Ratings: R/NC17+
Warnings: Violence/Gore, Sex.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story, living (or passed) human beings or fictional characters. These events never happened, according to history or as the original author intended them. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to offend. For entertainment purposes only. Thanks.
Chapter 10: March, 20th - Morning
Levi woke to the sounds of the ship's hull creaking as the ship swayed on the waters. He shifted to sit up before rubbing his eyes, and then looked down at the blonde prince who was curled up beside him in the ship's small bed. Prince Erwin's hair was a mess, his lashes full and his red lips still twisted in a smile. His breathing was steady and calm, and Levi found himself leaning down to press a gentle kiss to his lips. Erwin's fingers curled against the top of Levi's thigh gently in response, and he hummed softly in his sleep. Levi smiled, grateful that he had awoke to such a beautiful morning scene, then got out of bed to get dressed. His reflection in a small mirror on the wall startled him and he approached it as a second thought to check on his appearance. His hair had evidently been pulled and his lips were smeared with Erwin's red lip paint after all their passionate kissing. He blushed and rushed to wipe the paint off his face, neck, and collarbones. There was little he could do to fix his hair, even after ran his hands through it, so he had no choice but to put the golden crown back on his head before he headed onto the deck.
Miche was asleep in a hammock outside the quarter's doors, under one of the ship's staircases up to the poop deck, so Levi closed the door softly behind himself and headed onto the main deck. He was glad to have found the red-haired girl, Isabella, walking about and mopping the main deck down.
"Morning, Prince Levi." the girl cheerfully greeted him.
"Likewise, Isabella." he replied, "Any chance for breakfast on this ship?"
"It would be more like lunchtime now, your highness." She jested, then gave him a polite smile. "There's some fruit and a couple muffins in the galley. My apologies that the ship isn't well-stocked; we weren't aware that we'd be sailing her today, or for this long."
Levi chuckled, amused that he had upended Prince Erwin's navy schedule. "That's alright. Which way to galley?"
"I'll take ya."
Isabella escorted him to the galley, then diced up several fruit for him to eat. She informed him they had continued sailing in a wide arch for most of the night, until the early hours of the morning since they weren't sure when would be alright to stop sailing. Furlan had manned the wheel and he was unsure if he was to wait for Prince Erwin's orders to lay anchor or if they were expected to sail back to harbour. In the end, when he was exhausted himself and the princes were assumed to have gone to sleep in the captain's quarters, Furlan lay anchor, stationed two men for lookout, and took the other three below deck to sleep. Since she had been the only one to sleep through the first two shifts, Isabella woke early and began to run the regular checks and duties for the vessel's maintenance. After all this chatter, she left Levi to wake up Furlan and the crew below deck to serve them some breakfast as well, so the Sina prince took the bowl of fruit she had given him and two muffins out to the main deck and sat on a small crate to eat at the bow of the schooner. He had just settled into eat when the crew surprised him by pulling up the anchor and unfurling the sails. The schooner caught the wind and Furlan began to steer the ship in a wide arch back to the mainland.
"Did you bring enough for two?" Erwin asked, coming to stand beside him.
Levi looked up, the gentle breeze blowing his hair over one eye. "Do you want blueberry or this odd brown one?"
"You've never had chocolate before?"
Levi shook his head.
"Then you should have the odd brown one. I'll take blueberry."
Levi handed Erwin the blueberry muffin, then picked out a piece of chocolate and nibbled it. His eyes widened. "Everything in Rose Kingdom is so sweet." He commented, then took a bite of the muffin.
Erwin chuckled softly, then began to eat his muffin as well. The pair fell into a silence that neither of them knew how to break. The atmosphere between them was tainted by their intimate act the night before, and the intensity that hung between them was loud in contrast to their continued silence. Miche had woken from his slumber and had come to shadow Erwin and Levi, standing at a distance to give them some privacy. After a moment, Erwin finished his muffin and cleared his throat.
"How was...how was last night?" he asked nervously, his voice sounding dry as he tried to start the conversation.
"The best night of my life." Levi replied, at ease with what they did. "The party was wonderful, but my favorite part was being with you here, on this ship."
Erwin's cheeks coloured and he looked out to sea. "Really?" He asked, his hands travelling to hide in his jacket pockets.
"Do you regret it?" Levi asked, watching Erwin with interest. He didn't seem regretful, just shy.
"Not at all!" Erwin replied quickly, then bit his lower lip. "I would do it again, really."
Levi wasn't able to hide his smile at Erwin's words. "It was that good?" he teased, then added "Because that was my first time with anyone."
