Work Text:
The royalty of the Antarctic Empire has not always been so cruel. Once long ago before our beloved queen had died, the Empire was filled with love. Now it's as if everything had been crushed leaving only the regret and sadness behind. Our rulers no longer could laugh so freely or play without being reminded of her absence. When Her Majesty was still alive, it was the most peaceful time of our lives. Her death has crushed this nation, and I don’t know if we could ever recover.
She was a strong woman, even as a child. She refused to marry until she had found a perfect match. Ignoring the wishes of her father, she went and married a mere commoner. Being crowned queen she built up our nation into one of the most powerful Empires along with her loving husband at her side.
Finally deciding to settle down, she had three lovely children: Prince Techno, Prince Ranboo, and Prince Theseus. They are the pride of our Empire. People adored them. Truly a loving family.
When they were eleven, nine, and six. Their mother, our queen, passed. Leaving her sons and husband behind.
Without her guidance, they fell apart. The king grew distant, buried in work trying to ignore the pain in his heart. The oldest son, Techno, picked up fighting vowing to never lose another again. Ranboo became the crown prince, but since he was only nine he couldn't do all the duties. However, he did what he could, and that was enough for us. Prince Theseus took it hard. He was by far the closest to her. After all, they were the same species. She was the only one who could teach our dear little prince how to survive.
In our kingdom to not be human was dangerous. While yes, being a human was also dangerous. If you were another species, it would be a thousand times higher chances for you to be taken or sold. Our queen and sweet little prince were not human, they were fae.
From the time Theseus was born Her Majesty became extremely protective of him. She had tried her best to teach him how to survive. Making sure he knew what would happen if it got out.
Now, that may sound harsh but it was an important lesson for our prince. Fae were highly sought after, they are extremely powerful, but even if you caught one it doesn't mean you could control them. The only way to control one was to get their name.
A name is the very essence of one's being. It makes you, you. It defines who you are. If someone has a fae’s name, they have their whole being. They could make them do anything they wanted, and the fae would have to listen.
Fae are ruthless when it comes to protecting themselves or ones they consider their own. They would do anything to make sure nothing happened to what's theirs. And someone having the name of one puts their entire community in danger. Our queen needed to make sure Theseus knew that.
He lives by everything she has taught him. She was the only person who he could trust with this, so now that she is gone. No one can help him.
Prince Techno not long after his mother's death, went to go and train abroad. If he wanted to protect everyone he would first need to learn how. He became a powerful and ruthless warrior. Feared by many and even given a name to be remembered by: The Blade. He soon became the commander of the Antarctic Empire's military, helping plan battles and leading the charges. Being so busy with the military, he wasn't around the castle much. He often leaves for months at a time and sometimes even years.
After helping with a war, he was given another name. A truly terrifying one.
On the battlefield, he is known as The Blood God, for his ruthless nature and brutal methods.
Our poor Crown Prince Ranboo had gotten in an accident only a couple of years after his mother's death. It’s believed that it was a failed assassination attempt, but no one knows for sure. He ended up being in a coma for three months. By the time he woke up, it was soon discovered that he had amnesia. With the Crown Prince not being able to remember crucial details, the King relieved him of his duties as Crown Prince.
Theseus not long after was made the crown prince at the ripe age of ten.
Ranboo to counter the amnesia carries around a little journal he likes to call his “Memory Book.” In it, he writes down what he deems important, so he’ll never forget them. Usually, it is the people he holds dear, his family and friends.
It is truly a shame he has to deal with this, he's such a kind boy.
Prince Theseus though has it the worst. The others, despite their problems, get such love and kindness from their father, but Theseus does not. The king has been blinded by his grief and has taken it out on his son. He thinks her death was his fault. He couldn't be more wrong, though.
The king ignores Theseus when he does not need anything from him, he is cruel to him and forces him to do all his work. He doesn’t care if it is a matter the king should take care of. If he does not want to do it, he’ll push it onto Theseus.
Theseus our beloved little prince is too young to be doing all that. He’s been forced to do most of the king’s work and the crown prince's since he was ten. Even though he is capable of doing all of this, it does not mean he should have to. Emperor Philza might have been a good father when Theseus was younger but now he does not even deserve to be able to call him his child.
Theseus is too overworked. He never has time for himself, and he just sits in his office all day and does his paperwork. He doesn't even come out to eat!
Whenever he does end up coming out to eat, he never eats with his family. He always will come half an hour later so that he doesn’t have to see them. But that’s the time we eat!
The boy is just too kind, refusing to eat at the Royal Table and coming over to eat with us.
Well, if you can even call it eating. The chefs give him smaller portions so that he doesn’t feel bad about not eating all of it but even then he only eats half! That’s only a fourth of what everyone else eats!
Not only does he not eat enough, but he also barely sleeps! I don’t even know the last time I saw him sleep for more than two hours! Oh prime, he needs to start taking better care of himself.
Even if he does not take care of himself, he still looks absolutely beautiful. There’s even a common belief between the servants here at the castle. It's that Prince Theseus has been blessed by the gods because of his seemingly never-ending compassion and that in return for his kindness, they had granted him to be perceived by others with ethereal beauty.
However, I fear that since he is malnourished, it will cause him to never be able to grow to his full height. He’s quite short for his age, being only five-four. He looks like he’s thirteen when he is indeed fifteen! I swear that boy needs to eat more, it's not good for him. If I could, I would march right down to the Emperor's office just to yell at him for neglecting his child's health and just in general. Maybe I would even get to yell at him about the way he treats Theseus, there is no reason for the hatred the boy receives. But alas if I did any of it I would surely be fired, maybe even executed, then I wouldn’t be able to watch over the dear boy.
After Her Majesty’s death, he seemed to just fall apart.
I wish that someone would take the time to check on the poor boy. Us servants can only do so much. Maybe if that Tubbo boy hadn’t left him he might have been a little happier. At least he now has Eryn and Freddie. They try their best to make sure he’s been taking care of himself but that boy is so stubborn he just ignores their advice. I think one time they even had to go and drag him to the dining room just so he would eat.
Those boys do get in quite a bit of trouble together. I remember when we had to try and hide that those boys had snuck out of the castle during the night just to get some candy! It was so nerve-wracking. I'm sure if the Emperor had found out he’d have our heads. Especially because Theseus is not allowed to leave the castle grounds.
Maybe one day the boy would be able to just be a child and not worry about getting repercussions for it.