A/N: Oh man, CGA... another multichap? Yes, (un)fortunately. But it'll be fun nonetheless!

After playing through some older games like Hakuouki again, I just reeeeally got the urge to write a harem - which is so unlike anything I've ever written before - but I'm not sure if this'll turn into that. Still, I do expect at least a few guys to show up, though they won't all be potential love interests. I'm, uh, actually planning on making this a... spiritual rewrite of my earlier story What the Selfish Heart Wants, if that's even a thing. So if there's anyone who's read that (and was understandably disappointed by it), you almost already know what to expect, but this is only a spiritual rewrite, not just a straight rewrite, so the royalty thing won't be the only twist, I promise!

For new readers, this totally doesn't mean I want you to read WTSHW, because it's pretty rough, lol. I'd love it if you did, but it's nowhere near necessary. This is a standalone story!

As a sidenote, I'm also trying to incorporate more detail into my writing so if you could comment or praise or criticize me on that that'd be really really great ;A;

Without further ado... shenanigans!

"C'mon... just a little farther!"

At Fritz' excited whispers, I stifled a giggle, keeping my eyes on the target. Today, that meant the gardener. He was new, and his dark-skin-with-light-hair mix suggested he was foreign and therefore not accustomed to life here. He made practically the perfect target.

We'd been itching to get him for a while, but it'd never been the right time until now: there were hardly any guards around, even fewer in the hedges where we lay in hiding, and the gardener was working alone.

My partner in crime grew more eager with each passing moment, whispering some more words of encouragement for the dark-skinned man to waltz into our trap.

I watched with bated breath as the gardener took one step, two, crouched down to give the flowers some water, and began walking again. His steps were small and cautious, almost as if he'd already anticipated our juvenile pitfall, but I knew there was no way he saw it coming.

His footsteps grew closer and closer to the point of no return, and soon enough he was practically standing on it. If he were to move his right foot just so...

Then, without hesitation or surprise, he nudged the top layer of leaves to the side to expose the deep hole awaiting him like he really did know it was there, like he was mocking me and my thoughts. The leaves he kicked up fell down the hole and he turned around sharply to stare in our general direction. His eyes seemed to pierce into mine, right through the thick wall of hedges, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. How... how did he -

"Annie, run! He knows it was us!"

I was frozen in place, in shock, but Fritz pulled me by the hand to run away, and only then did my body obey me. I yanked myself from his grasp and kept up with him, looking back over my shoulder every so often to see if that angry gardener was still eyeing us. I was beginning to realize that this plan had been a massive, miserable failure, definitely not the best course of action. It would be especially bad if somebody -

"Crap," Fritz muttered, stopping in his tracks.

I'd been too focused on my feet and the ground while we were running, so when I lifted my head to see what Fritz had, I gulped. In a split second I replaced my shocked expression with a small smile, hoping I could royal my way out of this.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Saunders," I greeted in my most polite voice, complementing it with a curtsy. The skirt of my yellow sundress fluttered in the air a few moments after I released it from my fingers.

Mr. Saunders' face didn't budge, though. His red hair, to which Fritz' was so similar, was blown ever so slightly by the same breeze affecting my dress, but he paid no attention to it, instead fixating his gaze on me.

"Princess, His Majesty wishes to speak with you," he said coolly, his voice firm and commanding. "Please allow me to escort you – as well as your retainer."

He regarded Fritz with little more than a glance before turning on his heel and walking. Fritz and I exchanged a look of our own, both of us knowing his words left no room for argument, and followed after him silently, solemnly.

Mr. Saunders led us through the other half of the hedge maze, past the fountain where the gardener indeed still stood, giving me and Fritz a sour expression, and within a few minutes we were inside the castle walls.

The maids all looked surprised to see us – well, maybe not me and Fritz, but us accompanied by his father – as we made our way down to the left wing. The only sound was that of our footsteps, colliding with the cold stone flooring, echoing throughout the entire hallway. As we came closer and closer to the king's domain, the number of servants gradually decreased until there were only the two guards standing on either side of the doors leading into the throne room.

