ʀᴏʏᴀʟᴛʏ ᴀᴜ (ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ ᴋᴇʟ, ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ ʜᴇʀᴏ, ʟᴀᴅʏ ᴍᴀʀɪ, ᴍᴀɪᴅ ᴀᴜʙʀᴇʏ, ᴄᴀꜱᴛʟᴇ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴᴇʀ ʙᴀꜱɪʟ)
ʜᴇʀᴏ x ᴍᴀʀɪ ʙʀɪᴇꜰʟʏ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ
𝓂𝑒? 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇? 𝓎𝑒𝓈, 𝒾 𝒹𝑜
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊
ᴋᴇʟ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ʜᴇ wasn't allowed to be peeking into the ballroom through one of the windows, but could you blame him? Hero was having a ball to help him find a future wife since he was getting closer to the age of marriage, and he was curious about it. If he wasn't allowed inside the ball, he would have to watch from outside. No one noticed him anyway.
Yet.
"What are you doing here?"
Kel turned around to find a maid standing there. She must have been new since he didn't remember seeing a maid with pink hair before, but she recognized him, quickly curtsying and muttering an apology. It wasn't like no one shouldn't recognize the younger prince, but he still felt a little bad when she kept her head lowered.
"It's fine," he said. "I know I shouldn't be here anyway."
The maid lifted her head, and he realized she had pretty blue eyes. "Then why are you here, Your Highness?"
"I'm spying on Hero! You know he's having a ball to find his future wife, right?"
"What about it?"
"Aren't you curious to see what's happening inside?" He frowned when she shook her friend. "Huh. Must be a sibling thing or something."
Kel turned back to the window when he heard music start to play. The ballroom was lit brightly, and many people were in there. It took him a while to spot Hero, who was currently dancing with a woman with long black hair in a purple dress. He couldn't see much due to the people blocking his view, but he had to stifle his laughter as he saw Hero.
"What are you looking at?" the maid asked, taking a quick look into the ballroom.
Kel turned his head away from the window. "Hero. Did you see how mysterious he was acting?"
"Mysterious?" The maid looked back into the window, and from her faint smile, he knew she was seeing how closed off and silent Hero was acting. From what he saw, Hero hadn't smiled the entire time, and he kept to himself a lot and observed more than he spoke. "Isn't he scared of spiders or something?"
"He is! He's terrified of them. I have to keep killing them for him, but look at how tough and mysterious he's acting now."
She laughed, and it made him stop to listen to her better. "It's probably to look good in front of the other ladies. I bet he told them some dangerous story about how he got his nickname."
"Do you know the story?"
He guessed she was new, so he wasn't surprised when she shook her head. He did smile, though, when she said, "But I'm guessing it's not a dangerous story at all, but he's making up some story to make himself look good in front of the ladies."
Kel laughed. "Probably! I never thought he'd act like this, though. He's always been able to make girls or people as a whole like him."
Unlike him. But he didn't care. Definitely.
"Like I said, he's trying to look good in front of the ladies. Or, maybe it's a lady," the maid corrected. "Is this the first dance of the night?"
Kel nodded. "Why?"
"If it's the first dance of the night, maybe the girl he's dancing with caught his eye." She pointed to her, and he followed her finger to the black-haired woman in the purple dress. "That's Lady Mari. I'm pretty sure she and Prince Hero are the same age. I hear she's the sweetest person you'll ever meet, she can play the piano, she's a great baker, and she has a soft spot for cats. Plus, she's pretty."
The people who were previously blocking the view from the window had moved away, and Kel had a better view of Mari now. He could see her black eyes, her little smile, and the gentleness in how she held Hero as they danced. Her dance moves were graceful, and she treated Hero as if they had known each other their whole lives—which Kel's dance teacher was always telling him to do whenever he had to dance. She definitely was pretty.
But still, Kel's eyes were moving back to the maid on their own. Maybe it was just her pink hair, but she was prettier. It would be awkward to say that, though.
"That's dumb," he said instead. "Why would you lie about yourself to impress someone?"
"To make them think better of you, obviously. Not everyone does that, but don't shame the people who do."
Kel shrugged. He still thought it was stupid, but he would listen to her. "Hey, I just remembered that I don't know your name. What is it?"
"Oh, it's Aubrey."
"Hi, Aubrey. I'm Kel."
