cinderella | sting x reader

Chapter 17- A Proclamation

A crowd was huddled around the right side of the castle gate.

Whispers, giggles, and hushed voices were heard as the people read what was plastered there on the wall.

A proclamation.

The cluster of people were mostly made up of twittering girls, sounding eerily like new-born birds. They were obviously wearing their finest gowns, the silk gleaming in the sun and their hair pulled up in a variety of buns and curls.

The thick, rich paper was titled 'By the King- A Proclamation'.

'All loyal subjects of his Imperial Majesty are hereby notified by royal proclamation that in regard to a certain glass slipper it is upon this day decreed that a quest to be instituted throughout the length and breadth of our domain. The sole and express purpose of said quest is as follows to wit: that every single maiden in our beloved kingdom shall try upon her foot this aforementioned slipper of glass...'

The younger girls squealed excitedly, while the wives and older ones whined with 'aaws'.

'...and should one be found whose foot will properly fit said slipper, such maiden will be acclaimed the object of this search and the one and only true love of his Royal Highness, our Noble Prince.'

A moment of silence, before ear-piercing shrieks and hysterics burst out in a hurricane of stunning panic.

One girl with shiny black hair shushed her companions impatiently, gesturing that the proclamation continued.

'And said Royal Highness will humbly request the hand of said maiden in marriage to rule with him over all the land as Royal Princess and future queen.'

Que the vehement screaming yet again that consolidated by the second.

"God, why do they have to be so loud?" Sting asked himself, rubbing a hand against his ear.

"Fangirls, your Highness, they're all fangirls," a voice came from behind him, and the prince didn't even need to look back to now it was Rufus.

The blonde gave the fellow blonde a wry smile, and Rufus came to stand next to him. They were on the vast balcony of the castle, the view giving them the perfect angle of the humble village and sea port.

The blob of colours by the gate seemed to increase steadily, mostly pinks and purples.

Not shimmering silvers and whites, Sting thought, his cerulean eyes softening at the memory.

Rufus watched his Prince intently, with mildly curious eyes. Easily picking up on the little things of his body movement- he looked impatient, with the way Sting's legs were tensed, and blue eyes were now distant and slightly... dreamy. While a moment ago, they were rather restless.

Rufus frowned at his unusual behavior.

That moment the mob of maidens noticed the obvious silhouette of the prince, their screams became even louder. Making Sting wince as they pointed at him and waved frantically.

As a dutiful future King, he had to wave back. And he did so- in a very lame, floppy manner of a single twitch of his fingers.

Even that was enough for the girls to promptly faint.

"Your highness, these are your people. Please try and be a little more... enthusiastic to the maidens," Rufus informed in a respectful tone. "like your father yesterday," he added on a second note.

Rufus couldn't help but bite back an amusing grin at the memory of a terrified Orga interrupting his reading.

"Rufus! Rufus! The King's gone insane! We- we must do something, get the doctors, physicians, an andrologist, anything-" a wild, crazy-looking Orga ugracefully tumbled into the library.

I blandly looked up from my book, cringing when I hear the word 'andrologist'. Since when does Orga has the brain capacity to know a medical...term like that? "Calm yourself," I order.

Orga doesn't listen to me, continuously blabbing in a stream of incoherent and random words of panic. He would actually make good raps from these, I think as I straighten my hat and stand up.

"Orga, I think you should be the one to see the doctor. Now, tell me what's going on," I ask in a tired way, slumping back into the plush chair and waiting for a long description of whatever happened.

"I- the- erghm, I-" that went on for a few minutes, while I sat patiently, my mind on the book. "I- so, you- ugh... the Captain told me to tell the King about the girl escaping!"

My head, the moment he says 'girl', snaps back to reality. Sting has finally found someone that will support him in the year of ruling, and according to the rumors, he is deeply in love with.

I always thought it would never happen due to the fact that he was so distant with girls after his mother died, only meeting up with them when the King told him too.

"What was his reaction?"

"He went positively insane in excitement first, thinking she still is here and that Sting already proposed! But- but when I told him about her dissapearance, he actually went insane!"

The King? Excited? Angry? But... the man was so calm. Especially with him being on his deathbed, the fact that he is so passionate about Sting's marriage... is touching.

Rufus smiles at the memory, happy for Sting and silently making fun of the normally-boasting Orga. "Are you sure about this?"

Sting looks back up at him, and grumbles and whines come from ahead in return. "What do you mean?" the Prince questions his loyal friend carefully, earring hitting his jaw as he angles his head.

"About the girl, about the marriage, about the Queen..." even if the taller man had his full confidence in the Royal family, he had never met her before.

Sting smiled, as if expecting the question. "Trust me, when you meet her- you'll understand."

Those words were his final ones as he left Rufus standing there, mind geering and slightly... irritate.

He sighs.

You don't learn this stuff... emotions... from books.

OH My GOD RIN IN THE GIF HIS SMIRK I THINK I JUST DIED