it was you but he refused to admit it to himself.

“If you write a message on a paper and you place it in a glass bottle, if it is washed away by the sea there’s a chance your message will be reached to the person you’re writing to,” his grandfather told him a few days before his very death. Renjun clutched the small piece of paper in his pocket as tears began to gather at the edge of his eyelids as he recalled the day when you shared interest in sending a message the same way as his grandfather had told him to. The way your face fell when he insulted your interest caused his heart to ache.

Renjun let out a small chuckle as he wiped his tears away with his sleeves, his heart clenching even more painfully as he fought the urge to break into a fit of sobs. “Why am I even here? This is ridiculous. Why am I crying and hurting this much when we all knew I was about to kill you off eventually after our wedding,” his bottom lip quivered as he continued to furiously wipe his tears away. “They all said it themselves, I was going to kill you off eventually, right? I’m sure their words were enough to drive you away eventually out of fear. You would leave me eventually, right? We all knew it,” his voice began to crack as he accidentally let a sob escape his lips.

“Y/n, you were the one who wanted to send a message out to sea. So then, why the bloody hell am I here instead of you?” he exclaimed, his sadness turning into anger as he took a few more steps towards the sea, feeling sand in between his toes as he furiously stomped towards the crashing waves. “You plotted this all along, didn’t you? You made yourself all kind and innocent to make me fall deep in love with you, just so you can leave me at the end. Just like everyone else,” he felt his feet getting wet as he finally made it to the water, the ends of his brown baggy trousers getting soaked by the salty water.

He let out a sob. “When I found you breaking down in the garden. Something bloomed in my chest, something you can call love. You knew it, too, didn’t you? Yangyang could see it, hell, you could bloody see it too. Did it make you so disgusted that you decided to go to another world instead of reciprocating my feelings?” he pulled out the crumpled paper furiously and stuffed it into the brandy bottle he was holding with his other hand, ignoring the tears that were now streaming down his cheeks like a broken fountain. “I wish I never met someone like you,” he whispered under his breath as he put the cork back on the lid and took a deep exhale to calm his nerves.

Renjun paused, looking at the glass bottle in his hands and as his heart began to crumple into ash. He wanted to scream, to cry, to let out every single thing that has bubbled inside him over the past few weeks. But yet he couldn’t, he didn’t know how. He didn’t know how to deal with his own emotions considering he’s always kept it inside of him for the longest time to look professional 24/7. The time you have spent with him elicited immense amounts of love he’s ever felt in his life.

"Who the hell am I kidding? It's not your fault, Y/n. It isn't anyone's fault but mine, I really screwed myself over this time, huh? Y/n? I should've made some effort to be nice to you. If only I communicated with you more, if only I didn't constantly mock you and treat you like dirt. If I treated you like the Queen you were instead of a peasant, would you still be here, my dear?" He sniffled, shutting his eyes tight in pain as he cried his heart out.

His love for you was practically spilling from in between his fingers. With you no longer by his side, to whom was he going to give it to?

His shoulders began to shake violently as he got on his knees, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the cold water splashing against his legs and clothing, ignoring how the fabric of his trousers clung onto his skin as he began to sob as loud as he could. Finally letting it all out as he pleaded for the universe, for anyone, to bring you back just so that he could hold you in his arms. Renjun started muttering small apologies as he hugged the bottle to his chest tightly, as if the bottle were a small part of you.

“Through the darkest of days, you were always there. No matter how rude my words were, no matter how badly I treated you, you would still defend me behind my back and abide to my words whenever I tell you off or get out of my sight,” his breathing quickened as his eyes grew bloodshot, his pink hair leaning forward to cover his eyes as he let out a fit of sobs. “Why did I let my selfishness push you away?

Now you’re no longer here with me.”

Renjun stood up once again to throw the bottle into the sea, hearing it splash against the water before floating up and drifting away and into the horizon, where the sun was rising. With eyes filled with tears, the pink haired prince gave a light staggering laugh as tears proceeded to pour down his face. Letting the cold breeze hit his face, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to take a deep exhale. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” he mumbled under his breath.

"You were my treasure, when you left, you took my heart with you."

Unbeknownst to the prince, a man stood not far behind him. A man who goes by the name of Lucas, or more specifically, Wong Yukhei. The lost prince who was presumed to be dead after his parents had been killed in the war between the Wongs and the L/ns merely a decade ago. A frown spread across his face as he slowly and quietly walked up to the grieving prince who was a couple years younger than him.

A pistol held in between his fingers, aiming at the pink haired prince a few meters away from him. Prepared to finish off the final task, he closed one eye to get the perfect shot as he took a deep breath. Renjun, who was in a state of melancholy, was oblivious to the sound of the gun clicking behind him as he stared off at the distance, watching the glass bottle drift away to who knows where, hoping that the stupid tradition was right.

“Forgive me, your highness. What’s done must be done,” Lucas muttered almost inaudibly as his finger slowly moved towards the trigger, pulling it without hesitation.

There was the sound of a gunshot that pierced the air, accompanied by the sound of a body making a harsh impact with sand and water. A mop of pink hair being tussled around in the wind, evident from a mile away as the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air. Lucas blew the smoke from the tip of his gun away as he watched the prince, who had no meaning to his life anymore, lie still against the sand with lifeless eyes.

With a small bow, Lucas bid the prince goodbye with his final words.

“Blessings and glory upon the Huang and L/n Empire.”

¤ taglist: @stayctday @xiaoflwr @thejungjaehyun @sungchanscult @kunrengui @channoticedmeuwu @nct-writers @c-sanshine @neowritingsnet @neoturtles @culture-cafe @dnylwoo @whattaweeb @smolpeyy @skrtbeepbeep @sunshine-skz @dat90slove @angelrenjunie @pan-illusion @lebrookestore @morkiest @caratinylyfe @m1ss-foodi3 @yerminie @itsrenjunnie @ikisshanji @junglewoos

this fic was supposed to be a present for myself bcuz im a lonely and forgetful mfker BAHAHAHAH happy birthday to me ig lol

#NCT-WRITERS #neowritingsnet #ankathia #neoturtles #nct x reader #nct dream x reader #nct renjun x reader #huang renjun x reader #renjun x reader #renjun fluff #nct dream renjun x reader #nct u x reader #nct dream huang renjun x reader #huang renjun angst #renjun angst #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #nct angst #nct fluff

596 notes · View notes

rollercoasterwords · 2 years ago

Note

ok I’m just gonna throw it there……..dorlene……spiderman au……dorcas is gwen and……I mean we all know how it ends

She can live tho ofc but I love angsty shit lol

i need u guys to stopppp 😭 i used to be sitting on my high horse laughing at all the peasants on the ground with their endless wip + idea lists and now i am crawling through the dirt with 3 wips and a note on my phone with 9 fic ideas that haunt me 😔

but the idea of spiderman marlene....gnashing my teeth ahhhhh

#u guys r mean #this is mean #i have already decided on the order of what i'm gonna write next #but then someone like YOU comes along and plants little seeds in my rotting brain #where the soil is far too fertile and growth is inevitable #and unfortunately i hate gardening!!!#hissing and spitting as i stomp outside w my watering can #ask

14 notes · View notes

bitsandbobsofwriting · 3 years ago

Text

Soulmate AU Part 4 (final part):

Uther continues to be very OOC and Merlin is presented to the Kingdom; luckily enough, everyone already loves him. The Future starts to come together...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

The summer passed in much the same way the previous year had; awkwardly polite conversation between Merlin and Uther, Leon panicking at everything, Gwen being exasperated, Morgana and Merlin pissing about, and Arthur watching it all with exponentially growing fondness.

