Chapter Text
Tonight was cold, just how it always was in Blackrock.
The soft flickering flame of the candle was the only thing that illuminated the room you were in. You could hear the faint howling of wind from the window; cold air seeped into the room as the stark contrast of the warm, fluffy blankets of the bed you laid on engulfed you.
The soft sound of a page in a book being flipped echoed throughout the room. It was nights like these that you loved so dearly; they always made a sense of calmness wash over you… it almost felt intoxicating..
Your ears twitched as you heard the sound of the chamber's doors creaking open, dragging you out of your book's fantasy realm.
“Cruel king, my love! You’re back-”
Cruel king didn’t respond at all. He closed the doors behind him with a soft click, and a small grumble escaped him as he walked over to the bed and curled up beside you. You felt his cold face bury itself into your shoulder, unconsciously seeking warmth and comfort. That was unusual for Cruel king… unusual for him to not change into appropriate sleep attire first before snuggling with you in bed, he didn’t even take the time to remove his fur cape and crown? …Perhaps his king duties had been relentless on him today, and he was extra tired. Whatever the reason, you knew you should tend to his sleepy state.
Gently, you placed the bookmark between the pages and set the book onto the nightstand next to you. Soft snoring broke the silence in the room… he had.. Cruel king had already fallen asleep?
.
.
He’s overworked himself…
Hopefully his duties haven’t been becoming too stressful
.
.
You gripped onto his fur cape, undoing the latch around his neck and sliding it off of him. You folded it neatly onto your lap as you took his crown off and placed it on top of your book on the nightstand.
You placed the folded fur cape onto the nightstand as well, moving the candle to the opposite edge to ensure the fur cape wouldn’t catch on fire. The quiet allowed your thoughts to stir.
.
.
Cruel king seems more and more tired everyday… he is taking the breaks he needs, right?
Sure, being a king is hard, but surely it is still important for him to take breaks when he needs them…
.
.
Your thoughts were broken suddenly when your body shivered from the cold. The wind was howling more aggressively from the window… Now was probably a good time to shut it.
Approaching the window, your steps softly echoed in the room; you took a moment to admire the view, it was always beautiful from here…
Endless rolling hills of snow, an infinite starry sky that shone down on the city below, and a few soft lights illuminated parts of the city the light from the sky did not reach.
It was a beautiful scenery.
.
.
.
“..The view is always so beautiful from up here…” you muttered to yourself.
It was no wonder you always spent so much time at Blackrock… everything here felt so soft and calming, it was almost as if it could ease even the harshest of souls.
Suddenly, another gust of cold air blew into the room, reminding you that you originally came over her to shut the window. You moved with haste, grabbing onto the wooden shutter and swinging it close, using the iron latch to latch it shut.
A small sigh escaped you, a mix of relief for no longer being in the cold and disappointment of the fact you weren’t able to admire the view longer… but tomorrow was always an option as well. You turned to look at Cruel king, who was still sleeping soundlessly in bed, and couldn't help but smile softly. His peaceful state always made something in your heart flutter with warmth.
With a small yawn, you slid into bed next to Cruel king, pressing your finger down on the flame of the candle and watching as it went out. You glanced over at Cruel kings peaceful expression, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Cruel king’s forehead.
“Goodnight, my love.” You whispered soothingly. Snuggling up close to Cruel king, you allowed sleep to take over you.
⭒☆ʚ ͜ ̩͙ ︵ ̩͙ ୨ ♡ ୧ ̩͙ ︵ ̩͙ ͜ ɞ☆⭒
The sounds of birds chirping outside the window woke you up.
You blinked your eyes open as you heard the sounds of the birds and the now lively castle filled with guards. You allowed a yawn to escape you as you sat up. You blinked the sleep away, noticing you woke up rather early… The sun wasn’t even above the horizon line yet, and Cruel king was still sleeping.
He usually woke up before you.
Your lips curved into a smile again, gently brushing a strand of hair out of his face. He was so adorable…
You made your way out of the bed, careful not to disturb his peaceful rest, and changed your clothes to your normal attire. Maybe you should surprise him with a sweet treat from Roadtown? Perhaps Desna’s and Eska’s shop has something…
Moving as quickly and quietly as you could, you made your way outside Cruel kings chambers, being careful to shut the doors as gently as possible to try and not disturb the king's rest. You turned around to leave the castle, but froze when you noticed a guard approaching.
“Player! Comrade, have you seen the king recently?”
You blinked, it still baffled you that none of the guards were upset or mad with you, considering the fact you injured all of them months ago. You pushed the thought aside.
“Yes I have, the king however is still resting, so I request you and the other guards to not disturb him until he has awoken”
“As you wish” The guard bowed his head slightly as he walked past Player and took post next to the doors of the king's chambers, something at least two guards were required to do while the king was still resting.
.
Why weren’t there guards at their posts already?
.
Another guard quickly took the other post as you began to walk through the halls of the castle, wasting no time as you left and made your way down the path to Roadtown.
As you exited the castles, you were immediately hit with the brutal wind, and you pulled up your scarf instinctively.