I gulped, not knowing what to expect. Fritz and I were the notorious prank duo, but never before had we been escorted directly to the king himself because of that. We were usually just scolded by the surrounding guards or the king's other retainers.

Very rarely had one of our victims ever noticed the trap, too... but the foreign gardener seemed sharp. Maybe he predicted something like that would happen and already alerted someone? That didn't make sense, though. No matter how sharp or observant he was, a suspicion like that, especially coming from someone so lowly-ranked, wouldn't have – couldn't have – made its way to the king in such a short time. I knew that firsthand.

So at least we probably weren't in serious trouble for the pitfall, then, but that only raised more questions, the most prominent being why Mr. Saunders had been waiting for us, for me. Judging by the stuffy atmosphere of the castle and Mr. Saunders himself, it seemed... serious.

When he made a move to open the door, I steeled myself. My face went blank, my legs were firm and strong, and I straightened my back. I didn't have to look at Fritz to know he was preparing his serious self, too.

The door slowly creaked open, revealing the large expanse of the throne room, complete with high ceilings and tall windows overlooking the garden. As we stepped in, the outline of a man came into view. He stood in front of one of the windows, his tall, broad back straight and his lean arms folded behind him. He turned at the sound of our arrival, the faintest trace of a smile playing about his lips.

"I thank you, Leigh," his voice sounded, loud but calm.

Behind me and Fritz, Mr. Saunders bowed his head. "Your Majesty, shall I take my leave?"

The king didn't ponder this very long and nodded. "Yes. This need only concern the two of them."

Mr. Saunders quickly bowed once more. "As you wish, my lord." He gave what I thought was a stern glance to Fritz before leaving, but Fritz didn't notice, his own gaze focused on the king.

At his exit, I felt the room grow significantly more tense. In nearly all discussions concerning me, he had been present. That wasn't to say he was a pleasant person to be around, exactly, but it would at least give the king another person to stare at had he remained.

At least Fritz was still here, I told myself. I dared not look at him, though, lest I discovered how he felt and become even more uneasy. Instead, I polished my steel and did my best to meet the king's eyes.

He slowly walked over, stopping just a few feet in front of me. "Andrea."

"Yes, Father?"

"Have you any idea what this audience is for?"

My brow almost furrowed. What a strange question – did I ever? "No, sir," I settled for, refusing to lose my composure.

He nodded, seemingly taking my confusion into account, anyway. He began pacing around in front of me, crossing his hands behind his back. "My daughter is seventeen in little more than one week. This means she will begin her coming of age, during which many suitors will cling to hopes of winning her heart, and in turn, the throne, as law dictates."

He was right. Once I turned seventeen, I was of legal age to marry, and the man I chose would ultimately become the next king. This knowledge had remained somewhere in the back of my mind, but for the past while I'd seemed to have forgotten it.

I was basically just... the bridge between my father, who was the current king, and my future husband, who would succeed him.

I didn't want to get married, especially if I couldn't marry for love, but knowing how strict the king was... I resisted the urge to sigh indignantly.

He continued, oblivious to my inner turmoil. "For the past several years, I have replied to my daughter's suitors in her stead, concluding that law prevented her from marrying so young, but that will now be her responsibility. She must reply to letters and choose to meet with suitors on her own terms. I can no longer shield her..." he added in such a low volume I wasn't sure I'd heard him right.

Everybody I ever talked to said the king was only stern with me because he cared about me, but it was tough to think that way sometimes. He only called for me when he needed something, he didn't talk about anything unrelated to the matter he needed me for, and he hadn't sat down with me for a meal in almost ten years.

I had a hard time believing he did what he did out of love, especially when he kept my only friend in the throne room after sending me away. Mr. Saunders was called to escort me back to my room, as if I couldn't manage it alone, and now I sat on my bed, bored.