Erwin's eyes widened and he looked down at the ship's deck, lightly kicking at the wooden boards with the toe of his shoe. "It was everything I imagined it would be." he confessed, indirectly confessing his first experience to Levi as well.
Levi gave Erwin a winning grin, then winked. For some reason he felt like their relationship was suddenly more playful after they had laid together. Their secret act of lust had taken away the tension that their feuding kingdoms placed on them.
Erwin smiled, then reached out for Levi's hand. "While we're still out here, I want to show you something."
Levi gave him an expression of interest, then followed him from the bow of the ship to the stern, taking his time walking up the stairs up to the poop deck. Erwin led him to the stern railing, before taking Levi's hand to his lips and gently kissing the back of his hand. Being at the back of the ship, Levi looked out to only open sea, then smiled up at Erwin.
"What is it?" he asked, then made an effort to soften his voice. There was nothing but water behind them. "What did you want to show me, Prince Erwin?"
Erwin grinned at Levi's question, then took a step back and scratched his upper lip with his thumb. "Levi, Prince Levi." he began, taking Levi's face in his hands and running his thumbs across Levi's cheeks.
The dark-haired male looked up at him curiously, waiting patiently for him to explain.
Erwin smiled again at Levi's reaction, then released Levi and placed his hands in his coat pockets to keep from touching him. "I've wanted to kiss you for a very long time." he smirked and continued, "Ever since I first saw you, actually, it sounds...so typically romantic to say. And so unlike me. But, it's...it's true. I was...afraid to meet you, because of what I heard, what I was told about you; I know you must of been hearing that a lot recently, that you're not who we thought you were. 'Rude, arrogant, a brat.'" Erwin shook his head, gazing out to sea. He turned back to face Levi, his blue eyes locking onto Levi's silver ones.
"But you...you turned out to be beautiful. And I thought you would be like all the other boys I found beautiful, just another pretty face but beneath the surface just a...another cold-hearted narcissist. So I was scared to get close to you. But then you...were you, Levi: kind, understanding, compassionate, insightful, intelligent. You cared about people you had never met before, you valued everyone in the kingdom for whatever it was they could contribute. You empathized when no one else would. But you were fierce and just when it matter most; you were honest about your family and their mistreatment of others. You learned that while you may have a privileged life, you could change your citizens lives for the better. You proved to have more heart than anyone I had met in my entire life." As Erwin spoke, his voice rose with passion and his eyes glimmered with adoration and pride, "And I wanted to show you everything, I wanted to tell you everything. And last night, last night I realized that I could stay silent about all this, or I could tell you how I really feel and take that chance on love. Because," he chuckled, "I'm going about this all wrong. See, as Prince of Rose Kingdom, I'm expected to do things officially and...according to tradition. But there's nothing traditional about me, Levi. And...I'm sure in a kingdom as vast as Rose, there's more people out there that would benefit from me breaking the silence and changing those traditions.
"So here goes." He exhaled heavily, then sank to one knee in front of Levi, and removed his hands from his coat pockets. He took Levi's left hand in his own, and held out a small band of gold out to Levi in his right hand. "I'm in love with you, Levi, and I want to spend every day for the rest of my life with you, sharing this beautiful world with you. Will you marry me, Prince Levi? Will you stay and do me the honor of becoming my husband?"
Levi's mouth dropped open in surprise and he looked at the ship's deck rather than hold Erwin's gaze. His eyes brushed over the ring, noting the simple band of smooth gold, and the symbolism of it caused his heart to beat faster. He had been smirking as Erwin struggled to find the right words to say the entire time, finding him amusingly confusing. He was unsure of where Erwin was going with his speech, but he hadn't thought it would turn out to be a proposal. He wasn't sure how to reply to him: saying yes would mean staying in Rose Kingdom and awaiting the Sina Royals to arrive and reveal the truth of this entire stolen identity mishap. But to say no would mean explaining why, especially after what they had done last night. And he wasn't even sure he could make himself say the word no? Did he want to marry Prince Erwin? He hadn't thought of it as a possibility so he while he amused himself with images of a wedding in his mind, he never gave the idea any consideration for real life.
He made a soft sound of surprise, overwhelmed with emotions, and his eyes brimmed with tears for a slight moment before they began to race down his cheeks. "Oh wow." he murmured, the only words that he could find to say in his moment of growing panic.
"Levi?" Erwin asked, concern in his voice. He slipped the ring back into his pocket, rising to his feet, and took Levi's hand, catching him as he seemed to sway on his feet unsurely. "Are you alright? I didn't scare you, did I?"
