Regiphobia

The Officer

"You're j-joking," Goda said, looking up at Juan.

"No, I swear to god, I'm not lying about this," he held out a small note he'd seen next to a trash can in the guard's quarters. Goda took it, reading it over. It was written in gentle handwriting.

"This... o-oh," Goda said. He was reading a love letter between the head of the royal guard and his assistant, Aaron Giraud. "Oh."

"See? I told you there were dating!" Juan said, excitement in his eyes, "I always thought they'd make an adorable couple!"

"I mean.... I d-dunno, I haven't talked to Aaron much," Goda shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure they are," he said, "I wonder why they don't talk about it?"

"B-Because it's unprofessional?"

"Well, you and Gabe are very open with your relationship!"

"...B-Because he's the king," Goda said. He could be as professional or unprofessional in his own castle as he wanted and no one could really tell him otherwise. Plus, people wanted to know who he was marrying, of course.

Juan thought for a few seconds, then said, "Hush! Anyway, we should go do something," he said, moving onto the next thing, "I mean, usually we just have to sit somewhere quietly, but since I'm on guard duty for you, we could go and do something together!"

Goda nodded. It was a rare occurrence, but it would be nice. "Maybe a movie? Th-There's the theater- Or the forest, we c-could walk for a while?"

As Juan and Goda talked and looked for something to do, Aaron walked into the head guard's office. "Léo?" he said, "The king sent another request."

"Another? Is it about his boyfriend again?" Léo sighed, setting down his pen.

"It always is," he responded, walking over to his desk, "He wants a copy of the security footage from his week away scanned, from the second-floor lobby, the camera-"

"Focused on Koetsu's door?" he finished for Aaron, who nodded in response. "Of course. What is up with him and knowing everything about his husband?"

"Fiancé, still," Aaron reminded.

"Whatever, whatever. My point still stands," Léo sighed, "It's like he can't go five minutes without knowing where the twink is."

Aaron snickered, "I really don't think you're supposed to call the future Prince Consort a twink, love." He walked over, setting the paper with the order on Léo's desk before resting his hands on the other's shoulders.

"It's true, though. I mean take one look at the kid," he said, tilting his head back to look up at the other. Aaron smiled down at him, and he smiled back. "Could you be a doll for me and send me a copy of the footage?"

"Fine, fine," he sighed, tone playful. He kissed him lightly, then said, "Jeez, I do everything for you."

"Remind you to pay you back sometime," Léo said.

Aaron rolled his eyes, walking back around his desk and out of the room, saying one last, "Goodbye, stay safe."

"You too, dear."

The door shut, and Léo looked to his monitor. He took in a deep breath and opened up to his email, waiting with that open for Aaron to send the footage. He continued writing some notes down until he heard the tell-tale 'ping' noise. He looked back to the screen, clicking on it.

He opened up the footage, setting it to a pretty damn fast speed so he could get through each day in roughly under an hour. He knew he'd be up late that night because the king couldn't deal with his paranoia on his own. Or, well, he assumed it was paranoia.

He assumed it was until he saw one of his guards walking into Goda Koestu's room while he and the king were gone. He paused the footage, eyes widening. He rewound slowly until he could get a decently clear shot of the guard.

"Holy shit..." he mumbled, zooming in on the footage. That couldn't be right.

He pressed the button on his desk to call for his secretary. A minute or two later, Aaron came in. "You rang?"

"You've gotta take a look at this. I don't think it was paranoia this time," he said. As Aaron stepped behind him, he pressed play on the video.

It showed Officer Cazado walking into Koetsu's room. He wasn't out by the time the king's fiancé had gotten back. Goda walked into his room. A little later, both came out and headed up the stairs.

"...Jesus," Aaron mumbled, "This can't be right... Go through it at a higher speed, let's see if he goes in and out again."

Léo sped it up again, and... there he was. He went in, and he didn't leave until the next meal. After dinner, both he and Goda walked back into the room, and they didn't leave, even as the hall lights shut off.

"That can't be right," Aaron shook his head, "His brother is the best guard in the palace, and he's-"

"Doing something with the king's fiancé," Léo said, voice quiet.

"...Do we have to tell him?"

"Of course we do. We could both lose our jobs if we don't."

"But you said it yourself, the king watches him in an obsessive way. It's like he can't look away, that can't be healthy. Does Koetsu even know how often he asks to look at the footage?"

"We all know about the king's temper, he'd find a reason to throw us both in jail if we-"

"But what if there's more-"

"It's not our job to know!" Léo snapped. The room was silent. Aaron stared at him, then turned and left the room.

Léo started writing up an email, attached the footage, then sent it to the king. He stared at the screen, wondering if he'd done the right thing.

What if Aaron was right? What if Goda would get hurt because of his actions and his selfishness? What if the king would freak out and do something rash? What if everything went wrong because he'd pressed that button?

But it was too late now. It was all too late. The message had been sent, and there was no going back.

And Goda and Juan were together, holding each other, unaware of what had happened just moments before.