Chapter Text
Soraru walked down the hallway, taking rather long strides to arrive at his destination as soon as possible. Guards bowed at Soraru when he passed by them, showing their respect to him, and he put up his hand as response to that. He was in a rush. He hadn't the leisure to stop and ask for them to give him an update on what was happening around them. He was thinking he'd probably have them give him a written report on his table by this evening.
He took a sharp turn to the left, the sound of his leather boots tapping against the stone flooring rang loudly as he made his way down another quiet hallway, one which not just anyone was allowed to use, until he saw someone standing in front of the door of a certain chamber he was supposed to enter.
"Report, 96neko," he ordered as he fixed his sleeves when he reached the female servant.
"Aye aye, Sir Sorarun! Lon-chan is still in her bed, Sir!" she raised her hand up over her forehead, making sure it was at the right height and angle, and picked up a foot, stomping it down on the ground with her heels closed, her back straight, a wide grin plastered on her face.
"... How many times have I said to not call the Princess by her name?" Soraru sighed as he closed his eyes, and pressed his fingers down against his temple, giving it a good massage since 96neko tend to give him a headache on how she addresses people, especially the important ones. "It's fine if you call me 'Sorarun', but please, not the Princess,"
"Eh― But Lon-chan said that it was fine," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, going back into a more relaxed standing posture, and pouted unhappily at Soraru. The blond haired servant was not one who could be easily disciplined, and she doesn't take orders from just anyone. But she'd do anything for Soraru and Lon. She pulled at the handle of the door to show Soraru that there was no way to get in from outside. "Anyway, Lon-chan said she needs to see you,"
Soraru looked at the door, and sighed. 96neko moved so that Soraru could stand in front of the door. He put up his fist, and knocked lightly against the surface of it. There was no reply.
"Princess,"
There was still no reply. Soraru sighed for the nth time in the morning, and called out again. He was hesitant, but if he didn't, he would be stuck here together with 96neko for the entire morning. He wouldn't want that because he had other matters to attend to after this.
"... Lon,"
And then the door opened ever so slightly, a blond head poked out a little to peek at Soraru.
"Soraru-san..."
"Princess, his Majesty is still waiting for you at the dining hall," he pushed the heavy door open, and stepped into the dark bedchamber. He made his way to the curtains, and drew them open, letting the sunlight light up the chamber, 96neko followed and did the same with the other curtains.
"But I'm not hungry," Lon stood at her place, her hands holding onto her white nightgown, her cheeks all puffed up, probably because of how well-lit the room had turned.
Soraru said nothing, and moved to fix her bed with 96neko following him. He gestured at 96neko, and without further ado, she went up to Lon so that she could guide her to the dressing room to look a little bit more presentable. Lon shook her head, not wanting to follow.
"Hey, 96-chan, let's go to the garden-"
"Princess,"
"... I hate it when you call me that, Soraru-san," Lon looked away, obviously upset at the situation she was in, but mostly at Soraru. She knew if she acted childish any longer, not only would she anger her father, she would cause Soraru unnecessary trouble as well. She finally gave in, and let 96neko lead her to her dressing room.
Soraru turned away as he fluffed up her pillow before placing back into its place. There had to be a line drawn between him and her that he mustn't cross, even if they were childhood playmates. He moved to the middle of the chamber, and picked up a hippopotamus stuffed toy from the ground, the one that he gave her years ago, and put it right beside Lon's pillow.
He was but a servant. And she was a princess.
He was told to see Lon to the dining hall, and so he waited outside for both 96neko and Lon outside of her chamber.
"Sorarun, Lon-chan's properly dressed now!" reported 96neko, going back to that formal stance again. Soraru knew she never took that stance seriously, and that it was definitely a joke to her. And as if she could read Soraru's mind, she snickered at him.
Soraru ignored her, and only nodded, not even letting himself the time to evaluate Lon's appearance when she came out of her chamber, and courted her to meet her father at the dining hall. Lon ran up to Soraru, holding onto the sleeves of his white woolen shirt. Soraru stopped on his feet, and looked over at Lon.
"Will you be there with me?" she asked, looking uneasy.
"Only if his Majesty allows," Soraru replied.
She seemed to feel better after Soraru said so, most probably because she knew the King always gives in to her requests. She pulled at 96neko's hands, and skipped joyfully down the halls, twirling around with the female servant, her light blue morning gown swayed together with her body. He suppressed a smile.
