Title: Fujoshi Bait

Summary: How did my attempts to find a replacement spark these rumors?

Character: Julius, Leon, Angelica

A few months before the start of the Academy, I found myself hiding away in Dad's office. Angelica was currently visiting the palace. While she was meeting Mom for another lesson, she would no doubt have sought me out.

Intellectually, I knew I was being unfair to her by avoiding her, but I could not help it. She wasn't responsible for my position as crown prince, but she represented everything I wanted to avoid. The masks, agendas, schemes, and responsibilities were simply unappealing. Angelica's constant nagging about maintaining my image served both as a reminder of my future and proved she was and would be everything I found unattractive.

Looking around the room, I was reminded about the lifestyle I wanted. The lifestyle that Dad wanted. I wanted to live life as a grand adventurer like my forefathers before my family became tied to the throne. My teeth clicked to see my family's legacy locked away in a vault. It was the antithesis of the very thing it stood for.

I wanted to live life on the edge with no certainty for the next day except for my next step.

"It's not fair," I said as I pounded the desk.

A popping sound echoed. Looking towards the ground, I saw a circular peg. One side of it looked like the design of the desk. Trailing my eyes along the edge of the desk, I found a hole with what looked like a scroll.

Reading the scroll, I recognized a name. It was the same family name as that new hotshot adventurer.

"This looks promising," I said aloud as I started concocting a plan.

In the auditorium, I had just finished my speech. As expected from the whispers, none truly respected my wishes. But soon that would all change.

"In the spirit of being your peer, I do not feel it right for me to have been granted the honor of speaking in front of you all for the opening ceremony. Not when there is someone much more deserving."

My words caused the auditorium to fall into complete silence as confusion reigned. Through my peripherals, I could see the staff quietly trying to figure out what was happening. They were desperately trying to find a student that I didn't tell them of in advance.

With an inward chuckle, I said, "I would like to invite Leon Fou Bartfort, our newest baron, to the stage."

I saw a boy rush out the side door. Unless he had been on the edge of the auditorium, he must have been making his way to the exit the moment I mentioned calling someone else up. He had good instincts.

He would make a suitable replacement.

It's a good thing I had my friends standing guard at the exits to catch him.

He made a surprisingly good speech despite making it up on the spot. It was full of empty platitudes and flowery barbs which didn't mean anything. He would be perfect for the royal court.

Though he was more like me than I cared for. For some odd reason, promises of riches did not seem to appeal to him all that much. I thought men of impoverished lifestyles would desire my life. Though I suppose he could make money enough living the life I wanted.

Perhaps he knew it was a con. After all, why would the founding five heirs want to get to know a noble of Leon's station.

I was getting ahead of myself. I needed to convince him that joining my friends was a good thing for him.

"Leon, I wanted to know if you have any plans for the upcoming tea party," I pried.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what you have planned for the event. I was worried that since you became a baron recently you may not know what is expected of you."

"I've got it under control. The etiquette teacher has kindly offered to teach me the ways of being a gentleman."

"Of course. If you need any assistance, you can also count on me."

"Right... Your Highness."

"Angelica, I am in need of your assistance," I said to my fiancée.

"Is it pertaining to the baron you've been pestering?"

For some reason, she seemed cross with me. It wasn't the usual nagging attitude, but something more. This was odd since I don't recall doing anything particularly un-princely as of late.

"Why do you sound annoyed?"

"He came to beg me to tell you to leave him out of whatever political game your playing. He presented me a chest of jewelry to convince me."

"Errr... aside from him trying to distance himself from me, isn't receiving treasure a good thing?"

This was not the right thing to say.

"It would have been if he had not done it in public, and so desperately! Aside from the new rumors of him courting me, there are rumors that you are romantically pursuing him! It's a whole mess of gossips!"

"There are rumors of what?!"

"It also doesn't help you hardly interact with me and only ever want to play with your friends, who are all male."

This was bad. My friends and I were not gay. We all simply wanted to find the right woman for us. Having a reputation as gay would make it infinitely more difficult for me to find a lover.

"Don't tell me you believe those rumors!"

"Of course I don't, but everything you do gives reason for people to believe in them."

