AHAHAHAHAHAHA IM ON AN ANGST ROLL WITH LACK OF SLEEP TRY AND STOP MEE IM SORRY IF YOUR HEART DOESNT HURT I TRIED
THIS PROBABLY MAKES NO SENSE BUT I WROTE IT WHILE I WAS HALF ASLEEP BASICALLY THEY HAD A THING GOINGG ON EARLIER IN THEIR LIFE BUT NOT ANYMORE EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE SO MUCH LINGERING FEELINGS AND SELFLESSNESS AND INABILITY TO DEAL WITH FEELINGS IS STOPPING IT AND JUST AHA im so sorry for this waste of time omg
anyways thank you for reading, this is mainly based on a story one of my very talented friends wrote, about a girl, seventeen, who's close friends were an assassin assigned to protect her through wishes of her father, a pyscho who has mental issues, and she keeps him sane, and a prince. All are irrevocably infautated with her, and she was in love with the prince, but it wouldn't work out because of her selflessness.
and a song by Alexander rybak (he's unbelievable with his violin!):
"Years ago, when I was younger, I kinda liked a girl I knew. She was mine, and we were sweethearts, but that was then...and this is true. I'm in love with a fairytale, even though it hurts! I don't care if I lose my mind; I'm already yours!"
She was looking after Duchess Adelaide's daughter when it happened. The child was bored, and when she asked her what would be amusing in her eyes, the child replied that she would love to know a story. But not just any story, she said as they were seated on a large blanket on the dewy grass, sheltered from the Suns harsh rays by the trees. She demanded a story that actually happened in her life.
The woman in her early twenties raised an eyebrow at the small girl, after all, she was just a musketeer. Aside from the occasional mission, nothing was really that exciting in her life. And then she noted something, the child begged for a romance story, not minding if it lasted a day.
Oh how Corinne wishes that Aramina, an expert on story telling and romance, were on duty instead of her. But as the Kings personal guard, there were some predicaments you had to deal with.
"Please!" The little girl with ivory flowers tucked in her braids who went by the name of Violet, pleaded. "And besides, I'm a total stranger! You wouldn't have to worry about me telling any soul at all! I just come and go, you wouldn't have to deal with the stress of someone you know knowing this because strangers forget in a day!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands as she looked up at the older woman in pink with large, pleading green eyes.
Then she flopped back, rather ungracefully, onto the blanket protecting them from grass stains as she slung an arm over her eyes. "I just need something to keep me entertained while my mother talks to your king!"
Quirking an eyebrow at the rather mature explanation a little girl gave her, a small smile crept over her cherry tinted lips and she relented. "Alright. You want to know about romance, right?"
Eyes snapping wide open, Violet jumped to her feet before nodding eagerly as Corinne chuckled, knowing that she was going to regret it in two days. "Alright, sit down." She then took a breath, reminiscing about her earlier days as she cast a brief glance at the castle and how it's towers almost threateningly cast shadows over the courtyard during the evening as the sun lurked about the horizon in a dark ombré of orange and pink. She almost let out a laugh; it was just a story, one that happened in her life. It wasn't like she would be punished by fate for letting some of her past slip by, right?
"Years ago, when I was younger, seventeen to be exact," She began, promptly chewing on her upper lip in thought as violet laid back, an expression of awe and excitement on her face, she was going to hear the love story of a musketeer! A musketeer meant catching damsels and doing princess dips on those boys, and sometimes even rescuing them! How amazing would that be?
"I kind of liked a boy I knew." Corinne slowly added as her small companion let out a squeal before timidly clamping a hand over her mouth, encouraging her to continue. The older woman looked away from the large building in front of them, playing absentmindedly with some lint on her uniform. "He was mine," She spoke in a soft voice just loud enough for the younger girl to hear, as if it was an embarrassment she had done bad.
She raised her head with a faraway, longing look crisscrossing in pale blue streaks in her eyes. "And we were sweethearts." She looked back at Voilet, wondering if she had bore her to death, and softly chuckled when she looked absolutely amazed just by that one sentence. The innocence and naivety made her remember back when just shy of three years ago, she had been the same, clueless to the disasters do of the world and just living her dream, laughing whenever the newly crowned king would purposely press his lips to the back of her hand whenever she was about to shake it.
