Chapter Text
'Good morning Margrave Gautier, I hope I'm not disturbing you but I have an inquiry.' Dimitri showed up at the training ground at the crack of dawn, before the training could start. Margrave Gautier was in charge of training the royal guards and was a stern man. He was also the father of his best friend Sylvain Gautier.
'Good morning, Prince Dimitri. I hope you had a pleasant night. How may I offer you my service?' the man greeted and bowed his head toward the prince.
'Lately I noticed that all the royal guards are people from higher standing families. I was wondering why that is?' Dimitri asked, earning a questioning look from the older.
'It's because people from higher standings are more capable than others. They train from an early age and we can only allow the best of the best to protect our king and his family.' Dimitri furrowed his brows, quite unconvinced of the answer.
'But what if someone, let us assume, from the streets proved to be a prodigy in fighting? Wouldn't it be a waste of talent to not let him train under you?' The prince countered.
Margrave Gautier looked like he held himself back from directing any inpropriate gestures at Prince Dimitri, probably a dismissive one.
'That's only an assumption from you and I can assure that no one from the streets could ever rise to such standards.' the margrave nodded to himself. 'Beside that, we have to make sure we don't train any inappropriate people who might plan to harm you in the future. A proper background check is indispensable and with people from the streets we would need to spend an unnecessary amount of money to do so. It's an impossible task if these people grew up on the streets. Prince Dimitri you must not bother yourself with the selection of the royal guard. You have many other duties and I'll make sure to only choose the best to guarantee your safety. Rest assured.' with these words, the Margrave turned away, making it clear to Dimitri that the conversation was over.
Dimitri pursed his lip but bit back another comment. He understood that he was still the prince and people wouldn't take him seriously until he became the king. With a heavy heart he thought back of the previous evening.
Felix had struck him like a viper. His steps were light as if he guided all his strength toward his sword. His technique was definitely rough and it was clear that he didn't get a lot of instruction but Dimitri was fascinated by the other. To his understanding Felix grew up on the streets so why was he holding this sword like it was a second nature to him? It simply baffled him.
He let the fight drag out a bit, trying to learn more about Felix and his movements but after a while he noticed that the other was growing tired so Dimitri ended the fight by putting enough force into his next blow to send the sword of Felix flying.
Both of them had been breathing heavily and before one of them could find any words Dimitri suddenly heard steps coming from the hallway. Acting quickly, he picked up Felix' sword and pushed him toward the back exit. As soon as the other was outside, Gustave, a knight protecting his family, had entered the grounds and looked at him in surprise, mustering his dirty appearance. But he knew better than to ask. The other had heard noises and wondered who had entered the training ground at this late hour. He also informed the prince that his maids had been looking for him all day and accompanied him back to the castle.
'Mornin' your highness!' Sylvain suddenly appeared next to him while he hold up a big goofy smile. A bandage was covering his left cheek. His father had made sure to give him a rigorous lecture after he came back last week without the prince in tow. It was only after Dimitri came back and gave his account that Margrave Gautier and his family calmed down. If Dimitri had been missing for a few more hours they probably would have banned Sylvain from Fhirdiad or even the country itself for endangering and loosing the crown prince.
Truth to be told, he and Sylvain couldn't keep their excitement that day when they saw the rays of sun and got their horses to ride out. They were taking a break at a hill and Dimitri suddenly had the idea to test out Sylvain's improvement. One thing lead to another and Dimitri quickly found himself loosing footing and stumbling down a cliff. So it's really not like it was Sylvain's fault in any way. (Well, he could have stopped Dimitri from challenging him on a snowy, slippy hill).
Sylvain was currently training under his father to become part of the royal guard one day but their relationship has been... frosty. After his big brother was caught associating with the wrong crowd his father had disinherited him and put more and more pressure on Sylvain.
Dimitri greeted his friend and returned his smile, although more subtle and graceful.
'Why did you look into the distance so dreamily just now? Did you meet a pretty girl yesterday night? I heard everyone was looking for you again.' Sylvain teased and Dimitri chocked on thin air. Quickly regaining his composure he looked at Sylvain angrily. 'Don't confuse myself with you Sylvain...'
