#the rumour come out: does prince max is gay?

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 56

(It’s past midnight here in the UK therefore it’s officially the weekend therefore I’m allowed to post a new chapter lol)

Teensy bit spoilery for season 2? Nothing important though

Also on AO3 as always, though it’s so long it’ll probably take you like 12 years to read through from the beginning if you like reading about Kim being an idiot

The summer holidays began a few days later. Sabrina, unable to return to her own war-torn country out of safety concerns, stayed with Chloé instead. Marinette took her new pet cat with her on the long journey to Cheng, eagerly waiting to reunite with Adrien again. Kim, Max and Alix all went by ocean liner to the northern port before heading off in separate directions.

Travelling alone felt unusual for Kim now. Of course, being a prince, there were plenty of attendants leading the way and showing him where to go, porters carrying his luggage, everything he needed. But taking an aeroplane on his own felt oddly lonely. He was used to travelling with his friends these days.

Once he landed at the airport in Nubia he was taken by limousine to the Rolling Hills Palace, as it was known, being on top of a hill by the side of the Nile. It was just as grand and spectacular as the palaces belonging to Max and Alix – was everywhere in this part of the world so extravagant? The walls were painted white to keep the inside cool, as usual, which Kim was thankful for. Having been at school up north for so long, he had practically forgotten what true heat felt like.

Queen Sol was waiting to greet him at the entrance. “Prince Kim! It’s so good to see you again! Come in, come in, you must be tired from your long journey.”

“Um, I’m alright,” he said, before wanting to smack himself in the head. He was talking to a queen here! He should say something formal and polite!

Queen Sol, however, did not seem to care. She simply smiled at him and said, “I should have known. Someone used to athletic activity wouldn’t be tired out by a simple plane and car ride, would they?” She laughed all of a sudden. “By the way, your reply to my letter was hilarious! Much more amusing than any other reply I received! You needn’t have sent the apology, though that was kind of you.”

Kim blushed, not daring to say anything. She really hadn’t minded his stupid letter?

“Anyway, please do follow me, I’ll take you to your quarters directly.”

She led him inside the palace. He followed her down several pretty-looking corridors before arriving in his allocated room. The porters carried his luggage in, then were instructed to leave for a moment.

“I know you have only just arrived and would probably want a tour of the place above all else,” Sol said, sounding more serious all of a sudden, “but there is something I must first discuss with you that cannot wait. Your application to join the International Alliance.”

Oh yes, that thing. Kim gulped. He had kind of forgotten about it, too busy fretting about the crocodile he was going to have to meet at some point.

“You’ve already filled out all the paperwork during your last holidays, which is excellent,” she continued. “It has been sent here and is being processed as we speak. Once that’s all sorted, the decision will be put to a vote amongst all the leaders or ambassadors of each country in the International Alliance.”

A vote? Oh boy…

Sol seemed to sense his unease, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking down at him with a smile. “It’ll be alright. The results will be in on 1st September, which I know is when you will start your final school year, so I’ll make sure to let you know by telephone or letter what the outcome is. I’m sure it’ll be positive.”

“Thanks,” he said, aware that he hadn’t said much at all so far. Thinking about serious things like this was making him nervous, though.

“Your TV interview in the spring did wonders for your international popularity levels. As long as you continue to impress other leaders like this, I see no reason why you shouldn’t get an overwhelming majority in the vote. Lê Chiến will be part of the International Alliance before you know it!”

As long as he continued to impress other leaders? Well, considering his reputation of being annoying and reckless, there was no way that was going to last. Being charismatic on TV was one thing. Being charismatic in person was entirely another! This already wasn’t boding well…

“Have faith in yourself,” Queen Sol was saying now, almost like she could read his thoughts. “Your friends will support you. I’ll support you too. You’re very young, so even if you do make mistakes, no one will think worse of you for it. However, that being said…”

She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out how to phrase whatever she was about to say next.

“Though you may be young, I don’t believe it’s right to hide from you the seriousness of your situation. You deserve to know the truth. And the truth is that your life may be in danger.”

