the prince and the pauper ; kubokai royalty au

7 ¬ wishing ¬

took a .. small break over the holidays but im back !!

+ happy new year!

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Three weeks have passed since Aren first began working at the palace. And although his daily duties didn't change much at all, no day truly felt the same as the next. It was an eventful job for sure. Aside from all of his general palace assignments, that extended from preparing for high profile guests to inspecting the palace horses,.. there was always one person that made his work more interesting than anything else.

Each day he learnt so much about him. And they had spent time together every single day without fail. Whilst Aren worked his morning shifts, Shun always somehow coincidentally wandered past. Then he would hang around and they would talk briefly, but Aren would be mindful. He would watch if any other staff walked by and made sure to never fully let his guard down. 

But then, when it came to the evenings, none of that mattered anymore.

Nobody else would be coming into Shun's bedroom at night. And so Shun and Aren would talk and joke around and laugh for hours, like two little kids at a sleepover. And Shun was grateful. And Aren was grateful. They were comfortable in their friendship by now, and it was during Aren's evening shift where he stopped being a servant, and became Shun's friend. Which is what he longed to be throughout the entire day, but both understood his job wouldn't permit it.

It was early in the morning. Aren stood in the small washroom for servants, and had just put on his working robes for the day. It was only a cramped box room, but it was full and bustling with other servants, also getting ready. He was hunched over a tap, adjusting his clothes infront of the mirror, when he felt someone slap his shoulder.

"Oi, Aren. Getting all pretty to see your prince again?" It was a man, another servant that Aren knew, but not very well. He was just joking around, alot of them joked like this- they'd all  clocked on that Aren and the Prince were becoming close,.. but none of them knew the true extent of their friendship. From their perspective, Aren was on about the same level as Hana when it came to his status with Shun. Still, comments like this made Aren nervous. He cleared his throat and laughed back at him, though he didn't find it funny.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He muttered, and shoved the hand off of his shoulder.

Everyone began to filter out the room then, a wave of chatter and noise rising and falling as the servants left, leaving only Aren and Hana behind. They'd also become close friends during Aren's first few weeks. Hana showed Aren his way on his first ever shift, so it'd become a routine for them to walk together in the morning. She'd hung back as usual, and was standing in the doorway, fiddling around with the bonnet on her head. 

"Don't take any notice of them." She said, her voice muffled by the hairpins she was holding in her mouth. "They used to say all that to me too."

"It's no problem. It's just a joke, right?" He replied, shrugging.

"Of course, but..oh, I don't know. They don't mean any harm with their jokes." The two had left the room too as well, and Hana's voice had lowered as they headed towards the main palace through the back corridors. 

 "I'm glad that you and Shun are getting close." She added, looking off to the side.

"He's easy to get along with. He's a lot more likeable than some of the servants in there."

"So you've become friends with him?" Suddenly she sounded interrogative, and it caught Aren by suprise.

"Um-, well, yes? Aren't you friends with him?"

"I'd like to say so. But, you know.." She trailed off, not finishing her sentence. 

"I ..don't? Tell me." 

Hana inhaled, and clasped her hands. "Look, okay. I know he's lonely. I definitely understand that. But Aren, you just..you can't get too close to him. Unprofessionally close, you know?  This is a job that we do. And you could really get in trouble if anyone higher up found out that you practically slacked off and abandoned your duties during your night shift. I- know how it feels.. I want to be real friends with him too, but we.. we can't. We're servants."

Aren went quiet, then leaned closer to her. "How did you..how did you even know that-"

"Shun talks about you. Alot. I attend to him in the mornings and throughout the day, and he goes on about you, and the things you two talk about. And.. of course, I would never tell on you, but.. i'm serious. Aren, if the wrong person found out about this-"

"Found out about what? We aren't even..we aren't even doing anything wrong. Sorry that I treat him like a normal person, and not some god."

"But.. we can't really treat him like any normal person. Let's be honest..he isn't a normal person. He's a prince. I..you know this. And you could get into so much trouble."

"Hana..., listen, nobody's going to find out. I'm careful during the day. I work hard. I do all my work as instructed. Boss thinks i'm doing well.., at least I think so, anyway. My job is to attend to the prince and keep him happy, ..and if being a friend to him is what will keep him happy, then I don't see why I should stop."

"You don't understand-"

"Well, maybe I don't." He said, but he realised his fist was clenched, and he heard how angry he sounded. His voice softened. "..Sorry. I know I'm new here. But he's told me so many times that he doesn't like being treated differently, and can you blame him? Imagine everyone taking care of you like some sort of prized fragile doll, and everyone around you is scared of messing something up. Shun's a teenager. He just wants to do normal teenage things, and have other teenage friends ..that aren't his siblings. There's nothing wrong with that."

Hana took a breath. She wanted to disagree, but both of them knew Aren was right. 

"Just..be careful, okay? I'll see you around noon." She turned to face him, and gave him a worried smile before rushing off to the cleaning cupboard. 

Aren sighed and mulled over their conversation as he walked over to the tool shed. He took his gardening boots and apron from the shelf, and grabbed the small box of gardening tools he'd taken with him when he'd met Shun on his first day. Hana's words echoed in his mind.

We're servants. Lets be honest, he isn't a normal person. He's a prince.

Yet, somehow, these words didn't even matter to him anymore. In Aren's mind, they were equals. And Shun was on the same level to Aren as everyone else. 

Well.. no, actually.

Shun was above everybody else in Aren's eyes. But it's not because he's a prince.