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I just sat there, staring. Yes, you heard me right. Antonio Fernández Carriedo. Prince of Spain. Unable to form a coherent sentence just by looking at a boy.

In my defense though, the boy was *really* cute, currently with his hands tied behind his back and being forced to kneel in front of the king, my father. Not to mention the fact he was a prince. The crown prince of the nation we were currently at war with, no less.

The booming voice of my father brought me back to the present. "Good job. I must admit, I had serious doubts whether or not you could catch our little prince." He then looked over to him with an extremely satisfied expression. "Well, *your majesty*, I hope you'll enjoy your stay. Romeo, was it?"

'Romeo' scowled at him. "It's Lovino, you bastardo! Lovino Vargas, Prince of South Italy!" Father simply rolled his eyes. "Eh, whatever. Guards, get our Romeo into a cell." While the guards were dragging him away, I still couldn't take my eyes off Lovino.

Once he was out of sight, I turned back to my father, still speechless. "Father, what...?" "This, son", explained my father, " was Romeo-" "Lovino" "-Vargas, the crown prince of South Italy. My best spies were able to capture him. With him as our captive, we'll soon have won this war!"

"I see...", I replied, still thinking about the handsome prince. "And... Where is he now?" My father gave me a funny look. "I don't know why you need to know that, but he's in our high security cells."

"...oh", I said, standing up and making my way to the door. "Where are you going?", my father asked, still looking confused. "To my room", I answered. "I... Don't feel well." That was a blatant lie though.

I wanted to talk to Prince Charming.

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As I made my way down to the cells, I tried to come up with something to tell the guards.

A simple "I want to talk to him" wasn't going to cut it, that much was obvious. He still was a prisoner of war after all, perhaps *the* most important one. The guards would for sure be suspicious. I debated simply using my authority as a prince for a second, but they would one hundred percent tell my father, but I didn't want that, so I ultimately decided against it.

Once I arrived at his cell, the guard in front of it bowed and said: "Prince Antonio! What may you be doing down here?" "Open the cell!", I demanded. "There are some things I need to ask Prince Lovino". The guard snorted: "Vargas?! He ain't a prince down here!" and spit on the floor, but opened the door nonetheless. I noticed myself getting angry at how he was talking about the prince, but decided to worry about that later and entered the cell.

Inside, Prince Lovino had his back turned towards the door, one hand chained to the wall so he couldn't escape or hurt me. When it creaked open, his head snapped around. For a brief moment, I swore I could see surprise flicker in his eyes, probably because it was me and not some guard, before turning back into a scowl.

What are *you* doing here, bastardo?! Don't you have something better to do or do you just want to see me suffer, eh?!" I flinched a bit at his tone (but really, what was I expecting?), before replying: "I wanted to talk to you. You're interesting".

Prince Lovino just laughed bitterly. "Interesting, eh? Well, I don't wanna talk to you, bastardo! After all, it's your fault that I'm stuck here!" I looked at him, surprised. "Me? How is it my fault?"

The prince snorted. "You're the prince!" "Well... Yeah", I replied. "But I don't make the decisions. My father does. Do you actually have a say in your kingdom?"

However, Prince Lovino just ignored me and turned back around, his back facing me. I sighed in defeat and turned back around. "Well, if you don't want to talk to me, I won't force you to. I'll just leave, if that's what you want".

I was almost at the door when I heard a quiet "Wait". I halted, surprised, not having expected him to actually say something. He turned to me, scowl still etched to his face but slightly less hostile. "I guess talking to a bastardo like you isn't *as* bad as being completely alone".

I turned around to look at him again, smiling.

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After we spent some time talking to and getting to know each other, Lovino visibly started to ease up a bit more around me. His answers became longer and much less hostile and one time, he actually smiled at a stupid joke I made!

His smile was really, really adorable, like he was trying his absolute best not to smile, but still ended up doing so, which made it look incredibly cute!! It made my stomach feel all weird inside, but I tried to ignore it because I didn't want to leave yet.

After we spent approximately one and a half hours talking about some random stuff, I had to leave tho, because I was worried my father would come to check on me eventually, but at least I now knew that his favorite food was tomatoes and he thought his little brother Feliciano was really annoying but he still cared for him.

