Okayyy so for my past few stories, everyone had there Alices, so now I wanna pull them back in time. Well not literally, what I mean is this story is gonna set in a different time era. Instead I'm gonna base the story back into the time of princes and princesses, castles and kingdoms, queens and kings, you get the idea :D and they do not have their Alices, welll enjoy :D I do not own Gakuen Alice :)
Chapter One- I Have To What!- Natsume's POV-
"Son! Where are you" I heard my father call to me as I raised the bow in my hangs and aimed it at my target. "Ah Natsume, there you are, how many times have I told you not to use the servants as targets when practicing with your bow?" he scolded and I yawned, rather bored of hearing this every time I practiced archery.
"Father, I am not using them as a target, I am using them as a stand that supports my real target" I said and eyed the apple on the servants head fifty feet away from me as another servant set the head of the arrow on fire. I swiftly pulled the bow back and aimed, ready to let the arrow fly towards my target. However, my father placed his hand around the arrow and blew the fire out.
"You are all dismissed" he called to the servants who were assisting me. They all smiled brightly at him, relief evident on their face. Tch, it's like they thought I would kill them, idiots. Once they were all gone, my father turned to me, a strange expression on his face. Oh no...I'm guessing whatever he has to say won't be pleasant. He motions me to follow him and leads me back towards the castle. We pass by multiple servants who smile and bow in respect as they greet us.
When we make it to his private study, he closes the door behind him and I look towards the couch and see my mother sitting there with her hands folded on her lap as she starred vacantly in front of her, obviously deep in thought. Definitely not a good sign. My mother was always aware of her surroundings, the only time I've seen her like this was when we found out that Aoi, my younger sister, was mute.
"Sit down, son" my father said, sounding rather upset. Did I do something wrong? Was he really that upset that I was using the servants for target practice? Why would he bring it up now, I've had them help me with sports since I was five. Why would it become a problem now? I never harmed any of the servants, physically at least, mentally I scared them to death whenever I practiced. I took a seat opposite of my mother and father sat next to her.
"Son, your mother and I have been talking. Your eighteen, so soon we'll have to hand the kingdom over to you. However, we can't do that until you are married, and you are of age, so we think you should get married" he said and mother finally was starring at me. Whoa wait a minute...marriage? No, I don't think so. Girls were pests, especially those snotty spoiled princesses who acted like they had a pole up their ass everyday.
"No" I said plainly and my father looked at me sternly. "Father, I don't care about the girls around here. All they want is to be royalty and those princesses are spoiled brats that think they own the world. I want nothing to do with them" I stated and he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay so I admit I take my servants for granted with sports and such, but thats only so I can keep my mind off royal things.
If I could chose I would wear peasant clothes and spend my days in a tree reading a book. I didn't want to be royalty, because all people did was use me for money or power. The only people I actually talked to was my parents, Aoi, Ruka, a peasant who worked in our animal barn, and Youichi, a young boy who didn't have parents. He took me as a role model of some sort and had trusting issues. Other then that, I never spoke to anyone but servants when I needed assistants.
"Son it's your duty as a prince of the Fire Kingdom. Now, we decided that you should marry the princess of the Sakura kingdom. She's never been allowed outside the kingdom so we don't know what she's like, but I knew her parents well. We will invite her and a maid of her choice to come stay at our kingdom so you can meet her and get to know her" Mother said and I growled under my breath. "We're sorry, but it has to be done, you are dismissed" she said and I glarred at them before storming out of the room.
This is ridiculous, this is why I wished to be a peasant. No normal young man was forced to marry at such a young age, they were allowed to actually fall in love and get married and have children. I wasn't allowed happiness like that. I had to do things for my people and family. Responsibilies I never wanted and would give away if I had the chance.
