Chapter Text
Boredom
That was the best word to describe what Shadow Milk was feeling at the moment. Utter boredom.
The jester that was trying to entertain him currently could definitely feel that too. The shaky smile on his face betrayed his nerves. The king sighed, waving his hand in the air.
"I need to be alone, you're dismissed."
The jester gave him a quick bow before rushing out of the throne room.
"Pathetic." He thought. "A jester afraid of his own king, utterly pathetic."
He couldn't entirely blame him though. His frown definitely made all of his servants and advisors nervous and uneasy around Shadow Milk. But what could he do? It's been like this ever since he discovered the truth.
It all started around a month ago, but the discomfort appeared way earlier. His life felt scripted, certain moments too perfect, too fake. Sentences came out his mouth before he even fully formed them. Interactions felt played out, all his and the kingdoms troubles always ended up solved, even if everything pointed to failure. He was done with it. And by some miracle, or rather a curse, he broke out of this stimulation.
Shadow Milk then met the "playwriter" as she called herself. His theory proved to be true, he was stuck in a simulation, or rather, stuck as an actor in an endless play, the strings of his entire life tugged and carried by this devil dressed as a woman.
"I could easily make you forget this." She claimed so.
"But that would be too boring, wouldn't it? Watching you drown in despair, aware of everything! Oh! Now that will be entertaining for the play!"
And that's how it's been. True to her words, he's been miserable, living this lie and playing his role, exactly as she wanted him to. It left Shadow Milk feeling empty, unfulfilled with his life. The fact that devil often showed him "behind the scenes", seeing his subjects as well as himself, attached by the bright strings that she controlled, to see everyone with their faces drawn on messily, like by a child that touched a crayon for the first time. It was all so uncanny and just..UGHHH!
Suddenly, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. It was one of his servants, carrying something.
"Your majesty, a scroll from a foreign kingdom has just arrived."
"Now who in the world would send that…" Shadow Milk hummed as he took said scroll into his hands. It felt delicate, the thin paper gently sparkled with an unidentified dust. Unrolling it revealed a message written in a fancy and dainty handwriting.
"Dear ruler of The Land Of Prijevara.
I hope my message finds you well, I'd like to invite you for a visit in The Faerie Kingdom, to discuss matters regarding a possible war approaching.
Yours truly, the king of faeries, Pure Vanilla."
"A visit to the fae kingdom? Now that's surprising…" Shadow Milk laughed to himself, closing the scroll.
"We'll set out by tomorrow morning. Inform everyone of this. You're dismissed"
"Yes your majesty." The servant nodded before walking off.
Now that Shadow Milk was alone, he had time to dive into his worries.
"An approaching war…well that's not good…but why haven't I been told?" He wondered silently. The playwriter always spoiled things like that to him, just to suck out any excitement from his life, like an annoying mosquito.
Just then, a shiver ran down his spine, and a light pinkish fog spread from behind. She's here.
''Ahhh, hello there! How's my favorite actor doing, hm?" She stretched, flying over to Shadow Milk. "You've just received the scroll, right? I swear, the faerie kingdom is so extra with their scrolls and—"
"Why didn't you tell me about the war?" Shadow Milk interrupted, looking annoyed.
"War? What war?" The demon almost mocked, trying to play innocent.
"Cut the crap Eternal Sugar, you know what I'm talking about"
"Maybe I do. Besides, do I need to tell you everything? Use your brain for once dummy, it's quite obvious I've been forming something behind the curtains. Everything for my favorite little plaything~"
Shadow Milk rolled his eyes. "Plaything. Me, a plaything! I'll show you a plaything woman!—" But before the ruler for to speak, Eternal Sugar cut through his unspoken words.
"Anyhow, you should probably get to sleep dearie. I want my number one entertainer as sharp as a knife tomorrow." She snickered before dissapearing into the fog.
Shadow Milk huffed, but he had to agree. A trip to the faerie kingdom could take the whole day, finding an entrance to the land itself could take forever! He headed out of the throne room and into his bedroom.
After changing into his sleeping gown, he flopped onto his glamorous bed, tucking himself in under the covers. The king tried to keep himself calm, but he couldn't stop the little voice in his head that was telling him something bad was coming. Eternal Sugar, that nightmare adorned in fancy clothing and a dreadful smile, was surely planning something for him…