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“Leave me alone!!”
“Your highness, where are you going?!”
“Anywhere besides here!”
Chuuya accidentally shoved one of the maids as he was running past them. He stopped to look around, wanting to apologise but turned back to see his father stare at him.
“Chuuya-san—!”
The maid had dropped the laundry on the ground, “What happened?” She asked one of the butlers trying to chase after him.
“It would seem that the young prince does not like his arrangement…” he replied, helping her up.
She frowned, “Arrangement… but he’s only 12 years old…? Why would his majesty want to—” until she realised and immediately covered her mouth.
“It’s best if the young prince doesn’t know about the king’s condition…”
They stared down the empty hallways with no redhead boy in sight. Who knows where he ran off to.
“I feel bad for Prince Chuuya. He’s only starting to grow now…” she murmured.
- - -
Chuuya curled himself into a ball, in the middle of the royal meadows while sobbing in his arms.
I don’t want this…
I want to be normal. I want to be human. I want to live in a normal family…
He tightened his arms around him and continued to cry all his feelings away.
He had seen the children in town. They always laughed, filled with laughter and happiness. That’s what Chuuya wanted. He wanted someone to be around, someone his age and someone who didn’t care about his royal status.
Approaching children from the town was like being a sheep in a pack of wolves, they stare at you like you’re weird and indifferent to them.
The other kids that his father met due to royalty status as well aren’t any different. All snobby and annoying people to deal with.
He just wanted a friend who liked him for who is.
Love, he learned, was a feeling you might feel gradually or you obtain almost immediately. Love could be expressed in many ways: family love and romantic… love?
The type of love he had always been hearing about from the maids. He never understood it, what was appealing about love that was forced.
Romantic love felt forced.
He didn’t like it.
“Why are you… crying?”
He heard someone ask from above.
Chuuya buried his face deeper into his arms, he didn’t want to talk to anyone.
“Hey…”
He heard some kind of rustling and felt his knees brushing against fabric that was then he looked up to see who it was.
A boy, with long black hair that reached to his shoulders. His purple eyes looked at him, they seemed dull a little bit. He was crouching in front of him with a small frown on his lips.
Chuuya sniffed and went back into his arms.
“Hey… Don’t cry.”
He felt his hand pat his head. It was weirdly comforting.
“Can you look up again?” He asked.
The redhead didn’t know what to do and listened to him, lifting his head up. “What…?” He asked back, sounding a little rude to someone who he had only met.
“Why are you crying?”
Chuuya wiped his tears away, “Why do you want to know? Who are you anyway?”
“Oh right, my apologies, you can call me Fedya.”
“Fedya…?” Chuuya tried to say it out loud to which he gained a little blush on his cheeks, “I’m… Chuuya…”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chuuya-san. Will you tell me why you were crying?” He asked, brushing a tear running down his cheek.
Chuuya was a little surprised to find him not reacting in a way of familiarity to his name like the other kids he had met.
“It was just my father…” he replied quietly.
“Did you argue with your dad, Chuuya-san?”
Chuuya lowered his eyes, “Yeah… but it wasn’t my fault! He just… so mean sometimes…” he said, clenching his sleeves.
“I don’t think he wanted to be mean to you, Chuuya-san. I think he just cares about you a lot.”
“You think…? He hasn't been talking to me a lot lately, so I don’t think he cares about me.”
“Nonsense, Chuuya-san.” Fedya smiled and fixed up his messed up ginger hair, “I don’t think your father doesn’t care about you. He loves you just as much as you do to him.”
“I… I don’t love… him…” Chuuya responded, in denial, with his feelings.
He giggled, “Not true, Chuuya-san.”
The prince pouted his lips, “Why are you laughing at me, Fedya-san?”
“I’m not laughing at you, Chuuya-san. I find you cute, that’s all,” he replied with a wide smile on his face.
Chuuya felt his cheeks burn a little more.