After his failed conversation with Sylvain's father, Dimitri considered his next steps carefully. Felix' sword skills wouldn't leave his head and kept him awake for a good portion of the night, giving him a headache the next morning.
Margrave Gautier's sentiment of how only children of high status were fit to become guards bothered him as well. He never thought much about who got the opportunity to join. But with seeing Felix' natural talent which was still incomprehensible to the prince, it was clear that the current ways barred a lot of worthy young people in the country to become guards. Though, he first had to try to get one young man to join before he could hope to change long standing traditions.
Somehow imagining the other close to him made him feel at ease. But he wasn't dumb. He knew that Felix probably wouldn't leave his hut behind if it meant that he would leave Mercedes and Annette alone. It was hard to read Felix' cold face but he did notice that he seemed more relaxed when he was around the other women and he could imagine that they had a strong bond of some sort.
Convincing Manuela, the head pharmacist of the castle, to take in two more students really shouldn't be that troublesome he mused so. Manuela was far less rigid compared to Margrave Gautier... On the contrary, sometimes she should pull herself more together. Furthermore, she came from a humble background herself so probably could empathize with the two. All that was left was figuring out how to let Felix in on the guard training.
He stood at a window, watching people come and leave the castle grounds when he spotted a familiar face entering the door. Suddenly a plan formed in his head and Dimitri quickly jumped to his feet, planning to go to the new arrival.
Time to pay Duke Fraldarius a visit and ask him for a favour.
Felix had made it back to the city gates in the nick of time. After the prince had pushed him out he had to orientate himself first. When he finally found the way and arrived at the gates, the guards were about to close the door. He got a disapproving look from the guard when he slipped through the gates but he shrugged it off.
He was way too tired and didn't know what to make of the day. Though, his body was aching satisfyingly after the spar with the prince. His loss did sting his pride a bit but he argued that the prince was lectured in sword fighting since he could walk.
When he got back to the hut, Annette immediately bombarded him with questions while Mercedes also looked curious but she was also holding some dinner for Felix.
He had told them what occured over the day and their eyes grew wider and wider when he told them about the attack and the spar with the prince.
'I can't believe you protected the prince!' Annette's eyes were sparkling in admiration. 'I knew you were a good guy after all!' she gave the male a hug. 'If you were from nobility, people would probably praise you as a hero though...'
'The prince must have acknowledged your skills if he challenged you to a duell.' Mercedes mused. 'I wonder what will happen next...' What? Felix ripped his stone hard piece of bread in two.
'What do you mean with next? There is no next. We parted ways today. I'm not planning on meeting him again any time soon.'
Of course, destiny decided to bite his ass after only two weeks. During the first week Felix always expected a knock on his door again but the more days passed, the more relaxed he got. Everything was starting to go back to normal. The three of them started to plant some vegetables after the sun had warmed up the ground enough and set up some traps to catch some wild animals.
Mercedes also realized that Felix' new sword could also act as a formidable mirror and Annette had started singing about scary caves and vegetables again. So all in all, the three were starting to fall back to their old ways.
But then after two weeks there was a knock at their door again. The sun had already set and the only light was comming from their fireplace.
Felix insisted on not opening. Mercedes and Annette smiled at him in silence until he opened the door with a groan.
Half expecting to see the prince standing outside, he was surprised when it was indeed someone else. It was an older man, probably in his fourty or fifty, his hair nearly had the same colour as his own. He mustered him warily.
'Good evening. I hope I'm not intruding right now. My name is Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius. The current head of the Fraldarius household. I'm here because of a request of Prince Dimitri. I suppose you are Felix?'
As soon as Felix heard the words that the man came because of a request by the prince he had to surpress another groan of annoyance and the urge to close the door again.
Annette and Mercedes were standing behind him, watching the man with curious eyes. 'He looks so similar to Felix...' he heard Annette whisper to Mercedes.
'Yes, that's me. What does his highness need?' he ignored the earlier comment from the younger girl and decided to focus on the man in front of him.
