Hard To Love #1 | yyyeodang

8

"C'est toi." (You are.) 

"Mais non. Les filles d'ERA disent toujours que je ne suis pas de sang royal." (I'm not. The girls at ERA always talk about how I'm not royal blood.) She looked up at me and her eyes were now glistened with unshed tears.

"C'est des conneries. Votre mère a épousé le roi, ce qui fait de vous un membre de la famille royale." (That's bullshit. Your mother married the king, so that makes you a royal.) I said softly.

She shook her head and replied, "Ce n'est pas comme ça que ça fonctionne. Je ne suis pas né royal. Mes parents étaient roturiers. Je ne pourrai jamais être un membre de la famille royale. Je ne sais pas comment me comporter royalement. Je ne sais pas danser correctement. Cette vie royale n'est tout simplement pas pour moi." (That's not how it works. I wasn't born royal. My parents were commoners. I can never be a royal. I don't know how to behave royally. I don't know how to dance properly. This royal life just isn't for me.) A tear dropped from her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"Come here." I opened my arms and she immediately wrapped her arms around my nape. "Ce n'est pas comme ça, Sofia. Arrêtez d'écouter ces crétins. Peu importe qui est royal et qui ne l'est pas. En fin de compte, nous ne sommes tous que des humains qui essaient de traverser nos vies." (It isn't like that, Sofia. Stop listening to those morons. It doesn't matter who's royal or not. At the end of the day, we're all just humans, trying to get through our lives.)

"M-m-mais . . " (But . . ) She attempted to speak but I interrupted, "Tais-toi et laisse-moi te tenir, princesse." (Shut up and let me hold you, princess.)

She didn't speak after that. She just tightened her hold on my nape. I patted her back from one hand and played with her hair from the other.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel anything when she said she wasn't a royal and people gossip behind her back about this. People bitching you behind your back fucking hurts. I knew that feeling all too well myself.

Growing up, Axel was the favorite child and the favorite prince. It wasn't that my parents hated me. No, they love me. But it was always obvious on who was the favorite. Axel was God-gifted. He could do anything with zero-to-no efforts. He was an all-rounder who made the whole family proud.

Meanwhile I had to work hard and there were still times I'd fail.

That was the reason I felt so annoyed by Sofia. She seemed just like my brother. God-gifted. She beat me in flying derby, a sport that I had worked hard on for years. After my defeat, I had to listen to tantrums every now and then by my relatives who still consider me 'weak' for losing to a girl.

I have heard many people speak shit about me without even realizing that I was hearing them. I grew used to it. I've been ignoring it for years and will surely be doing the same in the future. 

But today, when she said on how people talked about her behind her back, I suddenly remembered on how painful it is. On how much I cried at nights, all alone due to this.

Being called a failure was the worst feeling in the world. I knew it, and knowing that she was experiencing this, hurt me. 

She finally calmed down after a few minutes. When she stopped sobbing, I asked, "Did you tell this to your siblings? Or your parents?"

I felt her shaking her head as 'no'. I was already expecting this answer. Talking about people bitching you to your family was hard. Even I never told it to anyone.

Suddenly, I remembered something that's been bugging my mind the whole night.

"Comment parlez-vous si couramment le Menquezian?" (How are you so fluent in Menquezian?) I asked her. Menquezian isn't a global language. It is spoken only in my kingdom. It isn't even taught in institutions, so how did she become so fluent in it?

After a short pause, she replied slowly, "Mon père biologique était Menquezian." (My biological father was Menquezian.) 

So, the rumors were really true.

Silence enveloped the room. I sighed and just tightened the hug.

{REVISED}

a/n: did i just change sofia's father and her nationality completely? yes. do i care? no. 

i say fuck it when i feel it.