King Baldwin IV gets transported into the 21st century. While he has to settle in the modern world, Y/n has to manage the trouble that comes with the young king besides her own turmoil of a teenage life.
A/n: This is a fanfiction about the character from 'Kingdom of Heaven' and not about the historical figure. I hope you all enjoy it.
After another exhausting day as king of the powerful and conflict-ridden Kingdom of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV retired to his chambers, weary. Once his physicians had completed his evening treatment, he went to bed with relief. After falling asleep, he was suddenly overcome by the sensation of falling, but instead of waking up as he had expected, he drifted back into the darkness of sleep.
When he awoke, he felt solid, plush ground beneath him. The air no longer smelled of incense, but of coconut. He looked around and realized he was no longer in the royal chambers of his palace, but in a smaller, bright, strangely furnished room.
Kneeling on the ground, he let his gaze wander until it finally came to rest on a pair of blue-grey eyes wide with shock.
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I stared in disbelief at the man in white robes, wearing a metal mask, sitting on my bedroom floor. I still needed to sleep! There was no other explanation for it.
I stood up and simply walked past him, opened my bedroom door, stepped out into the hallway, and closed it again. The cool tiles of the hallway sent a shiver down my spine. Now I definitely had to be awake.
I cautiously opened my door a crack and looked into my room. As soon as my gaze met the stranger's, I slammed it shut again. I leaned back against it and took a deep breath. Then I decided to go to the bathroom and get myself ready.
While brushing my teeth in the bathroom, I read the instructions for my toothpaste. I groaned in annoyance, because if I were still asleep, I definitely wouldn't be able to read it; you can't read in your sleep.
When I tiptoed back into my room, freshly cleaned, the man was still sitting in the same spot, staring at me again.
I sighed, "Okay. Who are you? And how the fuck did you get into my room?"
He looked at me, confused; at least I think he was confused, because of the mask I couldn't see much besides his eyes.
"I am Baldwin IV d'Anjou, King of Jerusalem," he declared with such earnestness that it had to be true. Not even a madman would get the idea of dressing up as the 'Leper King' and break into the room of a sixteen-year-old girl.
"And what exactly brings a king to my room?" I asked, turning to my closet. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a hoodie that I would wear today. As I laid the clothes on my bed, I looked at the king expectantly.
"I'm afraid," he began, staring strangely at my clothes, "I can't tell you anything about that. I don't know myself, Lady..."
"No, just Y/n", I corrected him. He definitely was from medieval times.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes with a nod. "Okay. We'll sort this out this afternoon. I'm going to school now, and you stay in this room all day. You can read books, use my computer, whatever you want. But stay here."
He looked at me again, puzzled. Of course, he didn't even know what a computer was.
"But you're a girl. Why would you have to go to school?" he asked. I could tell from his voice that it was a serious question, without any malicious intent.
"Welcome to the 21st century," I said with a thin-lipped smile.
He nodded in understanding before asking, "Could you kindly send me your physician beforehand? My condition requires one."
For a moment I blinked at him, speechless. My parents weren't Bill Gates! We didn't have personal physicians. If one of us had a problem, we went to our family doctor.
"We don't have any physicians. I can bring you a first-aid kit if that'll help," I offered. How the hell was I supposed to know what worked for leprosy? I didn't even know how far advanced the disease was in his case.
He tilted his head slightly and looked at me intently. His eyes were an incredibly deep blue. He nodded gently, leaned against my bed, and pulled himself up from the floor. Only now, standing before me, did I realize how tall he actually was. Weren't people in the Middle Ages all relatively short?! With a slight limp, he walked over to my cozy reading nook and settled into my vintage wingback chair.
I shrugged and fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom. "Remember, stay here," I emphasized again, placing the kit on the small table next to the armchair. Being so close to him, I noticed he smelled of sandalwood, frankincense, and something bitter. I quickly put a bottle of water and a pack of biscuits in front of him, then went to change in the bathroom, slung my backpack over my shoulders, and stumbled out of the house after saying goodbye to my mother, who was in the kitchen feeding my little brother, Lucas.
On the way home from the bus, my best friends Emma and Sophia chatted about our plans for Halloween, which was next week. I pushed the damp, colorful autumn leaves ahead of me with the tips of my boots and thought about what I had secretly researched during class. To cure leprosy, three different antibiotics were needed. Those affected often suffered terrible pain because their body parts simply died. They also often had problems with their digestion and circulation.
I said goodbye to my friends and ran back home, I could hardly wait to tell the king in my room about my discoveries and bombard him with questions.
"Hello Baldwin," I greeted the young king as I entered my room. I had decided to call him by his name, since he wasn't really a king with any real power here anyway.
Obviously surprised by my boldness, he looked up from the book he was reading. He was reading 'Pride and Prejudice'. I wouldn't have considered him the romantic type, but he probably liked the gold-trimmed linen cover and the old-fashioned writing style.
I sat cross-legged on my bed and told him about my findings. At the thought of his illness being cured, his eyes brightened and he tilted his head slightly again in curiosity. Only then did I notice that he hadn't touched the water bottle or the biscuits, but the contents of the first-aid kit were scattered on the small table.
"Aren't you hungry or thirsty?" I asked, slightly concerned, nodding my head towards the untouched food.
With downcast eyes, he slowly shook his head, "I am also sorry that I could not find anything in your collection of medical supplies that could help me treat my wounds."
For a few moments, I stared at the wall, lost in thought, feeling his gaze upon me. But finally, I made a decision. I would have to tell my parents about him sooner or later anyway; I couldn't keep Baldwin a secret in my room forever. The first thing I would do was talk to my mother as soon as she returned from the hospital where she worked as a nurse. She would surely know how to end Baldwin's suffering.