As a sigh passed her lips, she sadly looks at the younger girl, shrugging. "But that was then," Violets face fell, as she sat straight from where she was lying on the ground, chin propped up on her hands as her elbows rested on the soft blanket, legs swinging idly behind her. She looked absolutely distraught as Corinne chuckled, remembering how her own heart dropped once upon a time. To make sure the younger girl didn't think she was making it up, she tapped her nose and said, "And this is true."
With wide eyes, the younger girl scooted closer to her, whispering in her ear. "Are you still in love with him?" As if it was a secret. And truth be told, it felt like one she would keep.
Nodding her head wistfully with a dejected smile, Corinne spoke. "Still in love with a fairytale? Yeah." She breathed the last part out as the younger girl gave her a sad look and wrapped her arms around her.
"Does it hurt?" She asked, pulling away.
"Sometimes." The older woman shrugged. Another breathy chuckle passed her lips as she looked back at the castle, the windows reflecting a slight pink glow as a chilly wind blew by, taking her back to when she was a naive young girl, simply trying to train a king that made her weak in the knees from laughing at the things he said, once even dropping her sword and leaning back on the outer walls of the castle as she tried to regain her breathing while the young man simply leant on his sabre, a playful smile on his face.
"Sometimes it feels like I'm going to lose my mind." She commented as the memory of their brief flirtings as they fenced came back into mind. She wished she could say that there was never a day where she didn't have a witty come back to every smooth sentence her old flame said, but there were more than one times where she had been rendered speechless by the compliments and praise.
Especially the one time he took her speechlessness as an advantage -that little cheat- and had bested her in a duel, kicking the weapon out of her hand while trapping her hand with his own one behind her back as the cold metal of his sabre barely touched her collar- threateningly- while the king behind her grinned the charming, briefly arrogant, grin that made her smile and roll her eyes. Along with the teasing line of "What do we say when we lose a duel, my lady?"
Taking a knowing glance back at the palace, Violet smiled knowingly, tossing her hair that wasn't in a crown braid over her shoulder before giving the older woman a look. "It's the King, isn't it?" She said, her smile widening when the other girls face blanched. She laughed. "I honestly don't see how you're surprised, miss Corinne." She politely stated.
Corinne frowned. She had only said three sentences to the girl about the 'love story' she desired to keep the young girl entertained. Violet sent her an assuring smile. "I see the way you look there, and the way you kept blanking out. And I think that you should talk." She advised, before sending her a sheepish grin. "I'd like to know how my favorite love story ends if we ever come back to France."
Corinne stared at the thirteen year old girl in wonder at the maturity of her mind, before she smiled, wholeheartedly. "Sure, duchess." And then her eyes widened as if realising something important. "The meeting should be over by now." She said, staggering to her feet as she offered a hand to the young girl, who hesitantly took it.
"I don't think we have enough time to clean up before they're done!" She said, hands flying to her face in regret. The older girl waved her off, stating that she would clean up before they rushed back into the castle just before the pinks in the sky disappeared into swirls of purple and blue.
Rushing up the gateway steps and past the fountain, they barely made it outside his Majesty's office just a few collective minutes before he and Duchess Adelaide emerged through the door, in deep conversation about a grand festivity and biding each other farewell with hopes of meeting each other soon. The duchess sweetly grasped her daughters hand once more before biding them both thanks and heading for the carriage that lay outside the gates.
Once they left past the doors, the king turned towards the large glass window that gave a overview of where their carriage was, not even sparing the woman a glance as he said, "I saw the picnic." In a clear voice, a casual expression on his face as he started out the window, an amused smile on his face before he cast a brief glance over at the confused woman. "Maybe you should try a more subtle approach? One where I don't have the perfect view of my personal guard sneaking the duchess' daughter into the courtyard and spoiling her with chocolate truffles?" He suggested, snorting slightly when the female guard began spluttering about-
"As if you know what subtlety even means!" She exclaimed, gawking as she walked up to him, hands on her waist just above the belt her sword hung from with a challenging yet insulted look on her face, referring to the multiple times he had done acts such as pecking the back of her hand or openly referring to her as "My lady" during various times in public or when he just wanted a cheap way out of fencing. Little cheat.
