Chapter Text
There are a lot of things that need to be done in the kingdom.
Shadow Milk takes note of it, eyes glued to the scenes passing by. If he was younger, he would walk around and get a feel for the towns himself. It was one of his favorite things to do when he first arrived in Beast-Yeast.
Out there, cookies meander. He sees a few families wandering about, running errands or simply spending time together. There’s a group of teens running down the streets, laughing at what must be the silliest thing. They pass by a stand selling what looks to be food. It’s a lot cleaner than the stands he’s used to.
This part of Grandiflora is obnoxiously clean. He presses a finger to his bottom lip at the thought.
In front of him, cookies sell items and cookies purchase them. He really needs to take a better look at how expensive some of those things are.
He turns his gaze to inside the carriage.
They weren’t too bad from what he remembers. Though, his perception of what’s expensive has become rather skewed. Still, he can’t forget his first few hungry years in Beast-Yeast. Before he became big.
When he gets back to the castle, he’ll take a look at prices around the kingdom.
He rubs his chest a bit.
He feels for her. She’s been calm for the past few days. There’s the occasional blimp of something unrecognizable, but it never lasts long. It won’t last long. Because he knows she can’t possibly be in any real danger.
Shadow Milk bites his thumb at the thought.
His eyes find the cookie in front of him.
New Dawn didn’t explain why they needed to make this trip. In all honesty, they don’t explain a lot of things. Either they need to learn quickly, or Shadow Milk expects the other advisors to kick them out.
Right now they’re occupied with opening an envelope. From who, he doesn’t know.
Shadow Milk cranes his neck up, peering to try and see who it’s from. Recognizing the curly handwriting, he snatches it out of their hands.
“Hey–!”
“Why did you not tell me we have a letter from the Faerie Kingdom?” Shadow Milk asks, looking at his own name on the front.
“W- we usually answer and respond to letters–”
Shadow Milk darts his eyes to them. “Excuse me?”
New Dawn shrinks into themself. “I- it’s one of our many jobs! You know, as a king, you have so many responsibilities, so we look through the letters and tell you about the important things you need to know–”
“That’s stupid,” Shadow Milk spits out. “I’m the king. Shouldn’t I know about everything that’s sent to my kingdom?”
“I mean–”
“From now on, I read the letters,” Shadow Milk says, “got it?”
“I- I would have to talk to the other’s first–”
“Got it?”
New Dawn lets out a meep, pressing their hands to their chest.
Shadow Milk sighs and glances out of the window. It’s cloudy outside.
He turns back to the letter, tracing his thumb along the way Pure Vanilla writes Shadow Milk’s name. The tittle is in the shape of a heart. It makes Shadow Milk involuntarily smile.
He finishes opening the envelope and plucks the letter out. Fuck, he has to hold himself back from letting out an embarrassing sound. The familiar scent of vanilla and lavender hits him so nicely. He just wants to bury his nose into it and drown in his comfort.
But his eyes flicker back to the meek New Dawn in front of him. A cookie that looks like they want to cry at this very moment.
Shadow Milk rolls his eyes and starts to read Pure Vanilla’s letter.
Hello, Shadow Milk
He never starts his letters off like that.
The handwriting I got last time wasn’t yours–
“New Dawn.”
“...Yes.”
Shadow Milk digs his fingers into the paper. “Has Viridescent sent any other letters?”
They don’t respond.
“New Dawn.”
They flinch, eyes darting everywhere. “It was a request to send faeries over to search for Moonflower. That was all!”
Shadow Milk furrows his brows. “And you guys didn’t tell me?”
“We didn’t want to concern you–”
“Concern me!”
New Dawn might actually cry now. Shadow Milk huffs and leans back, tilting his head up. He breathes deeply, needing to calm his heartrate. He feels the steadiness of White Lily. He feels the melancholy of Pure Vanilla.
He frowns. “What name did Viridescent sign the letter as?”
“V- Viridescent Daydream? It was an official request from his kingdom, how else is he supposed to sign it–”
They pause, the realization dawning on their face.
Shadow Milk’s cheeks warm. He bares his teeth and points. “Not a word to anyone else or I will personally see to it that you are fired, got it?”
“...Got it.”
Shadow Milk groans and buries his fingers in his hair. Well, there he went blabbing. At least Pure Vanilla isn’t stupid enough to sign his actual name.
He quickly checks to make sure it isn’t on the letter in his hands. It’s not.
Sighing, Shadow Milk decides to continue reading.
–which is disappointing. As official as my letter was, it’d be nice writing to you again. So whoever is reading this and isn’t Shadow Milk, can you hand this to him, please? Okay. Thank you.
Witches above, his bug is such an idiot at times. Shadow Milk snorts, his smile growing.
Anyways, hello for real, Shadow Milk. Apologies for not writing to you sooner; things have been busy here. Turns out running a kingdom on your own is difficult, huh? I know you’re doing well in that.
It’s, fuck, it’s been hard. I never realized how much work you and Whi Moonflower did. It’s been strange without her. I know you feel it too. I know she has to be okay, but at the same time, I can’t help but fear the worst.
I’m already so close to losing you. I can’t lose her too.
Well, no. I’m not gonna lose you. I’m not gonna lose her either. I’ll continue looking for a way to break you out, okay? And I’ll continue looking for clues on Moonflower. You’ll both be okay, okay?
Anyways, how have things been over there? How’s the first two weeks of officially being king going? I hope that team isn’t giving you too much trouble. But I know that no matter what, you’ll do incredible. You’re going to be such a good king–the cookies are going to love you!
