Paladin Butters x Princess Kenny "True Love Prevails Over All"

Chapter 1: Heartbroken

in poems and stories, love is depicted to be beautiful, a one-of-a-kind magical experience that only beings of this world had been blessed to experience, but leopold never believed in them, to him love was about deception a cruel joke that made you believe in a fantasy

in his childhood, leo was physically, mentally and emotionally abused by his parents, his father had been abused in his life and unfortunately carried out that cycle of torment onto him, he was never given a mother's warm hug or a father's proud smile but rather beatings and harsh punishments

but even as a child leo was wise and knew that the only way to escape the cycle was the break it, the first step was to get away from its source, the environment, at the age of 7, leo packed what little belongings he had into a small pack back and snuck out of his village in the middle of the night

he didn't have any destination in mind nor did he have a house to stay in so he settled to camp in the woods, for 2 whole weeks leo spent his days in the wild and while he relished in his newfound freedom he was still a little boy left all alone in the woods to fend for himself, he had to rely on his limited knowledge of plants and herbs to feed himself, as resilient as he was, over time he started to become weak and more helpless by the hour and at times he ever feared this would be his end, that was until he was rescued

one day, the guards from the cartman kingdom were out doing their usual patrols around the area and had found a little makeshift tent, the leading general of the patrol ordered everyone to stay back as he investigated, inside of the little raggy tent was a small little boy huddled in the corner, at first he hid away from the man, fearful of what he might do to him but the leader was gentle and patient

he offered him his cloak as a blanket to be wrapped up in along with a small loaf of bread, as a child leo wasn't so easily fooled by treats, but seeing the stranger's warm smile and generous offers he decided to put away his suspicions and gave his thanks as he accepted his two offers, the leader then asked him if he would like to be taken to the kingdom to get properly fed and cleaned up, he accepted and was carried all the way there

when they arrived back at the palace, the leader introduced himself as Owen, general for the cartman army kingdom, he bathed him, took him to the healer's den to patch up his little scraps and had the chefs prepare him a warm meal, after taking care of his essential needs owen began to ask questions, why was he out in the woods?, where were his parents and where was he from?, he explained his situation and how he had ran away from his home, leo saw another man look so inraged and disgusted on his behalf before, he took his hand and told him he would never have to worry about his awful parents ever again, for he would find a new home here

originally, Leopold was intended to be sent to the orphanage but owen requested to take the child in, he grew fond of the little boy and didn't want to risk putting him in the same position again and he was amazed by his resilience

this 7-year-old boy was able to survive in the wilderness for 2 weeks on his own, no normal child would've lasted even 1 night, he saw greatness in him and wanted to help him become the best possible version of himself, so from then on owen took the boy under his wing, raised and train him into the mighty paladin he was today

the queen was a bit skeptical of the general's request but her doubts were soon met shortly after seeing his progress, his teachers and mentors immediately noticed the potential, he was a fast learner and was eager for knowledge, despite starting years late compared to most of his peers, he managed to climb the ladder to the top pupils of his training and studies

despite living in such a horrid household for the first 7 years of his life, leo turned out to be a fine young man, he was sweet, kind-hearted, generous, patient and had a heart of gold, he was loved and respected by many in the kingdom, even his enemies held a certain respect to him due to his merciful nature