My Brother's Keepsake (Sabo x Reader)

Chapter Nineteen: A Brother

The palace had changed. The once eerie looking place had transformed into a homely atmosphere seemingly free from any threats from outside. It looked like a place that even you would have no desire to run from.

Maids surrounded you as they led you to the room that the king had them prepare for you. You followed them around the palace, it was busy as always. There was the soft clattering of people's heels on the floor, soldiers following behind you at a steady pace, and some standing still beside the walls guarding the main palace where the King's family lived, everything seemed peaceful and normal in here.

As Sabo had predicted, it seemed that the Kairo was keeping the fact that they were currently under a big threat as a secret from the kingdom as well as certain members of the royal family. You couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad decision on his part, but you had no doubt that he had the people's best interests at heart. If the enemies saw a sudden increase in panic or people fleed from the palace, that would probably make them more inclined to release the bombs and blow it up. Therefore, maybe it was better that they didn't know anything.

You had expected the maids to take you to the West Palace, the place where you grew up, where you lived alone with your mother. That place was built by the previous King for his sick wife that he loved so much. It was closer to the sea than the rest of the palace, and as a result, your brother created a passageway that you could easily use to slip from the building to the sea using a secret door without passing through the rest of the palace and disturbing anyone else. So anyway, you walked down those corridors as they led you to a different place, a place reserved for guests of the royal family.

It was certainly a room fit for a princess, it looked amazing, and it smelled like expensive perfume. The bedding and linen looked like something people would kill to have as their clothes. no, like a forest inside the house and the scent of it was quite rather beautiful.

You put Rouge down and looked around. Having never cared for such luxuries in your life, you had never really appreciated the beauty of this place.

"I thought I would be staying in the West palace." You said to the maid escorting you.

"His Majesty the King requested that we put you up here, Your Highness." She said not looking at you, but at the ground.

Part of you wanted to tell her to lay off with the respect and just call you by your name. However, you held that thought, after all, it wasn't like you would stay a long time in this kingdom. You were only passing by in a place that used to be home, but not really.

~

You put Rouge to sleep and walked out of the room. You remembered the structure of the palace as you made your way to the West Palace. A guard followed you closely and you wondered how you would ditch him so you could go by yourself. You walked towards your old living quarters when a pleasant voice stopped you.

"Leaving us already, Your Highness?" The woman said, and you turned to see the queen, your brother's wife standing there with her two maids beside her. Instinctively, you bowed down.

"Greetings, Your Grace." You said.

"Please stand. Princess Y/N." She replied. "I came to greet you in your room, but I knew that I would find you here when you weren't in the guest room."

This was strange to you, you and your brother's wife had never been close but you had never been enemies either. Her name was Natsume, the daughter of a business tycoon here in the North Blue. She was just someone that the previous key had wanted Kairo to marry in order to protect the financial balance between the two countries as they traded with each other.