“Fyodor! What do you think you’re doing here?! You're supposed to be with the young master!” Someone yelled out to who Chuuya presumed was Fedya.
Fyo… dor?
Fedya stood up from his crouched position, “Ah. I guess I have to go now,” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
The guard who called out for ‘Fyodor’ ran up to the two boys. “You have some explaining to do later, your duty is to be by Prince Sigma the entire time! What are you doing here with this—” He paused once looking over to Chuuya.
“P—Prince Chuuya!?”
“Are you going to finish your sentence…?” Chuuya asked innocently, tilting his head to the side.
He gave off the opposite message he wanted to send causing the guard to immediately bowed his head, “My sincerest apologies, your highness!” he exclaimed.
“It’s… okay?” He questioned back and turned to Fedya, “are you…?”
The guard quickly interrupted him and stood between Chuuya and Fedya. “This is one of the new rookies, Fyodor, he’s a training knight and will be his highness’s loyal guard in the future.”
“Fyodor?”
“It’s my real name, Fedya is just a nickname.”
Chuuya’s mouth gaped, “Oh…”
“We must leave immediately, we cannot be late.”
Fedya glanced over to Chuuya and smiled, “I hope we’ll see each other again, Prince Chuuya-san.”
Chuuya watched them walk out of the meadows and out of the gate where their rides were. He was upset to see Fedya leave so quickly.
“Your highness! There you are!”
Some of the butlers ran up to him and escorted him back into the castle.
I want to see you again, Fedya…
- - -
A few weeks had passed since the last time Chuuya had seen Fedya and everyone’s been noticing how out of focus and enthusiastic he had gotten after the argument with his father.
He had even personally apologised to him.
“Do I have to study?”
The maid nodded her head, “Yes, you must, young master. Otherwise, your father won't be happy with you.”
“Must I? I don’t see what’s the point of learning maths to do royal stuff,” Chuuya replied, rolling his eyes.
She laughed in amusement, he made a very fair point, “Please, young master, it was what your father requested you to do.”
“Do I get anything in return?”
“Such as? We make you your favourite food, or your favourite location in the castle, or stay up an hour later—”
“I want to see Fedya,” Chuuya interjected.
She was surprised by his response, “I’m sorry, who, young master? Please don’t tell me you’ve made friends from out there? You mustn’t, your father would not like you to be friends with those commoners.”
“No, no! Fedya is a training knight! I met him in the meadows that day!”
“Hmm…” she tried to think of who came to the castle that day, “I’m not sure who you’re referring to, your highness.”
“Prince… Sigma!” Chuuya remembered.
She widened her eyes, “You’d like to see Prince Sigma?”
“Yes. If I finish this homework, let me see him!”
“Um… I’ll have to ask his majesty first but we’ll see what we can do, your highness,” she replied, bowing to him before closing the door behind her.
Chuuya smiled proudly in victory. He quickly went to work with his homework, speedily writing down his answers.
Yes!
I’ll finally see you again, Fedya!
- - -
It was the first time Chuuya had followed his father with his duties. He would usually stay in the castle while his father was gone and would be taken care of by the maids and butlers.
This time, he stood beside his dad the entire time, who knew there would be a process to get into the castle and the greeting, everything, was all new to Chuuya.
“We’ll be staying here overnight, I hope you packed your bags, Chuuya,” his father said, patting his back.
“Yes… I have…” he murmured back, fighting the urge to go to sleep.
“Good,” his father looked up to one of the other maids that worked for the other kingdom, “may you please escort my son to his chambers?”
“Of course, follow this way, your highness,” she said, gesturing to him to walk first.
“Where are you going…?” Chuuya asked, turning behind to look at his dad.
“I’ll be finishing up some last-minute business to finish off. I’ll be back soon, enjoy your time here. It was you who wanted to come here after all.”
The redhead’s cheeks glowed red and nodded his head.
“I’ll see you later then, father.”
