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Zeno had just arrived to his work again after his humble lunch break, his belly not too full yet not too hungry. It was a pretty good compromise, especially after spending half of the past century starving in the woods. The bowl of soup was rather nice and warm, and his portion was even blessed with two chunks of cheap meat! Fancy, fancy!
Not everyone was lucky enough to land a job in the capital that included meals, so he didn't mind how dirty and smelly it was. Not everyone was lucky to eat lately, period. Besides, working with animals had always been fun. And if he could watch the nobility from afar in an invisible position, that was just a perk.
He arrived at the stable and found that the horses were not alone. A boy barely younger than his own appearance seemed to be in deep conversation with one of them, the white stallion that was worth the most in the palace. From the way his words carried, he was sobbing.
"W-What should I do, Frost? I-I wish Father had never gotten sick and left to the Heavens... I can't do this! I can't! Waaaaah!"
Quietly, Zeno reached the stall. The child was weeping while hugging the horse's neck, and tears ran down the animal's nuzzle. The Dragon Warrior had never seen this teenager in his life, but the fact he knew that name, the mention of a dead father, and the elegant silk robes that were already getting filthy all but spelled out his identity.
Still, Zeno decided to play dumb for now. While keeping some degree of politeness as he surely didn't want to lose that job, or get executed which also meant losing that job.
"May I help you, niichan?"
The boy jumped and hid behind the horse's body, his already red face twisted in embarrassment.
"Ah, my apologies," Zeno continued and raised his hands up. "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay, young lord?"
"W-W-Who are you?"
"Ah? Zeno's just a stable boy and didn't mean to pry. You can continue talking to your horse friend or let it all out. Zeno will just keep working and never tell anyone about this."
The lad stopped hiccuping while Zeno took a broom and started to sweep in silence. After a couple of minutes of soft crying, he heard the breaking voice again, but not towards the horse.
"...It's just that my fa— my dad just died."
"My condolences," he said. "Everything that lives must return to the Heavens, but it's true that some do too soon."
"It's not fair, right? Well... F-Father was not young... But I had hoped he would live for longer... Decades... Maybe that my future son would instead succeed to—" The boy stopped, aware he was telling himself out. "I mean... Sorry, I am sounding selfish."
"Grief tends to be selfish," Zeno smiled sadly. "More about the hole in the heart than the loss itself."
"I-It's bad enough to lose him, but now I ought to take his place. And I'm too dumb!"
"Oh come on, niichan!" Zeno chuckled in a soft way that didn't sound like he was mocking him. "Zeno's sure someone so fancy and educated should be smart! It's just that you're young and inexperienced, right?"
In reality, he had heard rumors about this young man even before his father's passing. It seemed he was in reality not too good in academics or battle, too spineless to have willpower, too lazy to apply himself and too slow to understand his mentors. The nobles and tribe generals were quite worried about the state of the kingdom of Kouka, as if they hadn't helped to its current ruin, and some were already making plans to manipulate this child like a puppet.
Well, wasn't this a good chance? Maybe the right push and some kind words might make him get out of his despair and inspire him to improve himself, before the vultures could reach with their greedy hands.
"I have no such thing as time to gain experience!" the boy cried. "They expect me to take decisions now! I cannot decide, I just don't know how to!"
"Shhhh, shhhh," Zeno soothed him as though he was calming down a horse. "Take a deep breath. That's okay, it's okay to feel that way. Big decisions are scary."
"Really scary!"
"Yup!"
"I won't decide at all! I'll let them handle it!"
Zeno contained a frustrated sigh. That's exactly what he wanted to avoid: the corrupt advisors ruling the country for him.
"Ah, but letting them choose forever is also a choice you can't control later. Zeno would find that scary too, if later I'd want to make a decision in particular but they don't let me anymore because they think I can't do that."
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" The kid crouched in almost fetal position, his knees hugged.
"No no no, don't panic, niichan! Everything will be fine, yeah? You just have to go through one by one and go with the thing that... dunno, the one that looks less mean?"
"W-What if they don't like it? Some people in court are really mean."
At least he's aware... Zeno thought. Or maybe he means to say that they're mean to him.
"Lad, there's no solution that will please everyone. You'll drive yourself crazy if you try to find a perfect answer. So just act sure of yourself, ignore them, and don't let them change your mind. Otherwise, the decisions will never end."
"So I can't go back?"
"Maybe later if you made a mistake, but not just because a guy says he likes another one better. They might not like it, but no one likes a flaky lord either."
"You... you know a lot for a stable boy."
"Who, me?" Zeno ruffled the back of his head. "Ahahaha, I make decisions all the time when I train the horsies! But if you hesitate with them when you tell them to go left, they go right and they don't respect you. Zeno imagines men are like that, too. You gotta take the reins! Take them like they're Frost-kun!"
"O-Oh... I guess I shall..."
"Great!" Zeno gave him a big grin. The kid wiped his tears with a handkerchief.
"But I don't know what's the less mean option."
"It's alright!" Zeno's grin widened. "We can go through them together! Zeno might be a commoner, but I'm informed about what's happening to the people and that's probably an important knowledge for this young master!"
"Is it? Are the common people that important?"
Zeno's eyebrows twitched as he forced himself not to slap the back of the young man's head and call him names. Patience. This needed patience. This brat needed patience.
"I think so! If the common people are happy, the kingdom runs better and everyone can be happy! It's good that all social classes can eat and live healthy and at peace! My grandpa taught Zeno a bit of history and the coolest kings he told me about, like King Hiryuu, all cared about their people."
The boy's ears perked up with the word 'cool', as Zeno expected. All teenagers want to be cool. Even Zeno did, back then, when things were simpler and his blood brothers were more extraordinary than him.
"Okay, we can just go with what King Hiryuu would do."
