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“Is it unreasonable to suggest you take a break, your majesty?”
Sugar reaches for the next document on his desk, his facial expression doesn't change in response to the chamberlain, but the old servant has spent enough years with his majesty to notice the slight twitch of rabbit ears considering his words for a split second. Sugar has been working since coming home from the ship ports and has eaten nothing but the grapes he bought from a peasant girl on their carriage ride back. He does not feel tired but knows that if he were to stop now, he'd feel the exhaustion of his coronation overwhelming him as it did every hour he had to himself.
“Fifteen minutes of lunch shouldn’t disrupt the schedule.” The chamberlain tries again, failing to hide the worry in his voice.
Honestly, Sugar feels comforted by his suggestion, but he did not want to waste time staring at food that he wouldn't eat just to ease the minds of his servants. He continued to flip to the document, pausing when he finally found what was bothering him about this particular report. “The number of soldiers sent under this family does not correspond to the number of nephews in their registry. Please look over this.” He hands the document to the chamberlain and grabs another one.
The chamberlain lets out a pitying sigh but does not press the problem and excuses himself.
Sugar’s ears droop as the door to his office shuts. He glances over at the time, wondering if his other members staff were currently in the dining hall and if the chamberlain would also be heading there soon. He continues with his work to distract from his stomach which begins to churn at the thought of eating food in the castle.
As the unwanted child of the Labelle household, Sugar established a low sense of hunger, and an even stronger will to push through it. Nearly every servant treated him lower than a dog, feeding him stale, spoiled food occasionally laced with low doses of poison, beating and forcing it down his mouth if he refused to eat. He grew up hiding soured bread under his tongue, spitting it out as soon as the servants left. One of the few people on his side was the kitchen servant who was now forced to be his chamberlain due to the unfortunate passing of his household. But even with all of his corrupt family gone, and nearly all of the kitchen staff replaced, he still could not stomach the meals because the memory of his mistreatment was still confined to his tongue.
The only place where he felt safe and at home was in the kingdom’s inner city. There, he was welcomed by the slum's children who fed and taught him the best form of revenge: survival. When he had to return to the castle, the children even helped him sneak back, and, in return, he’d steal valuables from his family for the kids to keep. Even now, sitting in his office as the newly crowned king, he often thought of his old friends, wondering if he would ever have a chance to meet them again.
Well, meet all but one of them.
He turns to his side to see a familiar black tail swing across his window before whisking out of sight above the stilted arch. As he waits for the tail to drop into view once more, he gets startled by the sound of a knock on his door. He tears his eyes away from the window and tells the servant to come in.
A maid enters with a trolley of food. “The chamberlain sent you some tea and snacks. He also wanted to let you know you have a meeting with the treasury tomorrow.”
He frowns as she pushes the trolley next to him, but quickly thanks and dismisses her. When the door closes, he looks back to his window, waiting and squinting to see the dart of black fur.
…
When it’s apparent that Arsene was not coming in to greet him, Sugar continues with his work, leaving the tea untouched on the trolley and dropping his ears ever so slightly more as he craved the warm crepes of the baker from the inner city.
— — —
Arsene climbs down from the arched window to the castle yard. He evades the tired eyes of the inexperienced guards and jumps over the walls of the castle with no conflict.
He came to visit his old friend like he always did around this day of the week, but his trained ears told him that now was not a good time. Sugar is the type of person who would stop at nothing to finish his responsibilities and Arsene’s presence would only distract him from completing his work. Any distraction would push the work into Sugar’s hours of leisure and sleep which the poor king only got so much of after his coronation last week.
Other than sleep, Sugar wasn’t eating much either. With all that he knew about Sugar, Arsene could understand why he was hesitant to adapt to this new lifestyle, but Sugar looks arguably worse than the thirteen-year-old version of him Arsene found six years ago.
With new resolve, Arsene heads into town, silently promising to come back to his friend later in the night.
— — —
“Are you heading to bed now, your majesty?” asks the chamberlain as Sugar hands him the remaining registries to look over. He glances at the time and realizes it’s past one in the morning and he still hasn’t eaten yet. He straightens his back and nods.
“Yes, could you remind me what’s on the schedule tomorrow? I recall a maid informing me that I’m meeting the treasury department.”
