Total Eclipse of the Heart (Royal AU Wally x reader)

Chapter Twenty-One

"Lady (L/n)."
Said lady flinched and turned around, revealing her own cup of coffee in her hands, still warm, with a thin string of steam coming from it.
"My King."
She adjusted her shawl so that she could stand and properly greet him, but he told her she could stay seated.
"I do hope you've had a good night of sleep." she spoke quietly.
"It was lovely, thank you very much. Um..." he tilted his head. "Why are you whispering?" he asked, whispering himself.
"Oh... To not ruin the moment, I suppose." she looked ahead again.
"The moment?" he stood beside her.
"Yes. I come here every morning to admire the view." she took a deep breath. "I missed this quite a lot honestly."
Wally looked at the landscape before them. The manor was up a small hill. Everything was grey and dark green.

"And what is the view in question?"
"Oh it hasn't started yet. Rest assured that I'll get to work as soon as it's done."
"As soon as what is done?"
Just then, Walter came back with the stick. (Y/n) took it and called him a good boy before throwing it again.
"...Would you like to see?" she smiled and patted the spot next to her.
Intrigued, Wally sat down, wrapping himself in his cape like it was a blanket, just like she was doing with her shawl. She gently blew air inside her cup so that the drink's warmth came up to her face, before taking a sip. Meanwhile, Wally added his sugar cubes.
"You really do like to add the sugar yourself, huh?" she asked, still whispering.
"I do." he said, whispering as well. "How is your coffee?"
"I don't add anything in it." she looked down at it, then at his. "I never tried adding sugar."
Sadly, Wally already put all the sugar cubes in his. So he handed his cup to her.
"Would you like to try?"

Her eyes widened in shock.
"W-Well in that case," she handed him her cup. "would you like to take a sip of mine? That way it's an equal exchange."
"I can't argue with that."
They exchanged cups and each took one sip, which they then had to keep themselves from spitting out, turning away from each-other at the same time. (Y/n) successfully swallowed, while Wally just opened his mouth, the coffee spilling out if it. Without a word, the two of them took back their cup and drank from them to get a comforting familiar taste back in their mouths.
"I figured you had a sweet tooth, but I never thought it was to this degree." (Y/n) said.
"And I knew that the people of Spades were accustomed to bitterness in their food but..." his voice trailed off as he wiped his mouth and chin. "I suppose the coffee here is much stronger than...anywhere else. I did notice how mine tasted stronger than usual, despite adding my usual amount of sugar. I should add one or two more."
"I'm not an expert, my King, but that much sugar cannot be good for you."

They looked at each-other for a moment. Then, they started to laugh. Although, with the unspoken rule that they must be quiet, it was mostly muffled chuckles. After a sigh, (Y/n) looked ahead again with a relaxed smile and remained quiet. To Wally, this was the boring part. He wanted to speak, to keep the conversation going, but he had a feeling that the Lady wanted to remain silent for now, in order to see...whatever it was that she wanted to see. A while passed, during that time Walter came to lay at her feet, resting his head on his front leg. So far, looking over the landscape, Wally wasn't impressed. But then again, thinking of his own homeland, he doubted that whatever happened could even be worthy of comparison. The air was cold. He adjusted his cape, bringing the fur closer to him. But he was still cold...
Then, it happened.
Slowly, very slowly. A ray of sunlight peeked through the covered sky. The clouds parted, and the morning Sun rose, covering the plains, which expanded to the horizon, in a golden orange light. The few hills there created shadows that moved along with the light. This gloomy, depressing Kingdom, full of the strange and the unknown, now looked quiet, peaceful, noble even. He's admired the sunrise before, but the fact that it wasn't any less beautiful even in this Kingdom... It looked so different too. It felt different. The air was a little warmer now.
"It's not always cloudy here." (Y/n) whispered, though neither of them took their eyes away from the view. "We have our sunny days. But somehow, every morning, we get to see the Sun rise." she took a deep breath. "I could never get tired of it..."