Chapter Text
The bright rays of the sun streamed through the palace windows, landing directly on Giyuu’s face. Taking this as a signal to wake up, Giyuu opened his eyes. From the muffled sounds drifting in from outside, he could tell the preparations for the tonight’s ball had already begun. "Wonderful" he thought sarcastically.
The Winter Ball was a tradition for the Elemental Kingdoms. Fire, Water, Earth, and Air kingdoms would gather at a different kingdom’s castle every year. As the future king of the Water Kingdom, Giyuu had loathed these balls since childhood. Too much noise, too many people, and far too much socializing -something Giyuu utterly lacked-.
He rose slowly from his oversized bed, rubbing his eyes as he surveyed the room. His door was shut; his parents had likely stationed knights outside again. They had started doing this after his failed escape attempt when he was eighteen. Of course, after the months-long punishment in the dungeons, Giyuu hadn't tried to run again, but his family took no chances.
From his overly ornate wardrobe, he pulled out a simple blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he opened the door. Just as he suspected, Kyojuro and Tengen were standing there.
"May I pass?"
Kyojuro and Tengen exchanged a glance. "Sir, your mother requested that you prepare for this evening—"
Giyuu clenched his fists. It seemed his parents weren't tired of deciding every minute of his life, even though he was twenty-one. "I will prepare. But I assume Her Majesty allows me to have breakfast first?"
Tengen and Kyojuro exchanged another look before stepping aside. However, they didn't stop trailing him as he walked toward the kitchen. Giyuu felt a twinge of shame not just because he was being watched, but because the watchers were people he had been friends with as a child.
In the past, the Water folk and the palace nobles lived as one. There had been no hierarchy until the Great Rebellion. Since that day, an invisible line had been drawn between the palace and the people. Even the knights recruited into the palace were subjected to rigorous scrutiny.
The palace was unnecessarily large and gaudy, covered in gold just the way Giyuu’s mother liked it. It looked—and felt—like a gilded cage. The only person he loved in this cage was his sister, Tsutako. It was certain that she would soon be married off by their parents to a man she didn't want. And after her, it would be Giyuu’s turn; they would expect him to marry a woman to ensure the lineage continued...
Though these thoughts soured his appetite, he reached the kitchen. He picked up a croissant from the treats prepared for the evening and began to eat. Tengen and Kyojuro leaned against the nearby wall.
Giyuu turned to them. "You can eat if you want," he said.
Kyojuro—despite looking quite hungry—lied through his teeth. "Thank you, sir. We aren't hungry."
Giyuu rolled his eyes, but this movement held more pain than disdain. He had known these men since childhood. They used to run together, fall together. Now, they were formal and distant. They looked as if they were actually afraid of him.
Just as he finished his croissant and prepared to return to his room, the person he least wanted to see that morning appeared: his mother, Mikasa. She scrutinized him for so long that Giyuu felt he might crumble under her gaze.
"I assume you aren't coming to the ball dressed like that?"
Giyuu rolled his eyes—this time, it was fueled by pure, intentional disdain. "Why?"
His mother sighed. "Because princesses from other kingdoms will be there. Your father is getting older; he needs to retire—"
"I’m not interested. Put Tsutako in charge. She wants it, and she’s brilliant. And my sexuality is perfectly clear—" Giyuu was cut short by a slap to the face.
"How many times must I tell you not to use that word?" His mother looked at him with such disgust that Giyuu felt a surge of nausea. "It seems your mentor isn't helping you at all. Besides, Tsutako is a girl; she will find a husband and serve in his kingdom."
For generations, there had been a mentor for all the princes in their kingdom. Giyuu’s was Urokodaki. And contrary to what his mother said, Urokodaki helped him immensely. He told Giyuu to be himself and never to be ashamed of who he was. He gave him the affection that his parents never gave. But Giyuu knew that if he told his mother any of this, Ubuyashiki would be exiled or even executed. So, he chose silence.
"I will prepare as you wish, Your Majesty."
His mother opened her mouth to say something else, but Giyuu didn't have the strength to listen. He pushed past and headed to his room, with Kyojuro and Tengen following close behind. He hated that they had witnessed this spat, but they had seen much worse.
Back in his room, he closed the door and reached for his cigarette pack -a ridiclous habit he hated himself for-. He sat by the window. There was a mesh screen to prevent escape attempts, but air could still get through. Normally, he wouldn't be able to see the folk’s side if he were in the garden because garden was surrounded by massive walls. But now, being high up, he could see a glimpse of folk’s side. To Giyuu, it had always seemed so bright and vibrant. Because they possessed something Giyuu could never have: freedom.