Kim knew that already. And he really, really did not feel like being reminded of it.

“It is through no fault of your own. The simple fact is that you are heir to the throne of your country, and Emperor Gabriel is looking for any excuse to start a war and take over. You need to be careful. I’m not saying it’s certain that he could send assassins, but it is seeming likely at this point. Part of the reason I invited you here for the holidays is so that I can protect you from that, if he were cruel enough to do such a thing.”

She didn’t know. She didn’t know about the poisoned chocolates. True, hardly anyone knew about that, but still. The way she was talking, as if sending assassins was a nightmare come true, something to be protected against at all costs…

Kim was surprised to feel his eyes burning. But no – he couldn’t cry here, in front of a queen, in front of the leader of the entire International Alliance! He had to act like a grown-up prince now, not some little kid who cried at the thought of death! He looked down at the floor and willed himself to grow a backbone already.

“Are you alright?” Queen Sol asked, her grip on his shoulder tightening. “I’m sorry I brought up such a serious topic the moment you arrived. I thought it would be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible so that you could enjoy the rest of your holiday here without interruption.”

“I’m fine,” Kim tried to say, but his voice cracked a little.

“Are you worried about assassination attempts? It’s an understandable fear, don’t worry, you have every right to be afraid. You will be safe here though, I assure you. No one should ever have to go through having someone else out to kill them.”

But he had gone through that! It really had happened. Emperor Gabriel was actually, seriously, trying to kill him. A total stranger truly wanted him dead. And the proof was in the chocolate.

Queen Sol was silent for a few seconds, before bending down a little and looking right at his face in concern. “You… you already know all this, don’t you?”

He just nodded, knowing that if he spoke then he would start crying for real.

“You already know. Is it because… you’ve already been through this? Has there been an attempt on your life?”

He nodded again. He really wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about that, but right now he didn’t care. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was scared. Being here in this unfamiliar kingdom, his friends far away, it made all his problems seem a thousand times bigger.

Death… war… it wasn’t even just a personal issue. If he died, the Agreste Empire would attack his kingdom. His life was the one thing keeping millions of people safe. There was so much more at stake here than just the life of some idiot 17-year-old.

“So someone has already tried to assassinate you and you survived it…”

Kim wiped a tear off his face. Sol’s voice had gone softer now, and it was reminding him oddly of his grandmother, of all people. He hadn’t seen his grandmother in so long now… and he might never get to again…

“Oh, you poor boy, come here…”

The next thing he knew, he had been wrapped in a hug. Something about it was… different. It wasn’t like he didn’t get hugs these days, after all, he had his close friends at school. But Queen Sol was one of the few people he knew who were taller than him, and there was the fact that this wasn’t a friendship hug – it was a protective hug.

The kind of hug his grandmother used to give him…

The tears were rolling before he could stop them. He didn’t feel like a prince, the important heir to the throne of a country – he just felt like a scared little kid! He didn’t want to die. It was too soon. He was too young, it couldn’t end like this. But there was a very real chance that it would, and Queen Sol knew it.

“Everything is going to be okay,” she said, her voice soothing, yet firm. “I swear it. You don’t deserve to be put into this cruel, cruel situation. Every single member of the International Alliance will do our best to keep you safe. Please know that there are far more people on your side than against you. And if you ever need anything, anything at all, you can ask me. I will provide it.”

She was just so nice. The queen of a rich, powerful country, in charge of some of the most influential nations in the world, who could do anything she wanted. And here she was personally taking care of some fugitive kid from a distant country who she hardly even knew.

Somehow, her kind words were enough to calm him down a little. At least enough to stop crying. He still didn’t trust himself to speak, instead just letting himself be hugged by the nicest queen in the world and reminding himself that if he survived one assassination attempt, then surely he could survive more. Maybe. It was at least a thought to hold onto.

After what felt like a few minutes, Sol stepped back and put both hands on his shoulders, frowning at him. “You are very brave, Kim. You’ve done very well to get this far. Now, you don’t need to give me details, but please tell me – do you have any way of protecting yourself from assassins while at school? If not, something can be arranged.”