Eventually, it was Yuletide again. Yuletide meant Arthur’s 18th birthday. Arthur’s 18th birthday meant revealing Merlin to the Kingdom; announcing him as The Crown Prince’s Soulmate.

There was an odd mix of feelings surrounding the upcoming event. Both Arthur and Merlin were ecstatic at the idea of not having to hide and sneak around anymore, but Merlin was a foreign peasant boy. The common people would love him, Nobles and Foreign dignitaries? Not so much. Granted, Arthur had a powerfully intimidating presence, when he chose to display it, Morgana could glare anyone into submission, and even Leon was known to be passive aggressively threatening when it concerned Merlin’s safety and respect, but not all could be daunted into compliance. Merlin would surely face discrimination.

That, and the growing spotlight meant that it would become much harder to keep his magic a secret. With Uther’s insistence that Merlin be... part of the family, they’d already had a few close calls.

Thankfully, not much else had changed, or it had changed for the better. Arthur and Merlin still scared everyone else shitless when they popped up to each other, but Morgana’s visions seemed a lot less terrifying now. Leon still had heart palpitations when Merlin and The King were in the same room, but Gwen, Gaius, and Hunith relaxed more; the Physician especially could see the pride glowing in Uther’s eyes, and the awkward fondness he held for Merlin (even if that wouldn't protect him if Uther discovered his magic).

Nevertheless, no ones’ fears or aspirations stopped the passage of time (though Merlin, in his increasing power, had put it on his “List of Things to Try Before I Die”), and Arthur’s crowning ceremony crept closer, day by day.

Hunith, Merlin, Leon, Gwen, and Gaius were gifted front row seats to the event, and as annoyed as Uther was at having the front row taking by commoners, a servant, and a young knight, he didn’t dare argue; he’d learnt that it was pointless now. Morgana was stood behind Uther’s throne at her own seat, giving Arthur a rare smile, not a hint of teasing in her expression, and Arthur returned it easily, comforted by the dream she told him she had the previous night (of adoring crowds and a grinning Merlin) despite his nerves.

The ceremony of course went of without a hitch, a rare smile on Uther’s face, and tears on all the faces of Arthur’s front row.

After an uproarious round of applause and chants of “Long Live The King, Long Live The Prince!”, the room cleared, leaving only Uther, Arthur, Morgana, Merlin, and a few faceless guards.

(Gaius, Hunith, Gwen, and Leon rushed off, wanting to be at the front of the crowds in the courtyard when Arthur and Merlin were presented to the Kingdom.)

Merlin didn’t hesitate in rushing up the steps to Arthur, wrapping his soulmate in a tight hug and whispering his pride into his blushing ear. For once, Morgana didn’t roll her eyes at the display of affection; Arthur may have occasional spurts of arrogance, and the two of them still acted like immature children occasionally, but she loved them both dearly. Uther did roll his eyes, though he could not hide his fondness from Morgana, who raised (yet another) teasing eyebrow at him. He glared at her half-heartedly before clearing his throat, and the boys jumped apart with a start.

He wordlessly nodded towards the door of the Throne Room, and walked out regally, his steps fast and heavy and his cloak billowing behind him. Merlin and Arthur followed quickly, hand in hand, and Morgana walked closely behind them, the guards bringing up the rear. The group finally made it to the large double doors that opened out onto the balcony above the courtyard, though it was two corridors previously that they began to hear the cheering and festivities below.

Arthur could feel Merlin’s hand shaking in his own, and squeezes it comfortingly, giving him a reassuringly soft smile as he murmurs, so Uther can’t hear them:

“Don’t worry, it’ll only be a few minutes, then we’ll come back in. You’ll be introduced to nobles and such during the feast,-”

When Merlin begins to look even more distressed, Arthur rolls his eyes good-naturedly and continues before his Warlock can interrupt him:

“-yes, I know, we’ll have to mingle, but this evening, it’s just us and the others. We’ll take some food and wine back to yours, and we can have some fun and all fall asleep in front of the fire together. Alright?”

Merlin takes a deep breath and nods, but before he can say anything, Uther stops his conversation with one of the guards and abruptly turns around, his face tersely concerned.

He takes one look at the boys before tutting and stepping towards them. Arthur freezes in shock as Uther begins to run a gloved hand through his hair, neatening it out and flattening it properly under the newly placed crown before stepping back again with a satisfied nod of the head. Arthur’s wide eyes stare straight ahead, and Morgana (having snuck in front of them to watch the whole ordeal) has to stop herself from snorting at his face. If she thought that was funny... well.

Next, Uther’s eyes move to Merlin, where he gives an even more disapproving tut and steps forward once more. He removes one of his gloves quickly, wetting his thumb with his tongue before wiping it just a little too harshly along Merlin’s nose, muttering-

“How the hell are you always so Godamn grubby?”

-to himself. Morgana doesn’t manage to hold in her giggles at that, clamping a hand over her mouth as she dedicates this whole scene to memory forever. Arthur is staring at his father with not even an attempt to hide his bafflement, but at this point, Uther is too busy brushing invisible lint off of Merlin’s shoulders to notice the incredulous stares from the three teenagers (and all the guards).

He finally steps back, huffing out a sigh, and muttering-

“That will have to do, I suppose.”

-before turning back to the doors and gesturing to the guards. Morgana, and Arthur have only a moment to regain their composure before they are ushered out on the balcony; Merlin staying back as he had been informed to do that morning, though he can hear the cheers get impossibly louder as the three royals greet their people.

Arthur glances back, just quickly, giving him one last smile before facing his people and standing in support of his father’s kingly speech:

“My people! Today, on this year’s Winter Solstice, my son has come of age!-”

The crowds had quietened significantly when Uther began, but another cheer went up at his words, and he paused, holding a silencing hand up:

“-I now present him to you, as Crown Prince Arthur Pendragon, heir to the throne of Camelot, my successor!”

His hand moves to gesture at Arthur, and the Prince steps forward as The King steps back, a wide smile on the blonde's face as his people cheer for him. He waves back, eyes searching the crowd for Hunith, Gaius, Gwen, and Leon; they meet gazes just as Uther steps forward once more, holding his hand up again:

“There is other news! It is...-”

He looks to Arthur, settling a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small smile. His voice quietens a little, but it can still be heard by the crowd:

“-it is with great pride, that I announce-”

The moment ended as quickly as it had started as Uther turns back to the crowds below, raising his voice again:

“-that my son has found his soulmate!!-”

Arthur had been expecting loud cheers, but their audience grows quiet and still at the announcement, as if frozen in suspense. As he peers over the stone barrier, he can see almost everyone in the crowd pairing off slightly, pulling their soulmates closer as they wait with baited breath to see their Prince’s partner.

