Chapter Text
Morning came a lot sooner than the little prince had hoped. Rolling around in a bed larger than needed, they tried to ignore the golden rays of morning sunlight that trickled into the room to no avail. Every window on every wall had light seeping through and the poor prince would not be able to escape the morning any longer.
The birds had already begun to sing their daily tunes and they could hear the shuffling of feet outside their door. The warmth of the light was always welcomed despite knowing it would be followed by strong gusts of cold air as the bedroom doors would be flung open.
And as soon as he thought crossed their mind, the doors to their bedroom were thrust open. Expecting the light footsteps of their maids made the heavy, angry footsteps of what they could only assume to be their father’s all the more jarring. Sitting up much too quick for their head to be happy, they faced their father. Anger meets fear, only one is justified.
“What is this I hear about you wasting your time yesterday sleeping? You know our guests come tomorrow, correct? Or did your maid let you sleep through that lesson too?”
The prince could not help but feel guilty for spending his day sleeping. Maybe if he had just done what he had planned on doing, his father would be happy with him for once.
“I am sorry, I couldn't help it. I was too excited to sleep an so-”
The king slammed a closed fist against the wall in his anger, positively fuming. The boy flinched before staring at the wall, frozen in fear. There now was a dent the size of his father’s fist with small cracks branching away from it. The deer prince could not keep his eyes off of it, staring wide-eyed with his hands clasped tightly in his lap.
“If you were soo excited, why could you NOT STAY AWAKE?!” The king's voice was thunderous in anger but still the boy could not look away from the dent in the wall.
What if he had hit me instead?
Is that what he would have done to my head if I had been the target being hit?
“LOOK AT ME BOY!” The king grabs the boy’s face in his hand and whips their head in his direction, causing them to cry out in pain.
“That is enough.”
Not letting go of his son’s face, the king turns to look at the voice that dared to speak out against him. It was the old lady from a few days ago, the king’s old caretaker.
“You unhand that child right this instant Jebidiah Schlatt or so help me god.” She made her way over to the pair just as the king finally did let go of the prince. He watched her with blank eyes as she began to sooth the small boy.
She softly gathered the boy into her arms and held him close to her chest, wiping the tears from his face as she let him sob into her.
“You are a disgrace to your father’s name. I hope you are proud of what you have done to Emily’s child.” Her gaze was icy and her tone cold as she addressed the king before her.
“He is my child too, not just hers!” He tried to argue but she held a hand up to stop him.
“He will never be a child of yours to you, just your burden.”
With that, she turned her back to the king and steadily made her way to the bedroom doors that had previously so carelessly flung open. Before she closed them, she made one last demand.
“And you better fix that wall before the day is over.” With that, the bedroom doors shut on a baffled looking king.
She held the prince in her arms the whole time as she walked the two of them to the infirmary. His cries had ceased ages ago but he still curled into the old woman regardless.
He was unhappy to be put down onto a bed and left there for nurses to examine but knew it had to be done. And so he sat there, only for some minutes, but still he sat and waited as they looked over him for any signs of bruising and pain.
The nurses found the large bruise on his back and questioned him about it for too long before they allowed him to explain anything.
“I was running around in the library yesterday and fell backwards on a couch. I rolled into a bookcase.”
“How did you manage to fall backwards off the couch? Goodness boy, I would believe you to be a common boy if you weren’t sitting in this infirmary.” The prince gave a sheepish smile as he looked down, letting the nurse put his shirt back on and write down her report.
“Prince Tubbo, you are now dismissed to go back on your studies. Your caretaker is waiting for you outside these doors. Please take care of yourself, we have guests tomorrow.”
He hopped down from the bed and ran to the doors, happy to be out of the nurses sharp gazes. His caretaker greeted him warmly with a small smile and a gentle hand on his head.
“I am so happy to see you, I am so sorry for your father. He asked me about you yesterday and I simply told him the truth and he got very upset.” She bowed her head in apologies but the small boy only smiled up at her.
“Oh well, I’m over it now. Can we just finish studying so I can eat?” Their caretaker laughed and nodded, a happy smile on her face.
She held out her hand, which the prince gladly took, and led him to the library to begin the studying for the day.
It was well past lunchtime when they were finally done. There was not much left to study and so the second half of the day would be testing the prince on his knowledge of the guests’ culture.
To avoid being around the king, the prince had requested for his maid to get his lunch and bring it to him in the library.
“I will be here all day anyways! It just means that I can review my studies while I eat as well.” The maid gave him a short look before she shook her head, departing from the library on her hunt for his lunch. Silently rejoicing, the prince took this time to simply relax.
He sat there, looking up at the paintings that covered the ceiling from wall to wall. Admiring how beautifully painted the clouds looked and how the people were so perfectly sculpted, they lost track of time. Before they knew it, their maid was back and held up two plates with food and drink for them to enjoy.
“I brought all that I could as well as what I thought you would like. It was a buffet today but since you are so sure that you did not want to go, I did my best.”
“Thank you so very much! Buffet days always stress me out so I am quite thankful for you.” The small prince happily took a plate from her and set it in his lap, beginning to eat. The two then sat there, reviewing the material and eating for hours.
Tests, reviewing, and more studying was all that the day was filled with and by the end of the day, the prince was still as awake as he was after the encounter with his father. He sat in his bed, awake, for hours doing nothing. Finally, he had decided to get up and explore.
He does not know why he suddenly has the urge to rebel, to go outside his bedroom at night but he does and it is thrilling. He knows he can get lost and not be found until morning, he also knows that if he is caught there will be consequences dealt by his father. But suddenly, he does not care.
And so the prince runs around the halls as quietly as he can, stopping to look at the lavish paintings that are hung up on every wall, each one new and unique to his young eyes. He trips a thousand times over every rug, or his own hooves, and has to stifle a scream each time.
He spends the hours of the night exploring and finding new places to go and all the best places to hide that he never knew could exist. But every adventure came to an end, and somehow he circled back around to his own room a few hours before dawn.
“I better go back to sleep now then, there is no telling if I would be able to find my room again tonight.” They started to push open their door when they heard footsteps approaching, lots of them. They began to move quicker, leaving their door open just a hair as they raced towards their bed.
With a jump, they ducked under their blankets and pretended to be asleep. They rolled over to face away from their doors so they could keep their eyes open and listen.
The crowd of footsteps got louder and louder, followed by voices saying words he could not understand until one person spoke up: his father.
“I do not know how this was left open, curious. But nevertheless, this is my son’s room, Prince Toby. He is currently asleep so I will shut his doors properly and you will meet him in a few hours when he has woken up.”
And with that, the king shut the doors and prince Tubbo sat back up in his bed. They stared at their doors almost blankly, processing what they had just overheard.
“Those were Endermen. Those were our guests! I can not believe it!” They slapped their face with their hands a few times before they laughed to themself. “I cannot wait to meet them, oh how am I supposed to sleep now?”
Grasping a pillow to their chest, they shook their head and laughed. The excitement they felt was overwhelming and they had no clue how to fall asleep naturally. So they sat there in silence, a small smile on their face as they rocked back and forth until their back began to hurt. Then they laid down, their smile now slipping as wave after wave of tiredness swept over them until finally, the prince was asleep.