“I’ve already got someone,” he said quietly. Princess Alya had been doing an excellent job so far. He trusted her a lot.

“I’m glad to hear that. You really are doing a very good job, alright? None of the things happening to you are your fault. You’re going to go far, I can just tell.”

His mood was lifting ever so slightly. Sol just knew exactly what to say to make him feel better, didn’t she?

“Anyway,” she said, smiling again now, “I think that’s enough of all this. While you’re here I want you to forget all about anything stressful, and just have a good time. I’ll be arranging some fun activities for your stay. You’ll also get to meet Penny and Jagged once they return from their tour in Atlantica soon, and you’ll be able to meet up with your friends at the wedding. I hope these few months will be fun for you!”

Kim allowed himself to smile a little too. “Thanks.”

“You are very welcome. I’ll leave you alone now so you can make yourself at home – do let the porters know if you need a hand unpacking. I’ll send someone to fetch you for dinner, after which you can have a tour of the palace. Is that alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

She chuckled a little. “You really are an interesting person, you know? So polite right now, like you were at the conference meeting back in the winter. So very different to how you were during your lacrosse match.”

The lacrosse match! Kim had completely forgotten that Queen Sol had been there watching that trainwreck. How embarrassing.

“For the record, I’m not usually as gloomy and serious as I was just now,” she said. “Feel free to treat me as a ‘cool aunty’ or something. That’s what your friend Alix does.”

Yeah, well Alix was crazy and everyone knew it. Still, it would probably be nice to see the more humorous side of Sol. If she could watch that ill-fated lacrosse match without thinking worse of Kim for it, then she had to be a cool person.

“I guess I’ll do that too then,” Kim said. “Thanks, Your Majesty.”

“If you really want to call me that then I won’t stop you, but it does sound a bit overly formal. Feel free to call me Sol, or Aunt Sol, or whatever you want, really. Within reason, of course. Oh, and just one more thing before I go!” She grinned suddenly, looking far less royal. “Is it true you love challenges and dares?”

Oh shoot, even she knew about that? “Um… yeah…”

“Then I certainly have some great ideas about fun challenges to plan for you this summer. You’re going to have a great time. I must be off and get that sorted right away!”

With that, she turned and left. Kim couldn’t help but believe her – if Queen Sol said things were going to be okay, and that he would have fun this summer, then she must be right.

He hadn’t seen his family in so long, almost two whole years now… but Sol kind of reminded him of them. Maybe with her around, he wouldn’t feel quite so homesick.

Somewhere further to the west, Max was just arriving back home at his own palace. He hadn’t been here since the winter holidays, considering he spent the spring over with Alix. But oddly enough, he didn’t really miss the place that much. And though he had missed his family as always, he wasn’t thinking about that right now. He had something else on his mind. A certain little metal friend that he needed to find.

The press had other ideas, of course. As soon as he arrived there were plenty of reporters loitering around the entrance, eagerly jumping up with their cameras, microphones and notepads when they saw the limo pulling up. Well, it wasn’t like Max hadn’t been expecting it. He never usually stayed away from home for so long, and everyone would want to know about it.

“I will answer a few questions, but then I need to go rest,” he said to them all from beside his numerous bodyguards, on the inner side of the protective fence. It was a lie – he certainly wasn’t going to go rest when he had something much more interesting to be doing. But there was no way anyone would leave him alone otherwise.

“Your Highness, are you aware that as of recently you have the highest approval rating of any prince in history that this country has had?” was the first question asked to him.

“Yes, I read it in a newspaper on the journey here,” he replied, trying to still sound humble despite how proud he felt about it. His sudden rise in popularity was almost certainly thanks to Kim’s interview back in the spring, that was for certain.

And if the journalists were asking about that, then there was no doubt what the next questions would be about…

“Is it true that the reason you did not return home during the spring holidays is because you were spending time with Prince Kim? It has already been noted that you partook in a dance with him at the Peace Ball last year, and took him on a city tour, and you seem very close with him indeed – can we get an official statement on that?”

