Wut.

[therealkaichan]

Second Chapter



As she did every morning, the Lady Regent opened the curtains of the room she shared with her husband, and then annoyed him until he woke up. She had been up for a while now, making sure everything was into place, and of course getting changed to begin the day, but her husband wasn’t nearly as much of a morning person as she was.

“If I had known you would be such a heavy sleeper, I would have married the young boy from house Harcourt.” She finally told her husband after about five minutes of shaking his shoulder.
“And then you would have a fat husband.” Were his first words, even if he didn’t move a millimeter. “Good morning Marcia.”
“Good morning, silly not fat husband.” She answered in a sing song voice. “You should get up, the Regency knows no weekends.”
“Things are exploding every single day, aren’t they?”
“Of course.” She chuckled. “Maybe you should have married some other Lady if you wanted a life away from duty.”
“I’m a workaholic. A complete workaholic.” He muttered, moving to sit on the bed.
“Breakfast will come in about fifteen minutes, I hope you are dressed by then.”
“Oh are you leaving?”
“I will meet Alain to go to his fitting for the ball next week.”
“Oh... It’s lucky enough that you convinced him to wear something that requires actual fittings, isn’t it?”
“Of course. He’s pretty picky with that, but I got him right where it hurts most.”
“The seamstress’ apprentice, right?” The Regent finally found the strength to get up from bed, and he walked to the chair where Marcia had already left his clothes ready for today.
“She seems to be a cute girl. I’m not sure if she will do, but at least he’s interested, and she’s quite different to the women he’s used to seeing.”
“It’s about time that he started thinking about settling down, isn’t it?”
“He’s barely seventeen, Ivan.”
“By seventeen I had already sneaked out three times to see you.” He chuckled fondly as he began to get changed.
“You were a completely different kind of terrible, dear.”
“That I can concede.”
“I’m leaving now. Please don’t remember your meeting at eleven, I left your schedule on the desk as usual.”
“Thank you, dear, have fun, don’t torment Alain too much, will you?”
“I will try, but try is all I can promise.”
“It’s good enough.”


Marcia smiled as she left the room. Her husband’s silly comments always made her day, and now she was up to meeting the other person who made her laugh as much as her husband. When she got to his room, Alain was ready for the day at the exact time required of him. This was part of the reason why she never really complained about his Saturdays.

The other reason was that she kind of liked his rebel streak, it reminded him of his father, and that was something she thought was really endearing.

“Good morning Alain, are you ready?”
“I am, mother. Did you rest well?”
“Of course, my only problem was your lazy father.”
“As always.”
“Of course. Let’s go, then.”

The seamstress lived in the Outer City, and that was something Alain quite enjoyed. Because of his duties and studies, he rarely got to see the Outer City and much less spend time there, so these occurrences were something he treasured.

His birthday couldn’t be close enough, he thought, since his mother always said that after the Inheritance Ceremony was done Alain would get to travel quite a bit as a representative of the Regency, but that wouldn’t happen until he became a legal adult, and meanwhile the Inner City was as far as he could go without one of his parents around.

The other reason, of course, was the seamstress’ apprentice, Julie. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought of her, she was completely different to what he was used to. While the noble ladies from the Inner City were stuck up and usually fishing for benefits, she was shy and had pretty much assumed that there was no chance for her. He found that both traits were cute and quite refreshing.

“So, are you thinking of miss Julie?” His mother interrupted with a small accomplice smile.
“I’m curious about her, just that, mother.”
“So you say.” Marcia chuckled a bit. “So, is she getting invited to the party?”
“I suppose. It can’t hurt, maybe she’s less quiet outside of her job.”
“Maybe you’ll be lucky. I heard Stephane escorted Lady Melikov to her house today.”
“He did. She wasn’t that great.”
“That’s a way to put it.”
“I really don’t want to talk about her.”
“I see, it’s fine then. We can discuss politics the rest of the way, it isn’t that long.”
“It sounds like more fun.”

They didn’t really discuss politics after that, but it was good anyway. They simply talked about the things they usually discussed when a party was close, guests, food, decorations... All the things Alain wouldn’t get to intervene in as soon as he got named Heir.

The seamstress’ studio was a small house close to the Inner City’s walls. She had worked ever since she was a child as the apprentice of the previous seamstress, who had once lived in the Inner City but in the end decided to set her studio outside. Because of that, even if the place was outside, it was well known by all the residents of the Inner City and was visited quite frequently by them.

Alain knocked the door, and it opened quite fast. Greeting them was the young apprentice, Julie. She was a little unusual compared to the kind of girls Alain usually went for. She was paler than normal, with brown hair and dark green eyes. She dressed quite simply, but that was expected of a person living in the Outer City.

“Good morning, Prince, Milady... Welcome.” She smiled, blushing a little as she moved aside to let them pass. “Everything is ready for today’s fitting.”
“Thank you, and good morning.” Alain smiled, his usual charming smile as he moved to let his mother walk in.
“Good morning, Julie.” Marcia was full of smiles today.
“My teacher is in the fitting room. Please go in.”
“I will go in first, then.” The Lady Regent looked at her son and smiled. “Please wait here, Alain.”
“I will.”

