He Who Is Free ( Yandere x Reader)

The Flowering Quince.

          "Perhaps but you are still of royal blood. It feels quite impolite of me to regard you as a maid, even if that is what you are now. I will try my best to remain respectful to you, Princess [Name]. But you must remember that you are a maid in this Empire, so please just do as you are told if you wish not to get into any trouble. The prince can be quite impulsive and dramatic with his sentences after all," Horatio advises you. It was only natural of him, and you began to realise that perhaps Horatio wasn't as bad as the Crown Prince.

          "Thank you," You say with uncertainty, before he now walks alongside you up the steps. At either side were emerald shrubs with crimson flowers in full bloom.

          Noticing where you were looking towards, Horatio decides to point it out: "Do you like the 'Flowering Quince' shrubs? These flowers bloom briefly but quite beautifully, don't you agree? They are quite well known for their gorgeous flowers on the leafless stems. They symbolise rebirth I believe. Quite lovely, quite lovely indeed."

          "Ah, I see. My country did not have a wide variety of flowers or plants in general, so I'm afraid my knowledge in that area is quite limited, despite my love for how beautiful flowers are," You reply, legs beginning to tire due to the immense amount of steps leading to the top. If you had to estimate, it seemed like about one or two hundred.

          "Why don't I surprise you with a new species of flower everyday then? I'll also tell you about them. I'm very fond of flowers, even though that might make you think I'm not very masculine. I spend quite a lot of my spare time in the greenhouse you see. We grow many medicinal herbs and flowers there," He offers you, his warm smile not fading as he looks at you for reassurance.

          "I don't think it makes you any less masculine at all. It's alright to like whatever you like. If anything, it is quite endearing to know that you are fond of flowers. So I don't mind if you wish to share your knowledge with me, as long as it's not an entire lecture everyday," You reply.

          His orange eyes spark joyously and the corners of his lips turn upwards more drastically into a childlike and toothy grin. "Sounds great! And also, don't think that we keep these shrubs all year round. We tend to change them depending on the season. After they are used, we either put them in the royal garden or donate them to a nearby park in the capital. So keep an eye out for new shrubs along these steps in the future, I'm in charge of choosing them after all."

          "What's taking you two so long? Do I need to put you two through some physical training?" Leonide yells from the top of the steps, his hands instinctively on his hips once again as he glares down at the both of you still full of energy, seemingly unbothered by the amount of steps. You figured this was only natural since he most likely had to use these steps most of his life.

          "Not at all, Your Royal Highness. We're just discussing these shrubs. Do you recognise them?" Horatio calls back chirpily.

          "'Flowering Quince', are they not? You blabber on about flowers all day, how could I possibly not know?" Leonide replies, crossing his arms in annoyance at your impertinence by walking so slowly when he was awaiting the both of you.

          Visibly quite flustered, Horatio scratches his cheek nervously, "Come on, Your Highness. They're not all that I talk about."

          "Whatever makes you feel better, Advisor Horatio," He says, now turning towards the grand pair of doors and inclining the guards to open the colossal doors for him. They were pure white, matching neatly with the tiling on the roof. The only decoration was the ornate, golden illustrations, depicting a scene you could not quite comprehend. However, the overall gist of it seemed to be nature and rebirth.