Inside, Merlin takes a deep breath, but relaxes slightly when he sees Arthur unclench his own nervous fist, holding it behind him in preparation, invitation, for Merlin to take it in just a few moments:

“-I present to you, a close family friend of the royals,-”

(Morgana scoffs and rolls her eyes, but thankfully no one is paying her any attention.)

“-a skilled physician in training, and a trusted citizen of this Great Kingdom,-”

He gestures towards the door behind him, and Merlin takes his first shaky step forward, coming into line with Arthur as Uther finishes:

“Merlin, of Ealdor!”

Arthur and Merlin walk to the front of the balcony, hand in hand, as the loudest cheers Merlin has ever heard explode from the crowd. Despite the thunderous noise, Merlin can still pick out the cheers of his mother, uncle, friend, and older brother, and the leisurely applause from Morgana behind him, and he smiles in spite of his nerves. Arthur squeezes his hand once more, and they raise their joined fists to the crowds as they grin, struggling to hold in their laughter at the sheer amount of joy on the faces of everyone (bar Uther, of course, he just looked marginally happy) present.

Merlin has become even more recognised around the kingdom; normally seen trailing Gaius (who is also well-known, and well-loved) or, as inappropriate as it might be (at least according to Uther’s council), hanging around with Morgana and Gwen during the day. The castle’s servants and the majority of the knights had guessed that Merlin was the soulmate of either Prince Arthur or the Lady Morgana, what with how often he was with them and the way King Uther was apparently ok with that, and gossip spread like wildfire. But the loud cheers just drive home how well-loved Merlin is, and he tears up in response.

Merlin and Arthur finally step away from the edge of the balcony, and Uther continues his address of the people, though it passes by in a bit of a blur for Merlin, and he tunes out fairly quickly. He’s vaguely aware of Arthur running a soft thumb over his knuckles, and Morgana stepping towards him to clutch the edge of his tunic (loud crowds had never been her thing), but the speech and the cheering are drowned out by his racing thoughts.

Uther’s speech finally came to an end and the crowd dissipated. The King rushed off immediately, after sending what could almost be described as a respectfully fond nod in Merlin’s direction, but Morgana, Arthur, and Merlin luckily had nothing pressing to attend to before the feast, and had around an hour of time to waste (read: relax).

Despite Leon escorting the three of them to Merlin and Hunith’s home dressed in full armour, sword strapped to his hip, the journey took twice as long as it normally did, with various nobles and citizens alike wanting to stop them in the street and congratulate them. Arthur and Merlin were endlessly polite and extremely grateful for the support of their (now shared) people, but Leon’s forceful insistence that they “have somewhere important to be, My Lords, My Lady” went quietly thanked.

Hunith, Gaius, and Gwen met them at the house, and a round of tight hugs was shared; all staring fondly when Hunith wouldn’t let Merlin go for love nor money, whispering tearful exclamations of pride in his ear.

The hour felt like it passed in mere minutes, but it was enough time at least for Merlin to relax a little. Morgana and Gwen helped Hunith get ready, and Merlin definitely did NOT tear up when she came out of her room dressed like royalty, a string of Morgana’s pearls around her neck. Arthur and Morgana had deliberately stored a spare set of clothes here so they didn’t have to go back to the castle to change, and the Prince just about managed to force Merlin into a new jacket and cloak (”Why?!” “Because you have to, it’s protocol, you have to be dressed differently.” “That’s fucking stu-” “Merlin, I love you, but shut up and get changed.” “...Prat.” ) .

The seating arrangements weren’t too terrible. As per normal, Uther sat at the head of the table, with Arthur around the corner on the King’s right and Morgana to his left. Merlin sat in between Arthur and his mother; Leon was, unfortunately, on guard duty, though thankfully he was being assigned to Prince Duty (training, hunts, patrols, bodyguard, etc) more and more, meaning he was stood at the wall behind the two boys.

Thankfully, the only stranger anywhere near Merlin was a respected Camelot noble seated opposite him, and he seemed far more interested in boasting about his son to the King in the hopes of winning him a knighthood than he was in Merlin, and payed barely any attention to him other than the occasional distasteful glare (they did not go unnoticed by Arthur, and simply guaranteed that his prick of a son wasn’t going to end up anywhere near a sword).

So all in all, the feast wasn’t too bad. Merlin’s stomach was turning a little, but Arthur’s hand on his thigh under the table and his mother’s shoulder occasionally brushing against his own calmed him right down, though he still kept well away from any alcohol or too-rich foods, worried about making a fool of himself or turning his stomach even more.

The Gang also had Gwen serving them. Morgana had given up on her pleas to have her join them at the table fairly quickly; she could argue with Uther endlessly on many things, but she knew she was never going to win this one. At Guinevere’s insistence that today wasn’t about her, and Morgana shouldn’t ruin Uther’s tenuous good mood on Arthur’s birthday AND coronation AND soulmate-reveal-day, she gave in. But Merlin appreciated the feeling of friendly eyes, both Leon’s and Gwen’s, on his back for the course of the feast.

Just like during the celebrations of Arthur’s knighting ceremony, the tables were cleared from the room to make way for music and dancing, though this time Arthur and Merlin didn’t have to hide their partnership.

Merlin’s stomach turned more at the mingling he was forced to do, answering awkward questions about the purity of his blood and where he came from and his education and his understanding of social etiquette, almost all of which were phrased in condescending and/or downright spiteful ways. But the way Arthur’s arm, looped through his, tensed, and the scowl the Prince sported when Merlin couldn’t bring himself to, partnered with Leon’s comforting shadow (and even Uther’s, when the question’s strayed into cruelty) made him feel at least justified in his discomfort.

Morgana, at the quiet request of Merlin, spent the entire night by Hunith’s side, shielding her from the malicious glaring of nobles who felt cheated by her accidental winning of a position in the royal family. She was granted at least a little respect due to her being a relation of Gaius, who was highly respected and close to the King, but that was about as far as her favour went, and she was eternally grateful for Morgana’s steadfast presence and silent-but-deadly brand of defence.

The night passed slowly, but not so unpleasantly that Merlin was too desperate for it to end, though that changed rather jarringly when he found himself without Arthur for the first time. The Prince and Merlin had been stood next to each other, though involved in different conversations; thankfully for Merlin, he had been having a rather lovely chat about country-life with the wife of a knight. It was when she was pulled away by her husband to converse with another that Merlin realised that Arthur had also been pulled away by whoever it was he had been talking to.

Merlin tensed when he couldn’t immediately spot his soulmate through the crowd, but took a calming breath when he did spot Leon stood dutifully against the opposite wall, Guinevere next to him. That was fine, it wasn’t Arthur, but it was better than nothing, and he allowed his anxiety to swirl in his lungs for only a moment before he began his soft-stepped journey across the hall.

He caught Leon’s eye, thankfully, and the knight frowned slightly at the empty space next to him before sending a reassuring smile his way, nodding in encouragement and understanding.

Alas, he only made it halfway when he was stopped by a rather harsh hand on his shoulder.

