Chapter Text
Third Person POV:
The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly over the kingdom. King Lilia sat on his throne, listening to the messenger in front of him with a smile on his face.
“So, as per the request of the King and Queen of Bolivia, it is my honor to invite King Lilia and his sons to a royal gala.” The messenger looks up, seeing the smile on Lilia’s face before continuing. “We have invited many royal families from far and wide to this—” One of the doors connected to the side of the throne room suddenly burst open, followed by an excited voice.
“Papa! Look what I found!” Looking over, 3 young boys ran into the room. One, specifically the one shouting, was sporting a head of lavender hair. Another behind him had dark navy blue hair, while the final one, who was lagging behind a bit, had a head full of blue flames.
“Epel, Deuce, wait for me!” The flame prince pleaded as his brothers rushed ahead.
The three ran over to Lilia, and the lavender-haired boy opened his hands. “It’s a blue-winged beetle. It makes a funny sound when it flies.”
Letting go of the bug, it started flying around Lilia’s head, who simply laughed at the situation. The messenger, however, did not find it as hilarious as he attempted to swat the insect out of the sky.
“Hey, don’t hurt him!” The lavender-haired boy said, chasing after the bug as it flew away.
“Your highness, as I was saying—” Once again being interrupted, only this time by 2 different princes walking in with croquet equipment.
“Playing through! We’ll just be one second, Papa!” The prince with red hair spoke, turning to his brother, who readied his mallet. The ball was hit and went flying right at Lilia’s head, knocking his crown clean off.
“Haha! Ruggie.” Lilia smiled at his son’s power shot.
“Sorry, a bit too much wrist.” The young hyena prince laughed as the two rushed over to the ball, smacking it across the room, much gentler this time.
“Those are your sons?” The messenger questioned with concern in his voice.
“A few of them, yes. Rambunctious, aren’t they?” Lilia chuckled, knowing full well what the messenger saw in his sons.
“Papa! Look at us!” A voice boomed from behind the messenger. Turning around, he saw two identical-looking princes, walking on stilts of all things. The scene garnered another laugh from the laid-back king, but the messenger was none too pleased at the sight.
The twins continued to walk around, showing off their balancing skills… until the triplets got underfoot, causing them all to tumble to the ground laughing.
“Hmph, perhaps another ball… your highness.” The messenger spat, quickly turning around and leaving the castle. “Princes… more like wild animals.”
These words, unfortunately, didn’t go unheard by the king’s sharp ears, making his face fall to a frown.
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Lilia sat alone at the table, waiting for his sons to arrive for lunch.
“Hello, Papa.” A voice spoke from behind him. Turning to the side, he saw the eldest son, Trey, and the second eldest, Silver. Both sat down in their respective chairs after greeting him.
“Trey, Silver,” Lilia stated as he started taking roll call. Another prince walked in not too long after, his nose practically attached to the book in his hands. He bumped into Trey’s chair before looking up and walking to his own seat. “Riddle.” Lilia laughed as Riddle awkwardly smiled before sitting down.
“Hey Papa!” A prince with white hair spoke as he enthusiastically sat down.
“We’re here.” The redhead from earlier spoke.
“What’s for lunch?” The young hyena questioned. All three took their seats at the table.
“Kalim, Ace, Ruggie,” Lilia said, watching as Ruggie practically started shaking in his seat, waiting for food. That’s when the stilt walking twins walked in, chatting away.
“Man, I’m starving. Hey, Papa…” the first started.
“…What’s for lunch?” The other finished.
“Floyd, Jade. Nice of you to join us.” Lilia smirked, knowing full well the twins had probably set up a prank before coming here. The triplets arrived next, each taking their seats at the table. “Epel, Deuce, and Ortho.” Giving Ortho a slight boost onto his seat, Lilia looked down the table, noticing the one seat that remained empty. “Haha, ah, where is Malleus?”
As if on cue, Malleus showed up with a small smile. “Sorry, I’m late, Papa.” He sat down.
“My twelve princes!” Lilia exclaimed, signaling that lunch could officially start. To nobody’s surprise, Ruggie was the first to start eating, but the others weren’t far behind. The princes chatted amongst themselves, the volume quickly growing in the room. “Boys!” Lilia yelled, but he couldn’t be heard over the chatter. Clinking a spoon against his glass, he managed to get them to settle down.
“Thank you. It’s come to my attention that… well… you boys could be doing more to be more… uh… proper.” The words had a hard time flowing out of Lilia’s mouth. Lilia loved his boys so much that when it came to criticism, it wasn’t his strong suit.
“Like what, papa?” Trey asked, genuinely curious as to what Lilia was trying to infer. When Lilia tried to answer him, all that came out was a bunch of um’s and wells. That’s when the door to the dining room opened, and a butler walked inside.
“The royal cobbler has arrived.” He spoke, immediately stealing the attention away from Lilia as the boys all stood up and made their way outside.
“Boys, please! They’re just shoes.” His words might’ve been said as a threat since Kalim and Ace turned around to give him a flabbergasted look before continuing outside. “Aren’t they?”
“They’re dancing shoes, Papa,” Malleus said, giving Lilia a small cheek kiss before joining his brothers outside, leaving Lilia all alone at the table.
