Emeralds For Trade // DNF Royalty AU

Chapter 9.2: Unravel

The castle felt emptier without Tubbo fussing and keeping him company. This time, when George arrived at the tall white gates, a guard was present to greet him and take him to Dream. The prince was tentative as he was led to the sitting area again, where the king was finishing up the tea. Upon hearing the door open, Dream stood up, greeting the prince with a bow and a smile.

"My prince. Thank you for joining me today."

"Of course," George said quietly, almost tentatively. Something about his aura that day was different, Dream noticed. "I haven't had the chance to thank you for your offer-"

Dream cut him off gently, his hand raised with somewhat of a grimace on his face, though it was hidden from the prince.

"No need to thank me yet. Just... I wish to spend time with you. Just you. Kingdoms, titles, nothing of the sort."

George was surprised by this, and flashes of his dream a few nights before playing behind his eyes. No titles, no pressures. He could do that.

"If that's the case... You mentioned white flowers? I want to see them."

Dream grinned at this response. He held his hand out, and hesitantly, George accepted it, the touch of calloused fingers against his own feeling more and more familiar each time.

"Of course. They're beautiful, honestly, and I know beauty when I see it."

George wasn't sure how they ended up there, but they soon found themselves in a section of a garden, walls of shrubbery keeping the nook hidden. It was quaint, smaller than he'd expected. The bench they were sitting on was suspended under a sturdy tree branch, swaying slightly to his movements. Before them, rows of white rose bushes lined the area. Not just the petals, but the stems and the leaves were the same quartz-like shade. There was nothing of the sort down in Diamond, so he looked on in amazement.

And in his hands was one of its kind, plucked and de-thorned carefully by the king himself. The prince looked at it intently. The petals were soft, almost like cotton. He ran his thumb along the slightly darker spots on the stem, where the spines used to be.

"Why do you do that?" George asked absentmindedly, tucking his legs up to his chest.

"Hm?" Dream hummed, pulled from his thoughts.

"The thorns. You always pick them off. Why do you do that?"

The mask proved to be useful once again, hiding the faint blush that rose on the king's cheeks. He hesitated, though he already had an answer. George was still on guard, his walls not yet lowered, but he was getting to a comfortable state. Dream could tell from the way his shoulders slumped slightly, leaning against the backrest of the swing. The way his tone wasn't forced and laced with professionalism. Before he could overthink it, the words slipped from his lips.

"I didn't want them to prick you."

The prince wasn't sure what to make of it. The alarms in his head that went off, telling him that Dream looked down on him, were ever-present, but he took a conscious effort to drown them out. He ignored the surface-level inhibitions that voiced doubts on Dream's motivations, and instead listened deeper to the part of him that thought it was simply a sweet gesture.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Y'know, I'm fine. You don't have to—"

"I know," Dream interjected quickly. "I... just wanted to."

A strange silence fell over them, with none of them knowing where to take the conversation from there. They were sitting on words they couldn't say, or rather, didn't dare to say. Both were seemingly only aware of their own uncertainty, not realising that they were in the same boat.