Broken Pocket Watch // Alice in Wonderland X Male!Reader

[40] *~Chess's Route~*

Once upon a time, there was a young feline prince. He was the son of a valiant king that ruled over a peaceful kingdom, and a beautiful yet playful feline woman. He had the bright smile and curiosity of his mother, yet also the courageous and powerful voice of his father. He was always greeted with a tender smile by his servants as well as his parents and was always well taken care of, despite his overly excited attitude and fun loving yet reckless personality. That little prince was called Chess, named after his parents favorite game to play.

Though, as he grew up, his parents grew more and more focused on their duties as king and queen, and their son would constantly try to get them to play with him. Unable to join and entertain him, they had to hire someone to provide him company and guidance, as well as keep him occupied.

That someone was Malikov Chartreuse, a kind young man that was among the helpers of the local orphanage in the North-Eastern District of the Capital in Wonderland.  The king reached out to the orphanage to have someone from there to be by their son as they finish up their duties. And the one who had volunteered was him.

The first few days of his service, he noticed that Chess wasn't all that keen on him yet, despite his kind and humble personality. In reality, Chess was a tad shy with meeting new people, and it was the first time he had someone who always accompanied him with everywhere he went. He wasn't used to it just yet, as he was just a child during that period of time.

"Your Majesty?" Malikov spoke up, garnering the attention of the feline prince. Chess was reading a book about different types of insects. He raised his head up at the man in front of him as his ears twitched, his golden eyes staring right at him. His tail swayed side to side before he spoke up. "You know, you can just call me Chess."

He flipped to the next page of the book he was looking at before letting out a soft sigh, letting his legs swing under the table. Lips pursed, Malikov fiddled with his fingers as he looks at the child in front of him."Forgive me, Your Ma—" He stopped himself. "Chess."

He glanced at the tea set beside them, going over to pour some more tea in their cups and added plenty of milk and two cubes of sugar into Chess's cup. "Are my parents that busy that they can't play with me anymore?" The little prince spoke up this time, closing the book he was reading and taking the cup that was recently refilled. His thin delicate lips were touching the edge of the cup as he sipped on the delicious tea.

The man rubbed the crook of his neck. "Not quite. They still try to find ways to be able to bond with you. But there's quite a lot of adult duties that they have to be present for as the rulers of the kingdom. I hope you understand." He says, almost sympathetically because they really have been quite busy that they're not able to give Chess much attention. He knew how it was affecting him, but he always tried to be there to keep him company.

Chess put his hands on the edge of the table and pushed himself away from it, jumping down from the chair and moving to the chair beside Malikov. The man helped him climb up and sit down on it. Chess pulled his knees close to his chest and looked straight ahead, ears tucked on either side of his head. "Do you know how to play chess?"

Taken aback, Malikov turned his head to the child beside him, gaze turning gentle before he let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, I know. Would you like to play?" He asked politely, getting a quiet nod in response. They spend the afternoon playing chess, engaging in short conversations from time to time. Chess slowly warmed up to talking to his caretaker, eventually delving into a lot more random topics that a child would normally bring up, which made Malikov pleased.

The sunset hues melted upon their skin as they reached the last few moments of their game. With one single move, Malikov had Chess's king cornered and there was no way he could escape. The prince marvelled at his techniques, golden eyes sparkling in wonder. A grin formed on his lips as he looked up at his caretaker. He had finally taken a liking to him.