He looked back to the maid and admired how different it was compared to home. The castle back at home was almost an explosion of red and gold but here, it was much more modern.
Chuuya’s eyes passed by a painting, or was it a portrait? He didn’t get a clear view of it but tried not to question it too much.
“Here we are, this will be your room for the night, your highness.”
He took a small peek inside and smiled, “Ok! Thank you.”
“If there’s anything you need, please just ask anyone here, we’re happy to serve you.”
The prince nodded his head.
“Thank you very much,” he replied, entering his room as the maid closed the door behind him.
Chuuya opened the door again and looked around to see if anyone was around. He went out and closed the door, beginning to wander around the castle.
He left his bags still packed because he couldn’t bother unpacking all of his stuff the entire day.
Where would Fedya be…?
He took a right turn, walked down the hallway to find himself in a similar situation and stopped. He turned back, “Didn’t I just…?”
Chuuya swore that he had just walked this way. How did he find himself back here?
Ok… maybe a left turn…
He was in the exact same place.
There weren’t any maids or butlers around either. Chuuya tried to keep his composure, he wasn’t lost, he could still get back.
His hand began to shake as he clutched tightly on the hem of his shirt.
His dad will come and find him…
Don’t cry.
It wasn’t like…
Don’t cry.
Chuuya sniffed as his vision began to get blurry, and tears streamed down the side of his face.
“…elp… someone… Help me…” he muttered, standing in the middle of nowhere hopelessly. “Please…”
“Why do I always find you when you’re crying, Chuuya-san?”
Chuuya recognised the voice and looked up.
It was Fedya.
“F—Fedya…”
“What’s wrong?” He went closer to the prince and wiped away his tears with his thumb, “did you get lost?”
He nodded his head.
“I—I was trying to look for you b—but.”
“It’s okay now. You’ve found me,” Fedya smiled, taking his hands and warming them up. Chuuya didn’t realise how cold they were until Fedya touched them.
He nodded his head again, sniffling.
“Please stop crying, Chuuya. I don’t like it when you cry like that. Especially for someone who looks so cute.”
“Stop… embarrassing me, Fedya…” he mumbled back.
“I apologise, solnyshko.”
“Sol…?”
“I was born in Russia, so I kept the language with me while coming here,” he explained, brushing the back of his hand with his thumb. “Let me call you that, please, your highness?”
“I mean… does it mean anything bad?”
“Of course not. I promise you.”
Chuuya smiled, “Alright then. You can call me… whatever you just called me.”
“Thank you, solnyshko.”
Fyodor grabbed onto Chuuya’s wrist and pulled him, “I’ll show you the garden, it’ll be like your meadows, trust me.”
“W–Where are we—?!”
They were running through the hallways like no tomorrow as they passed all the maids and butlers in the castle, Chuuya collectively heard all of them startled by the both of them running past them.
It seemed out of etiquette, he was always taught to walk a certain way and treat the place with respect. This was completely out of the ordinary from Chuuya’s world. He heard Fedya laugh freely, finding their reactions amusing rather than being bothered by them.
His eyes found themselves glued on Fedya. Those dull eyes he saw, in the beginning, glistened under the light.
Maybe he didn’t mind changing the world he lived in…
Chuuya laughed, squeezing their hands.
- - -
Playing in the gardens seemed different around Fedya.
Chuuya usually found himself in the meadows back at home because it was the only spot in the entire castle he felt comfortable in. He didn’t feel trapped or to be expected of or to be pressured.
He could spend hours staring at the flowers he didn’t know the names of, dancing with the wind; to only feel envious at how free they looked.
Around Fedya, there was a warm feeling in his chest. He didn’t know how to describe it.
“Chuuya! Look!”
Snapping out of his thoughts, his eyes were met with an unfamiliar plant of some sort in front of him. He jumped a little seeing something disconnect itself from the plant.
“What… is that?” he asked confusedly. He hasn’t seen anything like it back at home. It was usually just roses or some other ones that looked presentable in the kingdom.