"I know. You're the younger prince." Right. Of course she did. Before he could come up with something to say, Aubrey's eyes widened and said, "Am I treating you too informally? I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"You're not. I don't care how you treat me. I mean, as long as it's not rude. No one wants to be treated like that. But you wouldn't do that. Because I'm the younger prince. But you know that. Obviously. Because you knew my name. And you're a maid here. I'll...stop talking," he added in a quieter voice when she had a confused frown. He looked away from her. Why was he messing up on his words? That wasn't like him at all.
"It's fine," Aubrey said. "I have to get back to work anyway. It's been nice talking to you."
"You too!" Kel called out as she left. Once she was out of sight, he sighed as he sat down under the window. The ball was still going on, but he didn't care about it anymore. He made himself look like a fool in front of a pretty maid, after all. Who cared if she was technically below him? That doesn't change the fact he embarrassed himself in front of a pretty girl!
. . .
"ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ to worry so much," Basil told Kel the next day when he told him all about how he embarrassed himself in front of Aubrey. "I'm sure Aubrey doesn't care about that."
Kel sighed. Basil was the castle's head gardener, and he always saw things more positively than others did. That was what drew him to spend time with him, but he didn't believe his words right now. "But what if she does care and think I'm a total loser now?"
Basil shook his head as he tended to a patch of roses. "She won't think that of a prince."
"But what if she does? I know people have opinions on royalty that they don't ever say to their faces! You don't have to hide it from me!"
"Well, I'm sure she doesn't. Even if she does, you don't have to care about her. After all, she's a maid, and you're a prince. Her opinion is basically irrelevant."
"Maybe to you or in the grand scheme of things, but not to me right now! Or to me ever!"
Basil frowned at him. "Why do you care, then?"
"She's pretty," Kel automatically answered.
When he didn't add anything else, Basil's eyebrows furrowed together. "Is...that all?"
He was about to nod before shrugging. "I don't know her that well, but she is very pretty. She has long pink hair and pretty blue eyes... And she also has a nice voice. And a nice laugh. I want to talk to her more so I can find out more about her."
"Then go talk to her."
"But I don't know where she is!"
"She's a maid, isn't she?" Basil's next words drowned out before he said them. They both had turned to the castle, and it was a large castle that towered over lots of land. There were plenty of places a maid could be in.
"Where would a new maid be?" Kel asked Basil and himself.
"Maybe the lower levels?" Basil suggested. "I don't think a new maid would be allowed to go far into the castle since they could get lost easily."
"That's a great idea! You're the best, Basil!" Kel grinned at him before rushing into the castle. Searching the lower levels would be a lot easier than searching the whole castle. Plus, he was a pretty fast runner, so if he ran through the halls, he would be able to find her!
So, he ran—which caused him to slip on wet ground.
"Didn't you see that the floor is clearly, Your Highness?" a voice asked from behind him. Aubrey held out her hand to help him stand up.
"Of course I saw did!" Kel said, trying to have a confident smile. "I just ignored it!"
Aubrey hummed. She didn't look like she believed him, but she didn't press the issue either. She had a mop in her hand, and she told him, "Are you going somewhere now? I need to get back to work."
"I can help!"
That only deepened her frown more. "No offence, but have you ever cleaned in your life?"
"Of course I have!" He didn't. There was always someone to clean up after him, so he never saw a need to. He wasn't going to say that in front of Aubrey, though. She might judge him.
"Well, I'm just mopping, and I don't have another mop you can use—"
"You're off-duty!"
"What?"
"You're off-duty," Kel repeated. "You don't have to work right now. I'm cleaning now. Give your mop to me. You have to. Prince's orders."
Aubrey hesitated, but she gave the mop to him. Kel smiled, but when he had the mop in his hands, he wasn't sure what to do with it now. He had seen maids mop before, so he tried to imitate what they did. Once he was pretty sure he was doing it right, he risked a glance at Aubrey, but she only stood a bit away from him and watched in silence. Since she wasn't saying anything, he assumed it was a good sign.
However, he only relaxed when she said, "You're not too bad at this."
"I've mopped before!" Another lie, but she didn't have to know that.
Aubrey hummed, and she had a smile on her face. He forced himself to look away and continue mopping so she didn't think of him any weirder than she already did.
"So, do you have any reason for coming here, Your Highness?" she asked.
"I wanted to talk to you," he replied.
"Really? Don't princes have other things to be doing than talking to maids?"
"I don't. Well, other than talking to Basil, but I already talked to him today."
"Who's Basil?"
"He's the head gardener. Light blonde hair, blue eyes, green overalls, always has that pinkish-red flower behind his ear..." He shrugged when she still looked lost. "You're still pretty new, so I guess you'll meet him some other time."
"Maybe." Aubrey fell silent after that.
