Chapter Text
Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far, away, a little boy was born.
And although countless children were born each day, this boy was something special; for he was extraordinarily beautiful, a trait that would only grow more and more by the day. A blessing to his family, there was one other who took notice of this child; the Goddess of Fate herself, who looked upon the boy and was not at all pleased with what she saw destiny had planned for him. For this Goddess was a prideful goddess, one who became extremely jealous of those she thought might become more beautiful than she was.
So not yet a day old, and innocent to all that would befall him, this boy was placed under a curse. The Goddess of Fate, with a wicked smile, cast a spell; the boy might be lovely, but never would he know it, cursed to forever live a life that would keep him dirty and disheveled, his true beauty hidden from the world. Only if someone could come to love the boy, would the curse be broken.
But who could ever love someone who didn’t love himself?
Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye, the boy growing from baby to child, and child to teen, and teen to man. His family had been poor, and as such, like the curse had foretold, he’d spent most of his life wearing worn clothes and being covered in dirt. But, despite having such a daunting curse over his head, Yuuri Katsuki had indeed found something that he loved.
Perhaps it was that the animals never judged him, never mocked him or taunted him. Perhaps it was that amongst them, he felt like he belonged. Whatever the reason may be, Yuuri worked his way from farm to city and city to castle. There wasn’t a horse he couldn’t tame, not a wild animal that he couldn’t befriend, not a bird who wouldn’t join him in harmonious song. And on this, the year that would be his twenty-first, Yuuri had received the great honor of being invited to work at the castle to tend to the stables there.
And so, though he was smudged with dirt and hay was often tangled in his wild black hair, Yuuri had found some happiness in life. No matter how many times the other children, or even adults, shot nasty glances or said horrible things about him, Yuuri knew he could always go and cry amongst his animal friends and they’d bring him comfort.
When the head of servants at the castle took one look at him and said he was far too dirty to set foot in the castle itself, Yuuri bit back his tears and smiled through it. “I’ll stay in the stables, then if anything happens I can be found right there.”
For although the Goddess of Fate had cursed him to be unaware of his true beauty, his spirit still shone brightly from within. He could be daring and reckless, walking unarmed into the forest and strolling amongst the fiercest of beasts. And his heart was so kind and loving, that it was really a tragedy that he had no one to share it with but the animals under his care.
Away from his family for the first time in his life and surrounded by strangers, Yuuri decided perhaps it would be best if he stayed in the stables. There, at least, he knew he’d be liked.
Weeks passed by, and tales of the strange stablemaster spread from one castle servant to the next, until the tall tales made it before the royal family.
“They say he’s a dirty pig,” said the youngest of the king’s sons. “I wonder if he even eats the slop.”
“Don’t go around spreading the servant’s lies,” his father snapped at him. “It’ll go to their heads.”
“Why don’t we go and see for ourselves?” asked the eldest son.
Yuri, for that was also the youngest prince’s name, scoffed. “How are you going to see anything, Victor?”
For Victor, the eldest crown prince, had been born without sight. He had the most beautiful blue eyes, but he could see nothing more than light and dark.
“I’ll take Makkachin and she can tell me,” he reassured his younger brother, reaching down to give his trusty dog a pat on the head.
“Tch. Whatever. I bet the servants are making shit up, it’ll be fun to tell them they’re wrong.”
And so it was decided amongst the two royal children, that after dinner that evening, they would travel to the stables and see this stablemaster for themselves. Their father, ever wary of them getting into trouble, sent his servants to look after them. Yuri, from the moment he got outside, was already complaining, and had gotten both of them to carry his long cloak.
“Are you sure you’re okay going down the stairs to the stables, Victor?” Mila asked the elder prince.
He nodded, a gilded cane in one hand and Makkachin ever faithfully along his other side.
“Really, I’ve seen the stablemaster,” Georgi was telling the other prince. “And he’s covered head to toe in dirt. I don’t think he ever leaves the stables.”
“Sounds like a pig to me,” Yuri said with a huff.
But Victor just smiled knowingly. “Don’t make a judgement before taking in all the facts, brother.”
So, unbeknownst to Yuuri, the two princes descended the steep stone stairs that led to the back of the castle where the stables were kept. Yuuri, as he always was at dinner time, was sitting in the stables with an armful of vegetables, fruits and bread. The animals were often given better food than he was, but it never troubled him. He’d wisely just requested double the portions for the animals, and taken to leaving a small bit of it for himself. He shared apples with the horses, carrots with the sheep and the day old soup from the kitchen with the pigs. Even the bread he’d break up and scatter on the ground for the birds passing by to eat.
It garnered him some strange looks, but Yuuri had long resigned himself to that. He was a dirty animal, of course they looked down on him. He’d heard the murmurs when he’d knock on the door to the kitchen, some people not even bothering to whisper behind his back. But Yuuri had always seen his reflection, be it in the pails of water he lugged or the steel of his dagger, and thought that he wasn’t much to look at anyway. He was plain, impossibly plain. To the point that it was probably notably unpleasant to look at him, he thought to himself sometimes.
“Ugh, they were right. Look at him! He is a dirty pig,” a sharp voice cut into his thoughts. “He’s even eating with them!”
Yuuri sighed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t called himself worse on his bad days.
“Knowing the cook, I wouldn’t be surprised if our pigs are eating better than some of the servants,” Mila muttered under her breath.
“Hey, you! Pig!”
Yuuri looked up at the voice, shocked to find it belonging to the youngest of the kingdom’s princes.
