Au: Royalty
Tags/Warnings: F! Reader, Totally not a concept I saw on tiktok and wanted to try
Word Count: 1.4k
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Your father coughs, letting out the air he had stuffed into his lung while trying to stifle his laughter. The crowd turns their head to him, captured by his reaction, before returning to the performance before them. Once the hundred sets of eyes left the vicinity of your seats, you lean toward your father, whispering up the length of his beard in hopes he'd hear your words from his towering throne.
"Father. You know you can laugh, right? You hired him for that very reason."
"I know, darling," he catches another laugh, making the hairs of his long moustache flare outward. "But as a leader, I must be able to show my kingdom that I am level-headed and worthy of my position. Any stray laugh," he huffs again, "could mean the end of my rule."
"Level-headed? If you separate yourself from the reality of being a person, the kingdom will have your head rolling on the carpet."
He glances down at you, "No need to worry, darling. I lead well and have led our kingdom to prosperity."
"Still—" As the Jester twists in the air, the spectators gasp in excitement, watching as the bells on his head begin to twist themselves into a knot. "You also need to be able to tell them you are trustworthy and kind. You've done well, but they also fear you!"
The Jester lands on his feet but quickly stumbles backwards onto his butt before rolling over his back and again into an upright position. You clap along with the audience, but keep your eyes trained on your father like one of the castle's many hunting dogs.
"You don't need to recite Bowman's words to me. That man pesters me enough as it is. I don't need you to do it too."
Huffing, you lean forward in your seat to glance over your father's looming figure and meet your mother's eyes. She shrugged, "He's not wrong, darling."
With another huff, you fall back into your chair and watch the Jester as he walks up behind a nobleman who is in the middle of a conversation and begins to mimic the man's large movements. The Jester is silent but expressive, arms swinging and mouth chewing as the man before he continues to babble on. It's Duke Cunnings that's ignoring him, a not so well loved member of the parliament, yet, despite the Jester's silly mockery of the older man, no one reacts.
Glancing at your father, you hope he'll finally crack and let out a boisterous chuckle and allow everyone else in the hall to laugh also. He doesn't.
Taking one last, deep breath, you put on as best of a grin as possible. And you laugh. Loudly.
Eyes, everywhere, all immediately shoot in your direction. Even the guards look, metal armour clanking as they move. You keep going, clutching your stomach as you bend over your knees. The grand hall fills with laughter. Excluding your father, who continues to stop his breathing in an attempt to appear like an adept king. Though, you can't seem to care about it now. Finally, the silence has been broken.
Looking up through your brows, you see that the Jester has also turned to you before watching him get hit in the back of the head by Duke Cunnings' cane. You wail at the accidental slapstick as the jester stumbles forward, tripping over his feet and landing on the tiled floor by your feet. Covering your mouth, you now struggle to keep your laughter going as the Jester stares up at you with wide eyes.
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
"I'm in love," the Jester sings, arching backwards over the bar with a blissful grin, bells chiming as they swing from his hat.
"Who is it this time? Or have you managed to stick with the seamstress from last week?" Yasushi asks, drying a glass.
"Hey," the Jester glares, flipping himself onto his stomach. "She had great hands."
"She was doing her job. You don't even know her name."
"Marilynne."
"Claudette, actually." The barkeep sighs, pushing the fool up by the shoulder until he lands back on his feet on the other side of the bar. "Kenji. Be serious. You can't be in love with whoever makes eye contact with you."
"Oh, yes, I can!" Kenji glares, puffing out his chest.
Tossing his washcloth over his shoulder, Yasushi spreads his arms wide and tilts forward in a mocking bow. "Hit me."
"The princess."
"HA! Oh, ya. She totally fell bell–" Yasushi reaches over the bar and smacks one of the ends of Kenji's cap'n'bells "–over heels for the court jester. You should go for it. You'd make an eye-catching couple."
"You think so?" Kenji smiles, creases appearing on his cheeks. Bells jingling with the little hope he makes.
"No! I'd love to see you try, though. You'll make a bigger fool of yourself than you already are."
"Har har har." The Jester jingles some more as he flops onto one of the bar stools. "Just hand me a drink."
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Your father was going to be the death of you. Ever since making a scene during the last event, and managing to at least portray yourself as an approachable member of the royal family, he had decided that his many social responsibilities should be handed down to you, the 'friendliest' of the family. All the while, he decides to lock himself away in his office and be more reclusive than he ever was.
Of course, you couldn't let his attempts to escape go, so sneaking out of the meeting room that was currently filled to the brim of high-nosed diplomats, you ran through the halls to your father's door.
"Why are you making me do this?" you groaned, dropping all our weight onto the chair across from his desk with a thud.
"They like you more than me," he says, matter of factly.
"Only because I played the part of being friendly and approachable." You stared up at the mural-like patterns on the ceiling, following them to the ornate arches and then along the wall where they met the floor.
"They like talking to you."
"They talk to me because they want to speak to you, but you cower away in this room because you have a skewed perception of what a king should be like and they believe I will pass on whatever message they have. You know, King Patil visits a new restaurant every week and eats with the owners. The nobles then visit since it has received the 'kings approval' and their economy flourishes."
"Yes. but I am not King Patil."
"You want to be but your ego gets in the way."
"Watch your mouth."
"Give me a mirror."
You sigh in unison. Sinking into the plush cushioning of your chairs.
Behind you, the door creeks and up bends your head backwards to see your mother walking in with a butler at her feet.
"Tea's here. Thank you. Mason, but you may attend to other duties now." The butler bows and steps back into the hallway. "Darling? What are you doing here, you're meant to be with the diplomats."
"I left the first moment I could."
"Well, I only have two tea cups." She sighs, setting the tray down on desk.
"I'll drink from the teapot," you grin, reaching for the stout container.
She smacks your hand away. "You will do no such thing, we can share," she says and sits on the catching chair at your side. "Since you're here, we planned to invite the Jester back to perform at your birthday ball."
Brows pinching, you sit upright. "The Jester?"
"Yes. You liked his act, didn't you?"
"No, no, no, no, no. What gave you the idea that I like the jester performances?"
"You laughed."
"Ya, because he wouldn't! It was a political move!" you point to your father, who glared through his brows before returning to writing.
"Oh. Well, I suppose that is a bit unfortunate then."
You shut your eyes. "How come? Why is it unfortunate?"
"The invitation was already sent."
You melted into the chair, chin hitting your chest. "Oh, bother.'
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Kenji was splayed on the floor, laying there for what must have been at least an hour, just dozing when an insistent knock pounded at his door. He groans, opening his eyes while fighting off the dreams of soft hands pulling him back towards the floor and gets up to hobble toward the banging.
"Letter from the palace."
He blinks blearily at the postman, takes the letter and shuts the door with a limp wave. He's sitting back on the floor, about to pass out again while his thumb picks at the wax seal. His head hits the floor until he catches the first few words written in and runs to his desk to get better light.
He's been requested to perform at the princess's birthday. Oh, how he loves her.
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
There will be more parts, I'm just in exam season now and have also been prepping K-pop events and stuff at work :) - Bacon
Posted: 09/04/2023