⚔︎ 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗦 ⚔︎ | 𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗

To get your request of having an audience with Princess Rapunzel permitted was the easy part.

Then came the not-so-easy part. Showing up on time and talking comprehensively.

Even while Princess Rapunzel was beloved amongst her people, known as caring and kind, her title still asked for respect. It instilled fear in you.

You didn't normally come into contact with anyone of royal background, so doing so twice in the span of one week was... unusual to say the least.

And not in a good way. It felt like your stomach flipped and it gave you nausea.

So pacing around your room while preparing questions had been a normal amount of preparation. You were close to making notecards, but it would've been pretty weird to read them out during a conversation.

Especially during one with a princess. So instead, you learned the words by heart.

Which took some time, which you could've spent doing something more productive.

Oh well. Too late now.

I mean, you were already in front of the big doors leading to the throne room, where Princess Rapunzel of Corona was patiently awaiting you.

You didn't want to keep her waiting, not at all, but you still hesitated for a good few seconds, hand hovering over the doorknob.

You were about to go ahead and open the door, even going so far as gulping, when it swung open.

Luckily, you were able to dodge just in time.

Sharp reflexes, (Y/N). That could have given you a serious concussion.

The door was flung against the wall, and for a second you were scared that it would fly out of it's hinges. But it seemed to be intact.

Standing in the doorframe was the well-known Princess Rapunzel, along with her long, golden, - had you mentioned long? - hair.

You had heard rumours about her mystical hair. And about the sundrop. But seeing it in person, with your own eyes... well, it was certainly impressive.

How in the world did that hair not slow her down?

And how was she so strong? And nonchalant about it too? She almost hit you into the next week, was she a bodybuilder or something???

Based on her frame, one wouldn't assume so.

But either way, she left you speechless for a short moment.

Then her eyes settled on you, practically sparkling, and she eagerly clasped her hands, bringing them up to her face.

She was smiling brightly. So brightly in fact, that you almost wanted to look away. If the sun was a person, it was her.

"Oh! You must be (Y/N)! Come in, come in!"

She shooed you inside, closing the door behind you.

When the shock ceased, you spoke.

"Uhm, hello Your Highness. I've requested an audience with you today because, uh, I'm the person in charge of guiding Varian."

You left out a few words, which you did beat yourself up over, but all in all it brought the point across. Wonderful.

"Yes! I've heard. You know, I think you've done an incredible job so far! You can call me Rapunzel, 'Your Highness' is a bit too formal for my tastes."

You cocked an eyebrow.

"Thank you very much, but I haven't been able to gather much information at all...?"

Rapunzel only shook her head, silencing you with the gesture.

"On the contrary! The others couldn't even get him to reply! You've accomplished a real feat, (Y/N)!"

So she really was as kind as people said. Well, that didn't make you any less awkward.

You couldn't hold her penetrating gaze, looking off to the side and laughing dryly.

"Thank you, Rapunzel."

You cringed at yourself as you said the name. Not addressing her by her title was going to be rather hard.

"So, what do you need?"

She looks at you expectantly, and even though she gave off a sense of comfort and security, she still intimidated you.

"Well, you see, Varian told me that I should start by talking with you."

Nervous beyond relief, you fully forget your script and start to babble while talking with your hands.

"So that leads me to believe that you were a key factor in his actions - wait, no, that sounds bad. What I meant is, that you played an important role - no, that doesn't sound any better, does it?"

You were definitely sweating when you glanced at Rapunzel. For the first time during this conversation, her smile fell and she looked a bit pale.

Looking at her more closely, you could see something in her eyes - Guilt? Sadness? Regret? Before you could pinpoint it down, her smile returned, even if a tiny bit crooked. Without saying anything, she motioned for you to go on.

"Okay, let me reformulate that again. I think you may have to do something with the cause of his actions. I haven't been given any background information, so in order to start helping Varian I feel the need to investigate the happenings that led up to... well, this. I believe it will be beneficial if I understand where his emotions are coming from."

Rapunzel gave a curt and extremely tense "Mhm-hm!", nodding her head up and down in an exaggerating manner.

The atmosphere had turned even more awkward, which wasn't something you had deemed possible. The silence hung in the air, making you stress quite a bit.

Weren't you wasting her time? She most likely had other royal duties to attend to. Which could explain why she was suddenly behaving so strangely.

But a part of you told you that that wasn't the truth. After all, she had only started acting strange after you mentioned that you suspected that the events that had occurred had something to do with her.

Well, you had sugarcoated it a bit.

Since this is the only lead Varian gave you, you thought that it was an important clue. So maybe, everything led back to her. Maybe, she was the source.

Then again, Varian hadn't exactly been eager to share any information with you. For all you knew, he could be lying.

But something told you that at least this shred of information you gained had been genuine. So you chose to trust your gut.