He turns around, barely swallowing a gasp and a flinch, only to come face to face with the noble he had been sat opposite during the feast. The hand was uncomfortably tight on his shoulder, and Merlin wanted more than anything to push it away, but instead he forced a smile on his face and bowed his head respectfully, hoping beyond hope that Arthur would make a reappearance or Leon would see his discomfort and be able to come up with an excuse to abandon his post:

“Lord Otto, a pleasure to see you again.”

The drunken Lord let out a huff of sarcastic laughter, pressing his thumb even more severely into Merlin’s collarbone:

“Hmm, a pleasure indeed. Tell me boy, how is it that you, a peasant, think yourself worthy of such a magnificent soulmate?”

Merlin’s eyes widen in shock. No one had been so obviously disdainful, but the over-indulgence in alcohol, the Lord’s privileged seat at the table, and Merlin's lack of any sort of protector had evidently given him a boost in confidence. Merlin stuttered for a few moments, not quite sure what to say, before quietly coming out with:

“Well... I... don’t really know, I-”

He’s interrupted by a far softer hand on his other shoulder, but is even more shocked when, instead of Leon or Arthur, he found The King stood by his side, flicking an incredibly scornful gaze between Lord Otto’s hand and face. It does nothing to dissuade the Lord, and Merlin can’t disguise his wince this time when the hand once again tightens it’s grip.

Merlin had hoped he’d been subtle, but the clenching of Uther’s jaw tells him he had not been; before he can worry about what social rule he had broken and how Uther was going to punish him for it, The King finally settled his glare on Otto’s face:

“I must insist that you remove your hand from my boy’s person, and refrain from making such improper inquiries.”

His cold tone almost sends a shiver down Merlin’s spine, but the confusion of having Uther being in defence of him (a Warlock) stops the reaction before it even starts. The Lord glances up at the crown sitting strongly on Uther’s head, seemingly reminding himself of his company, before dropping his hand from Merlin’s shoulder as if he’d been burned.

He bows his head shallowly, making himself look as subservient as his pride could manage, and Uther gives him a barely restrained look of disgust when he looks up again, interrupting any quivering apologies he might have made:

“It’s getting rather late, and you’ve indulged enough for one night, do you not think? I suggest you end your evening here, Lord Otto.”

All three knew that it was not a suggestion, and Otto bows once more before muttering a humiliated, red-faced “Right you are, Your Majesty” and waddling out of the hall, towards the guest chambers.

Merlin let out a breath, his face just a little flushed as Uther spares him a quick, concerned glance before pushing him gently towards an on-going conversation between Arthur and a group of knights on the other side of the band. Merlin lets out a relieved breath when he sees his partner, but quickly frowns in concern when he then sees the tense line of Arthur’s shoulders and the way his eyes were darting around the room. He’s obviously paying only the shallowest of attention to the conversation at hand; but then they meet gazes, and the tension drains out of him as he sends a relieved smile Merlin’s way.

Arthur politely excuses himself from the conversation, using the blinding smile that only made an appearance when he was manipulating courtiers and nobles, before making his way through the crowd towards Merlin, evidently trying to disguise his desperation. Merlin was absent-mindedly aware of Uther keeping pace with him, the supportive hand on his shoulder-blade not leaving even when Merlin sped up slightly.

(If Merlin had been thinking about anything other than just being at Arthur’s side again, he would’ve found the odd mix of disgust and gratitude for Uther’s presence very confusing.)

They finally reach each other and Arthur grabs Merlin’s hand gently, pulling him to his side and landing a soft kiss to his cheek. Uther finally removes his hand from Merlin’s back, and it’s the absence of touch that reminds Merlin of The King’s presence. He turns quickly, hand safely in Arthur’s grip, to give Uther a flushed, timid smile:

“I... uh... thank you, My Lord.”

Uther gives him a tight smile, though you’d have to be blind to miss the slight fondness in his expression as he shakes his head:

“Hmm, I’ve been looking for an excuse to get Otto out of here for at least an hour, the man is intolerable, his incessant rambling about his unremarkable son even more so.”

Merlin nodded awkwardly and tightened his hold on Arthur’s hand, but before either boy can say anything, Uther lets out a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders and settling hesitant hands on one of their shoulders each:

“I... am proud of you both, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. One day, this Kingdom shall be yours, and it will be golden under your rule.”

Merlin almost manages to forget the whole... unforgivable genocide thing, and gives The King a weak, though grateful smile, running his thumb over Arthur’s knuckles when he feels the blonde shake slightly. Arthur tears up at Uther’s words, but thankfully manages to keep his voice steady as he quietly replies:

“Thank you, father, we will do everything in our power to live up to your legacy.”

(An utter lie, considering they plan on undoing pretty much everything he’s known for the moment they come into power, but Uther doesn’t need to know that, and the sentiment remains.)

Uther gives Arthur one last gentle smile, before lowering his hands and straightening his posture, going from awkwardly doting father to detached mighty King within a second. He nods at each of them before turning and walking regally away, his cloak billowing behind him and his golden crown shining atop his head.

Arthur tilts his head in question and tugs Merlin’s hand slightly when he sees the small frown on the younger’s face:

“Merls? What did Otto do? He didn't hurt you, did he?!”

Merlin looked up at him in shock before blinking away the surprise and chuckling:

“Ah, no, nothing like that, just asked how a peasant ended up with such a magnificent soulmate.-”

Arthur looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or offended on Merlin’s behalf, so he settled for an odd mix of the two:

“-That didn’t bother me though, it was... Uther called me his boy.”

Arthur dropped his chin slightly in shock:

“He what?”

Merlin shrugged:

“He said “I must insist that you remove your hand from my boy”. It was very... disconcerting, and oddly endearing considering what he’d do if he knew what I was.”

He whispered the last part quietly, and Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise before chuckling quietly:

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day. My father being protective of a commoner and telling me how proud he is all in one evening, perhaps the world is ending.”

Merlin snorts, rolling his eyes and softly responding:

“Hmm. He may be a bit of a prat, but he does love you, and he has his moments.”

Arthur narrows his eyes at Merlin good-naturedly, a smirk dangerously close to breaking out on his face:

“You know Merlin, you may be right, but you’re still the only person I allow to say it aloud without sanction.”

Merlin just smirks and raises an eyebrow; Arthur laughs, and the world feels right.

It was late by the time Arthur and Merlin finally decided to call it quits. Morgana, Gaius, and Hunith had left around an hour ago, Gwen following them the moment her shift ended. Technically, someone had come to take over from Leon about halfway through the night, but he stuck around, patrolling the shadows of the room with one eye on Merlin always.

(The boys had insisted that he should go home and relax, but were quietly grateful when he stayed.)

They had been wanting to leave for hours, and normally they could easily get away with such an absence, but this particular celebration was in their honour, it wouldn't do to leave too early, so they finally made their way out of the hall when the crowds had halved and it was approaching midnight.

Uther gave them one last pat on the back when they said goodbye, and the tension practically melted off them when they stepped foot outside, despite the freezing temperatures of winter in the dead of night.

Leon stepped out just a moment after them, and the three of them make quick work of the journey to the house, not wanting to dally in the frigid air and just a little desperate to find themselves in the comforting presence on the family they had built.