'The prince made a... very curious proposition or rather request. He showered your sword skills with the highest praise and told me how noble you were to save him not once, but twice. He wrote you a recommendation letter to join the training to become a royal guard in the future.' A hand emerged from underneath Rodrigues coat, revealing a brown scroll that was hold together by a thin leather string.
Felix heard gasps from behind and he let the words sink in. Him? Becoming a royal guard? He felt absolutely nothing toward nobility much less the royal family. Why would he train his sword skills to protect the family that had never done anything for him with his life? Years of surpressed anger boiled in his blood. He watched people starve on the street. Parents selling one of their children to support their other ones. Slaves getting punished to death by nobility.
And now the prince wants to waltz into his life expecting him to gratefully accept to protect these people who treated them like dirt in return? He thought the prince might be a decent person but apparently he was the biggest clown of them all.
He gripped the door harshly, ready to decline everything and slam the door shut when he felt someone grabbing him from behind.
'I'm sorry, may we have a moment with him?' he heard Annette say before Mercedes closed the door quickly with far more gentleness than Felix could have mustered in that moment.
'Alright, Felix, we know you're about to blow up but please stay calm and listen.' Annette started and clapped her hands together. 'I know you hate nobility and all that stuff surrounding it but please, seriously please, consider this offer. It's a one in a lifetime chance! Training to become a royal guard is something so many people can only dream off!' then she lowered her voice to barely a whisper.
'And even if you don't want to become a royal guard. You could train a year or two, earn some rewards from your missions and then just mess up on one of them so they won't consider you anymore. You still get to keep the rewards you earned and you could start to build up a normal life then!'
'Annie is right - although I don't agree about the second part. You should always try to act earnest...' Mercedes conceded.
Felix gave the others an annoyed look. Sure, Annette was right. It was a good opportunity for him and he had always dreamed of learning more about the art of sword fighting. Although he barely allowed himself to indulge in that dream of his.
But it would also mean becoming a person he despised. Beside that, messing up at a mission could mean forfeiting his life as many of the guards' missions were fights against rivals of the royal family. A mistake on the battlefield meant his or the death of his comrades.
He looked at Annette who was practically beaming at him and then at Mercedes who looked like a proud mother. A sigh left him. Of course these two would be overly optimistic and push him to do something worthwhile with his life. Well, at least he could provide a better life for all of them if he accepted. And that was something that was worth the struggle. Maybe...
He turned around and opened the door again, a part of him was hoping that the man already left because he didn't want to wait for his answer.
'Alright. Did the prince only send you to give me this recommendation?' Felix asked after making sure the man – Rodrigue – was still there.
'I take you're interested then? Very well. In fact that wasn't the request of the prince. Or it was only a small part of it. You see, becoming a royal guard is usually only reserved for children of a noble household and even though the prince tried to talk with the instructor, it seemed that an exception couldn't be made.' the man elaborated and then took a break as if he was struggling for words. That surprised Felix. He thought that nobles had some kind of hidden talent to blabber on and on.
Rodrigue took a deep breath. 'That's why the prince requested me to take you in and make you part of the Fraldarius household.'
More gasps and squeels behind Felix while he just raised an eyebrow. 'You would take in a kid from the streets just because the prince asked you to do so?' Would he eat out of the prince's hand?
'Of course I did my research on you first before agreeing. That's why I'm only coming here now. Granted it was hard to track down your past but eventually I found some people who had known you and your parents. You really came from an ordinary family so I have no objections in taking you in. In fact I would be proud to adopt someone who has already saved Prince Dimitri twice.' Rodrigue gave him a smile but it did not quite reach his eyes and the words just made Felix cringe.
'Well, I'm not expecting you to give me an answer right now. I just wanted to come here and tell you about this proposition. I will come back in three days to hear your response. If you decide to accept, be prepared to leave your house by then. You would need to accompany me back to my mansion to prepare you for everything.' the older man gave him a meaningful look before focusing his gaze on Mercedes and Annette. 'And before I forget. The prince also made arrangements for your friends to come to the castle and study under our royal pharmacist Manuela Casagranda.'