Forbidden ~ Marcaniel Royal AU

chapitre sept

"Eh?" Marc spoke quietly. His brain simply shut off all communication as he was left with a need for words.

"Well, seeing that you're in the Palace most of the week, I thought it might be the best way to go." Nathaniel explained. "I could tell the guards that you're a friend of mine so they let you through after your work hours."

Marc's heart raced after hearing the words 'friend of mine'. He'd lived the majority of his life only having one true friend- Marinette Dupein-Chang. Even then, they were actually distant cousins. The thought of an actual Prince wanting to be his friend was a rather big surprise.

Nathaniel watched Marc's face closely, seeing it go through a variety of emotions. Neither had said a word for a long minute. The redhead took this as a bad sign, letting his negative thinking take over. "But I guess you wouldn't want to, seeing as I'm a Royal, and well... Royals aren't the kindest. You don't have to if you don't want to, I won't judge." He started placing the protective sheets over the painting, wanting to curl up under his bed covers.

Green eyes darted back to the nervous artist before him, quickly figuring out that he had waiting too long before responding. He softly stopped Nathaniel's hands. "No! That's not what I meant at all!"

A single blue eye peeked out from behind red locks of hair.

Hints of sadness touched his voice, ever so soft. "I didn't mean to upset you, I just... I wasn't expecting that. I never had an inkling of an idea that  you would even had about single thought about me after our first... encounter."  Marc's gaze slowly drifted away from Nathaniel's blue eyes. "I guess you could say that no one's ever wanted to befriend me."

Feeling his heart melt for this lonesome scribe, the Prince slowly turned to face him. His facial expression softened greatly as he too shared the pains of loneness. "I understand how that feels. My only friend is currently the number one most wanted fugitive of the country being hunted to be burned at the stake."

Marc stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation.

"They believe she's a witch."
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"Oh... Why do they think that?" Marc tilted his head out of concern.

"Well, because she is one." Prince Nathaniel said blatantly.

All Marc could do was gaze blankly at him.

"Well, it's not like she's done anything wrong!" Nathaniel quickly added. "It's all because they fear her power. Last time I saw her, she called me to a discreet location to tell me that she was going to disappear for a while along with two of her... helpers. I've always thought they were more than helpers, if you know what I'm saying, but she'll deny it until the day she dies. She told her me goodbyes and left me with a little trinket. Never really knew what it was for but she made me promise to always keep it safe. Been four years since then."

Marc's gaze drifted away as he blinked, trying to process all of this information. The Prince watched as his eyebrows scrunched together and his lips pushed up and out slightly. It was then that he realized his mistake.

"Why did I even tell you all this? I apologize, I didn't mean to force my odd backstory on you." Nathaniel sputtered.

Marc quickly resumed eye contact again, realizing his mind had stopped responding again. "Oh, no! It's not you, I was just processing it all! It's quiet interesting, actually..."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah... That seems like the plot of a fantasy story!" Marc spoke, a tad excitedly.