After the excitement passed, the day was almost over, the sun sinking down behind the large mountains in the distance. Fritz was sure taking a while... I hoped everything was all right. He was my official retainer, so it wasn't uncommon for him to speak with the king alone, but that didn't ease my, well, unease any.

I lay back and sprawled myself out across the bed, gazing lazily out the window. A few guards patrolled the castle grounds, walking the routes that even I had memorized by now. I wondered if those same guards would still be patrolling when I inevitably took the throne, and dark thoughts consumed me.

Before he shooed me away, the king told me I didn't have to get married right away, that I had until age twenty before any big decisions were made, but that only made me more tense. That meant I probably wasn't going to stop being harassed by other countries any time soon, unless I took a husband.

I groaned loudly into my pillow. The monarchy system was stupid. I didn't know much about politics and wouldn't be that great of a ruler, anyway, but I didn't want to just hand over my birthright to the best suitor. If I were a prince, I wouldn't be pressured as much into getting a wife. If only Jo -

"Yo, Annie!" a voice called from the other side of the door, sounding unnaturally chipper. That, couples with the familiarity of it, could have only meant that it was Fritz. I felt my mood instantly brighten, any other thoughts momentarily forgotten.

He opened the door as I sat up on the edge of the bed, awaiting his energetic as ever expression. He stepped in and didn't disappoint, his face showing no signs whatsoever of his retainer mode from earlier. After shutting the door behind him, he beamed at me.

"You wanna go fill that hole before it gets too dark?"

…

I really didn't want to fill our failed prank hole of doom, but I had to admit, as long as Fritz was helping me out with it, it wouldn't be too bad.

We stood in the dim light outside, surrounded on all sides by the hedge maze, red and yellow flowers adorning the stonework of the fountain in the middle of it all. Fritz handed me a shovel and we began hauling dirt back from our pile we hid not too far into the hedges. It was admittedly quite tiring, so much so I found myself wondering where my stamina had come from last night when we actually dug the hole – or rather, where it had come from in the first place.

My dress was anything but elegant at this point, caked in dirt and grass stains. I threw another shovel full of dirt into the hole and stepped back, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Hey, Fritz," I called out. I waited for him to come back with his shovel full. "Why don't you just bring the dirt here and I fill the hole? It's kind of silly that both of us are tiring ourselves out when we can lighten the load on both ends, right?"

He dropped the dirt in and leaned on his shovel, seemingly giving it some thought. "But... that'd also be pretty counterproductive. Think about it – I bring the dirt here and just make a new pile for you to pick up? With that much effort already, I might as well keep putting it in the hole."

I... didn't really think about it like that. It would be more work for both of us that way. I admitted defeat and started dragging my shovel back to the dirt pile again, but Fritz moved in front of me, blocking my entrance into the hedges. He stuck his shovel into the ground beside him.

My mouth curved up into an amused half smile. "Fritz, what are - "

"If you're tired, just say so," he told me. His voice was as kind and cheerful as ever, but there was a stern tone underlying. "You don't have to push yourself, y'know. You have a retainer for a reason."

He reached out and patted my head like he did when I was younger. I was eight years old when he was assigned to me, and he thought because he was two whole years older that he had to treat me like a kid. It frustrated me a little to be reminded of that habit, that even now sometimes he treated me that way.

But that didn't stop me from looking away sheepishly, trying to hide my face, which was quickly growing red. Stupid Fritz.

He ruffled my hair a little, and I finally turned back to yell at him. He pulled his hand back and laughed, then yanked his shovel from the earth.

"Don't worry about a thing, Princess," he said, emphasizing the last word mockingly. "Just stay here and help me pat it down when it's full."

I pouted, then nodded begrudgingly. I walked back over to the half-full hole while Fritz ventured off into the hedges. This would probably take a bit longer now that he was the only one working.

