Not One, But Seven

Her Integrity

He had not heard from his wife in several months, but at the current point, he'd figured he never would. She obviously hated him with everything her maternal SOUL could hold, and while he missed her dearly, the new cold sensation of determination was overriding his crippling loneliness. He had decided that ruling all of the Underground safely was a far greater obligation that to his failed marriage, and that their prosperity would fill the void imprinted so deeply within him. His plan, no matter how morally unsound, was effective, and that was all that he wanted to matter to him in the end.

Despite his not contacting his wife whatsoever, he did know she was alive. When the fourth child emerged into Snowdin, the first thing he noticed was Toriel's familiar purple shawl wrapped around her tall, thin frame. This child looked older than Chara, Tally, or Akin, but the roundness to her face led him to figure she was still very young. Her hair was long, falling down behind her knees in brown waves that were tangled and dirtied from her journey, and her eyes were a soft brown. She was wearing a soft pink leotard that didn't suit the freezing temperatures around her and thin shoes with only a tutu to cover her middle, so he figured she'd perish quickly. He certainly preferred it that way; the less he had to get his hands dirty, the easier it became to detach himself.

"That's the Queen's shawl," Gaster noted with a hint of alarm. "How did she make it out of the Ruins with that?"

"I do not know," Asgore replied somberly. "I can't imagine why Toriel would willingly let her out with the knowledge of what I would have to do."

"Perhaps the human fought her?" The scientist mused. "If she exhibited violence, I doubt the Queen would fight back."

The thought made the king's heart weigh down in his chest, but given how little the girl was shivering above the waist, he figured that his wife's fabric was providing some level of warmth. He did not notice any dust across the deep purple material either, so he merely waved his hand to silence his assistant.

"She must be alive," he replied curtly. "She must have had some other motif. Perhaps the child exhibited violence in others ways, or-"

His next thought hung in his throat, making his heart flutter and then beat with renewed energy. It was certainly a stretch, but it had been several years since Akin's death and even more since losing his children. Perhaps in her own solitude his wife had come to reach the same logic as he, and she was sending the human out as a peace offering. He had been trying so hard to reach detachment from his old life, but if Toriel was truly ready to come home...

"My King," Gaster prompted curtly. "What are you suggesting?"

He lifted his chin a little higher now, setting his shoulders back. "Let us wait for the human to perish before I conclude that thought. I am no longer in the business of keeping my hopes up, but there is still a chance our Queen will return to us."

....

The human girl lasted much longer than he expected. When the morning came, she exited from the inn in the same outfit she had on when he shut off the monitor for the night. She had a very troubled look on her face, but as soon as the inn keeper stepped out and starting speaking to her she relaxed considerably. They communicated only briefly, and during these brief moments Asgore couldn't help but notice the keeper looking back and forth nervously, as if she were afraid someone was watching.

Of course; all of Snowdin knew of his ruling, and they were afraid to transgress. They may not have been afraid of him in a general sense, but they were afraid of this new side of him. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was as well.

Before the girl parted from the hotel, she placed a large sum of gold in the lapine monster's hands. She initially tried to protest, but the king couldn't miss the flash of grateful desire on her face before she started to refuse it, and apparently neither could the child, who evidently insisted on her payment for her stay before heading on her way. As the human journeyed across the bridge, Asgore noted he both needed to install auditory capabilities in the monitors and needed to hire local monsters to ensure humans didn't make it past Snowdin unless said monsters were slain.