Chapter Text
Noli sat at his desk, staring at the stack of papers he was supposed to finish tonight. He knew he should have done them earlier, but he always put things off. Sometimes he wondered what life would be like if he weren’t a king at all, free from responsibilities and able to wander the forests at night and get lost in the stars. At least things have been peaceful lately. It had been a long time since any real problems happened in the villages, and it finally seemed like the kings could take a short break from their royal duties.
Noli was never the hardest-working king. He usually waited until one of the others got annoyed enough to chase him down before he even thought about his duties. Did that make him a bad ruler? He didn’t think so. In fact, he believed his village did well because he wasn’t always watching over everyone. His people were smart, capable, and probably a bit glad not to have someone always telling them what to do. Even when there were problems with other kingdoms, his village and the others managed just fine.
Sometimes, late at night, Noli wondered if the other kings ever felt the same way. Did they ever wish for freedom, or did they truly enjoy being king? For Noli, the crown felt heavy, but for now he tried to focus on the good: a peaceful village, and the possibility that maybe tomorrow would bring something new.
His daydreaming must have gotten to him, because a sharp knock jolted him from his thoughts. Noli stood up, frowning as he realized he’d forgotten to fill out the request forms his villagers had left for him-again. "I’ll do them later," he muttered to himself, though he knew he was lying. As he walked to the door, he scanned the details of his room: deep purple curtains, shelves cluttered with astrology books, and constellation patterns painted across the ceiling. The candlelight flickered, casting shadows that made the stars look alive.
He opened the door, putting on his most cocky smile. "Oh hey, haven’t seen you in a while. Did you miss me while I was gone?" he teased, arms crossed as he leaned casually against the doorframe.
Guest 666, as always, looked unimpressed. Their eyes narrowed, and Noli could almost feel the silent plea for him to stop talking. He bit back a laugh. There was something almost fun about seeing how much he could annoy
Guest before they ultimately gave up.
Guest raised their hands and started signing rapidly. Noli squinted, trying to keep up. He’d gotten better at reading signs, but Guest was always a little faster than he’d like to admit.
"Yeah, I haven’t talked to many people in a while. Been busy with… stuff," Noli replied, watching Guest’s expression turn to confusion.
Guest signed again, slower this time. "Are you coming to tomorrow’s meeting?"
Right, the monthly kingly meetings. Noli always forgot about those until the last minute. He rolled his eyes theatrically. "HMMMMMMMMM, let me see… I don’t have anything else to do tomorrow, so why not?"
Guest’s lips twitched in what might have been a smile. They signed, "Alright, see you then. Good night, Noli."
Noli grinned, "Good night to you as well, Guest. Don’t let the duties keep you up."
Looking out his window, he saw the stable where they kept horses. He personally rarely used his horse for traveling since he just used his void star to go anywhere he wanted without much of an issue. Though the other kings warned him about Noli using the voidstar irresponsibly, he always told them he would be fine but for the sake of their sanity he only used it when urgent.
That had been roughly two hours ago, and Noli was lying down on his bed now. He frankly didn't want to go to the meetings since they all went the exact same way every time, with rarely anything new. What else could Noli do tomorrow? Though he didn't have anything planned besides the meeting, Noli didn't like wasting his days. A sudden idea popped into his head; he could go visit 7n7, he hadn't seen him in a while, and Noli had gotten gifts for him and the red child of his and the child's friends. The last time Noli had gone to see 7n7, coolkid had given Noli a drawing of him, his dad, and Noli on an adventure that Noli had told coolkid about. Now that he knew what he would do tomorrow, he felt excited that a new adventure awaited him. Noli caught himself yawning and realized that if he wanted to do all those things tomorrow, he would need to get some sleep. Turning off his night lamp, he tried getting comfortable and realized he had forgotten to fill out the requests. Well, he certainly wouldn't do them now; he just hoped 1x wouldn't get onto him about it tomorrow .