He took a deep breath and stood up, bowing promptly at the waist. “How may I assist you, Your Royal Highness?”
Yuuri could hear the sound of something striking against the stone steps, but didn’t dare raise his head to look.
“Why are you so dirty? Do you enjoy living like a pig?”
Yuuri clenched his fists against his legs, trying to hold back any tears. Just because he’d heard it before didn’t make him immune to the vitriol.
“I have a better question,” a new voice cut in. “Who is truly the dirty one? The servant who is most likely forced to live in the stables he serves or the boy who has the world waiting on him hand and foot yet still finds the need to belittle others?”
“Not funny, Victor,” the young prince snapped.
“No, your behavior isn’t. Perhaps Miss Lilia needs to be told your manners need work.”
“Ugh, I’m leaving. Georgi, Mila- my cloak.”
Yuuri could hear the rustle of fabrics- rich, probably brocade or something equally fancy- and the bustle of footsteps stomping up the stairs. He waited until it fell silent before starting to raise his head.
Before him stood the other prince, still standing there in the stable yard, head tilted to the side inquisitively. Yuuri snapped his head back down. Just because the prince couldn’t see didn’t mean he could…
“What’s your name?”
He held his breath and urged himself calm. “Yuuri, Your Royal Highness.”
“Then I apologize that my unruly younger brother shares a name with you. Clearly, you wear it better.”
Yuuri could feel his face burn. He didn’t want this man’s pity. That was almost worse than the cruel words.
“I apologize if my name at all troubles Your Royal Highness,” he managed. “You may call me something different, if you wish.”
Yuuri could see the prince step closer, his boots shining black against the dirt of the ground. Then, before he could even realize what was happening, Yuuri felt the touch of fingertips on his chin, tilting his head up.
“I like Yuuri,” the prince said quietly, his fingers settling one by one against Yuuri’s skin before slowly drifting up his cheek.
“Sorry.” He started to withdraw his touch. “I’m just trying to see what you look like, if that’s all right?”
“Y-Your Royal Highness is free to do what he wishes,” Yuuri managed, a tremble in his voice.
He froze, already worrying that the king was going to have his head if any speck of dirt remained on the prince when he returned inside.
“That won’t do,” he murmured. “I don’t want to do something you’re uncomfortable with just because you feel like you have to.”
Yuuri sighed. “There’s really not much to see, Your Highness. It’s as they say.”
Victor shook his head. “I’d like to make that decision myself. Is that all right?”
He took a deep breath, the nuzzle of the prince’s dog at his leg bringing a small smile to his lips.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
He reached out with both hands, each of them seeking out Yuuri’s face until the soft skin of his fingertips once again brushed against his cheeks. One lingered on his cheek, but the other hand traced up, smoothing to the bridge of his nose and the dip of his eye around his glasses. He started then up into Yuuri’s hair, pausing at the rustle of the strands of hay tangled there.
“Hay?” he asked. “And dirt, dried and caked to your skin.”
Ah, so even he could see the mess Yuuri was.
“There’s not much use cleaning myself up if I’m just going to sleep in the hay and dirt and end up dirty again,” Yuuri muttered.
“You...you sleep out here?”
“It’s where I’m permitted to.”
Victor withdrew his hand from where it was tangled in his hair, reaching out with it until he could feel Yuuri’s chest underneath it. He pressed it firm over his heart.
“Ah. I see now.”
Yuuri held his breath. Certainly now the prince understood why his brother said what he did. Why the other servants didn’t want him in the castle. He was a dirty animal and he stayed where the animals stayed.
“So everyone is judging the book by its worn cover and not what is underneath,” Victor said quietly. “Yuuri.”
He tensed at his name.
“Next week, I will call for you to attend to me during my ride to the neighboring kingdom. I will instruct my servants to have you bathed, cleaned and attired fittingly. And anyone who troubles you between now and then shall answer to me. Is that understood?”
Yuuri swallowed, his mind already sending out warning flares that he would simply end up troubling the prince. But he couldn’t exactly tell the crown prince no…
“Yuuri, you may speak honestly to me. As you can see, Makkachin here adores you already.”
Sure enough, Yuuri hadn’t even noticed the dog obediently sitting beside him.
“And I trust my dog’s judgement far more than my brother’s. If it is all right with you, can you come with me?”
It was the first time, in his whole life, that someone wanted Yuuri to come along. For outside of his family, no one else had ever wanted to take a second look at him.
He thought of the very wish he’d sent with the last shooting star he’d seen and his chest grew tight.
Please. Please, may I have one friend in this world? That’s all I want. One human friend. Then surely I would think life is a wonderful thing!
“I-It would be my honor, to attend to you, Your Highness.”
Victor lit up at that, a brilliant smile on his face, and Yuuri felt as if he could ask for nothing more than what little time the prince afforded him.
“Wonderful!” Victor exclaimed, a childlike exuberance to his tone that made him all the more beautiful in Yuuri’s eyes. “I can’t wait.”
His hand moved, tracing over from Yuuri’s heart, then down his arm until it found his hand. Victor gave it a squeeze.
“Take care, Yuuri. I’ll make sure the cook sends all my best leftovers out here for you.”
And honestly unsure what else he could say, Yuuri managed to stammer out a quiet “thank you” before Victor withdrew and made his way back towards the castle.
He felt a pleasant warmth settle in his chest, his lips curling into a gentle smile. He would treasure these brief moments with the prince every day for the rest of his life. It would be his one joy forevermore.