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Karma stood at the bottom of the staircase outside the palace, waiting for the princes to come outside. Fiddling with the key in his hand, he’s suddenly blindsided by the triplets.
“Hey, Karm!” Deuce shouted, making Karma jump. “You have our shoes, right?”
“I was supposed to bring shoes?” Karma said with a smirk, clearly messing with the triplets. That’s when Epel snatched the key from their hands and walked over to the wagon to unlock the door, revealing 12 pairs of intricately crafted ballet shoes.
“Wow. You really are amazing, Karma.” Trey complimented as Karma started handing out the shoes to their respective princes.
“Glad you guys like them, your highnesses.” They hand out every pair except one when Grim, their pet dire beast, hops onto their shoulders.
“Nya, you lot have me to thank for that. Without me, this human would be useless.” Karma simply rolled their eyes at Grim’s words, looking up when Malleus approached, asking about his own shoes. “Are you kidding? They stayed up all night working on these. I’d almost say—” Grim’s mouth is promptly covered by Karma, who offered an awkward smile to Malleus.
“Sorry, he’s just a cat. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.” Grim then jumped off Karma’s shoulder and walked away, allowing Karma to reach for Malleus’s shoes.
“Hey Shrimy! Can you help…” Floyd yelled, attaching himself to Karma’s left arm.
“…Tighten our shoes.” Jade finished, attaching himself to Karma’s right arm. Karma simply sighed and quickly handed Malleus his shoes before being dragged off by the twins.
“These are yours… I hope you like them, your highness.” Malleus watched as Karma was dragged away before looking down at the shoes in his hand. The design was beautiful, being black shoes with a thorn pattern going along the side.
Not too far away, Karma finishes tightening the twins' shoes, and the two brothers run away to join the others.
“Nya, you blew your chance, Romeo.” Grim once again hopped onto Karma’s shoulder, giving them a cocky smirk.
“What chance? He’s a prince.” Karma stated, gesturing to Malleus, who now had his shoes on and was twirling around gracefully. The cobbler watched with a smile, only to be pulled out of his trance when Ruggie spoke up.
“Now all we need is some music.” Hearing those words, Grim got a clever idea and reached into Karma’s jacket to pull out a flute they liked to carry around.
“Oi! Hey!” Karma snatched the flute away, and Grim jumped down when Malleus walked over.
“You play?” Karma tried to deny it, hiding the flute behind his back. “Will you play for us? Please?” Karma couldn’t say no to Malleus, especially not when he was this close.
“I… v-very well, your highness.” With that, they brought the flute to their lips and started playing a simple yet harmonious song.
All the princes began spinning and dancing along with the song. Despite performing the same moves, each had their own unique way of moving to the beat, such as Ortho trying to copy Malleus, or the twins being in perfect sync.
Lilia watched from the main entrance, enjoying the sight of his boys dancing their hearts out.
“I love them, but sometimes I barely understand them… if only you were still here.” He lamented, turning his head towards the portrait of the late king, Idia.
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Night fell, and the boys had returned to their shared room, chatting amongst themselves like always. All of them had changed into their sleepwear, all except Malleus, who was lovingly looking down at his new shoes.
Ruggie was chilling on his bed when Ace plopped all of his sports equipment at the foot of his bed.
“Why use a closet when the floor is right there, right, Ace? Shishishi.” Ace agreed, laughing alongside the hyena. That’s when the two looked over at Malleus and smirked to themselves.
“Malleus… is it the shoes you like?” Ace chuckled, knowing exactly what Malleus was smiling about.
“I thought he liked the cobbler who made them, though?” Kalim chimed in, as oblivious as ever.
“I beg your pardon?” Malleus questioned, seemingly oblivious to what they were all talking about.
“I mean, who can blame you? Karma is so cute! Not to mention their hair looks so soft!” Kalim praised before flopping onto his bed with a sigh.
“Is the problem the fact that they’re not a prince?” Trey asked. Malleus’s crush on Karma was probably one of the worst-kept secrets in the entire palace.
“I care not if he is a prince, king, or emperor. The truth of the matter is…” Malleus stated, once again looking down at the shoes in his hands.
“You’re totally head over heels for them!” Kalim shouted, kicking his feet in the air like a kid.
“Please don’t be ridiculous, Kalim. Even if I were, they don’t seem to notice me in favor of the rest of you, so…” Chuckles could be heard throughout the room at Malleus’s poor attempt to hide his crush.
While all that was going on, Epel had finally managed to catch the blue-winged beetle from earlier and placed it into a box at the end of his bed.
“Goodnight, Thomas. Richard…” Epel started saying goodnight to his friends when he lifted a lid and found something interesting. “Where’s Harry?”
Losing a bug wasn’t something Epel did often, so it sent the rest of the room into a slight panic at what could possibly be missing. Epel ignored the shouting and saw movement under his blanket, lifting it and grabbing Harry.
“Relax, it’s just a caterpillar.” The room went silent, all heads turning towards the twins, causing Floyd to burst out laughing while Jade tried his best to keep his laughter quiet. Epel rolled his eyes and put Harry away before climbing into bed.
The brothers all said their goodnights and, much like Silver had already done, drifted off to sleep.
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Tomorrow Was Not Going To Be Fun.