Things are not really moving here. There’s a list of things to do that you guys left behind. But things are vague. I’m not sure what you guys were envisioning with some of this stuff. Like approving some of the new buildings–I assume you guys wanted to discuss those things at a later date? I guess I can technically do anything with the kingdom, but that’s so scary. I don’t wanna mess anything up. I like how it is now.
You guys were always talking about maintenance and new laws though. I’m so sorry I never paid attention.
Okay. I’m getting sad again, and I don’t want to do that because I’m talking to you. I hope you’re doing okay. Do you miss me? I miss you so much. I don’t want to stop writing because then that means this conversation is over. And I can’t do that, Shadow Milk. Witches, I hope you write to me back. I want to hear from you. At least one more time.
Unfortunately, I am running out of space on this paper. Next time, expect me to send multiple pages. I love you.
With all my heart, Viridescent Daydream
Shadow Milk always feels so giddy when he reads his letters. He’s grinning like an idiot, but he can’t help it. Sighing, he tucks the letter into the pocket inside his jacket. Glancing over shows that New Dawn is trying their very best to not look at him. Good.
Cracking his knuckles, he thinks about Pure Vanilla’s letter. He hopes the Faerie Kingdom is doing well. He trusts that Pure Vanilla won’t screw things up. Hopefully they’ll be able to find White Lily before Pure Vanilla actually has to do something important.
Though, Shadow Milk can’t help but chuckle at the idea of Pure Vanilla having to deal with a meeting with some of the elders. They have no sway in their decisions, but they like to bother and heckle whenever White Lily and Shadow Milk do literally anything.
Oh, his poor bug. He’ll have to write back to him. Maybe he should give him some advice. Witches know he’ll need it.
The carriage stops. Looking outside the window, Shadow Milk frowns. Damn. These streets really do need repairing.
The door opens and he steps out, closing his eyes at the weight pressing down on him. He inhales, hugging his coat to be tighter around him. A chilling breeze blows along his face.
While New Dawn struggles to climb out of the carriage, Shadow Milk glances around this part of Grandiflora. The sea sits to his right, the view of sails off in the distance. But in front of him sits rotting buildings and patched roads. He steps forward and looks at the streetlights. They also need to be replaced.
Pressing his lips together, Shadow Milk notices the few cookies standing to the side. He gives them a small wave. They stare. Blank.
Rude.
“Your Highness.”
Shadow Milk turns around as Vermilion approaches, wearing the same uniform as always. The only difference is his gold earrings. Shadow Milk can’t decide if it looks good or not with his bright vermilion buzzcut.
New Dawn steps out of the way as Shadow Milk walks forward. “Vermilion. Mind explaining what we’re doing out here?”
“There’s some information we’ve found regarding the Faerie queen’s disappearance,” he says, “information that you might want to see.”
Shadow Milk’s lips part. “Really?”
Vermilion nods. “Yes. Follow me.”
They walk around the other side of the carriage, allowing Shadow Milk to look up at the many guards lingering in the forest next to the town.
…A forest that’s slightly uphill.
It’s fine.
It’s fine.
Shadow Milk internally screams to himself when Vermilion and New Dawn start walking up the hill. But it’s fine.
He wraps his arms around himself and sucks in a breath, following them into the forest. At least it’s not as bad as some of the places back home. He’ll forever question why the fence surrounding the castle is downhill in some parts.
The thought warms him for just a moment. When he gets to the edge of the forest, the breeze picks up, knocking that away.
He sighs and glances over at the guards surrounding something. A few faeries stand with them. One turns around, and Shadow Milk smiles at the familiar face.
“What are they all looking at?” he asks, glancing up at Vermilion.
He keeps his eyes in front of him. “...Go see for yourself.”
Shadow Milk frowns and walks over, sticks and leaves crunching under his shoes. Cookies let him by. He makes eye contact with a faerie, tears staining their cheeks.
So Shadow Milk looks forward. He glances in the space between two cookies.
He sees white.
Instantly, Shadow Milk shoves one of them away to get a better view. And he stares, eyes wide. He stares.
At White Lily’s dress.
Covered in mud and twigs.
He covers his mouth, heart racing and fingers trembling. He drops to his knees and stares down at her dress. The once pristine white and lilac now reduced to roots and dirt.
Shadow Milk reaches out and touches the fabric. He picks it up, shaking out how it hangs limp in his hands. He presses it to his chest. He presses it further against him.
“This is all we’ve found so far,” Vermilion says behind him. “Your Highness, I think the queen might already be gone–”
“She’s not dead!” Shadow Milk screams, whipping his head around to him. “She’s not dead. She can’t be.”
Vermilion keeps his frown and cocks an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure?”
Shadow Milk grasps his chest, curling his fingers into the fabric. Calm. Warm. She can’t be dead. She has to be fine. She was supposed to be fine! She’s capable. She can take care of herself.
She’s been calm–
His breath rasps.
She’s been calm all these days.
Calm.
And something unrecognizable.
They have access to magic from Crispia. All kinds of horrid spells.
What if…
What if one of those spells repressed her emotions?
So she can’t feel anything else?
So they could do anything, and she wouldn’t–
Shadow Milk covers his mouth.
He holds her dress closer.
“Those sick, twisted, pieces of–”
“Your Highness?”
“I want them gone,” Shadow Milk grits out. “Every last one of them. Capture them, tie their limbs together and toss them into the sea–I don’t care! I want to feel nothing but fear and regret. Do I make myself clear?”
New Dawn goes to speak, but Vermilion places a hand on their shoulder. He doesn’t say anything. But he glances over at the guards around. They all nod. And the faeries stare.
Shadow Milk turns back to White Lily’s dress. It curls at his palms grasping it. He shakes. He folds over.
He holds her, letting the tears rain as the sky does the same.