They arrive just in time to find Hunith pouring out mugs of hot chocolate (a luxury that Merlin and Hunith never had in Ealdor), and Gwen adding another log to the fire. The next round of hugs was quicker than the last; everyone was tired and eager to settle down, to push the insensitive questions to the back of their minds and revel in the positive feeling of things moving forward.

Arthur had removed his cloak immediately upon entry, folding it precisely and leaving it on the table in the hall, his golden circlet following shortly after, cushioned by the soft fabric, but Merlin excused himself to their bedroom, changing into comfier clothes and washing his face. He had been looking forward to leaving all night, but now that he was home, he found all he wanted to do was collapse in bed and sleep, Arthur securely in his arms.

A knock at the door broke him out of his slow moving thoughts, and he frowned slightly, Arthur wouldn’t knock:

“Come in.”

It was Leon that opened the door, having rid himself of his sword and most of his armour (a pain in the arse, considering he’ll have to wake up early to put it all on again, but oh well), and he stepped into the room, quietly shutting the door again behind him. Merlin sent him a tired smile, but Leon saw through it and raised an eyebrow:

“You alright, Birdy? Anyone in particular you’d like me to embarrass during training or council meetings?”

Merlin laughed and shook his head:

“No, that definitely won’t endear me to people. Honestly, it was a lot better than I was expecting, and having Arthur scowling at people and Uther defending me was rather entertaining in the end.”

Leon snorted, muttering a quietly amused “yeah, I bet” before stepping forward and enveloping Merlin in a tight hug, one hand on his back, one in his hair, holding him close. Merlin melted into the embrace, clutching the back of Leon’s tunic tightly as the older man swayed on his feet slightly, murmuring:

“I’m proud of you, little brother. You handled everything just fine, the kingdom loves you; you’re doing great.”

Merlin lets out a deep breath and steps back, though was grateful to feel Leon’s hands still on his shoulders as he replies:

“Thank you. Honestly, I’m just exhausted, I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this for the rest of my life, and I... I don’t want to disappoint Arthur.”

Leon rolled his eyes good-naturedly and ruffled Merlin’s hair:

“You could never. He loves you more than anything in this world, Birdy, you’re made for each other, after all. He would abandon all of this in a heartbeat if he thought it would make you happy.”

Merlin frowns slightly, clenching his jaw:

“Yeah, I know, that’s what worries me. We’re meant to... bring about a golden age or whatever, and we can’t do that if we leave, but I’m not sure I’m going to be any good at the... politics, or the court manipulation or anything that comes with... with running a Kingdom. I know it’s a long way off but...-”

Leon nods in understanding and squeezes Merlin’s shoulder softly:

“You’ve got plenty of time to learn. And hey, if you want to stay away from the politics? Fine, Arthur and Morgana have plenty of expertise in that area. You’re a physician, Merls, not a courtier, and the kingdom already loves you, not because you’re a good politician or anything like that, but because you’re a good person, and you’re worth loving. Just keep being yourself and you’ll be absolutely fine. And besides, you’ll always have us lot to fall back on when you’re unsure; you’ll never be alone, little brother, I’ll make sure of it.”

Merlin nods and sniffles slightly at Leon’s words, giving him another tight hug. They step back into the hall, and Leon gives Merlin’s hand a gentle squeeze:

“Ready? I can tell them you headed to bed, if you just want some sleep?”

Merlin smiles and shakes his head, pulling Leon to the living room, where everyone is undoubtedly crowded around the fire surrounded by blankets and pillows.

From that day forth, Merlin’s life becomes a lot more... official.

He was officially given sword-fighting lessons by a few of the older knights, though thanks to the lessons Leon, Arthur, and Morgana had given him already, he held his own pretty well, and they were more than impressed with the skill level of someone they had assumed was a complete beginner.

He was officially invited to the occasional council meeting (at least the boring, everyday ones). He was always a silent spectator, his participation discouraged, though his presence expected; Arthur always made a point to ask his opinions afterwards though.

His new duties and lessons, on top of his pre-existing duties as the Physician’s Apprentice, AND having to keep his magic hidden and his reputation intact, was all somewhat overwhelming for Merlin, but the steadfast support of Arthur and Morgana when it concerns politics, and Gaius talking Uther down when The King wants Merlin to be more involved in court life, definitely help him in everyday life. Gwen’s hugs and Leon’s hair ruffling are certainly God-sends as well.

The oddest thing was the way people addressed Merlin now. He wasn’t even of age yet, but people were calling him Lord, and servants bowed at him in the corridor. There wasn’t much he could do about the nobles without making some incredible social faux pas, but he always flushed at the servants and insisted they stop bowing and just call him Merlin, at least when no one else is around.

Thankfully, both visitors to the Kingdom and local nobles tone down the snootiness, especially when Uther publicly shows Merlin respect and rumours (correct rumours) spread of Arthur and Morgana’s protectiveness.

Merlin’s birthday was celebrated minimally, though there was, once again, a mix of feelings upon the realisation that he was now only one year away from being of age, and things would surely get even more intense when that happened. But they all tried to push it from their minds, at least for the time being.

As winter broke and the sun came up on what was undoubtedly a Spring day, Merlin felt the most refreshed he had in a long time, though his mood dropped instantly when he, Arthur, and Morgana were summoned to Uther’s private study... only to be given another mini, awkward “I’m proud of you” speech, and given a week off.

Of course, Arthur was still somewhat expected to keep up with his training at least a little, but really, there was nothing forcing him to.

They exited the study flushed with pride and excitement at the prospect of doing whatever the hell they wanted for a week, and met Gwen in the hall. She was worrying her lip between her teeth when they saw her, but she instantly relaxed and raised a questioning eyebrow when she saw the grins on their faces, and Morgana explained what had happened.

It was that evening, whilst relaxing in Arthur’s chambers, that Merlin heard the dreaded echo of “Emrys...” in his head.

He groaned, dropping his head in his hands, out of both frustration and the pain of another’s voice unexpectedly materializing on the inside of one’s skull.

It was just Arthur and Merlin in the room, and the Prince immediately moved from his own chair to kneel in front of his soulmate, running his hands up and down Merlin’s arms as he shakily asks:

“Merls? What’s wrong?”

Merlin just looks up at him blearily, one hand taking Arthur’s and the other rubbing his temple:

“Fucking... scaly arsehole.”

Arthur tenses and frowns as he answers:

“I thought he had given up months ago? Why is he calling you now?”

Merlin shrugs, slumping back in his seat:

“Who knows, he didn’t say, he just-”

“It’s important, bring your little... friends, if it makes you feel any better.”

“-never mind. He just said it’s important, and I can bring my “little friends” if I want.-”

He snorted in dry amusement before continuing:

“-as if I would’ve listened if he told me to go alone anyway. I really thought that me thinking “Fuck Off” as loud as I could helped him get the hint. Apparently not.”

Arthur rolled his eyes before looking to Merlin in concern:

“Well... do you want to go? Or do you want to just hope he goes away again?”

Merlin sighs, but before he can answer, the voice echoes once again:

“I will not go away this time, young Warlock. This is important, and I have very little else to entertain myself with, other than being an annoyance to you. Come.”