Kel wanted her to keep talking. "When did you start working here?"
"A week ago."
"Cool. How old are you?"
"16. Just a year younger than you are."
"How do you know how old I am?" Did she go around asking people about him? Kel's heart fluttered at the thought.
Aubrey shrugged. "Everyone knows how old the princes are."
Oh. He was a prince, and everyone knew stuff like his age. Right.
"So... What's your favourite colour?"
"Pink. Obviously." She twirled a strand of her pink hair around her finger.
"You have nice hair. Did you dye it recently?"
"I did. I always wanted to dye my hair pink, but two weeks ago was the first time I did."
"I like you with pink hair."
"You never saw me without it."
Of course. Why did he keep saying the obvious? Aubrey was thinking of him as weird. Of course she was. He would think of himself as weird, too, if he was her.
"Are you done mopping?" Aubrey asked. "I can continue from here."
"W-Well, I said you were off-duty..." Why was he stuttering?
"I can go back on duty," she said. "I'm getting paid to do this anyway."
"Right..." Kel handed Aubrey the mop back. He wasn't sure if he should leave, but he didn't want to, and she wasn't telling him to, so he took it as his sign he could stay. He couldn't think of anything to say, though. "So..."
"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," Aubrey said.
"Yeah, but—"
"We don't have anything to talk about either, so you can go right now."
Did she want him to go? Was she just trying to tell him to go away but in a nice way? How badly did he mess up?
"I guess I'll leave..." Kel said, although he hesitated before he actually left. He really needed to do better next time.
. . .
"ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ impress girls?" Kel asked Basil in the castle gardens the next day.
Basil shrugged. "I don't know any more than you do."
"But you do know more than me! You have to since I'm asking you."
"Why don't you try asking Hero? I'm sure he knows way more than I do."
Kel scoffed. "Asking Hero is just asking for death. He'll tease me about it, and he won't stop getting emotional about how I'm growing up or something. Besides, what's he going to tell me? Pretend to be mysterious as we dance? Aubrey already knows I'm not mysterious at all, but even if she didn't, I'm not pretending to be mysterious!"
"What are you talking about?" Basil asked with a frown.
He realized just then that he didn't know he had been spying on Hero's ball the other day. He knew he wouldn't get him in trouble, but he still said, "Nothing. Anyway, how do you impress girls again?"
"Umm..." Basil looked around the garden as if the answer would be there. Apparently, it was, as he suggested, "Maybe you should get her some flowers. Girls like flowers, right?"
"So, you think I should get Aubrey roses?" Wouldn't that be like confessing he had feelings for her? It wasn't like he did have feelings for her—he just met her, after all—but that would still be awkward.
Basil thought about it before shaking his head. "Roses tend to be given as gifts to symbolize romantic love. I don't think you have any romantic love towards her. Plus, some people get disappointed when they get roses since they're so overgiven to show someone's love that it feels like no thought was put into the gift. That's why they can also symbolize disappointment as well as love."
"Then what should I give her?"
"What message do you want to send to her?"
"Umm..." That was a hard question. "'I'm sorry for embarrassing myself in front of you both times we were together, so please take these flowers as an apology'?"
"I'm...not sure she'll catch all of that in flowers..."
"You said what message I want to send her!"
"Well, yeah, but... I'm a gardener, not a florist who knows everything there is about plants!"
"You do know everything there is about plants, though!"
"I'm not a florist!"
Good point.
"Maybe you should try something simple," Basil suggested. "If you want to include a flower that includes an apology, we can find you a flower that symbolizes forgiveness. Not in this garden, of course. You can't take flowers out of here."
"Where do I get her flowers from, then?"
"Buy them from the local village, or grow them yourselves. It'll mean more to her if you grew it yourself."
Maybe, but he didn't have the time to grow anything. He'll just have to find time to go to the local village, buy flowers, and not cause any gossip among the villagers that would eventually get to the castle. He really didn't need his mother wondering why he was buying flowers and who he was buying them for.
"What flowers should I get her?" Kel asked the only flower-expert he knew.
"Are you going with a flower that symbolizes forgiveness?" When he nodded, Basil said, "A lot of flowers symbolize forgiveness. If you want a flower that's symbolism is the most similar to your message, then...maybe give her jasmines? They can represent purity and love, but they can also symbolize forgiveness. You can get her pink ones since they're more feminine, if you don't mind how it symbolizes love too."
"Jasmines," Kel repeated, testing the name of the flower on his mouth. "I like that! Where do I find jasmines?"