You travelled down the mountain, the tips of your ears numbed while a hard crunch of snow could be heard every time you stepped. Your mind wandered as you walked.
.
.
.
Cruel king was really tired… like, unusually, abnormally… weird-kind of tired.
The scenery of Roadtown always made something in your heart flutter. There were usually always a small group or two of children playing in the snow, everyone knew each other. so it was common to see groups of people ranging from 2 to 5 enjoying a walk in the snow talking to one another. It was refreshing to see such a sight after the duties you have at the castle.
A familiar voice and smell cut through the silence.
“Player! Glad to see you again!” Desna’s voice called out as the smell of baked goods wafted through the air. Your smile widened as you made your way towards her shop.
“Glad to see you too, Desna”
“Say, I don’t usually see you this early in the morning, what brings you here?” Desna chirped
“Oh! I just came by for a few treats from your shop..”
‘Anddddd that’s it? I feel like for you to wake up so early just for a few treats from here is so… unusual for you… Knowing how much you like to sleep that is.”
You couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit at how meticulous Desna could be. “Well, that is true-” You were cut off by Desna “Did you come down here to give the king a treat? I know how close you’ve been getting with him!” she asked.
“..I…I have, yes… yes I have.” You muttered out a response, almost embarrassed by the fact it was obvious to Desna how close you and Cruel king had become “...The king is still resting and I’d like to surprise him with a treat from here, which is the reason I’m up much earlier than usual”
Desna nodded in understanding
For the next few minutes, you picked out a couple of treats for both you and the king; A croissant, a danish, and two cinnamon rolls. Desna decided to do something nice for you today, and she let everything be at a discount, so you managed to only pay half of what it was all worth.
Wasting no more time, you made your way back up the mountain towards the castle, adjusting the scarf around your neck to cover more of your face as the wind became more brutal.
The silence of the walk towards the castle gave your mind some time to think about Cruel kings behavior recently. It certainly did worry you… you felt your chest ache out of worry for Cruel king, you knew he’s been overworking himself. The thing that annoyed you is that you couldn’t pinpoint what was causing him to overwork himself…
Was farming an issue due to the year-round snow? No, food and ingredients were plentiful
Perhaps a lack of vegetation made the kingdom more visible to possible attackers? …probably not, there hasn’t been a war in centuries, and even if there were to be a war the kingdom would have an advantage due to the mountain range.
Honestly, what else could it be? There was absolutely nothing that came to mind other than those two things… What could be worrying Cruel king so much to the point he’s too tired to do his usual night-time rituals?
…The walk up the mountain from Roadtown to the castle wasn’t that far, you were already at the cast;e gates. You noticed the winds from earlier seemed to have died down.
You let out a sigh of relief as you entered the castle's walls, the warmth from inside hitting your cold face; your cheeks and tips of your ears were tinted pink from the cold, and your body (which was previously tense) visibly relaxed. Pulling your scarf down, you quickly made your way over to the king's chambers, nodding to all the guards you passed as a small greeting.
You slipped into the king's chambers quietly, but when you turned around you’re surprised to see the king already awake and putting on his fur cape. The window was open again, and the light from the sun lit his chambers up with a pleasingly soft glow.
“Ah, Cruel king! I see you’re awake my love”
Cruel king turned around to face you at the sound of your voice, his smile widened just at the sight of you.
“There you are… I almost felt worried that you weren’t next to me when I awoke” He mentioned, walking over to you. A small chuckle escaped you “I was just at Roadtown picking up a few small treats… speaking of which, I have a few for you here!” You took a cinnamon roll and the Danish out of the box and offered it to him; both of the treats still had steam rolling out of them.
Cruel kings eyes widened slightly at your offer, before softening. He gently took the treats out of your hands, his fingers brushing against your palm.
They were cold
His hands were always cold.
He wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your head “Thank you, Player, I appreciate it”
You buried your face into his chest as he held you close, wrapping both of your arms around his waist. After a brief moment of close contact you both pulled away, and you found Cruel king had already eaten the entire cinnamon roll… Well, he was definitely hungry.
Cruel king started to walk past you towards the doors to his chamber. “Well, I’ll be going now, Player, I have things I must attend to-” you remembered your earlier worry, and came up with the decision to convince him to rest for a bit longer. You stopped him by grabbing onto his sleeve and pulling him back. “Cruel king… you should probably rest a bit more, it’s still early” you insisted
“...Player. I have things I should attend to.”
“Cruel king, cmon! A bit more rest wouldn’t hurt, besides, you need more rest.”
“Player, I can assure you I’ve been fine-”
“Cruel king! … You haven’t, you really haven’t. I’ve taken notice that lately you’ve been skipping your usual night-time rituals… and last night you didn’t even care about changing into proper sleep attire before falling asleep on me. You’re tired.”
Cruel king was silent, how could he argue with that? With a brief sigh of defeat, he spoke “Fine, but only for ten more minutes.”
“Twenty”
“...Fine”
You happily dragged Cruel king back to the bed as he removed his fur cape. The sun was still rising from the horizon, casting a golden glow throughout the room as you both snuggled close to each other above the covers.