Oh, stupid nosy reporters. Max had known they were going to ask him about his “friendship” with Kim at some point, he had just hoped it wouldn’t be literally the moment he arrived. It seemed personal privacy was the price to pay of being royalty. And how was he meant to answer? Simply saying “no comment” would do nothing to stop speculation, in fact it would be more likely to have the opposite effect. But he still didn’t want people prying into his and Kim’s relationship!

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Prince Kim hasn’t been home for almost 2 years. The least I could do is keep him company. And as for an ‘official statement’, I think you all know perfectly well I wouldn’t just broadcast my personal life to the entire country whether there was anything significant about it or not. So there really is no point asking.”

There, hopefully that might have placated them a bit. Even if it sounded slightly sarcastic. He looked over the reporters to see that they were all looking rather unhappy, and unhappy reporters were always a bad thing – unhappy reviews and articles led to an unhappy populace. And his approval rating had just gone up to historical levels as well! He couldn’t let that fall!

But how to keep the reporters happy? They wanted a story, and he certainly was not about to open the floodgates to interviews about how he and Kim got together by admitting that it was true. Lying wouldn’t feel right either, even if that was the most sensible decision. No one would fall for it anyway. And he could only avoid the question entirely by giving the reporters something else to write about, some sensational new story that would distract them from this. But what?

Well, there was one thing. But it would probably be a stupid idea to say it right now. A stupid, bad, reckless idea, one that had a very high chance of backfiring, one that was not thought out anywhere near well enough to do on anything other than the spur of the moment.

It was a very Kim idea.

Trying not to sound nervous, Max leaned over the fence railing and said, “However, I know you all want a news story that people will actually be interested in, so there is one thing I’ll finally admit.”

The reporters looked up again, a similar kind of impatient enthusiasm in their eyes as Alya often had when looking for a scoop. Max allowed the thought of Alya, fantastic friend and spymaster supreme, to calm his mind somewhat before wiping his sweaty palms on the side of his shirt and dropping what would surely be the ultimate news story of the year.

“The rumours are true. I’m gay. That is all. Goodbye.”

He barely even heard the triumphant gasps of the reporters, having turned around and headed into the palace the second he had finished speaking. He didn’t even want to think about what he had just done. But striding through the palace, heading towards the basement levels to do what he had been planning to from the start, of course he couldn’t help thinking about it.

It wasn’t like anyone would be particularly surprised. Really, it had been a matter of time. His approval rating was ridiculously high too, so the chances of the commoners for some reason being upset at this were very low indeed. He didn’t really have anything to worry about at all, not even his accepting family, nor the leaders of neighbouring countries who had already chosen the decidedly not straight Queen Sol as head of the International Alliance.

Yet it had still been nerve-wracking. Coming out to an entire country! It was no simple feat.

Be proud of yourself, he thought, walking even faster. Maybe it was best to distract his mind from this for a while, at least until tomorrow morning when this would inevitably be all over the news.

He made his way down to the basements, the areas of the palace that had been dungeons hundreds of years ago. When he was younger he had used one of these rooms as a tech lab back when he had first gained an interest in electronics. He hadn’t been there for a quite a while, nowadays doing all his work back up in his room. But there was something he needed to fetch.

He went all the way to the back of the room where there was a table with a huge, dusty sheet draped over it. Pulling off the sheet, he picked up the little metal figure that had been underneath.

Ah, yes – slightly dusty, but other than that, good as new. Max pressed the power button on it and watched as it whirred into life. Yes, yes, it still seemed to be working, simple as it was. Excellent! Now to take this upstairs and work on it for the next two months. He had promised Kim that he would, after all, and he needed something to put some effort into – not to mention that right now, he needed something to distract his mind from the news story that was undoubtedly being broadcast to every station in the country at this very moment.

And what better distraction was there than making an automaton?

“Good to see you again, Markov,” he said to the little robot in his hands. “Time to give you an upgrade.”