"It's not like that at all!"

"I know that, but the common person and your enemies will either not care or will use this to discredit you. Jake even had the audacity to court me to replace you in his bid to acquire the throne."

"How do we fix this?!"

"... Give them evidence to the contrary."

"How?"

After a pause and a sigh, Angelica said, "You will take me on an outing in the capital. It needs to be suitably public, but private enough for people to believe you are courting me away from prying eyes. It needs to be suitably romantic, and you need to bring me flowers."

Right! The solution was so obvious. I need only pretend to go on a date with Angelica to disprove the rumors.

As I ran to make preparations for my fake date, I felt as though I had forgotten something.

After quelling the rumors by taking Angelica on multiple dates, I refocused on my initial plans.

It was the day of the dungeon exploration, and I was going to have Bartfort join my party. He needed to be seen as part of my group to create the image that he was part of the founding families.

My friends and I had leaned on the staff to ensure he had to appear for the class. It was odd though. The staff agreed, but they all looked concerned. Was he not famous for being an adventurer?

Regardless of their misgivings, they pulled through.

"Leon," I greeted cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you for today's class."

"Your Highness," he said while looking positively ill.

"None of that, now. Call me Julius."

"I don't think I will."

"Perhaps when you are more comfortable. Something I'm certain will happen when we venture into the dungeon today."

"I was asked by the teacher to act as the vanguard. Given you presence, I assume this was done for your protection. As such I do not believe it wise to partner up with you. Now if you will excuse me," Leon said before he began sprinting down into the dungeon.

"Wait for me!"

The whole class was soon chasing us as Leon blasted straight through. It was an overwhelming sight to see him dispatch every monster that appeared before him. They didn't even slow him down.

After ten minutes, he made it to the teacher at the end of the designated dive. It was a new record for sure. Too bad the achievement would be overshadowed by the entire class following right behind him. It wasn't fair that the rest of us were riding his coattails.

And then he sped past the teacher, who had a look of alarm.

"Bartfort, you need to turn back," he barked.

"Don't worry, Professor. I'll drag him back," I hollered as I too sped past.

I had followed him down to the thirtieth floor. It was not as taxing a journey to go down as it sounded. It was absurd how he was able to find so many shortcuts. I think we bypassed every single boss on the way down.

He only stopped once he hid in a secret room, which happened to contain the Saintess's bracelet. I goggled at that. How did he know it was there? Did he have some form of hereditary magic that allowed him to find treasure, or was it some Lost Item he found?

Regardless, it was fantastic for me. The adventurer baron of the lost founding family finding the lost relic was bound to raise his value. It would only take a few more pushes in his reputation to drop the position of crown prince on him.

"You fucking donkey! Why did you follow me so far down?!" Leon hollered at me as he had to support my mangled body. He wasn't in much better shape.

Turns out there were no useable floor skips to get back up, and because the doorways between floors were gated by the floor bosses... We had to kill a lot of boss monsters.

Who knew a cloaked green lizard with a knife could be so frightening. The damn thing nearly obliterated me since I had thought it cute initially. It was only because Leon was so frightened did I realize something was wrong soon enough to be able to dodge.

It was a miracle we survived. Our armor sure didn't.

As we passed through the twelfth floor, we found the staff and senior students putting down the boss.

"Oh goody," Leon said before dropping on the floor. This inevitably caused me to fall on top of him.

I only groaned as I could not muster the energy to do anything else. The others would fetch us anyways.

...

Why weren't they carrying us away yet?

Looking up, I saw our rescuers look at us aghast.

"What were you thinking chasing after Leon like that?!" my fiancée yelled angrily at me.

"I know it was dangerous, but I didn't expect him to go down that far. I honestly thought he would run out of steam in a couple of floors."

"Oh I have another longer lecture for you regarding that for when you can walk. I'm talking about the rumors that sprouted from this."

"Rumors? Again?"

"They found you half-naked collapsed on the boy you have been chasing!"

"We gauntleted the majority of the dungeon to find the Saintess's bracelet. How is that being overlooked?"

"Again, you were both found half-naked and on top of one another. What's worse is now the temple is in the midst of a crisis!"