Luckily for the Yellow Dragon, his oddly specific area of expertise as royal advisor had been convincing lost princes that the decision Zeno liked was the one his beloved king would have chosen. He sure felt a sense of déjà-vu.
"That sounds like fun!" he cheered with his arms upwards. "Niichan can tell Zeno about his problems and we can play pretend!"
"Um, let me remember... There's this thing about wanting to set a new tax on the Seijou region..."
"In the rural areas? Isn't there already a tax to farmers?"
"Yes. Lord Jaku there wants to increase it by 20%."
"Nah. No one can pay that amount so it's pointless. Besides, a mister in the tavern where Zeno has a drink sometimes told me that that the Jaku family has a lot of money from other side businesses and throws a lot of parties, while the people in their lands are starving. He can survive without that tax!"
"...I didn't know."
"It's a rumor. Niichan probably shouldn't told Lord Jaku where he heard this. Zeno could get punished! And then who's going to feed your horsie?"
"Oh! I won't tell then! I'll just say no to the tax because I don't want to."
"That's good to hear. What's the next problem?"
The next time Zeno saw young King Min, he was on his way to mount his horse and ride to another place with his tribe's general and several guards. They made no contact, but the kid's cheeks blushed when his escorts called him 'His Majesty' in front of his stable friend.
The next morning, Zeno arrived to see the monarch in the same stall, with a concerned yet embarrassed expression on his brow.
"Ah, King-niichan is back all alone!" he chirped.
"King-niichan...?"
"Are you visiting Frost-kun? Next time bring some apples, he rather likes sweet flavors."
"Zeno, was it?"
"Yup! You remembered!"
"You repeat it a lot. Are you not going to comment about the fact I am your king, besides adding my title to your niichan?"
"Should I? Zeno's boss reminded me after you left the first time that the white horsie was the late king's. So I suspected you could be King Min before yesterday. Ah, Zeno is a stupid boy for not noticing before, hahaha!"
"..."
"Nevermind that, though. Have you been okay, lad? You still seem sad. Want a hug? I'm as good at hugs as I am riding the horsies!"
Had this being another king, he would have been in trouble for being so informal. But Zeno had a fair idea about Min's shyness and lack of pride. He could get away with it, being disrespectful with a pushover. Moreover, the familiarity was being used on purpose as a weapon. If no one else was this tender with the kid, he might even like it.
The boy didn't comment on it again, as he expected. He even nodded as a reply to Zeno's question, face red hot.
"Wait, seriously? Zeno's all filthy and that outfit you're wearing looks more expensive than my house!"
"I-It can be washed..."
Regardless of his plan, Zeno's heart skipped a bit and resonated. Before being a heir to the throne, this was a lonely child. He remembered little Yakshi. He remembered every boy and girl without a family he had met. And besides that, he was burdened by responsibilities he never wanted.
Min would get his hug. A tight yet tender one that made the boy sob, that would make the washing ladies from the castle hate him tomorrow.
"Do you want to talk about it? Zeno's a good listener," he asked once the boy let him go.
"Actually... can we do the decision making again together? What would Hiryuu do and all?"
"Sure! That was kinda fun! But lad..."
The young man ran to get a satchel hanging from a wooden beam. As he opened it, Zeno saw several parchment rolls. The immortal took a new approach and turned his smile into a serious, solemn expression.
"Lad, this is the future of the country. Not a game."
"Indeed!" he huffed. "Which is why it stresses me out to make the decisions alone!"
Zeno kept his glare. "You're taking them with a stranger who cleans poop from animals."
"I know, but... you have an aura. I feel I can trust in you instead of my advisors. In our chat three days ago, you never asked for anything for your own interests. Everyone wants something from Us, but you have yet to do so, and I cannot see you doing that."
"Ah... I did want to ask for one thing, King-niichan."
"What is it?"
"Well, I heard the Earth Tribe needs more hospitals and healers for the common folks. Can you talk to the general to do something about it?"
"That's what you want to ask?"
"Yup! My neighbor's family is dying from this lung disease and they can't afford medicine."
"Not money or a position as royal advisor? Just to help people you've never met?"
"Zeno doesn't need those, my advice is for free just like my hugs." He smirked. "I won't say no to expensive food or booze every now and then, tho!"
The teenager stared for a while in silence, processing what he just heard and perhaps comparing Zeno to the other people who tried to manipulate him.
"I'll bring it up in the next meeting," he finally said. "In exchange of you helping me with these decrees and keeping this arrangement we have and my own confessions as a secret." He raised a parchment.
"Sure!" Zeno grinned as he took it. "Zeno doesn't want rich people to stab him for helping and hugging King-niichan, either! What's the first problem, then?"
He hoped he wouldn't get attached to this one.
“Did you even know about the Dragon Decrees?” Yoon asked one day while they were preparing lunch. He liked to ask Zeno about moments in Koukan history, and the boy usually ended up disappointed because Zeno didn't remember, wasn't paying attention at the time, or just focused on the wrong things.
“Actually, Zeno helped to inspire more than half of those!” he smiled.
“Wait, really?! How?!”
“Zeno worked for that king back then.”
“You were King Min’s adviser? That’s so cool! I knew you couldn’t have been a useless forest vagabond for 2000 years!”
“Well, I wasn’t his adviser but his stable boy. Zeno took care of his horses.”
“WAIT! How the heck does a servant get to influence law-making?!?”
“King-niichan was really young, dumb, and easily manipulated. We talked a lot. Good thing I managed to become his friend before someone evil took advantage, right?”
“So Min the Wise, the most cunning monarch in 1000 years, was you ruling the country from the shadows. I’m… kind of impressed and underwhelmed at the same time.”
“He needed a lot of hugs. The horsies were well taken care of, too!”