"S-scare me?" Levi asked, his eyelashes fluttering as he blinked the tears out of his eyes. He realized he was crying and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand as he took a step back from Erwin. "N-no, you didn't sc-scare me."
"Talk to me. Please." Erwin pleaded, his blue eyes dark with concern. "How do you feel?"
"Faint." Levi replied, holding onto the stern railing. He was trying to figure out the answers to Erwin's proposal, so he remained honest in his other answers.
"Will you...will you marry me?" The blonde tried again, beginning to feel helpless as he watched Levi.
"I-" Levi looked around for some kind of help, his breathing beginning to pick up. The bump of the gangway touching the ship's deck caught his attention and he began to head towards it. "I can't." he replied, his frustration leaking into his voice.
"You...you cannot?" Erwin asked, sounding crestfallen. He ground his teeth together and narrowed his eyes before following Levi to the dock. "Why not?" he demanded.
"Because-" Levi licked his lower lip, steadily walking towards the castle and keeping his back to Erwin to hide his face. "I- I cannot."
"Why can't you?" Erwin demanded again, rushing forwards to keep up with Levi. He tried to step in front of him and cut him off, but Levi just ducked around him and continued pressing forwards, attempting to rush back towards the castle.
"Because." Levi's voice shook with fear and he exhaled heavily, his chest beginning to feel constricted. It was time to confess, regardless of the outcomes. He was foolish to have let his lie go on for so long. And he would rather the prince hear it from himself and at least maintain whatever respect he had developed for him, than find out from the Sina royals and have his view of Levi tainted by the similarity between them as liars. "Because I'm not-" he began.
Erwin gave Levi an incredulous look that he didn't see since his back was to the blonde. "Not what? Not gay?" he asked, cutting Levi off and jumping to conclusions. His insecurities about his own sexual orientation not quite accepted by his own family and friends played on his mind and twisted his reality. The fact that Levi had commented on his sister's beauty the night before replayed in his mind and he considered the possibility that Levi had only been playing around with him as an alcohol-fueled accident.
Levi turned to face Erwin, startling the prince when he stepped up to him rather than continue to walk away. "I'm not right for you, Erwin. Why can't you see that? I'm not- I'm never gonna be-"
Prince Erwin cut him off by caressing Levi's cheek in his palm and leaning down to press a sweet, yet passionate kiss to his lips. Levi gasped against his lips, then sighed softly and allowed himself to become lost in the kiss.
-good enough." He breathed, finishing his sentence the moment Erwin pulled away and broke their kiss. His voice sounded less convincing, broken by his heavy breathing and his desire to stay by his side.
Erwin smiled at Levi, admiring the expression of adoration on his face. He traced his cheek with his thumb, then pressed another brief kiss to his lips. "I love you, Levi. You are good enough for me. I choose you."
"To be your bride?"
The two princes broke apart at the voice of the King. They turned to face the castle only to discover a small gathering of royalty that had approached them.
Erwin pulled Levi behind himself, standing between his father and his desired partner. "Yes." He breathed, "I want to marry Prince Levi, as Elaina is marrying Isle."
King Smith sighed heavily, his breath tainted with a grudging tone, but he was interrupted from replying by another royal stepping out from the group gathered behind himself.
"Prince Levi?" The man questioned, "Prince Levi? No, that boy is a liar and a fraud! My son was named Prince Len. Levi was the servant! He has no relation to my family!" King Zackly turned to direct his anger to King Smith, "How dare you disgrace my entire lineage by introducing everyone to our house's servant! No doubt the boy is a cunning liar to have fooled your entire kingdom."
"Levi is a...servant?" Erwin asked, dumbfounded. His mouth hung open in surprise and his eyes narrowed in surprise. It was obvious that he didn't seem to understand what the foreign king was telling him.
"A servant?" King Smith repeated. "You mean he lied to the royal Rose family?"
"To better himself, no doubt!" King Zackly spouted, "Everything he said must've been a lie! He would make us the villains to earn your pity and trust! It would've been easy! He knew everything about my kids, my castle! My entire kingdom! He's nothing but a con artist!"
Erwin turned to face Levi, surprised to find tears streaming down his young face. The boy was white with fear and his eyes were large and round in his face. "Tell me it's not true." Erwin demanded from him, his voice weak and low, full of disbelief. "Tell me you are a prince!"
Levi wasn't able to speak. His mouth felt dry and his tongue felt heavy. He shook his head, unsure why it felt so heavy as he attempted to finish his conversation with Erwin. The presence of the Sina Royal family had stunned him, but it also angered him. This was supposed to be his moment; he was supposed to be the one to tell Erwin who he really was.
