ℝ𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℝ𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠 | ʙʏʟᴇʀ

Chapter One

Mike's POV: (sorry if I switch tenses a lot😣)
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I yawned as I sat up, my blearily eyes taking in my familiar surroundings. My bed, my drawers, my wardrobe, just the usual generic bedroom furnishings. But posher, fancier, no scuffs or chips in sight. Perks of being wealthy I guess.

You see, my parents are Duke Ted and Lady Karen of Indiana, Circa. That makes their income huge, and their children's bedrooms well kitted out.

It has downs, obviously, like how I can only be friends with certain people - and I hate those certain people. They hate my existence and feel it necessary to be mean.

But I find my ways to get friends. Even if they're "regular townsfolk".

Even if my mother disapproves of my associations, she can't find it in her heart to stop me from quietly leaving our manor and subtly making my way through the Indiana streets (that my family actually own), to my best friend Lucas' house. He and his sister's parents work for my father, Ted.

Lucas is so much fun and we discovered D&D together, one day and bonded over it. Before long we were close friends.

But D&D isn't a two-player game, unfortunately, so we struggled on our quests, until we met Dustin, who introduced us new rules, more character options and a lot of storylines.

Now we are a small party of best friends, who meet up regularly and play Dungeons and Dragons.

And I was going to meet them today.

So I hopped out of bed, quickly, and dressed in my attire.

I was intent to skip breakfast, eager to meet up with my friends, when my name was called out from behind me.

I turned slowly to meet eyes with my sister, Nancy.

"Parents want to chat with us," she briefly recounted to me, rolling her eyes at the parents part.

I laughed lightly, "Are you sure it's not just you they want to talk to? You are the one, after all, with the secret boyfriend."

Nancy swatted at me a little before turning on her high heeled boots and walking towards the dining hall. I followed in pursuit, sighing. I didn't want to be late to meeting up with Lucas and Dustin.

I arrived into the room to persevere my father, eating his fried chicken, his face grim. And my mother, sitting uncomfortably in a chair beside her husband, her legs atop one another and her hands delicately positioned on one knee.

Nancy seats herself at the end of the table, opposite our father, and I sit next to Holly, our three year old sister, who is tucking into her food, not noticing the awkward tension in the air.

I attempt to clear the air of said tension by smiling widely and starting the conversation, "So... What are we here to talk about?"

Karen untangled her legs and sighed.

"We're having a visit from - the Californian Duke and Duchess." my mother breathes out, her face negative.

I blink.

"But we hate them!" Nancy says, her voice loud.

Our dad shrugs his shoulders a little, before swallowing his food and saying, "Yes, yes we do. But I'm composing a deal with them that should bring in a lot of food and profit for our homeland."

"They hate us though!" Nancy argues, her tone quietening down, but still a little too high.

"Mhmm," father agrees, "but they are equally eager to discuss this deal as I. It's not going to be too pleasant to be face to face with those pompous gits, but it's just a short term loss for the long term gain, after all."

Karen nods in agreement, though her face is tight. She hates the Byres family even more then dad, which is saying a lot.

Joyce Byres, the Duchess of the kingdom of California is supposed to be royal pain, by what my father has told me. I've never met her, however, so I can't give my own opinion on the matter.

"They will be staying here," my father continues, "until next month, in three weeks. I know that's a long time, my children, but we must be considerate and kind to this family. They have, after all, traded us many a helpful harvest."

Nancy is shaking her head, a humongous scowl on her face as father rattles on about reasons why we should be kind to the Byres. I lean over the table and nudge my older sister with the palm of my hand, "Why are you quite so angry, Nance?"

She whips her head round to me, face angry before taking a deep breath and quietly stating, "You weren't born when they were here last, were you," I shook my head carefully, "well, just know that Johnathan Byres is a jerk!"

I ponder her statement for a couple seconds, pretending to focus on my food, before turning to her again, "What did he do wrong?"

She ignored me, pretending to focus on her food.

My father was still talking about past trades with the Byres, and then moving onto stories we've heard hundreds of times, boring us with the only conversation he seemed to be able to say when talking of anything that's not himself or royal matters.

Mum coughs lightly, trying to get dad to return to talking about the Byres' visit.

He receives the hint and continues, "Temporary living arrangements will be easy enough. We simply shall lend them three spare rooms."

"Are Joyce and Lonnie taking a break," Nancy scoffs, "wouldn't put it past that broken family."

"No, dear," Karen said, "we'll need one room for Lonnie and Joyce, one for Johnathan, and one for their youngest son, William."

"Will-..."

I remembered that name suddenly.

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A/N: First chapter done! I hope you've enjoyed it, as there's definitely more coming. I hope I'll be able to finish this book 😂🤞
Word Count: 991

-Aurora💗