If only she could be a tad braver, he thought.
He was worried he couldn't always be there for her when the time comes.
-
That night, Soraru retreated into his cabinet. He lit the candles up, and placed the papers he had in his hands down on his desk before he sat down on a sturdy, wooden chair. They were all reports from the guards on duty for today, as he hadn't had the opportunity to call for an evening assembly. He had spent most of his time together with the princess because she insisted to have him by her side for the day or she wouldn't eat her food.
She would insist having Soraru court her to everywhere she goes in the castle, force him to sit down and have tea with her, have him tell her things about the events on the other side of the walls of the castle, and many other requests. He knew she was bad with strangers, which was why she had asked the King for Soraru to be hers for a countless times now, not comfortable with just any guard serving her.
The King would ask him for his opinion, and he would always say no. He did, however, promised the King that he would protect her at all cost, but he would like to remain his current position.He was a knight. He had the responsibility to keep both the King and the Princess safe, help make the castle a danger-free place, and maintain it.
But to be honest, Soraru himself did not think any guard in the castle was suitable for the job.
And since Soraru had to go back and forth to the princess and to his troops, he had not a lot of time. He didn't mind, of course. The Princess used to be his friend when he was younger, and he saw her as his younger sister since he was away from his biological one, he felt the stronger need to protect her.
Soraru stood up from his seat to move to one of the bookshelves in his cabinet, retrieving a book with a dark brown leather cover. He flipped through the pages, attempting to look for yesterday's reports just so he could compare them with the ones he got today.
It had been like this for a while now, and Soraru had long readjusted his training schedule for his guards so that it didn't affect anyone, so that everyone trained at least once a day.
He needed to rise up early tomorrow for a morning assembly since Lon wasn't going to wake up so soon, and he was going to have some one-on-one training with some of the troops, he thought as he looked through the papers, randomly selecting a guard or two to go against him later. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on his door.
"Come in,"
The door was pushed open, and there stood a handsome young man, with a glass and a bottle of alcohol in his hands.
"Care for some whisky, Soraru-san?"
"... Kashitarou,"
"It's Scotch whisky," Kashitarou shook the bottle lightly, trying to tempt Soraru with the light brown colour of the alcohol. He lifted both of his brows when he said the next word, "Premium,"
"You took it out from your collection again?" Soraru smiled. He took the book together with him to his desk, and sat down. "You're supposed to be collecting them, not drink all of them,"
"Bah, I could easily get another one of these in town if I want to," Kashitarou grinned.
Kashitarou closed the door behind him, and walked towards Soraru's desk. He let himself lean on the table, letting half of his bottom sit on it before he poured some whisky into his whisky glass, and passed it to Soraru. Soraru only shook his head, and pushed it back to him.
"I'm heading out after this," he turned away from Kashitarou and back to his papers. His eyes moved across every word written on the paper. "Maybe next time,"
"It's the nth time you've rejected me, Soraru-san," Kashitarou laughed, and took sips from his glass. He suddenly went quiet, and his tone became serious when he opened his mouth again. "Have you been sleeping?"
Soraru shook his head, putting his papers down. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the back of his chair. Soraru lowered his head, and closed his eyes. He hadn't say this to anyone because he thought that it wasn't a big deal, but he had been having headaches for a while now, and it had no signs of ceasing.
"... I can help you with the night patrols,"
"No," Soraru put his hand up at Kashitarou, rejecting Kashitarou's offer. "It's fine,"
"You don't need to do this on your own. We have the other guards for the patrolling too," persuaded Kashitarou.
"There are reports saying that there had been strange movements around the castle, Kashitarou," Soraru picked up a few papers from the pile, and showed them to Kashitarou. He turned his head back at his other papers while Kashitarou read through the ones he just passed to him. "I can't afford to allow my men to face danger on their own,"
"... But Soraru-san, at this rate, you'll burn out," said Kashitarou when he lifted his head up to look at Soraru after reading the reports, his eyes were filled with worry. "And if the reports are true, then the more the reason why I should be helping out with the patrols,"
"You're right, but-"
"Soraru-san," Kashitarou straightened his back, cutting Soraru off. But Soraru didn't let that bother him, and finished what he was about to say anyway.
