The child was an absolute delight. She was so filled with joy and curiosity that he didn't dare to squander. So he decided to help it grow. Giving her his books seemed to have helped, but being as young as she was, he had to explain quite a bit to her in a way she would understand.
Truly, she was an absolute delight to have around. The Prince wished that she could stay. And perhaps he could take her in. After all, it came apparent real fast that she had no parents to call her own.
'Would she like that?' He had wondered. 'For me to become her father?'
Certainly she wouldn't mind. And when the time came for him to marry his dearest Vanessa, she would be the little darling's mother.
That reminded him. He needed to get Vanessa some flowers.
Humming his favorite song, The Prince made his way over to the Florist. She had moved her shop recently, so it took a little longer than usual to find it. But find it he did.
"Hello there." He called out softly, as not to startle his subject. Unfortunately, startle she did, as she jumped from her place in front of a few empty pots.
Well, empty in the sense of no flowers. They had dirt, so the chance that she was planting seeds were awfully high.
"Y-your majesty!" She squeaked, twirling around to face him.
'Oh dear,' he thought with worry. 'I must've scared her quite a bit. She looks like she saw a ghost!'
A ghost indeed. Her face was as pale as a blanket of snow, her freckles popping out like daisies. She was shivering for a moment, before she relaxed.
"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned for her wellbeing.
"Y-yes! I'm fine! I just- you just gave me a start is all." She shook her head. Next she spoke, her voice was much calmer. "As you can see, I have to plant new seeds. Unfortunately all of my other flowers have been ruined or died."
Concern grew at this. "Really? That's awful! How did it happen?" He asked.
The Florist shook her head. "I… don't really know. Perhaps some children were playing too rough, or even some rouge wildlife came by. But it's alright. It will take a while before I can sell my own flowers is all." She tried to reassure her Prince.
He couldn't help but nod. "I see. Well, I hope things will turn up soon. If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask, all right?"
The woman gave him a shaky smile as she nodded. Not long after he bid her a farewell, and he left.
The Prince was rather disappointed, but as it were, life was full of bumps and setbacks. It would be alright. He would get his fiancée flowers another time.
Suddenly a tiny hand latched onto his.
"There you are!" The voice belonging to a child spoke.
Looking down, the Prince saw it was the child that seemed to have snatched his heart away. Complete with her hat and cape.
"Why hello there." He said with a smile. It widened when he saw her pout. How adorable.
"I've been looking all over for you!" She chided. "Really, you gotta stop drifting away like that."
A soft chuckle escaped him. "My deepest apologies."
She pouted a little longer before she heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine, but you're going to tell me about law stuff. I have a contact I wanna make."
Now that certainly perked his interests. Eyes lighting up, he asked, "you want to make a contract? Would you like any help?"
Using her other hand, she began to tap her chin in thought. "Well, I wanna learn how to make them, and then when I make my first draft you can look it over. Okay?"
Smile nearly splitting his face in two, the Prince nodded. Oh how wonderful! A sweet bonding experience with the child was certainly enough to make the day much better.
Together, the duo made their way to his study. There he would give the child all the proper things one needed in order to make a contact.
When they managed to get to his study, the Prince opened the door to find that someone was already there.
Someone with brown hair… brown eyes… royal attire… and a face from a portrait.
He looked up from his piles of books, and the Prince noticed how messy his hair looked. How there were dark bags underneath his eyes.
If the Prince didn't know any better, he would say he was looking at a mirror during a late night of studying.
Then the man did a double take. He quickly rose from his chair, shuffling papers and moving books around. "I'm terribly sorry, I'll just- let me just clean this mess up."
Waving it away, the Prince just sent him a smile. "It's quite alright. The child and I are just going to go over contracts. I'm sure it's just fine for us to coexist, yes?"
Slowly, the other began to stop his shuffling. "I… I suppose so." He said with a bit of hesitance.
Nodding, the Prince led the child to the table. And for an odd moment, the Prince felt strange.
Almost as if he had no legs.
How curious! Of course he had legs! It wasn't as if he was dead he was a ghost he was a corpse he was stuck in his corpse he had to get more power he was weak he was we ak he needed to fight Vanessa he had to fight Vanessa he had to WIN HE WAS STUCK HE WAS STUCK HE COULDN'T GET OUT HE WANTED OUT HE WANTED OUT DON'T LOOK AT HIM KID DON'T LOOK AT HIM-
The Prince sat down. He had to teach his daughter how to make a proper contact after all! His little princess was going to be a lawyer just like her father when she grew up.
The Prince did not notice the shared look between his alive twin and Hat Kid. He did not see the sadness and despair that were held within their eyes.
No, for his own eyes were foggy with twisted memories, giving an illusion that his kingdom was still standing. Not in a strange mixture of two timelines merging together to become one. And perhaps, he never would see the truth ever again.
Hi future me here. This was originally posted on AO3 and tbh I don't think I'll end up writing the larger idea I have mentioned in past me's note below. Sorry, but I hope you've enjoyed this snippet.
So. This whole thing was written in the AFIT Discord server so I'm genuinely amazed at myself and thank you Meep for telling me what type of angst you wanted. Prince without permadeath indeed. But anyway this is an idea I have, but like. A snippet of it, and for later down the road. I may or may not have a tiny bit of the beginning written. Dunno how much of it would actually be typed up but ya know. Just giving y'all that information.