the prince and the pauper ; kubokai royalty au

2 ¬ better ¬

Shun lingered on the staircase, spotting a huddle of servants at the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately for him, who was trying to stay hidden, they noticed him staring and turned around to greet him. 

"Good morning, Prince!" A man called up the stairs. This man was the head of the palace court, and in turn was in charge of managing everyone who worked for the Kaido family. Standing behind him was a younger man, someone that Shun didn't recognize. He appeared to be pretty nervous, but he was smiling all the same. 

Is that..? 

Shun was surprised, to say the least. He was very much expecting another female maid, as all his life he's had women servants attending to him, the same as his sister. But this was definitely a man standing before him, dressed in black robes, fidgeting with the gloves on his hands, who looked to be Shun's age just as Hana had said. He took a closer look at him,  and the first thing he noticed was his hair - it was a deep shade of violet that stood out from all the other people standing beside him. Something about him just stood out, but Shun couldn't pinpoint why.

"Good morning." Shun called back as he walked down the stairs, slightly embarrassed that he had been caught looking. He figured he might as well meet him considering he was here now.

Many of the servants cleared the path and greeted him with a smile, leaving only the head of court and the purple haired servant stood before him. 

"Prince, I would like you to meet the new member of the palace court, Aren. He will be overtaking Hana's current temporary role as your evening attendant, but i'm sure he will happily assist you on any needs you may have during the daytime also. I hope his service finds you well."

He turned to present Aren, who stepped forward towards Shun and smiled slightly.

"Nice to meet you, your highness." He said, and bowed a little, his hand placed on his chest as he did so. 

"Nice to meet you too, Aren." Shun replied, and he held out his hand towards him.

The other servants seemed a little taken aback by this, as it was very rare for a royal to shake hands with a domestic worker, and a brand new worker at that, who Shun didn't yet know. But Aren took his hand gracefully and locked eyes with the Prince as he shook it. 

"Ahem," the head of court cleared his throat quietly, causing their hands to break away. "Yes, well, Aren should be going now, as he has other duties to attend to at the moment. But, should you need anything, come calling for us as usual." 

"Oh, um, yes. Thank you." Shun stumbled, his hand still lingering awkwardly in the air where Aren had held it. He swallowed as the group of servants began to turn away and leave for their daily work. But just as Aren was being whisked away with them, Shun called out down the hallway.

"I..um..see you later, Aren!"

He didn't know why he said it, and it the way he had said it made him want to smash his head into the slab of marble behind him, but to his relief, Aren turned around and grinned.

"Of course!" He yelled back, and then continued walking away, his shoes clicking against the polished floor.

See you later.

Shun watched him airily until he had left through the great oak doors at the end of the hallway, when just then he saw Hana emerge from behind. She was bustling about in a hurry, carrying a feather duster in one hand and a cloth rag in the other. 

"Oh, hello again, Master Shun. Have you happened to run into the new servant yet?" She halted her rushed demeanour, and turned to face Shun. Her voice lowered to almost a whisper. "I met him earlier, and I must say..oh Shun, don't tell anyone this, but he is quite handsome, isn't he!"

"He.. I mean, well, yes, I have met him, and ..he's not bad, I suppose?" Shun stammered on his words, and was confused as to why. But he didn't ponder on it. "Hana, you don't .. like him, do you?"

"Well, I.., I'm not sure if I should be saying this.." She giggled and looked down at her feet.

"Don't worry, I've told you already. Don't feel as though you're at work with me. You know this - we're friends, right? So.., what, you think he's attractive?" Shun asked casually, fidgeting with some tassels on his robe.

"Okay, yes, of course. Well, I wouldn't say it's anything..romantic, nothing like that. But, I don't know..the way he looked at me when he introduced himself..I think I felt my heart flutter a little."

Shun thought back to when Aren had done the same to him, when their eyes had locked as they shook hands.

"Well, maybe he was just being nice. Making eye contact doesn't mean something." Shun uttered almost bitterly. Why did I just respond like that? Shouldn't I be excited with her?

"Oh, that's..probably it." Hana's smile remained, but her face had fallen. It was clear what he said had upset her a little, but she didn't show it. "Oh!..I just remembered I need to begin lunch preparations. Maybe i'll get to see him again..sorry I couldn't stick around to chat for long. Bye for now, Master Shun." And with that, she turned on her heels and was soon out the same door that Aren had left from.

Shun was left in the hallway alone as before, and he felt bad. He wanted to apologise for snapping at Hana, because he truly had no idea why he'd done that. But she had already left, and likely wasn't in the mood to talk to him anyway, even if her job mandated it. And so, with lack of better things to do, he fetched a book from the library and headed to his usual spot outside in the palace gardens.

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