“You don’t know what this flower is?”
“It’s a flower?”
Fedya nodded his head, “Yes! They’re called dandelions.”
“Dandelions…? I thought they were yellow?” Chuuya questioned back, “and we usually get rid of them because they mess up the concrete…?”
“They’re a type of dandelion! They’re red seeded dandelions! Do you see the red in the middle?”
Fedya moved the dandelion closer to Chuuya for him to see.
The redhead looked closely and saw a red cluster in the middle of the dandelion. He looked back up to tell him that he could but was stopped with a light blush against his cheeks. Fedya was so close, his eyes were distracted by looking at the flower but Chuuya was distracted by his soft features.
The Russian soon looked up as well, wondering why Chuuya had gotten all quiet.
“Chuuya?”
He flinched and pulled back, “I–I’m fine! I can see them!” he nervously laughed back.
Fedya smiled, nodded his head and brushed off the fact that Chuuya’s face was bright red.
“I heard that some believe blowing the dandelion will make your wish come true. You think of something you want and then you blow all the dandelion seeds away.”
Chuuya’s eyes sparkled.
“Really?”
“That’s what people believe in any way.”
The redhead stared at the dandelion in Fedya’s hand.
It can make any wish come true…?
“I think it can be true!”
“How about you try and make a wish, Chuuya?”
“I can?”
“Of course you can, here,” Fedya handed him over the dandelion to Chuuya, “make a wish and then blow on the dandelion.”
He laughed, “Yes, yes, I heard you the first time, Fedya.”
“Then hurry up or the dandelion seeds will fly away before you can even blow on them,” he replied to which Chuuya looked at the dandelion he was holding now and panicked.
The seeds were beginning to blow away because of the gust of wind.
“No!” He exclaimed, “oh no, what do I do?”
“Quick, make the wish!”
Chuuya quickly shut both of his eyes.
I wish…
He blew on the remaining dandelion seeds that were still on the plant. He frowned and looked over to Fedya, “Do you think my wish will still come true, Fedya? All the seeds were all gone.”
“No, no, there were still some left on the plant.”
“But…”
“How about you tell me what your wish was, Chuuya-san?”
Chuuya lowered his eyes and swung his leg across the grass.
“It’s okay… It was a stupid… wish anyway…” he mumbled back but was loud enough for Fedya to hear him.
“It can’t be stupid, Chuuya-san. After all, any wish matters, especially ones that are from you, your highness.”
“You just expect me to make good wishes? Like how everyone else expects me to be exactly like my father?” Chuuya asked, a little annoyed how Fedya decided to address him by ‘your highness’.
Fedya shook his head.
“You misunderstand me, solnyshko. I think your wishes are valid, no matter how absurd you think they are because you are important to me.”
“Why…? Because I’m the prince—”
“Of course, I want the best for you. Aren’t we friends, Chuuya?”
The redhead froze hearing those words. Fedya genuinely looked like he meant it, he was the only one who approached him and talked to him.
Friends…
“We’re… friends?” Chuuya asked, trying to hold back another round of tears.
He was a big boy, they don’t cry.
Fedya became worried again.
“Why are you crying again, Chuuya? Of course, we’re friends… do you not want to be?”
“No, no! I want to be friends! It’s just… my wish was to have a friend…”
“Oh…”
“S—see! It’s a dumb wish…” He mumbled, “you probably think I’m stupid…”
“Listen to me, Chuuya,” Fedya said, making Chuuya look up to him, “you are not stupid for wanting a friend. I’d love to be your friend, solnyshko.”
“You… mean it?”
“I promise on my word.”
- - -
It was the middle of the night and was becoming a restless one at that.
Chuuya tossed and turned, grumbling at himself about how annoying it was trying to sleep in a new environment. He groaned, sitting up from his bed, he was expected to be asleep and probably everyone else in the kingdom was asleep.
He jumped out of his bed, what was he supposed to do now?
