Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a kingdom high on a mountaintop, something amazing occurred. At the very same moment, two identical baby boys were born. One was a baby prince. Queen Mihoko was overjoyed; Prince Shoma would have only the finest things that Japan could offer. The second baby boy was named Yuzuru. His parents loved him every bit as much as the queen loved the prince, but they worried. They were so poor! How would they ever be able to care for their little baby?
Many years passed, and Prince Shoma learned his royal duties. He wasn’t a huge fan of paying attention to them, and his mother often ended up scolding him. She employed a young man called Jason to help him learn. The man from America worked hard each day to help the prince to learn without boring him to death. While the prince learnt his duties, Yuzuru worked long and hard as a tailor for the spiteful Mr Morozov. With lives so different, it wasn’t surprising that the prince and the pauper had never met.
But fate decreed they would.
It all started at the royal mine, when the miners informed the queen that the gold had run out.
“What?” she asked, frowning into the empty gold cart.
“Sorry Ma’am, but we couldn’t find anything. The gold mine is completely empty.”
Mihoko shook her head, rubbing her temples. She smiled at the two miners before she went back to the palace, panicking internally. The kingdom was now bankrupt. How would she take care of her people?
“Is everything alright Ma’am?” Jason asked gently, placing tea down for her on the table. She smiled at him politely and nodded.
“Yes, it’s… It’s alright. Do you know where Evgeni is?”
“He’s still away on his long journey Ma’am,” Jason said gently. “I’m sorry.”
“Of course he is. Just when I need to act quickly,” Mihoko sighed, flopping into her chair in a very unladylike way. “Thank you Jason. Where is Shoma?”
Jason smiled and stepped back from the table. “Oh, he’s having a nap at the moment Ma’am. He’s turning into a very promising scientist.”
Mihoko’s face lit up and she grabbed Jason’s shoulders, grinning. “Shoma! That’s it! Of course!”
“It, Ma’am?”
“It, of course! Javier Fernandez from Madridia is looking for a husband! He’s got the money to support our kingdom!”
Jason nodded slowly, face settling into a smile as he realised what Mihoko meant.
“Ohhh, we’re late, late, late!” Shoma rolled his eyes as the guard flitted around him in a frenzy. “We have about twenty minutes left for your suit fitting, and then we have to rush off for you to give a speech at the historical society!”
Shoma glanced down at his shiny black kitten, who rolled her eyes along with her owner. The kitten jumped back in shock as the guard unrolled his schedule for the day. It hit her tail and she hissed angrily, claws ready to shred it to pieces.
“After that we have to rush, and I mean rush! To the horticultural society tea!”
“A garden party.” Shoma mumbled through a stifled yawn.
The guard carried on, not listening. “Then it’s your maths lesson, geography lesson…”
Shoma ignored the guard as he stepped away from everyone trying to fit his wedding suit. It had been a day, one single day, since his wedding had been announced and he’d been swarmed with engagement presents and extra duties. He didn’t have time to read very much at all, or even chat to Jason that much anymore. He shook his head and opened the balcony doors and looked out over the kingdom.
“All my life I’ve always wanted to have one day just for me! Nothing to do and for once nowhere I need to be. With no lessons, Lords, or lunches, or to-do list in the way. No one to say when to eat or read or leave or stay.” Shoma scooped up his black kitten, much to the protests of all of the designers of the white wedding suit. He bounced her in his arms and she purred at him, messing up his already unruly curls with a paw. “That’ll be the day, won’t it Rika?”
She purred louder, nuzzling up against his neck gently.
“What would it be like to be free Rika? Free to try crazy things, free to fly! And to marry whom I choose…” He tailed off as he smiled over the gardens, looking down from the balcony to see Jason studying one of his favourite rose bushes. The prince sighed as he leaned his head on his hand on the balcony, watching as his friend and tutor drew the roses in his sketchbook.
“I’m so sorry Shoma,” the prince turned to face his mother, “but it is vital you marry King Javier. It’s the only way to take care of our people, and it’s our duty to take care of our people first.”
Shoma nodded, pushing some of his curls out of his eyes. “I know. I know how hard it was for you to make this decision and I understand.”
“If only if Evgeni had been home…”
“But he wasn’t.” Shoma argued with a from. “You had to do what’s best for the people and the kingdom. It’s our duty after all.”
Mihoko smiled sadly and hugged him tightly. “Thank you Shoma. Oh! Look!” She let go of him and smiled as she turned Shoma around by the shoulders. “Another engagement gift!”
Shoma took the ribbon from the newest present and used it to lure his kitten out onto the balcony with him.
“You would think that I’m so lucky that I have so many things. I’m realising that every present comes with strings.” Shoma mused as she jumped up, trying to catch the end of the ribbon. He tied the purple ribbon around her neck with a soft smile before he picked her up and looked out over the kingdom again.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to go on an adventure one day Rika? You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Especially if there was some sort of fishy reward for you involved.” He chuckled and scratched behind her ears. “I’d love to be free.”