Once I arrived back upstairs in my room, I let myself fall face down onto my bed. I wanted to help him get out of this cold and disgustingly moist cell as quickly as possible. Now I just had to find a way to make my father allow it.

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I was, in fact, correct. Only ten minutes after I got back to my room, I heard someone knocking on my door. Not wanting to get up, I simply shouted a slightly muffled: "Enter!", and my father entered my room.

"How are you feeling, son?", he asked, still looking concerned. I pretended to have a headache and replied: "Better than before, but I still feel like shit", which earned me a scolding look. My father 'tsk'-ed. "Well then, rest up. But make sure I'll see you at dinner". And with that, he left, leaving me alone with my thoughts again.

After I spent a few hours trying and failing to come up with a plan to help Lovino, it was time for dinner and I begrudgingly made my way to the dining hall.

While we were eating, I had a possibly genius idea on how to help him at least a little bit, so when we were done eating, I decided to play naive and asked: "Father? I know I never asked you stuff like that, but what do we do with all the leftover food?"

"You're acting strange lately", my father mused. "Why are you asking?" "Oh, well...", I said awkwardly. "One day I'm gonna be king and I should probably know stuff like that..." My father shook his head, no doubt questioning my sanity.

He then answered: "We throw it away, of course. Our people are wealthy enough so they don't need it, and our staff has their own food, so..."

I tilted my head, 'curiously', and asked: "Why don't we give some of the leftovers to the prisoners?" "What are you talking about?!", my father asked incredulously, voice raised. "There is a reason they're prisoners! They don't deserve to eat our food!" I pretended to look shocked. "But father... They're still humans, aren't they? And, in my opinion, we should at least feed the prisoners of war who are used as captives. After all, a deaf captive is a useless captive. No one would surrender for a corpse, right?"

After I said the last part, I could see the gears in my fathers head starting to turn. "You may have a point", my father said. "I'll think about it."

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It took me a few days until I was able to visit Lovino again, but this time, I came down with a plan: I wanted to discuss with Lovino how we might be able to convince my father to let him, Lovino, be my bodyguard since my father complained that I was zoned out more and more often and, since I didn't want him to know that I've been thinking about Lovino, I always said I was worried about the war, so maybe this could stop him from complaining too. I just had to find a way to convince them.

Lovino probably would be as hard since it gave him the opportunity to get out of the cell. His only complaint would be the fact that he would have to be around me 24/7.

My father would be way harder to convince. Lovino was a prisoner of war, after all, and, on top of that, the prince of the enemy. I had to convince my father that he was trustworthy.

With these thoughts in mind, I headed down to the cells. Once I arrived in his cell, Lovinos head snapped around, and there was something in his expression I could have sworn was... Relief? However, I quickly dismissed the thought as he greeted me with a "Took you long enough, bastardo!", even tho he *did* grin slightly.

"Yeah, sorry...", I replied, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "I know I promised I'd come back soon, but I actually got an idea on how to help you get out of here". He looked at me, surprised. "You actually want to help me? I thought you only said that to.... I don't know, cheer me up or some shit!"

He then paused, seemingly remembering something. "...the food..." He looked at me. "That was your doing, wasn't it?" I smiled, even tho even I was very surprised my father actually decided to listen to me. "Yeah. Glad to see it worked. But that's not what I meant with 'an idea to help you'"

Lovino actually looked excited when he asked: "Well, what is it, bastardo?" "My idea was to make you my bodyguard", I explained. Lovino looked at me with a mix of 'Yeah, he's officially gone insane' and 'But what if that works?' It seemed like the 'insane' part was winning tho.

He scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like that would actually work. Your father would never agree, idiota! I'm a fucking prisoner, remember?! And on top of that, I'm pretty sure you already have a bodyguard, and if not, you apparently don't need one!" "I know, I know ", I replied. "But, first of all, no I don't have a bodyguard yet, but with the war, we thought of getting one. Second of all, you look like you could fight pretty good and would be able to protect me. And lastly", I said, looking directly into his eyes while ignoring the fluttering of my stomach, "I trust you. Which is probably extremely stupid considering the circumstances, but I do. Besides, it would be the perfect way to get you out of here since you would need to be by my side all the time, so I need your help to find a way to convince my father to agree with this."