"You really are a servant?" Erwin gasped when Levi made no comment, and took an involuntary step away from him, realizing that he had slept with a commoner. "Did you lie about everything, then, Levi?" he asked, his tone slowly changing from shock to anger. "Is there anything you told me that had some truth?!"
Levi tried to speak but only a small choking sound escaped his lips. He wanted to reach out for Erwin's hands, but his arms barely moved at his sides.
"Guards! Arrest Levi for treason against the Smith family." King Smith ordered, his voice full of sorrow and surprise. "And for treason against the Zackly's. Maybe then he'll be offered the chance to speak at trial."
"No!" Carolina protested from the back of the group, were she was following the royals as expected to be on-call for any requests. "He's only a boy! He's-"
"Silence!" King Smith roared, catching the look of disapproval appearing on King Zackly face. "Guards! Arrest that boy!"
The words seemed to shake Levi out of his stupor and into a panic. He glanced at Erwin one last time, attempting to commit his face to memory, before he realized two of the king's guards were making their way towards him. He ducked under Flagon's arms and then raced around the group of nobles. The queens and their ladies-in-waiting all gasped as he raced by, but made no effort to stop him. King Zackly reached out for him, shoving aside one of the ladies behind him in his effort to stop Levi, but the boy was too quick. He dashed around the king so that the royal's fingers only grazed through hair, and didn't bother to look back even after the golden crown was pulled from his head and clattered loudly on the cobblestone pathway.
He pressed onwards towards the castle, taking the stairs up to the porch two at a time, until he was charging through the long courtroom that was still decorated for the ball last night. It amazed him that not even twenty-four hours ago he had had the most memorable night of his life here, in this large hall filled with light, and life, and music. His heart hammering against his chest, his breath heavy and painful, he blinked tears out of his eyes and continued running through the mess of the party, over crumpled paper and spilt drinks, past vases of large drooping flowers and colourful streamers, past servants and guards before they had a chance to hear Flagon calling out for them to stop Levi from getting away.
He pushed himself to be faster and not look back, racing through the hallway of the castle and then through the entrance hall. His foot began to burn as he raced out the front door and into the courtyard. He forced himself to focus on his steps, and on the scene before him, and dismissed any thoughts of tripping and falling. He was gasping by the time he had run out of the castle gate and into the city streets. Aware that more guards would be patrolling through the city, Levi did the only thing he could think of and impulsively grabbed the reins of the first animal he came across. Lifting himself up onto the pony's back as he coaxed it into running, he headed back towards the forest at full speed, planning to outrun the guards until he was sure he wouldn't be followed for some time.
Miche had only just arrived behind the two princes in time to hear the accusations take place. He wanted to grab Erwin and pull him aside, explain to him that the entire thing wasn't Levi fault, but he wasn't sure how he could have explained anything to the prince, given the audience of royalty that would undoubtedly be listening. All at once, King Smith ordered Levi's arrest and the boy had taken off running, fearing for his life. He raced after Levi, his heart in his throat, wanting nothing more than grab him and push him behind himself, risking everything to defend the young man to his last breath. Instead, he grabbed Carolina by the shoulders, stopping her from trying to chase after Levi, and paused only long enough to give her a look of desperation, silently begging her to not reveal that he was the one to blame for the title of Prince. And then he was running again, forcing himself to focus on the smaller man.
"Flagon!" he called, as he began to rush through the castle, careful to avoid knocking other staff to the ground as he dashed forwards, pushing himself to chase after the two smaller men. He was taller and faster, but they had gotten a head start on him and alerted those up ahead of the chase. "Flagon!" he called again.
Flagon stopped at the gate between the city and the castle's courtyard as Levi grabbed the reins of a farmer's small pony and took off with it. "He's getting away!" he called to Miche.
"Let him go!" Miche called back, meeting Flagon's eyes. He came to stand beside the man, pausing to catch his breath and watching Levi slowly become smaller as the distance between them grew. "We'll regroup and go after him in a bit. He won't get very far." He spoke in a low voice to Flagon, hoping that his orders were convincing enough to appear in line with his duty. "It's afternoon already. Soon it will be dark. He'll head to the forest for cover. Even with a pony, he won't get very far." His heart began to sink in his chest as he glanced back to the forest, watching Levi's figure disappear inside, and his own words made him afraid. It would be dark soon, and the forest was full of many dangers. Levi was injured and now alone and afraid. Miche inhaled heavily, afraid for both himself, his family, and Levi. He could only hope that he was able to buy Levi enough time to escape.