“I close my eyes and feel myself fly a thousand miles away. I could take flight, but would it be right? My conscience tells me stay.”
Rika wiggled in his arms, trying to reach for a blue butterfly that fluttered past the prince and the kitten. Shoma laughed and held her back, watching as the elegant insect fluttered past Jason too in the garden. The royal advisor held his finger out and the blue creature landed on it for a moment before it set off into the rest of the kingdom. The guard pulled Shoma back into the room to finish fitting his suit, screeching about the schedule.
The butterfly flew down from the palace into the main part of the kingdom, past the pubs and several shops before it fluttered into the tailors’ shop and landed on a work bench. It took off very quickly as a young man placed down a pile of fabrics with a roll of his eyes.
“You know what Junnie? All my life I’ve wanted one day, just one day.”
“Sing Yuzuru,” the man looked up to see his work friend feeding her baby with a smile. “I know you want to. Go on.”
Yuzuru chuckled lightly. “If you insist Miki.” He picked up the kitten with a smile and held him like a baby as he started to sing.
“All my life I’ve always wanted to have one day for myself! Not waking up with a pile of work on every shelf.” He gestured to the piles and piles of fabrics and design sketches on shelves and Jun shivered a little at the sheer amount of work. “With no hems in need of pressing, and no sleeves in disarray. No wedding gown with a thousand stiches to crochet!”
He set down Jun with a little smile before he rolled his eyes, picking up his box of threads and needles. “And no debt to pay.” He added a little coldly.
“What do you think I’m running here? A cabaret?” A taller man towered over Yuzuru and the younger man looked away, eyes averted to the floor.
“I would have said a debtor’s prison.” He mumbled, scooping up Jun.
“Keep laughing,” the man glared at him and he looked at Miki with eyes of fire, “after all Yuzuru, you’ll be working for me for another thirty-seven years.”
“What?” Yuzuru looked up in horror, “But I’ve already paid off more than half! Morozov-san, please, be reasonable!”
“There’s the interest, isn’t there? Your parents should have thought of that before they borrowed so much.”
“They did it to feed me.” Yuzuru mumbled into Jun’s ears. Morozov shrugged nonchalantly.
“Their mistake.”
He slammed the door to his office and Yuzuru forced himself to calm down. “What’s it like to be free Miki? Free from endless “I owe you”s? Free to sing?”
“I don’t know,” she mumbled, rocking her daughter gently. “I wish I knew.”
Yuzuru picked up a piece of fabric and pretended to wear it like a cloak with a little smile. “Though I know I have so little, my determination’s strong! People will gather from round the world to hear my song!”
Yuzuru slumped down into his seat and picked up his needle, threading it as he started to work on the sleeves of the suit at the top of his pile. “One day I promise you Miki, I’ll be free from here. And you’ll be there too, I promise you that I’ll make sure you’re there. One day when I’m free from all this debt and everything, Junnie and I will make something of ourselves.”
“I know you will,” Miki picked up her own needle and work and Yuzuru chewed his lip sadly. “I know you will. You’ve got a very free heart Yuzuru. You can’t stay caged up somewhere like here forever. Those dreams that you have will give you something to aim for.”
Yuzuru nodded, finishing up on the sleeves. He admired his handiwork before he stood to hang the suit up in the back room. He glanced over to Morozov’s locked office door before he stepped out onto the balcony and looked up at the palace.
“What would it be like to be free?” He asked himself, leaning on his hand. “I close my eyes and feel myself fly a thousand miles away. I could take flight, but would it be right? My conscience tells me stay!”
“My conscience says I should stay.” Shoma explained to Rika on the balcony again. She nodded and rubbed up against his hand gently, purring quietly. “It would break Mother’s heart if I ran away. I’ve got to stay here. I’ll remain forever royal.”
“I’ve got to stay,” Yuzuru mumbled to Jun as he traced the vines wound around the balcony railing. “Morozov, he’d never let me lose the debt that easily, even if I ran away. He’d find me and drag me back kicking and screaming. I’ve got to stay.” Jun rubbed up against his leg and he smiled, petting his black ears gently. “I’ll repay my parents’ debt!”
“Duty means doing the things your heart may well regret!” Both Yuzuru and Shoma announced to their cats.
“But I’ll never stop believing.” Shoma promised Rika as he looked back out at Jason in the garden.
“He can never stop my schemes.” Yuzuru said firmly, picking a white rose from the vines twisting around the balcony edge.
“There’s more to living than gloves and gowns and threads and seams. Hear my dreams!
“I’ll be free!” The two, vastly different men promised themselves, each with the sky and a kitten as their only witnesses.
“When you’re done being free,” the guard announced from behind Shoma, and the prince cringed, “you should get a move on. You’re already ten minutes late for your speech! And look at you! Goodness gracious, you’ve got black fur all over that nice white suit! Put the cat down and get into the carriage Your Highness!”