He huffs in frustration, standing abruptly and taking Arthur’s hand, dragging him to where their swords are kept as he grumbles:

“He’s not going away this time. Let’s fetch Leon and head down.”

Arthur dutifully follows, strapping his sword to his hip and locking the chamber doors behind them, not speaking until they were approaching Leon’s door:

“No Morgana or Gwen?”

Merlin halts, clenching his hands tightly as he thinks for a moment:

“Hmm. No, I don’t want to freak them out. We can tell them what happens later, but I don’t want Morgana to have to face him again.”

Arthur nods, and knocks quietly on Leon’s door. He opens quickly, and Arthur and Merlin are thankful that they didn’t wake him, though quickly notice his panic when he sees their grave faces and swords.

The explanation is quick, and within a few minutes the trio are making a stealthy journey down to the Dragon’s Lair. There are no dramatic appearances this time, the great lizard is already perched regally on the edge of the platform, waiting for them.

He tilts his head when he sees their tense forms at the gate:

“I’m grateful that you did not bring the Witch.”

Arthur and Leon look to Merlin in confusion as he bristles, tightening his grip on the sword at his hip as he speaks:

“Yeah, well, I didn’t fancy you trying to kill my best friend again. What do you want?”

The dragon does what the trio guesses is the closest to an eye roll and dramatic sigh that his great form can manage, before lowering his head and speaking in English:

“If you won’t listen to me, I suggest you use your new found, though temporary freedom to meet with the Druids. They have all relevant information on the prophecies, you can learn of your destinies from them. The closest camp is a day’s ride from the Eastern border of Camelot.”

Merlin raises an eyebrow, but Arthur beats him to it:

“And how would you know that? How did you know we had time off?”

The dragon tilts his head and huffs out a dry laugh, the hot air making the trio sweat under their thick cloaks (it may have been Spring, but it was still cold) :

“I know a great many things, young King.”

Merlin and Arthur can practically feel the way Leon tenses, even from a few paces away. The man, ever the knight, was obviously incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that this dragon knew the goings on of the world, could listen in on conversations, all while being chained in the basement. Before either knight can say anything, Merlin tilts his head, a challenging look on his face as he regards the dragon:

“You... you keep saying destiny, but destiny is pre-written, the whole point is that it’s going to happen no matter what anyone involved does, no matter the interference. So why are you so desperate to have us know it, and work towards it? Us knowing or not knowing won’t alter things either way, unless it’s all a pile of shit and you’re manipulating us.”

Arthur smirks at Merlin’s quick mind and Leon looks impressed, the two of them turning their own challenging gazes on the rather thoughtful looking reptile. He mutters something along the lines of “you weren’t so bloody clever last time,” before lowering himself even closer to the ground, closer to Merlin:

“If I were manipulating you, then I wouldn’t send you to a third party known for being pacifist and unbiased, would I? Destiny isn’t completely certain, it is simply one of many likelihoods, the most... benefitting likelihood, is the destiny of you and your soulmate.”

Merlin scowls:

“Benefitting for who? Something tells me that one day you’re going to ask us for something, and we’ll be powerless to say no, thanks to all this... help you’re giving us, and it’ll be a mistake. So, benefitting who?”

The dragon shifts his jaw in such a way that resembles a smirk, speaking once again in the rasping language that Leon and Arthur don’t understand:

“Do you not want magic, yourself, your people, to be free, Emrys?”

He raises himself to his full height, stalking towards the ledge and stretching his leathery wings out. The trio manage to hold their ground in his dauntingly large presence, but their hands do tighten around their weapons:

“Go to the Druids, tell them Kilgharrah sent you.”

With that, he tips himself over the edge, falling for a second before snapping his wings out once again and shooting upwards towards the shadow-bathed ceiling, thick chain clanging loudly with the sudden movement.

Merlin huffs and turns to ascend the steps without another word, grumbling to himself about “stupid fucking dragons” and “my one week off and I have to deal with this shit” . Leon and Arthur look to each other with a shrug and a mix of genuine concern and mild amusement on their faces, before hurriedly following Merlin back through the castle.

Thankfully, it took almost no effort for Arthur and Morgana to get Uther to allow them to leave the Kingdom on their little vacation. It being under the guise of “visiting Ealdor” meant that it was perfectly within the realm of reasonable requests to have Leon tag along as “protection” as well. Guinevere was coming because they of course would need a servant whilst they were out and about (though Uther was definitely beginning to suspect that something more was at play between Morgana and the serving girl).

Unfortunately, Hunith was unable to get the week off work at such short notice (mother of the Prince’s soulmate or not), and there was no way they’d be able to justify asking The King for Gaius to tag along, so they didn’t even try. But they set out the next afternoon, having filled Gwen and Morgana in on Kilgharrah’s rather vague and annoying directions.

Neither of them were particularly happy that they had gone to see the Dragon without them or that they were just... doing what he said, but destiny or no, consulting the Druids on Morgana’s visions and Merlin’s magic was still a good idea, and they’d never get a better chance.

Just like Kilgharrah said, they found the Druid camp two days into their journey from the city, almost a day’s ride beyond Camelot’s border. They had to be careful, wear disguises, but they were travelling through virtually untouched wood so they didn’t run into anyone, not even a pesky group of bandits made an appearance.

When the first tents came into sight through the trees, the group stopped to take a breath and prepare themselves, giving each other one last round of dubious looks before beginning to walk again.

They barely make it to their third step when Merlin pauses and takes a stuttering breath, clenching his fingers around Arthur’s sleeve in a white-knuckled grip. The others crowd around him worriedly, but relax (only slightly) when he looks more confused than anything else. Before they can ask what’s wrong, he peers between them towards the tents:

“Uh... how are you- are you Druid? Is this one of you?”

Arthur’s eyes widen as he realises:

“Someone’s in your head again?”

Merlin nods distractedly but doesn’t move his gaze, speaking louder:

“Hello??”

Finally, a middle-aged man steps out from the camp; he wears floor length, dark green robes, and his silver hair almost falls to his shoulders. He gives the group a kind smile before finally focusing in on Arthur and Merlin, bowing his head slightly:

“My Lords. Our seers saw you coming some days ago, and we felt your presence the moment you entered our wood, Emrys.”

Merlin clenches his jaw slightly:

“Please don’t call me that, my name is Merlin... and... Kilgharrah sent us?”

He says it as if it’s a question and the Druid gives Merlin an assessing gaze, before nodding slightly. Before he can verbally respond, Leon steps subtly in front of the others. Morgana rolls her eyes at his protectiveness and Arthur huffs, but before they can challenge him, he asks:

“What do you mean, you felt his presence?”

He tilts his head again and smiles slightly, as though amused:

“Em- Merlin is rather powerful; we can sense him from miles away, his magic is incredibly... distinctive.”

Merlin frowns, holding Arthur’s hand protectively in his own as he side-steps Leon:

“What does that even mean? I’m not that powerful.”

The man shakes his head slightly and gestures behind him:

“Come. I imagine you have many questions about many things. The camp awaits your presence, My Lord.”