"Ruka!" I snapped as I walked into the animal barn, and searched for the person I called my best friend. I saw the blonde boy in the back with the rabbits, cradling them in his arms. Ruka was a shy blonde boy with blue eyes. His personality contrasted mine perfectly and he was in love with animals of every kind. He now turned to me, and noticed that I was angry. He immediately put his rabbit down and walked over to him.
"What is it Natsume?" he asked, as he dusted some hay off his pants. Besides my family, he and Youchi were the only ones who didn't address me as "Prince Hyuuga" or "Your Majesty". He went over to a small closet near the pig pen and pulled out two books and smiled at me. He knows that when I'm angry I like to be alone and read. I gave him a slight smirk before reaching into a barrel and pulling out some of Ruka's clothes that he gave me and changed into them.
It wasn't really a disguise, more as time saver. When people see my usual clothes my mother buys me, they immediately stare and realize right away I'm the prince. However, if I'm wearing normal peasant clothes like these, they don't really attract attention, so by the time they even think about who I am, I'm already long gone.
Once I finished changing, we both made our way out of the kingdom and towards the woods. While on our way there, we saw a group of kids outside of the orphange playing a game of some sort. One of the kids happened to be Youichi, who immediately saw us and smiled brightly.
"Onii-chan!" he called and all the kids turned and rushed towards us. "Onii-chan please play with us" Youcihi begged and I smiled gently at him before looking at Ruka who smiled in return. I then straightened up and walked inside the orphanage.
"Excuse me, I would like to take the group of children in front out to play with me and my friend' I said to the old women at the counter who looked at me with a strange look in her eyes. I could tell she was about to say no so I pulled out my golden chained necklace that had my families insignia on it. "I am Natsume Hyuuga, heir to the thrown of the Fire Kingdom" I said sternly and her eyes widened.
"Oh of course not a problem" she said and smiled brightly. "Thank you, your majesty, it is an honor to be in your precense let alone have you help with out children" she said and I grunted in response before heading back outside. The kids all were waiting outside the door starring intently at me waiting for an answer. I turned towards the words and started walking but when I didn't hear anything behind me I looked over my shoulder.
"Aren't you coming?" I asked the group and smiles errupted on their faces before they ran over. Youichi immediately jumped onto my back while other kids clung to my legs and arms. Ruka hobbled next to me as some of the kids jumped onto his back and wrapped themselves around his legs, making it hard for him to walk. We led them to a small lake in the woods and watched them play around for a while as we talked.
"So why are you so angry?" Ruka asked as Youichi teamed up with this kid with brown hair so they could throw a girl into the lake. I remembered the conversation with my parents and immediately scowled, once again angry. I watched the girl pull herself out of the lake and start chancing the boys around screaming.
"My parents want me to marry the princess of the Sakura Kingdom" I growled and he froze, shocked. "They just pulled me to Father's study out of no where and told me this. They say I have to get married since I'm of age and need to be married to take on the throne" I explained and he nodded, but I saw the look of pity on his face. I always got that look from him, ever since I met him. That's why he's my bestfriend. He understands he has a great life and doesn't want to be rich or royal like everyone else.
"I'm sorry Natsume, I know how much you hate being a prince and having these duties" he said sadly and I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. Whenever I told Ruka about something I was supoose to do, he always felt bad. As if he himself was going through the same thing as I was and new as I felt.
"Whatever" I said and stood up, and walked over to Youichi who was laughing at the girl who was too tired to chase him anymore. I closed my eyes and pushed him into lake before putting my hands behind my head. I heard laughter and then splashing so I opened one eye and looked at Youichi who was glarring at me from inside the lake.
"Onii-chan!" he yelled and I smirked at him. Next thing I knew I was in the water myself and once I resurfaced I saw Ruka grinning at me as the rest of the kids jumped in the lake and joined me and Youici. Ruka soon followed them and then all the children started splashing water at each other and laughing. They then all jumped onto me and Ruka trying to dunk us under the water. I sighed, feeling relaxed as I forgot about the arranged marriage.