Paper Crown (A DNF Royalty AU)

Chapter 1

The air was thick with uncertainty. Alone in the throne room sat the Prince. It was dark. The only source of light being the window in the far corner of the room, of which overlooked the courtyard. The castle had never felt so suffocating.

The Prince was no stranger to his Majesties ruthlessness, the poor boy grew up with the man. However he was no son to the king. The Prince was merely a substitute. A replacement. He had no blood relations, only a promise. A promise to rule the kingdom in a way the current king saw fit, and to carry out the legacy His majesty had created.

George had no right to disagree. He should have no right to the throne, he was chosen to do exactly what the king needed. That was his role. Anything less and he could be replaced. He knew that. The Prince forever lived on thin ice, there were many who were more fit for his position and George had come to accept the harsh fact of reality. He was replaceable, nothing special, especially to the king.

His Majesty was cruel, unforgiving and lacked any form of empathy or remorse. The complete opposite to his heir. His ways of ruling were harsh and inhumane. He didn't care for the greater good of his people, he never considered the hardships his citizens had to face. It didn't bother him.

This is what angered the Prince the most. His Majesty had everything he needed to make his once prosperous kingdom thrive, but he neglected it. His duties as king were merely ignored, he only busied himself with useless things, only worrying about the issues of himself and the wealthy. Anything else was not worth his time nor consideration. The only true worry his majesty spent his time considering was  weather or not he had a deemable 'worthy heir' to carry on his reign of terror.

George was torn. He couldn't carry on with what the king wanted from him. He wasn't good enough, or he wasn't what the King wanted, he wasn't as selfish as the old bigot.

The young Prince was a phenomenal actor to say the least. Forever playing the role which was expected of him. He disagreed with half the words he spoke, but it matched what The King wanted to hear and that's all that mattered.

To keep it simple, the Prince hated who he had become, or who he was trying to portray as himself. He could never just relax, be himself. He was constantly planning out his next word, figuring out how he could make the king happy whilst also trying his best to keep his morals in check. It was like a constant game of tug-of-war, one of which he couldn't ever win.

That's what had lead him here, His Majesty had demanded the young Prince for a conversation, one of which was becoming increasingly more regular. Marriage, or lack there of. George had always despised the idea, he was still young and wanted to experience life. The idea of marrying someone, a stranger who he had never even met or had any romantic feelings for was foreign to him, however it was fate. Ever since he took up the position of the heir, George knew it was inescapable.

Terrorised by the pure anger shown by the king, the Prince sat on the floor in pure disbelief.

His Majesty was known to get aggressive when angry, however this was a side no one but the Princes and people closest to the king got to experience.

Just before their little conversation  The King had ordered everyone, including servants and guards to leave the proximity. Meaning George was alone.

The floor was freezing, the marble- like material was beautiful in the daytime, yet its reflective glow only added to the eerie feel of the castle once the sun had set.

He looked a mess. His formal attire was almost that of a joke. His tunic hung loosely around his body, draping along the floor.

Finally building up the courage, the Prince rose to his feet, brushing off and straightening his clothes before he began to trudge his way to the large doors, however before he could reach it one of the doors opened ever so slightly.

It revealed a small boy, Tubbo. He looked around nervously before his eyes landing on his pitiful brother.

Tubbo was the only biological son of his Majesty, King Jschaltt. However the young boy was not to be next in line to the throne. His father had deemed him 'unfit' to rule, and refused the boy his right to ruling his fathers empire. This was of course happily welcomed by the youngest Prince. The idea of ruling terrified the poor boy, he despised public speaking and anything that was expected from a ruler. However he hated to see his brother suffering.

He knew a lot of Georges motives had the younger Prince in mind. George regularly took the blame for a lot of Tubbos antics and mistakes. It felt almost like the older Prince wanted to shelter his brother. Keep him safe from reality and give him somewhat of an enjoyable childhood. Or what's left of a childhood.

"I'm sorry." The younger Prince spoke quietly from the door.

"It wasn't about you." George began, "He just wanted to talk about the usual stuff."

The younger Prince frowned as his brother quickly approached him.

"You don't deserve this." It was short. George let out a quiet sigh as his eyes landed on his brother, a small smile landing on his face.

"You shouldn't worry yourself, this isn't something I cant handle. you know that." A short pause. "Come on let's get you to bed."

George placed his hand on his brothers shoulder, spinning the shorter boy around and heading out of the large open throne room and into a smaller, narrow corridor.

The sound of their footprints echoed through the empty halls, The castle was so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop.

It was almost never like this during the day, it would usually be filled to the brim with servants and people. However when night fell and most of the workers either returned home, or to their allocated sleeping quarters, the only people awake were them of the guards.

The Princes made their way to a very familiar door, it was where they were to split up and go their separate ways to their sleeping quarters. The Princes walked in a comfortable silence, before bidding each other farewell and good night.

"Make sure you get enough sleep okay? You've got a busy day tomorrow." George smiled once again, it was very forced yet reassuring.

"God you sound like my mum." The younger prince grumbled, turning away and facing his bedroom door. "Good night George, I'm glad you're alright." Was all he said before he vanished into his room.

George soon followed suit, walking into his very dark and empty room.

Tomorrow was to be no different.

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I'm sorry if this sounds weird, this isn't my usual style of writing at all but I wanted to try something new.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated and im sorry for any mistakes, I suck at spotting spelling mistakes.

Anyways its 2:30 am and I better get to sleep before I die! hope you enjoyed the chapter.

11th April 2021
1237 Words