He didn't count how many cigarettes he smoked. As the sky began to darken, he decided to move before facing his family's wrath again. He showered to wash away the scent of smoke, dried his hair, and put on a pitch-black suit. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on door. It was Tsutako. In her navy-blue gown, she looked every bit the princess. She must have sent Kyojuro and Tengen away, as they were nowhere to be seen.
"You look handsome." His sister smiled, placing a hand on Giyuu’s cheek.
"Well... hopefully, we can impress the princesses."
Tsutako was well aware of Giyuu’s sexuality. She gave him a bittersweet smile and took his arm. Together, they made their way toward the ballroom.
Even though not all the guests had arrived, the ballroom was already crowded. Giyuu had never been a fan of crowds. It used to be more bearable because Sabito would be by his side...
No. Thinking of Sabito was the last thing he should do today.
As he descended the stairs with his sister, he felt every eye in the room turn toward him. He didn't look back. He couldn't. He knew they were all judging him. And despite how quiet people thought they were being, their gossip was perfectly audible in the silence.
"Is that the prince?"
"He looks so calm, actually."
"I thought they wouldn't bring him this year. What a shame for the family, having their only son try to run away..."
Giyuu felt crushed under the weight of these words. Trying to breathe felt like needles piercing his lungs. His tie felt like a noose. He pulls his hand from the railing to adjust his tie. He lost his balance, stumbling forward—only for an arm to catch him.
So Giyuu was forced to look back into one of those staring sets of eyes. And God as his witness, if Giyuu believed in love at first sight, he would have said he had just fallen for those lavender eyes.
---------------------------------------------------
The voices of his siblings were grating on Sanemi’s ears.
Sanemi, who had already returned quite late from her night shift, mistakenly thought she could sleep in this morning. But he needed to get ready too. Today was the Winter Ball day, and by some stroke of luck, Sanemi had been accepted as one of the knights for the event. To be clear, he wasn't "attending"—he had to stand still all night. But he felt lucky because the pay for this night was substantial. Schools were reopening, and Sanemi needed money for his siblings. His mother works as a seamstress, but the start of the school year always strained the Shinazugawa family's finances.
At least Sanemi didn't have school expenses anymore. After high school, despite his mother’s pleas, he hadn't gone to university. There were no universities in the Water Kingdom so going to University meant leaving his family behind. Sanemi didn't have that luxury. But he would make sure his siblings left this stupid kingdom far behind.
He rubbed his eyes, got up, and made the beds. He shared a room with his brothers, while his sisters stayed with his mother in the room across. Before having breakfast, he decided to take a shower and quickly stepped under the cold showerhead. Although he had hated it as a child, now he always took a cold shower to wake himself up quickly. After finishing his shower, he went back into his room and quickly put on a green sweater and black pants. He had to head to the palace to pick up his suit. Normally, knights weren't allowed inside the palace without armor, however, since other kingdoms would also be at the ball, they were asked to wear suits instead of armor.
Sanemi entered the kitchen and took out the bowl and cornflakes. He was used to eating cornflakes without milk because milk was expensive and Sanemi’s siblings loved milk very much. That’s why it had been a long time since Sanemi had gotten used to eating his cornflakes plain.
Just then, Genya came to the kitchen to Sanemi’s side. Sanemi ruffled his little brother’s hair with a smile on his face.
"Don't do that." Genya rolled his eyes.
Sanemi said with a grin, "Why? Are you afraid the girls won't like you?" Genya almost choked on the water he was drinking upon hearing this.
"Don't you have better things to do today?"
Sanemi chuckled. "I’m going to the palace. Mom is on shift, so the children are entrusted to you." Genya nodded his head up and down.
"Be careful." This wasn't just a word said casually. Everyone was aware of what the palace could do at the slightest mistake.
After Sanemi finished his cornflakes, he left the house and started walking toward the entrance of the palace. Those great walls surrounding the palace were not there when he was a child. He remembered the days when the palace and the people were intertwined. He would even occasionally see the two children from the palace in the streets. Since Sanemi looked after his mother when she was pregnant and wanted to protect those at home when his father was around, he had spent almost his entire childhood at home. That’s why sitting at his window and watching the children playing outside was his favorite activity when he was little.
As he approached the palace, the roads became smoother and began to be covered with beautiful flowers. All the people knew the Queen loved flamboyance. This was even one of the biggest reasons for the Great Rebellion. The taxes taken from the people being spent on beautifying the outside of the palace... Sanemi greeted the knights outside the palace. Then he showed his knight ID and entered after a long body search. The knights described where he would get his suit, and Sanemi started walking in that direction. The palace was completely covered in gold. Sanemi thought he could give everything to be this rich.