The chamberlain runs through the schedule and Sugar could feel his head getting heavier with each word that left his mouth. When the chamberlain finally finished speaking, he couldn't even tell because he expected to hear more. “Is that all?” He asks skeptically.
“Yes, that is all. I’ll arrive early tomorrow to assist and accompany you to the duchy. I hope breakfast with the Duchess will be a positive change in atmosphere. Would you like me to send something for tonigh-”
“That won’t be necessary, thank you.” He quickly interrupts. “I hope you have a good rest Ev-, I mean, chamberlain. Thank you for your help today.”
The chamberlain gives him a sad smile and Sugar excuses himself to avoid any further discussion.
When he finally returned to his room, he let out a long sigh, wondering if any stores in the inner city were open right now. Though he knew the taverns and bars were always accessible, the chances of being recognized and attacked were too high to be worth the risk. As he tries to think of other places which might welcome him, he feels a draft of wind on his face and spots the window open. He definitely remembered closing and locking it before he left this morning, but he ignores the clear signs of a break-in and indifferently walks over to close it.
A pair of hands gently cover his eyes and wrap around his waist.
Sugar smiles at the familiarity of the situation. “Am I finally being put out of my misery?” He asks.
Arsene hums and places his chin on Sugar’s head, right between his long ears. “I was thinking more, chain you to my bed and pamper you for the rest of your life.”
Sugar relaxes further upon hearing the sound of Arsene’s voice. “Then, by all means, take me now.”
Arsene breathes a laugh. “With our clothes on? But I haven’t even showered.”
“Regrettably, I haven’t either.”
“We can take one together.”
“I'll pass.” He lightheartedly pushes Arsene away and sits on his bed.
Arsene clicks his tongue. “I thought I'd finally get to see the royal bathhouse,” he says as he sits down next to Sugar.
"I know you're after more than the bathhouse, and you're not very good at hiding it." Sugar points out. He lays down and weaves Arsene’s tail through his fingers, his eyes getting heavy with the repeated movement.
"I wasn't trying to hide it." Arsene twists his tail out of his grasp and lays it over Sugar's face. Sugar smiles and lets it lay over his eyes.
Arsene was a regular visitor. He’d drop by to give Sugar food or updates on the inner city or just to chat and catch up with his old friend. After the incident, the two of them separated for two years, but they slowly reconnected as Sugar’s coronation came closer. Now he couldn’t really imagine life without Arsene.
“It must be your lucky day, 'cause I'm tired enough to admit that I missed you.”
Arsene smirks, ready to say something suggestive but he notices Sugar drifting in and out of sleep. "Aw, falling asleep already?" he whines. "And here I thought we'd finally get to have a picnic on the west wing."
Sugar perks up at the sound. “A picnic?”
Arsene grins. “Yep.”
“… Are there crepes?”
“And other pastries, too.”
Sugar sits up with a burst of newfound energy and practically hops to the door. He scans for any of the servants wandering outside his bedroom before looking back at Arsene with anticipation.
Arsene chuckles before getting up to follow him.
— — —
Arsene's chest feels warm as they sneak through the moonlit halls they’ve run through so many times before.
The west wing wasn’t exactly far, and if Arsene were to climb, it’d only take a minute or so to arrive at the picnic, but he wasn’t going to ask Sugar to do that. Though confident that Sugar could easily scale the castle walls, there was already a rumor that Prince Sugar was a bloodthirsty, murder hobo that massacred the entire Labelle family. Arsene did not want ‘The deranged murder hobo, King Labelle, jumps on castle rooftops!' as a newspaper headline.
Arsene tries to surpass Sugar's pace, but the rabbit notices his challenge and darts even faster down the hall. Arsene holds back from laughing at Sugar’s competitive nature and does his best to keep up.
But just as Sugar rounds the corner, Arsene watches him jump back from behind the wall.
With interest, Arsene catches up to see what could have possibly spooked Sugar. He’s greeted by the frown of the kingdom’s treasurer, Leviathan. “Oh, Levi!" He says with genuine cheerfulness. "It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he casually leans on the corner, towering over Levi as he greets him.
Levi cautiously looks behind him, his sheep ears casting shadows on the ground as they flutter. He pulls out a wand and levitates the two of them off the ground, hurrying back down the hall they came from. He opens one of the storage rooms and throws the two of them in with a flick of his wrist and shuts the door, failing to see (or he might have seen, the two of them don't think Leviathan really cares) how Sugar landed on Arsene’s chest and Arsene instinctively wrapped his arms around him.