...Ah, who was I kidding? I averaged one load per every two or three he did. I really was just a weak princess, and he had every right to mock me. I'd probably never have half the strength he did, but I guessed that was okay. There were reasons why princesses almost always had male retainers, and even more reasons why... why a queen couldn't rule without a king. I accepted that begrudgingly, as well. Men were superior in a lot of ways, at the very least in royalty.

I sighed, but not really in frustration. I was upset earlier because I didn't want to acknowledge my coming of age, or the fact that I would succeed my father, or that I would more or less marry a complete stranger. Somehow, though, being outside with Fritz like this, just being in his company, I felt more relaxed, like maybe it would all turn out okay.

I smiled softly to myself, not even wanting to admit to my thoughts the reason why he calmed me.

Fritz emerged from the hedges and dumped some more dirt in. The hole was almost full now. It wouldn't be much longer until we could go back inside and relax.

Instead of turning around to walk back, though, he stayed rooted in place. He dug his shovel into the ground in front of him and propped up a foot on the spearhead, resting his hands on top. Then he looked at me.

"This is our last prank." He obviously didn't mean it as an announcement, but it might as well have been one – the confusion washing over my face easily rivaled that of an entire crowd. He must have sensed it, because he kept talking. "When the king kept me later, it was to... well, scold me. He told me the princess's retainer should be more dignified and responsible, not some idiotic prankster who only brings trouble to those around him."

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, letting my anger run its course through my body. I'd always known about the animosity the king harbored towards Fritz, the unjust way he always regarded him. That must have been why the king sent me away – so he could speak his mind to Fritz without having to worry about appearances in front of me. I didn't know why he even bothered, since he must have known there were no secrets between me and Fritz, anyway. He was just a coward.

Fritz exhaled slowly, probably trying to release his own anger as he continued. "I don't really have a choice in the matter, if I wanna stay by your side."

Normally a comment like that would have made me blush, but the situation wasn't right to be in that mood. Besides, I could tell there was still more he had to say. I stopped clenching my fists and listened more intently.

"I mean, it's bad enough my dad's gotta vouch for me just to keep me here, 'cause of our, uh, strained relationship, but now..." He sighed, not meeting my eye. "The king says if I don't straighten up, he'll assign someone else as your retainer."

"What?" I asked breathlessly. "He – he can't do that!"

"He's the king, Annie. He can do whatever he wants." His voice sounded heavy with defeat.

I shook my head in disbelief. To think he had the nerve...

Fritz might have looked goofy and childish on the surface, but I'd never met anybody smarter, kinder, or more responsible in the whole castle. He helped me through some very rough times when I was younger, and he always explained the things I didn't understand thoroughly but simply enough so I wasn't confused anymore. He was the reason I knew the difference between colonel and chief, why the cherry trees lost their petals in the spring, and why it was important to at least act like a prim and proper princess.

He... he was my best friend. To hear him spoken of so badly, even secondhand...

Fritz tapped my shoulder when he saw me overcome with emotions. He put on a brave smile. "I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure we can stay together, okay? But I might be a little bit busier, or more distant..." He sighed again and his smile faded. "Sorry in advance."

I scoffed. "For what?"

"You know... just in case you need something, or someone, and I'm not right there."

I gave him a half smile. "You're always so concerned about me... I'm not a child anymore, and I don't need a retainer keeping an eye on me all the time anymore. Don't worry about me."

"Hey, that's my job," he said with a laugh.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. You're right."

Though I knew he didn't mean it in a dismissive sort of way, my heart sank a little. At the end of the day, he was only with me because it was his job. If he wasn't tasked with being at my side, he'd have no reason to – in fact, he couldn't. I supposed I had to take what I could get.

"Anyway," he said after a long silence, "I'd better finish up so I can take you back like a responsible retainer."

He flashed me a grin of mockery but it did little to ease the tension residing in my chest. Still, I smiled back. If only I were allowed to marry him.

~CGA