"You can buy some from the local village's flower shop, I think. We don't grow any jasmines in the castle garden, so I can't give you any even if we did."
"Local village's flower shop. Got it!" Kel took his hands and grinned at him. "You're the best, Basil!"
Basil smiled. "Anytime."
. . .
ᴋᴇʟ, ɪɴ ʜɪꜱ super-awesome commoner disguise, bought jasmine flowers. He told a maid to send Aubrey to his chambers—maids knew where other maids were, didn't they?—and waited for her. As the minutes ticked by, he thought more and more about the flowers he picked and grew more cautious of them. What if she didn't like them? What if she only pretends to like them but throws them away after? What if she was allergic to flowers in the first place?
He forced those thoughts out when he heard a knock on his door. When he said to come in, Aubrey opened it. "You wanted to see me?"
Before he could change his mind, Kel presented her with the flowers. "I got these for you."
Aubrey blinked a few times. "Why?"
That was the one thing he was hoping she wouldn't say. "I just...thought these were pretty, and I thought you would like them!"
"You did?" Aubrey stared at them for a second before taking them, smiling. "Thank you."
Kel had to remind himself to look away, hoping his face didn't look as red as it felt. "It's no problem! Are jasmine your favourite flowers?"
"Gladioli, actually."
"Oh, gladioli?" If there was a God out there, Kel was forever grateful to him for blessing him with living in the same life as Basil, who was always helping him even when he wasn't there. If it wasn't for him, he would have never been able to confidently say, "Did you know gladioli represent strength of character?"
"I didn't, Your Highness." She had more of a playful look in her eye as she said, "I didn't know you knew the symbolism behind flowers."
Basil did, and listening to him ramble about flowers meant he did too. "Of course I do! Well...not all flowers, but I do know some of them!"
She hummed. "I never thought a prince would know the symbolism behind flowers. What do you do with that knowledge?"
"Save it, so I can give flowers to and impress pretty girls like you." Dang it.
Aubrey blinked a few times, her blue eyes widening. "Are you flirting with me?"
"No! You're just pretty! That's all!" He prayed to whatever God there was that she wouldn't notice how fast his words were coming out.
She looked down towards the jasmines. If she noticed, she thankfully didn't say that. Instead, she said, "What do these flowers mean?"
"Purity," he said, then wanted to kick himself. Why didn't he say forgiveness?
"They're a nice colour," she said.
"You like pink, right? I thought so because of your hair."
"Yeah, it's my favourite colour. Thank you, Your Highness."
Kel frowned when she turned to the door. "Are you leaving already?"
Aubrey nodded. "I have to keep working."
"But...can't you stay here for a little longer?"
"No." After a quick pause, she said, "Maybe some other time, I can, Your Highness."
"You can just call me 'Kel.' Doesn't it bother you to say 'Your Highness' all the time?"
"No, but if you want me to call you by your name instead of 'Your Highness', I can do that...Kel."
Kel smiled. "See you later, Aubrey!"
Aubrey smiled back—she smiled back!—before she left with her pink jasmines he bought her in hand. In Kel's book, that was a successful mission.
. . .
"ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ what happened next." Hidden behind a large bush, Kel leaned forward to whisper to Basil with wide eyes, "She smiled at me."
Basil's eyes widened as well. "No way...!"
"Way!" He smiled at the memory. "She looked so pretty..."
"So, what does that mean? Are you two friends now?"
"I think so. She's going to call me 'Kel' now instead of 'Your Highness'! You haven't called me 'Your Highness' in years, so that means something!"
Basil smiled. "When are you hanging out with her next?"
"I don't know." Kel's eyes widened, and he grabbed his shoulders. "Basil, you need to help me."
"I'm sure you'll be fine on your own—"
"No, I can't! Basil, please help me!" He started gently shaking him back and forth. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please—"
"Okay, I'll help!" He got himself out of his grasp. "I still think you'll be fine on your own, but I'll help."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kel took his hands. "Basil, when I'm married, you can have my first child!"
"I don't want your first child!"
"Then my first child will be named after you!"
"U-Umm... Thank you?" Basil weakly smiled.
Kel smiled back. Basil always knew what to do, and he trusted him to help him with Aubrey. He never knew how to act around girls, but thank the heavens for bringing Basil to him! Aubrey will definitely like him with Basil at his side!
- - - -
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝟸.𝟻𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜! 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙸 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝟺𝚔-𝟻𝚔 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏. 𝚀𝚞𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝.
𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙸 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎! 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕! <𝟹
𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 (𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰/𝙽): 𝟹𝟺𝟾𝟽