Although, Varian was smart. This clue could be an unimportant one. Something trivial, that had little to do with whatever triggered his maniacal rampage throughout Old Corona.

But then you thought back to Rapunzel, who was still very tense...

You were going to trust your instincts and stop overthinking.

Your clue is Rapunzel, Rapunzel is the likely source. Simple as that.

Now you just needed to figure out how exactly that could be.

"So, Rapunzel, I would appreciate your cooperation. Would you mind telling me everything you know?"

Your words cut through the silence, and hadn't you been so focused on her response, awaiting it so eagerly, you would've hated the way your voice echoed through the room.

Rapunzel opened her mouth, although it took some time for her to actually answer. Her hands, which she had placed on her lap, gripped the fabric of her dress tightly, and her eyes glossed over for a brief moment.

"I... "

She breathed in and out slowly to calm herself down.

"(Y/N)... do you remember the day my parents left for their anniversary?"

There was no way you'd ever forget that day, nor the things that occurred after.

"Of course. You were in charge of the kingdom for two days."

"Yes. You must remember the storm then."

Her eyes trailed away from you and she looked to the window. You followed her gaze, the bright beams of sunlight momentarily blinding you. When your eyes had finally adjusted, you were looking at the beautiful palace garden - truly a sight to see.

Rapunzel sighed, playing with her hair before continuing.

"That evening... after we evacuated everyone into the castle, Varian rushed in and... and he was in panic, and looking for me. He said he needed help."

She closed her eyes at the painful memory, turning her head to you as she opened them again.

"It was about his father, Quirin. At the time, I didn't think..."

Her gaze trailed to the ground, and she clutched her hair tightly.

"I know it's bad. But with everything going on, with my parents maybe even being dead and with Eugene going out to find them, getting himself into unimaginable danger because of my orders-"

Rapunzel took a shaky breath, stopping herself for a few minutes.

The princess didn't want to alarm you. You were young, and she didn't want you dealing with her emotions. You already had so much on your plate with Varian, she wasn't going to add onto that. In any case, she was your princess. Someone you should be able to rely on, not the opposite. She wanted to serve the citizens of Corona, not for them to serve her. It was her duty, the responsibility she had as the princess and heir to the throne.

So, she repressed her emotions before starting to talk once more.

"It was stressful with all that pressure. And for Corona's sake, I was unable to leave my post. Nigel made sure to remind me of that. So I wasn't able to go and help Varian. Had I known the severity of the situation- I would've- I swear I would've sent someone. Anyone. So that at least he wouldn't have had to deal with it all alone."

Okay, you were confused. What was with Quirin? You had met the man plenty of times before, and he was very kind. A strong leader. Someone people looked up to. What could have happened to him?

"Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about... what happened to Quirin?"

"He-got-stuck-in-some-sort-of-amber."

Rapunzel forced out the sentence so fast, it took you some time to actually process it.

He was... what?

"Rapunzel, could you elaborate on that?"

"Varian is an alchemist. You probably know that. He's a bright kid. He wants to help, I know he only had good intentions... but he, he had this cluster of black rocks in his basement, and apparently something went wrong, because when I last went to his house... his father was fully encased in some sort of golden substance."

You went quiet. Did that mean Quirin was dead? Or was the 'amber' preserving him?

Shaking your thought off, you refocused on your main objective- your main concerns were Varian and his motivations. You couldn't give in to your curiosity.

You sorted your thoughts. You couldn't help but feel bitter towards the woman in front of you - it had taken some time for Varian to attack. A few weeks. Why didn't she come to his aid before that? She could've saved everyone from the destruction.

But you weren't going to say that. You had decent manners.

Instead, you went with a slightly different approach.

"Well, Rapunzel, did you go to help him right after the storm?"

She frowned, looking nowhere in particular.

"No. I was scared- Now, I know that sounds bad. I should've gone there earlier. It's just, I feared that he would be disappointed or mad and I wasn't ready to face him. I've never ever broken a promise before."

Not only did it sound bad, but in your eyes it was just, a crappy thing to do. Shouldn't the guilt have outweighed her fear of confrontation? She should've gone to Old Corona to help who she referred to as her friend.

Princess Rapunzel was known for her cheerfulness. A trait that showed her youth and child-like enthusiasm.

But maybe that was exactly it. She was naive.

Maybe you could trace this back to the 18 years she had spent looked up inside of a tower. She had the mannerisms and defense mechanisms of a child.

You did feel pity towards her. She got a fair share of your empathy. The princess hadn't had an easy life, you knew that much.

Her getting kidnapped as an infant made sure of that.

Yet even if you understood her, seeing through her made you feel way less intimidated.

You had her figured out.

That was all the information you needed to gather anyway.

You gave her a polite smile, nodding curtly.

"Thank you for your time. I believe I am one step closer to understanding Varian now."

Rapunzel stared at you questioningly as you left.

"You're... welcome?"

But you had already left the room.