He didn’t feel the slightest bit tired, he wanted to spend more time with Fedya.
My… new friend.
Chuuya thought with the giddy feeling that was jumping in his chest.
There was a soft knock on his door, his eyes darted to the door to who could be up this hour? He looked around at his surroundings and got back to bed with his back turned to the door.
Was I that loud?
He heard the door crack open with a small string of light illuminating his wall.
“Solnyshko…” a familiar voice called out, “are you awake…?”
Chuuya turned around to find Fedya holding a lantern, standing a few metres away from him, “Fedya? What are you doing here?”
He sheepishly grinned, “I couldn’t sleep so I came to see if you could.”
“Oh… you couldn’t sleep either?”
“No, but I know a way that you can. Follow me,” Fedya replied, gesturing to the door, “there’s a spot that I always go to whenever I can’t go to sleep.”
“Would that explain why you have bags under your eyes every time I see you?” Chuuya asked, raising a brow while getting out of bed.
“Yes, that would be correct, Chuuya.”
They quietly walked through the hallways, going unnoticed and into a secret passageway Fedya somehow knew and went up a trailing staircase.
“How did you find this place…?” Chuuya finally asked.
“Curiosity killed the cat. I usually have nothing to do since I can’t go to sleep, I sometimes just wander around the castle to find something to do,” Fedya explained and turned back to him, “I haven’t even told Prince Sigma about it.”
He realised he never actually saw the prince around, “Prince Sigma, I haven’t met or seen him today.”
“He’s not usually the ambitious type. He barely comes out of his room anyway and is usually forced by his majesty.”
“What’s he like?”
Fedya thought about it for a second.
“He’s nice… I’m not too sure, I don’t really talk to him. A little shy perhaps?”
“Why weren’t you guarding him today?”
“They found me unfit and discarded my position.”
Chuuya widened his eyes, “They what?”
“I’m not exactly the best at physical fighting, even using a sword, I’m not too great. At the moment, I’m still just training to guard, there’s nothing much else to it.”
He frowned, “I think Fedya is capable! Why did they do that?”
Fedya let out a small chuckle, grabbing onto the handle of a door, “It’s really alright, Chuuya. Besides, we’re here,” he pulled down and opened it for Chuuya to go first.
The prince stepped outside first and gazed upon the brilliant stars scattered across the night sky, “You found this place…?”
“Mhm, do you like it, Chuuya?”
He whipped his head to Fedya, “Yes! I love it.”
“I’m glad.”
Chuuya’s eyes were captivated by the sky; he didn't notice Fedya, standing beside him.
“Do you know constellations, Chuuya?”
“Constellations? I don’t believe I have…” He replied, “what are they?”
“Do you see the stars up there?”
He snorted and rolled his eyes, “Obviously.”
“Some can align themselves to form a pattern or it could be a picture, see,” Fedya pointed to the sky for Chuuya to follow where his finger was directing him to, “that’s the big dipper, but is also called the Ursa Major.”
Chuuya furrowed his brow.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking at… What’s even a big dipper?”
“Over there is the Orion constellation.”
“What now?” Chuuya questioned.
“And when you find an Orion constellation you can find the constellation of Taurus, the bull.”
He paused, recognising the name. “Oh wait, I’m a Taurus. One of the maids back at home told me that.”
Fedya laughed, “Sorry, I must’ve gone on a tangent there.”
“No, it’s okay, please teach more about these stars,” Chuuya said with a wide grin, “you seem to be really interested in them.”
“I do come here often so I get the hang of it. Did you know the sun is also a star?”
He widened his eyes and leaned closer to the Russian.
“No way! It is? There’s no way that’s a star, the sun is the sun!”
Fedya laughed, nodding his head. “It is.”
“You’re lying!”
“It’s true!”
Chuuya was freaking out with his newfound information that he didn’t notice how Fyodor stared at him fondly with a soft smile on his lips.
You are the most beautiful star out of all of them, solnyshko.