Before they could comprehend the situation, they could hear Leviathan’s voice from outside the door. “Good evening, Evrnd. Are you visiting the dining hall?”
The chamberlain let out a low laugh. “Yes, and I was about to head to bed in the servants' quarters as well. Even though it’s been two years, my old habits occasionally come back.”
Even with this conversation outside, Arsene, feeling a little mischievous, glides his finger down Sugar's spine. He’s rewarded with a displeased grunt and a glare that just makes him want to do worse. He wraps his hand around Sugar’s tail, causing him to softly yelp and angrily pat Arsene’s chest.
“You’ve had a long day," Levi says delicately, undeniably hearing the two of them in the storage room. "It’s understandable that an overworked mind returns to old habits.”
“Mm, it makes me wonder how the king is handling himself. He still feels like a child to me, yet, the entire country is watching and depending on him. I just don’t know if there’s any more I can do to help.”
They hear Levi patting the chamberlain. “Your contributions to the royal family and this country are more valuable than we will ever deserve. I’m sure King Labelle would agree that you do more than enough.”
The chamberlain sighs. “I know, but I can't help but think he's handling too much.”
“I'm sure with time, there will be many on his side to aid him, but for now we just have to have faith. I trust the King to make only… the best... decisions.” Sugar flinches in Arsene’s arms hearing the carefully enunciated words. The both of them could practically feel him side-eyeing them from outside.
"Oh? Has he done something?" Asks the chamberlain who, of course, would notice Levi's presumption. "I know he occasionally sneaks out, but I haven’t seen him do so since the coronation.”
Tension hangs in Leviathan’s long pause. “He’s hiding a stray kitten in the castle. I feel guilty taking it but I would rather it stay away from our King.”
Arsene couldn’t hold back the small laugh that escaped his mouth. Sugar shushes him but found himself smiling at the comment as well.
“A kitten? Well, there’s no harm in a pet, is there?”
“Trust me, that thing is feral and a bad influence on Sugar," Levi says disapprovingly. "Anyway, I need to go drop this off in Labelle’s office.”
“Oh, then I’ll accompany you. But about this cat…”
The two of them waited for the footsteps to fade away before getting up and exiting the room.
“Great, now my chamberlain will interrogate me about a metaphorical cat.”
Arsene huffs at Sugar's remark. “Wait until he finds out this cat is feeding you instead of the other way around.”
— — —
The two make their way to the second floor of the ballroom. Outside of one of the rounded verandas is a blue picnic cloth with two pillows, a basket, and a vase of roses atop it.
“You know you’re gonna have to clean this up later.”
Arsene doesn't fall for the taunt and ushers Sugar forward. “Don’t ruin the moment, just sit down and eat,” he says playfully. They sit and Sugar immediately grabs a sandwich out of the basket and takes a bite.
“God, I miss this food.”
Arsene laughs to himself and takes a seat next to Sugar. He sets the crepes and pastries out on the cloth and curls his tail around Sugar when he's settled.
Sugar begins asking about what Arsene has been up to. Arsene begins to talk about exaggerated heists and close calls to being captured. Eventually also lists the names of many friends in the inner city and Arsene tells him about their whereabouts, circumstances, and experiences over the past week.
As he listens, Sugar takes a bite out of his crepe and smiles. “You think anyone in the slums would like to work in the castle? Or even anyone in the inner city?”
Arsene snickers at the thought. “I don’t think this royal, political life would suit any of them.”
Sugar frowns. “Well, it doesn't exactly suit me either, but I'd love to see everyone again."
Arsene looks over to Sugar, his eyes are locked on the sky, lost in thought. “Well, I can invite the others to come next time," Arsene says reassuringly. "It's clear that they'd love to see their new King and old friend again after so long. And I'll always be here to bring you food and keep you company."
Sugar breathes a solemn laugh. “I’m not sure I can trust you. You could get captured tomorrow for all I know.”
Arsene gives Sugar a cheeky grin. “Guess I have to never get caught.”
Sugar smiles, still looking at the sky. He snuggles closer, closing his eyes and folding back his ears as he leans onto Arsene’s shoulder. “And I hope you never do.”