"How?!"

"Due to the rumors, the religion is split on proclaiming Leon as the next Saintess... Saint."

What? But the Saintess was a woman. Every depiction indicated so. Only women could use holy magic. How could anyone ever think the Saintess could be a man?

"How did my rumors cause that?"

"Because they now think you and Leon are reincarnations of the Saintess and the founder of the Kingdom! Your insistence on chasing him has led people to believe you are connected by fate! Finding the bracelet on the first dive only convinced people that Leon is the Saintess."

"We have got to fix this!"

"I have some good news," Angelica said as I was being discharged.

"Really?"

"Leon has managed to quell the rumors and prevent the temple from splitting."

"He did? How?"

What genius political maneuver did he pull to silence these rumors?

"He gifted the bracelet to the scholarship student. It turns out she is quite proficient in holy magic. People are now saying he's something akin to the Sacred Guardian that Alzer has for its Sacred Priestess."

Wait... that was bad. If he took up that role, he would be tied to the temple. The royal court would never allow him to take the throne.

"Julius?!" Angelica hollered as I sprinted to find Leon.

"Leon! You can't sleep with that woman!" I desperately cried out as I pointed towards the girl he was talking with.

To my horror, Leon took a speculative look as he looked at the blushing scholarship student. He suddenly swept her off her feet and began to run to the dorms.

"No!" I screamed as I gave chase.

"Why, Julius? Why do you insist on creating these new rumors?!" Angelica asked with her hand on her face.

"Leon mustn't be swayed by the temptress!" I frothed.

"Do you even hear yourself? You sound like a jealous lover!"

"You don't understand what he means to me," I hissed.

Angelica just stared.

"Why is Leon tied to a chair, Angelica?"

"Because I love you too much to deny you what you want," she said bitterly.

"... Wait... you're okay with me not wanting to be the next king?"

"So you would go so far..."

She sounded as though she accepted. Her actions did not align with my understanding of her. She actually cared about my wants over my position. Suddenly, I felt an ugly emotion grow in my chest.

"... I feel I must apologize. I misread you."

"Misread me?"

"I... I regret to say this, but I always thought you didn't love me. I thought you were only interested in being my fiancée so that you would become queen."

"I don't care about being the next queen. I only cared about being with you... but I see now that you could never return my feelings," she said tearfully.

"I was an idiot. Please forgive me. While I can't guarantee that I'll ever reciprocate your feelings, I want to give you an honest chance once this is all over."

"Reciprocate? But... You're not gay?"

"Gay? Don't tell me that the rumors got to you too!"

"Well, what did you expect when you say things like what Leon means to you?!"

"My replacement!"

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"... Fair, but look on the bright side."

"What bright side? I kidnapped a baron after days of crying myself to sleep thinking you were gay. What possible good came of all this?" she glowered.

"I know you love me and aren't using me to get to the throne."

"... I'm only going to let that go because I'm too emotionally exhausted to act on my righteous anger."

"This is nice and all, but can you untie me?" Leon asked as he sat in the chair with an unamused expression.

That was when Olivia burst in through the door with an entourage of boys and priests.

"Unhand my chosen you perverts."

At least the new rumors didn't question my sexuality anymore. Angelica and I were just degenerates who wanted someone to watch unwillingly. Angelica was livid, but preferred this over the idea of the populace thinking she was tossed away for a man.

All in all, I felt life was looking up.

Now if only Leon could be convinced to take up the throne. His sacrifice would allow Angelica and I to go on expeditions as we tried to feel each other out.

Maybe I should just release the letters I found. I'd like to see Leon try to escape when people think he's the rightful prince in addition to his accomplishments. I'm sure Dad would be enthusiastic in helping.

AN:

1) Originally, this wasn't supposed to be a crack fic. It was supposed to be about Julius trying to mold Leon to be a suitable replacement and Leon trying to avoid the cast. Then I wrote the misunderstanding people started having watch the prince chase Leon. At that point, the fic got rewritten into this.

2) Question, did the canon call the boys fujoshi bait or was that just an idea a fanfic writer wrote as part of their story? I honestly can't remember.