Royal AU: Yellow Jessamine

My King

A few days after that event, Flora was already doing much better than Jennifer as her wounds had already closed and healed although the scars stayed. She wore a bandage around the damaged hand below the glove for safety in case it started bleeding again. That night she was simply keeping Sky some company since Caroline was minding her own business elsewhere, practically constantly leaving. The servant simply stood by the window with her hands behind her back and stayed mostly in silence to let him work. Sometimes she glanced behind her shoulders to look at him before facing outside again, a bit paranoid he might risk his life again. "If you need help let me know" she reminded

As the days passed he had felt a bit more relieved that the servant and his sister began to heal a little but mostly the servant. However, at the same time, he became more quiet and tense over time. Working on the paperwork, he stayed just as silent until he was reminded by the servant that he could ask for help. "..Mmh, I will" he mumbled and kept his eyes on his work, signing, setting the paper aside, and looking at the next paper

She stayed like that for a few more minutes until she glanced at the bed and slowly took a seat with elegance, setting her hands on her lap and exhaling softly. After a while she simply turned her head to him and stayed there to watch him curiously, tilting her head and observing how focused he was on his work. "It's quite a breezy evening, isn't it? Well, I guess you enjoy that anyway" she said, trying to make small talk after all the silence and noticing he was a little more tense than usual. "Would you perhaps want me to make something warm or would you rather I stay here with you in case something happens?" she asked

"Mhm.." He nodded at that, keeping his eyes on the paperwork "I'm not sure myself. You may do as you please" he answered calmly. After another moment of silence, however, a quiet crack could be heard to which the prince fell silent again. He seemed to have broken his quill due to his hand having been constantly tense, slowly setting the broken quill aside and sighing deeply. It briefly sounded a little shakily at the end but he tried to ignore it, opening a drawer at his desk and pulling up a new one, although he didn't write anymore but rather stare blankly at the ink stain he accidentally made on the paper

"Oh?" Flora blinked when hearing the crack and watched him take a new feather, furrowing her eyebrows and smiling sadly. "Looks like you used that a bit too much, hm?" She said, standing to walk towards him and picking up the broken feather to dispose of it later on. However, when she was close to him and heard the shaky sigh, she paused and glanced down at the man, noticing he wasn't writing anymore. "...Your Highness? Shall I read the papers for you again...?" She offered, unsure if he was feeling too tired to proceed she threw away the feather but glanced at him still.

He kept staring down at the paper, not answering her question as something slowly flowed down his cheek what seemed to be a tear. He gulped due to him feeling a knot in his throat, trying to get rid of it as his sight was becoming gradually blurry. Eventually, Skylar faced down completely and avoided eye contact letting out another quiet yet shaky huff

At that point, Flora realized what was happening and stared at him in surprise for a bit. "My King..." she said worriedly, getting close to him and setting a hand on his back while she leaned a little downwards to see his face. "What's the matter? Are you alright? What seems to be troubling you?" She asked, sounding genuinely worried

He tried getting rid of his tears, running his hand over his eyes and easily absorbing the water. It however didn't stop him from tearing up more. "I keep messing up." He mumbled and leaned his head down onto his desk "No matter how hard I work, I'll never be enough for my people. Quite a few have left, it's just a matter of time until more leave." He hid his head in his arms, sighing deeply "Caroline is always out of the Kingdom, being careless with the money...I don't want to call her a burden but I feel as if she were neglecting my people's well-being with the ridiculously high taxes she set up" he shook his head "I haven't heard from Flora for a long while and she probably doesn't plan to by now. I wish I could speak to her, talk to her about our past days like we used to next to the lake but now.." He gulped again "And to think that I couldn't protect both you and my sister from being almost murdered, barely getting away from death myself if it weren't for my guards" he clung onto the edge of his desk and heard his tears drip onto the floor "I'm probably sounding selfish right now but this just feels like..it feels as if I'm all on my own in this. That I'm the only one taking responsibility for this kingdom and yet it feels as if I'm only causing problems rather than avoiding them. I don't know— I just don't feel like being present right now" he shook his head and curled up slightly.