I remember that it was a beautiful spring day, and I was going to make a choice that would forever change my life. After years of having a crush on your mother, I was finally going to tell her how I felt in the most romantic way possible: writing a love letter. Unfortunately… that was on a day that I'd hit a writer's block. Everything that I came up with was either cheesy, embarrassing, or just plain pathetic. It came to the point where the bin near my writing desk was overflowing with crumpled papers.

"Okay, I think I have it this time." I said, grabbing my second to last piece of paper and beginning to write.

"Dearest Toriel,

From the moment I met you, I felt this strange connection. Like I was looking at myself in the mirror… Really? Myself?! That makes me sound arrogant and narcissistic! Ugh, stupid, stupid! Dammit!" I crumpled up the piece and threw it onto the pile of paper.

"Why can't I come up with anything?" I asked myself. Looking at my last piece of paper, I began to feel hopeless. What was I thinking, trying to write a love letter to a servant girl? Father would never accept it. A prince is supposed to be married to someone of nobility and status, not a commoner girl!

"Toriel, this was before we made that revision to the marriage laws. The one that removed the nobility requirement." Said Asgore in the present day.

"It was your brother that removed it." Said Toriel. "Before… well, you know."

It was around the time I was about to give up that I heard a knock at the door.

"What is it?" I called, as Aberon pushed through the door. Immediately, he noticed the waste bin, and snickered.

"Writer's block?" he asked.

"Screw you…" I replied.

"Touch-y." said Aberon. "What are you even writing?"

"It's a secret." I said quickly.

"Please, brother. Obviously, this is bothering you, and I want to help you. It's what I'm for, right? I helped you write that play last year when you couldn't finish it-"

"And took the credit for it." I said hotly.

"Half the credit. Well, more like a quarter of it, but we'll skip the details. What can I do to help?" asked Aberon.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone. If this gets out to my father, he'll flip." I hissed.

"Don't worry. All secrets are safe with me. You know that." Smiled Aberon.

"I'm… thinking about asking Toriel out, and I thought writing a love letter would be the best way to go. Well, you can see how that's going…" I said, motioning to the waste bin.

"About time you came clean about it." Laughed Aberon.

"Wait… you knew?!" I sputtered.

"Come on, Asgore. It's painfully obvious. All the things you've done to help her, including refurbishing the garden, which honestly has been needing it for a long time. Speaking of, you've really got a green thumb." Said Aberon.

"Ehehehe… Yeah… I do." I laughed sheepishly.

"I also noticed you have a wandering eye whenever she passes by. Specifically that… big behind of hers." Said Aberon slowly. I could feel my face growing hot with embarrassment.

"Sh-Shut up!" I shouted.

"Sorry, sorry! Just an observation. Though, I can't say that I'm not guilty of doing the same. Is nice." Said Aberon. "Anyway, what's the problem?"

"No matter what I come up with, it either sounds cheesy or self-centered. Even outright stupid. I want this letter to blow her away, but I can't seem to find the right words!"

"Here… I have an idea. Go take a break, I'll write the letter." Said Aberon.

"But, Abby, she'll recognize the handwriting!" I said.

"Not if I write like you. Don't worry, bro. Copying your handwriting is easy. When I'm done, she'll be wrapped around your little finger." Said Aberon with a devilish grin.

"Thanks, Aberon." I replied. "Do you want me to bring you a snack?"

"No, I'm good. You go have some fun." Laughed Aberon, as I ran out of the room to go find something to do.


"Oh, wait, I know where this is going." Said Asriel. "He wrote the letter, finished it, but didn't tell you what he wrote. Lemme guess, he even sealed it in an envelope with a wax seal."

"Indeed, he did. After he wrote it, I delivered it without a second thought." Said Asgore. "I went through with my original plan to leave it in her quarters, and wait for her to come to me. But she never did. I even picked flowers from the garden for her."

"And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker, didn't you, Mom?" sighed Asriel.

"Sorry, dear. Hormones." Chuckled Toriel.

"Eventually, I bumped into Gaster and Ebrima, and I asked if they'd seen Toriel. Ebrima said that she'd seen Toriel hanging out with Aberon. I asked why she'd be with him, and if she'd gotten the letter. Ebrima had a feeling, but Gaster was the one who confirmed my fear."


"You mean the letter Aberon wrote to her? Toriel said that was the most romantic thing she'd ever read." Said Gaster.

"Oh, thank goodness. I knew Aberon would come through for… Wait… The letter Aberon wrote? He said he would help me write the letter, but…" I said in confusion.

"Ugh… Asgore… Please don't tell me you fell for that trick; otherwise, you've lost a bit of my respect for you." Said Gaster, placing his palm on his face.

"What trick!" I exclaimed.

"Two guys in love with the same girl, and one promises to help the other get the girl. In the process, one guy gets the girl, leaving the other betrayed and broken-hearted." Said Ebrima. "I've read enough love stories to know that one."

It was at that moment that the realization came to me. I felt a weight in my chest that I'd never felt before.

"Where are they?!" I asked angrily.

"Don't do anything rash, Asgore. If you do anything to Aberon out of anger, Toriel won't come back to you." Said Ebrima.

"I concur, Your Majesty. It would be wiser to simply explain what happened." Said Gaster.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm going to kill him! He's played me for the last time...!" I said. "Where are they?!"

"I think I saw them in the garden, but Asgore-" started Ebrima, but I was already gone. I ran to the garden, and when I couldn't find them anywhere else, I ran through the hedge maze.


"We had a hedge maze?" asked Asriel.

"A long time ago, yes. It died while we were underground." Said Asgore.


I flew through the maze as fast my feet would carry me. I had solved it so many times before that I had memorized the pathway to the center. And that was where I found them. Toriel was sitting on the marble bench next to the fountain, while Aberon stood at the fountain, reciting the lines from the letter. Toriel was swooning as he did so. I hid myself, and listened, my anger for my brother growing stronger. I wanted to go up to him and push him into that fountain. I wanted to embarrass him like he embarrassed me the first time we met Toriel.

"Oh, Aberon… I had no idea you were so poetic… I always thought you stuck to your studies on swordplay and magic." Said Toriel. "You don't think he'd be jealous, would you? I mean, I know he looks at me-"

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart, Tori. Asgore wouldn't be jealous. He made a promise that nothing would come between us." Said Aberon. I gasped.

"Did he now?" asked Toriel.

"Indeed, he did. It was after I'd gotten my fortune read by KuBaba." Said Aberon.

"Oh, yes! He told me about that! I mean, something like this would cause such an uproar in the castle." Said Toriel.

"There's no need to worry, my little buttercup. Everything is going to be fine." Reassured Aberon. I stood, frozen in my hiding spot, my heart beginning to ache now from guilt. He was right; I had made that promise to him, and I couldn't break it. Not to my brother. I ran from the maze as fast as I could, not even bothering to mask the sound of my footsteps with magic. I just wanted to go to my room and be alone. My heart was broken, and I didn't want anyone to see it happening. On my way, I bumped into my father.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" asked Jorin.

"N-Nowhere… b-but I think Aberon and I should… get separate rooms, now." I said.

"Asgore, what's wrong?" asked Jorin, worried now.

"Let's just say… things are… changing…" I said, trying to hold back my tears as I ran past him, heading straight to my room. Well, our room, but that would soon be changed. As I walked past my desk, I saw the waste bin still full of paper, and I upturned it in a fit of anger. It was over.