While he was lost in those thoughts, a familiar voice called out to him. When Sanemi raised his head, he saw his high school friends. He knew they also worked at the palace, but they had never run into each other until now.
"Hey Sanemi!" Rengoku called out to Sanemi with his usual cheerful voice.
"Hey." Sanemi greeted with a slight nod of his head.
"Did you get a duty at the ball?"
"Yes. I’m gonna receive my suit."
"Man, I wish we could have taken a duty at the ball too." Tengen sighed. "Or any normal duty. We stand here all day; it’s so boring. And because we stand here all day, they didn't allow us to take a duty at the ball tonight."
Sanemi pointed to the door with his head. "Why do they tell you to stand here all day?"
Rengoku lowered his voice. Which was strange for Rengoku, who was normally excessively loud. "Do you know about the prince’s escape incident a few years ago?"
Sanemi nodded. At that time, these rumors were on everyone's lips. "I’d heard."
"Well, since then, the king and queen have been stationing knights at Giyuu’s side. Two teams of two people in order."
Tengen continued "But this duty is very boring. We can't move anywhere all day. Because the queen can come and personally check at any moment. And it feels very strange to be Giyuu’s knights because we were very close when we were little. You understand."
Sanemi looked at the door. He had never been able to make sense of it anyway when the rumors about the escape incident came out. Why would a child who has everything want to escape? And from the outside, they looked exactly like an ideal family. Well, it seems not every family is what it seems.
"Anyway, let us not keep you any longer, the ball hour is approaching," said Tengen. "You can get your clothes from the room at the end."
"Thanks. See you later," said Sanemi and made his way toward the room at the end of the corridor to get his clothes. When he reached the room, Tamayo was dealing with the measurements of the other knights. Sanemi felt a bit relieved when he saw his best friend Iguro. At least the evening would pass more comfortably than he thought. Sanemi waited for Tamayo to iron the suit that had been prepared for him. Then he took the black suit and went into one of the changing rooms. After putting on the suit, he sat down in a chair to have his hair straightened. He even had a light makeup applied to his face. If it hadn't been for Majesty giving the order, Sanemi might have shoved that brush somewhere on the makeup artist's body. But after these preparations, he was fully aware of the importance of this evening.
If he could catch Majesties' eyes tonight, maybe his rank would be raised. And he could get a job inside the palace. Winter had come and the weather had started to get cold. Sanemi, despite his built body, was the type who could get sick very easily. And he wouldn't want to get sick and disrupt the work. That’s why he decided to put on his best self tonight.
When all the knights were ready, they all gathered in the ballroom. There, Tamayo focused at length on what they should do and even longer on what they should not do. There were so many rules that Sanemi and Iguro decided they just had to stand and not touch anything.
The knights were divided into groups of two and positioned in different places. Iguro and Sanemi were the group standing to the right of the stairs. While they were talking about this and that, the ballroom slowly began to fill up. It was certain that it would be an excessively crowded ball. Also, next to the other fancy people, the knights certainly did not look like they belonged there.
When the king and queen appeared from above, Sanemi felt discomfort because he didn't kneel. Normally, not kneeling upon seeing the king and queen had a very great punishment. However, for today, they were asked not to kneel.
Sanemi’s eyes involuntarily searched for the prince and princess beside the king and queen as well. Especially after the conversation with Kyojuro and Tengen, he was curious about the prince. He had last seen him when he was a child, so he didn't remember his face much, but the only thing he remembered about him was that he had ocean-blue eyes.
That’s why when he saw the eyes of the man at the head of the stairs, he recognized him instantly. Together with the woman beside him—whom he guessed was his sister—they were descending quite slowly. While the woman offered her polite smiles to everyone, the man was strictly not raising his head to look. And the man... did not have a body at all like Sanemi had guessed. Sanemi had imagined someone much more built, tall, and certainly much more imposing. Yes, Giyuu was certainly not short, but he wasn't as tall as Sanemi. His body was built, yes. But certainly, this was also not as much as Sanemi had imagined. And his face... it was certain that he had a face even more beautiful than his sister's face.
While Sanemi was thinking these things, he hadn't even realized that he was staring at the man like a creep. Actually, the whole hall had fixed their eyes on the man. A very heavy atmosphere prevailed. It wasn't clear whether it was due to the heavy atmosphere or not, but Giyuu was constantly taking deep breaths, which caught Sanemi's attention. Just as Giyuu took his hands off the railing, he lost his balance and stumble. Sanemi immediately grabbed Giyuu's arm, and this position caused their eyes to meet.