Merlin frowns at the title, but the Druid turns his back and begins walking back into the centre of the camp before he can challenge it. He gives a small shrug and a quiet “well, here we go” to the others before following his trail, Arthur’s hand still clutched tightly in his.

They all receive peculiar looks as they walk through the camp. Life seems to stop as everyone pauses what they’re doing to stare at the intruding teenagers (and Leon), but they keep their heads down, all letting out a relieved sigh when the man leads them to a tent, gesturing for them to sit around a table, and closing the fabric gently behind him.

He turns around with relaxed shoulders and an easy smile, not acknowledging that none of them are sat down and are instead gathered in a huddle by the table:

“My name is Iseldir. Druids don’t have strict hierarchies, but I’m considered the chieftain here, welcome.”

He looks at Merlin as he speaks, and the young Warlock nods slightly. He opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it again with furrowed brows; Iseldir raises an eyebrow and Merlin hums thoughtfully before trying again:

“I was going to introduce everyone, but something tells me that you already know who we are.”

Iseldir smiles again and nods, the expression on his face looking something similar to pride:

“Yes, I know who you all are. I see that you are learning to trust your instincts, My Lord.”

Merlin grimaces:

“It’s just Merlin, please. It’s bad enough that everyone at the castle calls me Lord now, I’m not even of age yet.”

The Chieftain’s smile widens in amusement as he nods, and Morgana is the next to speak up, her hand clutched tightly in Gwen’s as her voice shakes only slightly:

“We were sent here to learn about our... destinies?”

Iseldir nods, politely ignoring the way Merlin reaches behind him to grab Morgana’s wrist comfortingly, and how Leon and Arthur rest their hands near their swords:

“I have everything we need laid out here; it isn’t too complicated and we should get through all of it by this evening.”

The teenagers finally move to the seats, but make no effort to hide the way they shuffle the furniture to be sat closer together. Morgana and Merlin are sat in the middle, Arthur and Gwen flanking them protectively; Leon remains standing, a hand on each of his magical kid’s shoulders and a blank, though slightly challenging look on his face. Iseldir raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment, moving to sit on the opposite side of the table and shuffling a few papers around before looking up with a smile:

“Let us begin.”

The general mood of the room could be judged accurately by how tense Leon was at any one moment. Though he remained standing, he was relaxed and curious when Iseldir told them about the extent of Merlin’s powers (which Merlin looked incredibly dubious at), and he smiled proudly when they were told of Merlin and Arthur’s intertwined destinies (the nature of their soul-bond means he already knew they had some sort of great future, and this only proved it).

It was when Iseldir hesitated slightly as he gave Morgana a pitying look that Leon tensed up, and tightened his grip on her shoulder.

“You must all remember that destinies are... tricky. They are incredibly difficult to avoid, but it isn’t impossible; the future is not set in stone.-”

Morgana takes a deep breath and straightens her back, taking Merlin’s hand in her own and settling her face into a determined grimace:

“Just come out with it. Just tell me.”

Iseldir gives her a comforting smile as he nods, turning a sheet of incredibly ancient looking paper over and pushing it across the table towards them. On the scroll is a old, rough charcoal drawing of a woman with long, dark hair, her clothes somehow elegant and tatty at the same time. Her face is covered by a hood, but her arms are outstretched and violent looking flames extend from her hands, burning and destroying all the foliage drawn around the edge of the paper.

Morgana reaches a shaking hand out to touch the drawing but withdraws her hand before she makes contact, ignoring the tears gathering in her eyes as she looks up at Iseldir again:

“That’s me, isn’t it? Burning things?”

Iseldir nods slowly before speaking, his voice low and gentle, understanding:

“It is said that if you come into your full power, you will unite with The Once and Future King’s Bane. Your heart will freeze over, you will become consumed by hatred and fear and bitterness, and you will work tirelessly to bring about the downfall of Camelot, the downfall of Albion.-”

Arthur interrupts:

“Albion?”

Iseldir moves his gaze to the Prince, giving him a tight smile as he explains:

“The Kingdoms to be united under one name, Albion, with yourself as King.-”

He looks back to Morgana, his smiles turning just a little encouraging:

“-Like I said, the future is not set in stone. Arthur’s Bane came into existence several years ago, we’re keeping close watch on him; he has yet to show any... troubling, signs, nor have you.”

Merlin scowls slightly in though, before slowly saying:

“Arthur’s Bane is... a person?”

Iseldir raises an eyebrow and nods, letting out a breath of subtle relief when Merlin seems more genuinely worried than murderous.

Gwen is the next to speak up, her voice strong and her face determined:

“None of that is happening,-”

She reaches forward and aggressively turns the scroll over, squeezing Morgana’s hand as she continues:

“-not ever.”

Leon’s gasp has everyone’s eyes drawn to the overturned sheet, only to see a colourful image appear on the paper. The first figure to materialize is clearly Morgana, though in this drawing she is grinning, hood down, eyes golden and flowers in her hair. Next, Merlin and Gwen appear either side of her, Merlin’s eyes also glowing as he summons matching flowers in Gwen’s hair, Gwen who is pressing a kiss to Morgana’s cheek. Leon and Arthur appear next, in full armour with bright grins, a golden crown on Arthur’s head.

Iseldir chuckles, looking up at Merlin who is giving himself a satisfied nod as the golden glow fades from his eyes:

“Trusting your instincts indeed; you didn’t even need an incantation, very impressive.”

Merlin shrugs before turning to Morgana with a grin. She returns it with a shaky one of her own, once again feeling not-quite-so-scared thanks to the ever-comforting presence of her family.

They slept that night in a large tent that had been prepared for them, and were woken up early the next morning. They were given a proper tour of the camp and introduced to a few people.

Leon had questions about how the camp was run, in terms of enforcing rules and staying safe, so he was quickly introduced to a few of the elders. Whilst he had been reluctant to leave the others at first, Arthur’s teasing laughter and Morgana’s rolled eyes convinced him to spend the day away from them, learning about as much of Druid politics as he could.

Merlin and Morgana were quickly introduced to the strongest magic users, and whilst Merlin was taken aside to be given some lessons on healing using magic, Morgana was taught meditation techniques and breathing exercises by the camp’s most respected Seer.

Gwen sticks mostly with Merlin; whilst she had no magic to heal with, the herbal knowledge that was being shared was fascinating and she was eager to memorise as much of it as possible. She of course wandered over to check on Morgana occasionally, at first out of concern, but then out of pride, out of a desperation to never forget how relaxed and happy and at-home her soulmate looks.

Arthur spends the morning with Merlin, but quickly grows bored. Perhaps he should take more interest in healing considering how often he and the knights get injured, but he’s already got Merlin, Gaius, and now Gwen, so why waste the effort? Instead, he finds Morgana and the Seer. The sense of relief he feels to see his sister looking so at ease with such an easy smile gracing her face is almost overwhelming, but he doesn’t disturb them, sitting a little way away and silently watching them.

The Prince didn’t even realise he had fallen asleep until the tell-tale pop and the sudden shadow of someone stood above him jolts him from his nap. He opens his eyes blearily to see Merlin crouching next to him, an amused smile on his face and his hand out-stretched:

“Come on sleepy head, the others are waiting for us, it’s time to eat.”