At first, it looked like Lovino wasn't even listening to me, but he became more and more attentive. Once I was finished, he looked away and asked quietly: "You... Trust me?Why on earth would you do that, idiota?! I'm your enemy!" It was probably supposed to be condescending, but he sounded extremely vulnerable. "I actually don't know", I replied. "I just do. I know this is very stupid, but my gut tells me you wouldn't harm me". Lovino laughed. "You're right, it is really fucking stupid. Now, about that convincing..."

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The next opportunity I got, I told my father I needed to talk to him about something important. When he asked what it was, I said: " Father, I have a favour to ask of you. I want Prince Lovino to be my bodyguard!".

My father looked at me like I told him I wanted to jump off a tower. "What?! Absolutely not, Antonio, have you gone mad?! He's-" "I know, I know", I interrupted. "He's a prisoner. But, might I tell you why I asked?" "You can try", my father chuckled dryly. "But don't expect you'll be able to convince me. Remember what he is, and why he's here".

"Of course", I said, trying to remember everything Lovino and I came up with. "Firstly, with the war, you were already thinking about hiring a bodyguard, and with him being a prisoner, you wouldn't even have to pay him. Secondly, he's strong and has been trained to defend others from atta-"
My father interrupted me with a: "What? How do you know that? Nobody ever got anything to know about the Vargas brothers!"
I looked away, mumbling: "Uhm... He may have told me when I visited him yesterday..." "You WHAT?!" my father asked incredulously. "Antonio, the is a reason he's in the high security cells! He could have hurt you, or worse, tried to kill you! You are forbidden to visit him again"
"WHAT?! No!" I shouted. "...-Without a guard", my father finished. I left out a sigh of relief. "Anyways", my father continued, "I get your point. But how could we possibly ensure his loyalty? He's still technically sided against us. He would surely use that opportunity to just kill you and escape!"

"He wouldn't!", I replied confidentially. "It's his only way to get out of that cell permanently and he knows it. Plus, my gut tells me he won't hurt me, and you know it's never been wrong. Also I've been worried about the war, so having a bodyguard would help me focus. Besides, don't you think it would humble King Romulus to see that his son and successor is merely a guard?"

My father sighed, exasperated. "Fine, fine, I'll take some time to think about it." As I heard this, my face lit up. "Really father? Thank you so much!" I hugged him briefly, then ran straight down to the cells to tell Lovino the good news.

I was out of breath when I reached Lovinos cell. Once I saw him, I nearly shouted: "Lovino! We did it!! We got father to agree to make you my official bodyguard!" Lovino shot up when he heard that. "What?! You mean your stupid fucking Plan actually worked? You're lying, right, bastardo?!" I was grinning from ear to ear when I said: "Yes, he did! Well... Kinda. He said he'd think about it. But once he's there, there is a 99% chance he'll agree, so he basically already said yes!"

When Lovino actually smiled at that, I got the overwhelming urge to hug him for some reason, so I did just that. I hugged him without much thinking. I must have like that a few seconds because Lovino started to stutter: "What the hell are you doing, idiota? Are you okay?" I quickly pulled back while muttering apologies when I noticed how red Lovinos face had become. The sight made my stomach all funny again, he just looked so cute! Confused at this thought, I took a few steps back and excused myself, saying that I'd "better get up before father notices I'm down here, he kinda forbade me from going here on my own and I wouldn't want to get on his bad side now if all times..."

Once I left the cell, I headed straight for my room and my bed again. I was so confused. Why did my heart always speed up when I was around Lovino? Why was seeing him blush doing funny things to my stomach? I had no idea, so seeing as thinking got me nowhere, I decided to make a list of all the things that were different with Lovino. Maybe that would help somehow.

Once I got my paper, ink and quill, I started:
1. I want to help him no matter what
2. I think he's cute/pretty/looks amazing
3. My face feels hot every time I'm around him
4. He makes my stomach flutter
5. I want to constantly be arou
It was then that my brain stopped working, because I got a feeling that I knew what was going on. Heart pounding, I mentally revisited every interaction with him and realized:

I had fallen in love with Lovino. And God bless me, because I was in for a ride.