"I've already given you more work than you're required to do," Soraru took the papers back from Kashitarou, turning to his table, and gave it another good read. His brows came together to form a frown each time his eyes ran across the words, "suspicious movements in the castle".
"Soraru-san, I'm not going to let you carry this on your own," said Kashitarou, firmly.
Soraru let out an exasperated sigh.
"Thank you, Kashitarou," Soraru stood up, and grabbed his dark blue cloak on his bed, and put it over himself. "Go get yours. It's going to be cold out tonight,"
-
Soraru and Kashitarou both went on their separate ways. Kashitarou was assigned with a few night guards to the west apartment, while Soraru was at the east apartment. He sent out his guards to keep their eyes opened around the walls of the castle, and now Soraru was alone at the hallway by the royal garden.
His leather boots were really loud after all. It could probably be just the cold silence of the night though, causing it to echo clearer than during the day. He reached to the back, and fixed his hood. He was glad he got his cloak with him. It was colder than he expected.
Kashitarou was his friend for as long as he could remember. He was the only one who would talk to him when they were together with the training troops back when they were just simply young, innocent and naïve lads, and he'd always be his training partner even though he knew fully well that he would only end up being Soraru's sandbag. He was the only reliable friend he had, and he appreciated him.
The moon was bigger and brighter than usual that night. The hallway was very well-lit as a result. He looked up at the night sky, noticing that there was almost a full moon. But what caught his eye was a person in a black cloak with a black mask covering the bottom half of his face, staring out into the royal garden.
He was standing on the beams at the ceilings, and as if he sensed someone's presence, he turned around to look down at Soraru with blood red eyes, and Soraru only stared back, not blinking an eye. The both of them didn't dare move a muscle. Soraru could have called for the guards, but he didn't. His instincts told him that he shouldn't, or he might lose his men, all to that one person.
The man tilted his head to the side, as he crouched down, his hands between his legs on the beam to keep himself balanced, waiting for Soraru to do something. Soraru did no attempt to entertain him, only stood there, and stared at the man up on the beams. He clicked his tongue when Soraru didn't move.
"What, aren't you going to call for help?" he asked, move his head to the other side, glaring down at Soraru.
Soraru cocked a brow at him. He was amused for this was the first time someone talked to him in that manner. Help? Who was he kidding? A smirk touched the corner of Soraru's mouth, interesting.
"You don't plan to go against me alone, do you?"
Soraru only shrugged, looking at how the red colours in the man's eyes change into a deeper red. He could feel that the man was irritated by his behaviour. He didn't know why, but, oh, he couldn't stop teasing the man even though he knew that he really shouldn't challenge him.
The man jumped down at Soraru, pulling out knives in midair from the pouches on his waist under his black cloak. The hood of his cloak came off, exposing his white hair. He threw the knives at Soraru, but Soraru quickly reacted, and dodged all of them, moving to his left, and then to his right. The man landed directly on Soraru afterwards, making Soraru fall on his back and onto the ground before he sat on top of Soraru's body, and put his dagger on him.
Soraru felt the sharp edges of his dagger over his throat. Now that the man was this close to him, he could finally see him properly. He was fully aware that he was not in a situation that benefited him, but he only stared back at that pair of blood red eyes, filled with fear, desperation, and regret at the back of them. Soraru knew him. Of course he did.
He should belong to that one infamous assassin group in the slums, where they pick up "strays", and make them into killer machines. Soraru was there before, he managed to pick up a few kids before the group could reach them, and had them here to prepare food for the royalty, and he would always make sure they were given good care and not overworked. Soraru once considered saving the kids from the assassin group, but with only his power, he could do nothing against so many. It was not right to use the royal guards without the King's permission either.
And this one here was known to be one of the most dangerous ones in the group, according to what he heard at the slums back then. He had to thank his instincts again for stopping him from summoning the guards. To be honest, the longer Soraru stared at him, the more Soraru found him beautiful, especially when he was bathed under the moonlight like this, the white strands of his hair shone silver-blue, his eyes shone brightly as it reflected the light. It was an incredible sight, it took his breath away.
He felt the dagger pressed down harder on his throat, but Soraru made no sound, not even a flinch.
"... Stop that," the man whispered.
"Stop what?" Soraru whispered back.
"... Where is the King's bedchamber?" the man dismissed Soraru's question, and held tightly onto his dagger. The dagger managed to cut him after more pressure was applied, and drew some blood from Soraru, but not enough to kill him.