Arthur takes a deep breath, allowing Merlin to pull him up before he stretches and rubs the sleep from his eyes. The sun was only an hour or so away from touching the horizon and he could see no one else in the little patch of woods Morgana had previously been sat in:

“Morgana?”

Merlin smiles softly, taking Arthur’s hand and leading him back towards the tents:

“Happy. She joined me a couple hours ago and we were practicing some simple spells, turns out she has more magic than just visions-”

At Arthur’s slightly affronted expression, Merlin chuckles and rolls his eyes:

“-You were exhausted, Arthur, don’t deny it. You got this holiday because of how hard you’ve been working, we didn’t want to wake you. We’ll show you a few tricks tomorrow alright?”

Arthur pouts and huffs slightly, fighting the smile trying to appear on his face as he nodded his agreement. Merlin just laughed at him again as they entered the meal tent, finding spaces with the other three.

The next morning was just as relaxed, though this time the five of them stayed together.

Leon, Arthur, and Gwen sat against a fallen log as they watched Merlin and Morgana show their magic off. A small audience of Druids had gathered as well, on account of Lord Emrys’ presence, and whilst Morgana tired quickly, not used to having such free access to the magic that had been inside her for years, Merlin could go for hours. He used few actual incantations, manipulating water and flowers and floating lights with just a little concentration and some imprecise waving of his hands.

Noon, unfortunately, came rather quickly, at which point Leon sighed and stood up, giving Merlin a sad smile before looking to Arthur:

“If we want to be home with a day to spare, we should start the journey soon.”

Arthur nodded in agreement and the rest of the group joins Leon in standing. The Druids disperse fairly quickly, but Iseldir stays with them, giving Merlin a pat on the back and a wide smile:

“It was a pleasure to have you here My Lor- Merlin.”

Merlin snorts in amusements but nods his appreciation, and the five of them wander over to their tent to gather their belongings whilst Iseldir collects the horses.

It’s only half a candle mark before they’re riding back out into the forest in the direction of Camelot. The teachers and elders, including Iseldir, wave them off with proud smiles, and whilst Merlin and Morgana are sad to leave this sanctuary behind, they were grateful for the freedom and safety and lessons they’d had, even if it was less than two days. Their utter faith that things would change when Arthur took the crown, that one day Camelot would feel just as safe, gave them something beautiful to look forward to as well.

Their journey home was just as uneventful as the journey out. When they finally pulled up into the courtyard with a day and a half of their free week left, Leon took everyone’s horses to the stable and informed a servant to tell the King of their arrival, whilst the others headed straight to Merlin and Hunith’s house. They had to wait for Hunith and Gaius to finish their actual jobs, but soon enough the whole group was crowded around the kitchen table.

Arthur and Gwen (who, though no one else would admit it, has the best memory of all of them) re-tell the prophecies and destinies.

Both Hunith and Gaius were furious once again at Morgana’s so-called destiny, but smiled proudly at her determined disposition, and the obviously magical drawing (the flowers seemed to move and the golden eyes definitely glowed off of the page) that Merlin pulled from his pocket. The others hadn’t even realised he’d kept it, but are grateful.

Next, Merlin and Morgana talk about their lessons. Gaius was intrigued by the healing knowledge Merlin and Gwen had gained, and after double checking that the door was locked and the curtains were drawn, they even showed off a few spells to their captive audience.

(There were times that Merlin showing off even the slightest bit of magic would give Hunith a heart attack and nightmares for days; she finds it doesn’t bother her so much anymore. She knows that Arthur, Morgana, Leon, and Gwen would never let anything happen to him, and the new stories of his apparent great power certainly helped ease her mind as well.)

Finally, Leon spoke about what he had learned from the elders; all bout how they keep camps running, their democracy, and how knowledge is preserved and passed on. It was a little boring, if any of them are being honest, but the bright grin on the knight’s face kept them from interrupting him.

Eventually, it came time for everyone to head to their respective beds and sleep. There was no denying that they’d had an amazing few days, but it was also a few days of constant activity and sleeping rough... they were all exhausted.

As Arthur and Merlin curled up under the covers, grateful for the slightly chilled night making cuddling easier, they let out simultaneous breaths of relief.

Arthur ran a hand through Merlin’s hair softly as he quietly spoke, aware of Hunith asleep in the next room:

“You think we’ll be alright?”

Merlin sighs and Arthur tries not to let the anxiety in his stomach swirl too violently at the lengthening silence. Finally, Merlin turns over to face his soulmate, shuffling even impossibly closer and giving Arthur a small smile. Arthur doesn’t comment on the nerves in the younger man’s eyes:

“There’s all this pressure on us to fulfil our destinies, to save the world, it’s a little... overwhelming. My whole childhood I tried to forget the fact that being Prince Arthur Pendragon’s magical soulmate would mean... everything, in one way or another, some day. And now that day is fast approaching, I can feel it, and I still have no clue what I’m doing. And that’s not even considering Morgana.-”

Arthur’s hold around Merlin tenses at the mention of his sister, and Merlin presses a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw before continuing:

“-I would give up all of it, everything, to save her. To see her happy. But... do I really have the right to make that decision? My people are counting on me, but you and Morgana and Leon and Gwen, you come first, and you always will.-”

Merlin rolls onto his back again, staring at the ceiling with furrowed brows as Arthur watches him mournfully:

“-I’ve spent so long being terrified of the fact that I know you would give up your crown if I just asked you to, and now I’m close to making the same decision myself; giving up everything for one person, to the detriment of the world.-”

He turns his head to face Arthur again, tears in his eyes:

“-I don’t know what to do, Arthur.”

The Prince clenches his jaw, having to push down the swell of anger at... everyone really. Kilgharrah, the Druids, the Gods, whosever idea this whole destiny shit was. Arthur often thought of himself as a fully matured adult whose place in the world was clear, but at times like these, he’s reminded of how young he is, and how Merlin is even younger.

He pulls the Warlock into a tight embrace, tucking his dark hair under his chin and running a soft hand over his back:

“I will stand by you, always, and we’ll figure it out, we always do. The future is fluid, Merls, we just have to keep an open mind and push through. We’ve all been through a little bit of hell, but that day? That you can feel approaching? That’s the day we change the world. I’ll force my father from the throne if that’s what it takes,-”

Arthur feels Merlin tense to argue, but rushes on before he can say anything:

“-not just for you, but because it will be the right thing to do, one day. This Kingdom, and then the world, will be golden, and the five of us, and Gaius and your mum, will be together every single step of the way. Ok? You don’t have to do anything, Merlin, not alone, not ever.”

Merlin relaxes again, and Arthur can feel his sigh of relief across his collarbones. The room goes silent for a while, and Arthur only just hears Merlin’s quiet words before he slips into a sleep filled with peaceful dreams full of meadows and flower crowns and golden eyes:

“Yeah... I think we’ll be alright.”

THE END!!

After thinking about it for a few days, and re-reading the series, I’ve decided that I actually like the ending here!

I hope y’all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, thanks anon for sending the idea to me all those months ago! :)

291 notes · View notes