The last time you saw him, the prince was acting a little strange by ways of movements. While you're willing to believe his tales of being perfectly fine, you were just going to visit him to say hi-- without asking for something after.
Really, after he accused you of using him when you moved to the palace with your husband, you've felt... Guilty. At the moment, you feel like he only tolerates you because the both of you were close to your King, and now that he believes he's dead, feels bad for you.
Or something.
Unfortunately for you, you have absolutely no clue where you are; while reliable and also quick, due to the age of your file, they tend to... Malfunction? That might be a good term-- nine times out of ten, they send you to the exact same place, but there's always the ten percent chance that they send you into a Zone picked at random.
It's fucking annoying, to say the least.
Your best guess is that this is the prince's Zone One-- since you've been to Zone Three and Zone Two, respectively.
Either way, you probably shouldn't have left your file until your awful headache left you-- the light is only serving to intensify it as you search for a way to leave the Zone.
"Considering the substance normally involved in cake making, I dare say it would make my stomach hurt as well." They don’t chuckle as the normally would when teasing. "Incredibly fickle substance, sugar is."
"Very fickle- and with such low supplies as I have, wasting any large portion can ruin my month!"
Heaving a heavy sigh, The Big Mister leans back, and his gloved fingers rest on his large stomach, drumming against it softly. He needs time to breathe, a mere slow inhale and even slower exhale. Stress might as well take his mind now, it'd be easier than dealing with this twisted knot in his chest.
"To be quite fair, I do suppose this makes it a lot easier to quit, no? The more I draw from it, the easier it will be to move on to a more healthy diet when it's all gone. Hmm..."
It was late in the evening, the young prince already put to bed for the night. However, periodic coughing could still be heard coming from his bedroom. They had to up the dosage of medicine he took, any attempt to help ease his suffering. While it seemed to help, it only did so for a matter of days before the young boy got worse again; the fact he hated taking his pills did not assist the matter. They had enlisted the best hands of the kingdom to try and cure their son, hired anyone they could to find what was wrong and stop it. Most was in vain, the only aid they gained was the medicine that could only slow the process, not stop it. The King and Queen were both troubled, both wishing to help the child that had brought them into this world. However the Queen was busy, a kingdom could not rule itself; she had many vassals and problems to attend to. The King refused to act as a figurehead in their kingdom, instead approaching things from the shadows as most of his focus remained on their son. They would bicker on occasion, never in front of Hugo, but as his condition declined their bitterness towards one another only increased.
Arguments like this were not uncommon, especially late at night when the lights of their private chamber flickered, illuminating both of their figures in a dim light.
“You are polluting this land; he will never be able to step outside at this rate. He cannot even breathe through the smoke.”
“I am making this land safe, the people are prospering, the Zones have flourished—soon it will be everything he could ever want.”
“He wants his mother.” The King was not one for patience, frustration growing at his wife as they continued on.
“I am here. You are the one who is not. You are the one who brings fear to his eyes.” The Queen did her best to keep a level head, but contempt seeped into her words the longer they went on.
“When have you been around for him lately? When have you last visited him?”
“I visited him just the other day.”
“Which day was that? When did you visit him? I am there daily; watch his door nightly and I have not seen your presence. The only times he sees you is when he, sickly as he is, travels out of his room to find you. Often you are not even here at all for him to find.”
“..! I do all I can as a mother, and I do all I can as a Queen as well. You claim you do well of him, but you do not. You know nothing of his needs or his wants. Do you even know his name, Hubert?”
“Tch.” The man finally moved, beginning to walk quietly through the room, pacing back and forth as he spoke, “..He is my son. I exist because of him and for him. If you say you know so well of him, then what does he want?”
“He wants a grand party in a big and exciting world.”
“He wants time spent closely with his friends and family.” He denied her snidely.
She retorted, “He wants to be adored by all and blessed a healthy life.”
Once more, he rebuked, “He just wishes to go outside again.”
“He wants to be kept safe and away from everything dangerous.”
“He only wants things to be less scary.” And he would be the one to give him that. Talking sense into his wife was doing nothing; his attempts were all ending in failure, this attempt just the same as the others. Soon he would have to take matters into his own hands and force away all of the things that frightened their son.
It was suffocating in here. This was not a place for anyone, especially not a child. While the King had not been in existence for long, he knew this much, and refused to agree with the Queen’s thinking. She was… corrupt. Yes, that was what it was. She was falling from her grace and bringing this world down with her before it even had a chance to start. She would need stopped. This could not be allowed to go on.
The King stopped his pacing, turning just his head and staring at the Queen, “Do you know your child’s name, Vader?”
“How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Of course I know our child’s name!”
“Then what is it?”
When the Queen didn’t reply, the King turned away, walking over to the door. “Wait!” The Queen got up, rushing over to her husband and wrapping her arms around him. He paused, hand on the doorknob. “Where are you going, my love?”
He turned the knob, breaking free of her grasp and stepping through the door. “I am spending the night with the boy.” He slammed the door behind him, walking down the hall and to the Prince’s room.
The Queen remained stationary, staring at the door for a few minutes. Hubert was too strongly driven, he had too many ambitions. Why could he not see the good she was trying to make? There would be a rough start, that was a given, but she was certain what she was doing was right. She turned away, blowing out the lights and crawling into the empty bed. Tomorrow was a new day with new hopes; she slept with the hope of things being better in the morning, all of this being put behind them.