"What makes you think that I would tell you?" Soraru scoffed, finding this entire thing funny. He hadn't the obligation to tell his enemy about the King's whereabouts because he held responsibility to protect his King, and pride as a knight.
"I'll kill you," the man hissed through his gritted teeth.
"Oh?" Soraru mused. "But you won't,"
Soraru could feel hesitation in his grip on his dagger even though the sharp edge of the dagger was already digging into his skin. No one could fool him. One look into their eyes, Soraru could know.
"... Has anyone told you that you have beautiful eyes?" Soraru let his mouth run unconsciously after they both went into silence for a while, his voice coming out softer than he expected.
The assassin flinched slightly at Soraru's question but said nothing. The dagger was slightly lifted from Soraru's throat, and Soraru carefully put his hand over his, and moved it away from himself. He took the dagger away from the man, and put it on the ground beside them. Soraru placed his hands on the ground behind him, and pushed himself up, still staring into the assassin's eyes, unable to break away from it.
"You're different from the others," Soraru said, choosing his words carefully so that he did not trigger unnecessary anger in the man. He didn't know what exactly made him say that, but he knew he wasn't saying this to get himself out of this situation. It just came out naturally from his mouth, as if he knew.
"... What makes you say that?"
"It's just a hunch," Soraru shrugged his shoulders, and let out a low chuckle.
Soraru put his hand up, carefully and slowly touched his silky, white hair, and then stopped when he was about to take his mask off. He shouldn't, he thought, and put his hand back down. The man only sat still on top of him, trembling slightly at Soraru's feather light touches. Something in his eyes began to waver, as if he was asking and begging for help but he couldn't put them into words because it would cost him dearly.
"... Hey," Soraru called out to him.
"... What?" The man responded quietly.
"Why are you after his Majesty?" he decided to not preach into the man's privacy, and instead asked a more appropriate question in this situation.
"And what makes you think that I would tell you?" The man looked surprised for a moment, but immediately answered Soraru with slight sarcasm in his tone.
"You're right," Soraru laughed at how he copied the words he used on him a while ago. The assassin only frowned at him. And Soraru found it... adorable.
He never thought he would use such a word on a man, but he must say that the assassin sitting on him was nothing like any of them. He might be strong and swift with his arms and legs, but he had a smaller body frame than the others, acting tough but frail in appearance. Even when he was sitting on Soraru like this for quite some time, Soraru could barely feel anything because of how light he was.
He kept questioning himself. What was he doing to a person who was trying to assassinate the King? And what more, holding such desires for a man, it got Soraru confused. Was it because of how he looked at him? Was it because of how he looked as if he needed Soraru to save him, and bring him somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was far away from here? He had never felt this way before but he knew it wasn't right.
Soraru could hear the sound of the guards' footsteps, and it broke the strange but mesmerising moment between them. Soraru looked around, and then back at him.
The assassin quickly jumped off of him, and looked around for a way out. He placed his hand on the stone bricks of the railings that surrounded the garden, and leaped over it, pulling his hood back on. Soraru stood up, and watched as he left. The assassin turned back to look at Soraru for one last time, the moment he sat on top of the walls, and out he went.
Soraru bent down to pick up the dagger from the ground, and hid it under his cloak, not forgetting to wipe the blood on his neck off with the back of his other hand.
The guards arrived just right after. They gathered up, and straightened their backs before Soraru. One of the guards at the front spoke up.
"Sir, there is no report of movements near the walls,"
Soraru said nothing, and turned away from the garden, putting his own hood back on his head since it got knocked off when the assassin knocked him over. He closed his eyes, and let out a shaky breath.
"Is something a matter, Sir?"
"No," Soraru walked pass the guards, and was headed to the middle apartment to gather the rest of the troops. "Let's head back, it's getting late,"
"Yes, Sir,"
Soraru smiled wryly at the situation he was in as the guards all followed behind him. He couldn't forget how the assassin looked at him with those red orbs. Why was he covering for an assassin with the intention to assassinate the King in the first place? Guess all he could do now was to tighten the security in the castle, have more frequent patrols, and have more guards to protect both the King and Lon.
"... This is bad," he said quietly to himself as he touched the hilt of the dagger carefully under his cloak. "I really need some sleep,"