"I rather enjoy the company of the element of surprise." And suddenly, there's the tip of a sabre being pointed at her, teasing her. "Don't you?" And with the quirk of his eyebrows, a glimmer of recollection in his eyes with a charming smile and chivalrous personality, she snorts and pulls out her own one, locking it with his one as she uses their weapons and tugs him impeccably close, taunting him.
"There weren't much times you could beat me at this." She drawls out. "No matter how many times you try and cheat your way out." She says with a knowing smile.
A look of dramatic offense appeared on the Kings face, and with the slightest tilt of his sabre, he's leaning closer than he thought he did. "I would hardly call that cheating." His voice is authoritative, though his face is dramatically, tauntingly, teasingly holding an expression of 'Oh? How is that so?' He placed his free hand on his chest in mock offense. "It wounds me that you would think such." He says, expression reverting back to normal.
"Oh please." Corinne seethed, attempting to knock his weapon out of his hand easily before he managed to halt the movement with a simple flick of his wrist, giving him the advantage as with that small pull, she lurched forward, stuttering as her speech of "I'm the best on your force-" she yells out the last part, the weapon almost slipping out of her grasp as she mentally curses for teaching him the simple, yet effective tactics.
Blowing out an annoyed breath, she unlocks their swords and steps back in a prepared stance, continuing the sentence she was saying while she got cut off, ignoring how a ballroom wasn't the best place for a duel. "I'm the best on your force," She continues, a cold expression on her calm face as she tried blocking out the things that happened years ago because what happened years ago was meant to be kept back years ago. "What makes you think you can beat me, easily, Majesty?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow, shamelessly showing off her title as best on the force.
"Well," he began, taking a slow stride while twirling his weapon slightly. "I don't see how I can't beat you," He raised his sword, blocking a hit as he almost laughed at the irony; a guard was supposed to protect him from these things, yet he found it amusing when her temper brought her even close to snapping. "After all," He casually remarked. "You were the one that trained me, were you not?" And he steps forward, changing his position slightly and he catches on to the slightly rusty movements from his old flame in surprise.
"Yes, but-" Corinne raised her sword to block a hit, a smart move she wishes she hadn't taught him while deep down she actually adored how he remembered the precision. "You spent most of it kissing up to let me give you your breaks." She stated, implying at how he slacked, almost laughing.
"Agreed, but-" The sound of sharp metal in the air rung around the ballroom faintly as their weapons locked in an x shape. "You still fell for it, did you not?" Louis asked, the grip faltering a bit as he stared at the woman with pure curiosity as the naivety from his younger days returned in his eyes, almost anxiously as something in the back of his mind asked whether he was truly burdening his former flame at that time.
As if recognizing the fear in his expression, Corinne's movements faltered for a moment as she unlocked their swords, idly placing the tip of hers on the marble underneath her feet while the other returned it to the scabbard at his waist. "Who am I to deny the orders of a king?" She replied evenly a moment later.
A distraught expression was etched on Louis' face as he peered at the momentarily emotionless guard. "They weren't orders and you know that." The soft, genuine, adoring and overall assuring tone of his voice caused a harsh tug at the others heartstrings.
Almost robotically, she returned her weapon back to her waist. "Very well, then." She muttered under her breath, looking lost for a moment before holding her hand out stiffly. "Fine duel, Majesty. Though you need to work more on your focus and blocks." She stated in a professional voice as Louis gripped her hand with a confused frown, hesitantly letting go after a moment as a light dimmed in his eye.
"...And to you..as well." He slowly stated, caught a bit off guard at the sudden change as he gave a curt nod before the other walked off to help in the kitchen as he stared in confusion, disbelief, and with utter yearning as his heart ached, missing the moments where nothing of that sort happened, and it was all fun and casual.
A sigh escaped him.
Cons of being in love with a fairytale; there would always be a plot twist preventing the happily ever after. And in his case, it was selflessness that prevented him from his. Ironically, it was selflessness from her when it was one of the moments he wished she were selfish.
He still remembers the very thing she said, two years ago.
"You have dreams, and I won't let you give up everything you want."
Ironically, she was all he needed and wanted.