#lesser prince jeopod

[galaxybugs]

OC-tober Day 7: Power by @oc-growth-and-development

Prince Jeopod (he/him) icon

(Shout out to @beelas-bees for basically teaching me digital art)

[galaxybugs]

Day 5: Throne

OC-tober by @oc-growth-and-development

Links: ao3, Wattpad

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The kingdom had always known who would inherit the throne.

The Grand Prince Ro, Emissary of the Stars, had been blessed with courage and valor, beloved by all long before the Queen anointed him the Crown Prince. His tales imbued the land with intrepidity and audaciousness, for all knew there was someone in their corner.

Exuberantly, the people praised him like a descended immortal, like a god - the God, like the golden stars in the sky. Every night, people would pray to the heavenly bodies above the Earth and preen, professing his triumphs as their own, for He was their own: their kin, their brethren, their King.

The kingdom had always known who would inherit the throne.

Until Grand Prince Ro died.

“It was a gruesome affair,” they insist.

“He didn’t deserve it,” they claim.

“Why-” they cry, “why him?”

The world of Alendo Kingdom fell on its head, and no one was there to right it again. Having no one to hold them up, the stars fell from the skies, mourning their Emissary and creating an angelic appearance no one bothered to behold.

Prince Jeopod thought it unfair, that such a divine scene dropped the curtain close upon his brother’s life. How enticing each broken heart flashed as it broke away from the nebulous galaxy it inhabited.

Lesser Prince Jeopod was not his brother.

When viewing such a show, such alluring lights, how could he do anything but marvel? The fireplace holding the flames of destruction and devastation belonged to both of them but only he found warmth within it.

He had once overheard an argument between his father and brother. His Majesty found it unwise to send supplies to an unaligned group of fighters that had rebelled against their enemy kingdom, but Prince Ro had contacts within and pledged it was worth it, that by doing the just action far outweighed the rational action.

He had argued that trust was meant to be earned, which Prince Jeopod agreed with. They should earn their trust and utilize that force, but it was just as well that they starve themselves and steal food from the enemy. Desperation was crucial, as a hungry man fought for as long as there was food while an honorable man fought for dignity.

Besides, if they couldn’t manage to survive on their own, would their fighting force matter? Prince Jeopod had never been war-minded, but he found it revolting how obviously some would beg for resources they couldn’t acquire for themselves and would leech off the government the second they got the chance. If they were that determined to bum a free ride, to solicit aid from the Greater Alendo Kingdom, then it was only a matter of time before they became their citizens, wasn’t it?

While Grand Prince Ro was revered by the heavens themself, Lesser Prince Jeopod had found himself the fall guy of the kingdom’s tough decisions and ill-fortune. A butterfly could perish a world away, yet the people could find a way to link the monarchy’s failures in environmental preservation (which Jeopod happened to lead).

It wasn’t unordinary for one prince to represent righteousness and for the other to take the faults of the kingdom to their guise, and as far as Prince Jeopod was concerned, the foolish fiends never had even the slightest at what was happening, akin to a tone-deaf singer berating an opera singer for talents that would make even the moon envious.

Quite simply, he didn’t care what his subjects thought of him. He found them distasteful and crude, more akin to baggage for him to carry rather than confidants. They were rancid, unkempt, and had no distinguishable integrity.

This isn’t to say he dismissed the notion of becoming king.

On the contrary, he found it entrancing, the idea of people at his beck and call, him being the one to make the decisions. There would be no more waiting on people with barely disguised contempt, no more accumulated slights and snubs from those with no right, no more begging for things he would never receive.

No more.