For a moment there was silence, as Marcia made her way to the fitting room. Julie was looking around, not quite sure of where she should look at in the presence of a Prince of the Regency. She wasn’t noble born like the seamstress, and she wasn’t anywhere close the Prince’s station, and even knowing that she couldn’t help but sneak a few looks at him. She wasn’t sure if it was his slender figure or his delicate features that made her more curious.

“Miss Julie?”
She first let out an undignified squeak, and then finally managed to answer.
“Yes, your Highness...?”
“Are you free next Saturday?”
There was a long silence, while Julie tried desperately to process the question.
“I am, your Highness.”
“Then I hope you will consider assisting to the party.”
“Your Highness, I am not...”
“Oh that is true. There is no need to worry about that, you will be my guest. I hope you will have a pretty dress to wear.”
“I— I would love to...!” Her voice was a choked whisper, but Alain could tell she was quite enthusiastic about it. “I am truly thankful.”
“There is no need for that. I will be glad to see you there.” He smiled again, with a polite bow. “I will have an escort for you, please be ready at eight.”
“I will, your Highness.”

The rest of the fitting went on as usual. Once the Lady Regent was done, it was Alain’s turn, and then some conversation with Julie blushing and avoiding his gaze, and Marcia just chuckling quietly whenever it happened. And before they even knew it, they were on the way back.

“So, did she get lucky?” Marcia leaned on her side of the car, looking at her son.
“I suppose. I did invite her, it will be up to her if she is lucky or not.”
“Please don’t be too mean to her.”
“I never am. At most she will never see me again.”
“That sounds better than what usually happens to some of the nobles, doesn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“So, how about the outfit? The black suits you well.”
“It will look good in contrast with Stephane’s uniform.”
“He will be in all white as usual, that Knight of yours, won’t he?”
“Of course, the Knight’s color is always white, mother.”
“Resurrecting old traditions is so unlike you.” Marcia chuckled, sounding amused.
“I’m unpredictable like that.”
“That much is true.”
“Today we have lunch with your father. Then we have a meeting at three, please be timely.”
“I will, as always.”

The day’s schedule was long, and it took most of the way back to discuss it. The Lady Regent was the kind of person who enjoyed having her whole day planned, and while she was quite good at improvising when things deviated, she still preferred to have everything go as scheduled. Alain was more than used to that, she had been like that since forever, and he had learned that the schedule was sacred at an early age. Thanks to that, however, he had also learned to plan his own days ahead, and that helped quite a lot when your life was the busy life of a Prince.

And maybe he would have liked a less complicated one, but he certainly didn’t mind a busy life.



The rest of the day went as usual. There were meetings, not many since Sundays were usually quiet, but there was one particular thing that stayed in Alain’s head. He hadn’t done a background check on Julie yet, and with only a week it was probably a good idea. Not running background checks had gotten him in serious trouble more than once, and he had learned to know better by now.

Because of that later in the night, Alain picked up his phone to make the call. He found no new calls, as usual. Stephane’s nightly call wouldn’t come in until another hour and a half, or maybe two. For a man who complained so much about his job eating his social life, he sure didn’t show his dislike as much.

That was how Stephane was, right? Alain chuckled, dialing the familiar number. The usual female voice picked up on the other side. It was Virginia, of course. She was the closest thing to a friend he had, and she and Alain went a long way back, to the times when he was curious about sex and he dragged Stephane to all kinds of strange places to see how it worked.

It was then that the Prince learned that sometimes you could get far more information in a brothel than with a million of spies. And since then, she had become his main source of strange information, especially regarding the nobles that visited the palace.

“Oh my. If it isn’t my most special customer.”
“Hello Virginia. Do you have some time later in the day?”
“It depends, is it work or pleasure?”
“Work, of course.”
“My! It’s Sunday today. It’s rare for you to call me on a Sunday to speak about work.”
“Maybe I can also invite you dinner?”
“Now we are talking! I will see you in an hour, as soon as I get rid of Lord Lobanov, he is in need of some urgent attention.”
“Naturally. I will wait.”
“I’ll see you later!”


Later was exactly an hour and ten minutes. Virginia sneaked in as she always did, by talking to the usual maid. It wasn’t exactly easy to sneak prostitutes into the Regency House, but by now Alain was more than a professional. And as usual, her first goal was to drop in the large bed, and eat some snacks.

“Oh, these are particularly good today!”
“I had them bought just for you, of course.” Alain chuckled, sitting in his usual chair.
“But you said work, dear, and I don’t see the work anywhere.”
“I need to run a background check. I’m having a date next Saturday.”
“Oh my! Someone who is not a noble?” Virginia sat in the bed to look at him better, taking another chocolate piece from the tray. “Who is it? Is she cute?”
“She’s different, and I like that. And yes, she’s cute too.”
“I see, I see!” Virgina laughed. “So, where did you meet her? What’s her name?”
“Her name is Julie. I met her when I let mother drag me to that seamstress of her.”
“Oh that Julie... I can see why you are interested. She’s the cute type, and you are quite into cute shy types, aren’t you?”
“I actually like your type far more, Vi.”
“All lies, you just want to flatter me so I won’t charge you!”
“I have better ways to do that, and you know it.”
“That is true, completely.”
“So, will you run the check?”
“Of course. So, she’s your date for the party?”
“Yes. I wonder how she will react...”
“You’ll sweep her off her feet! Can you imagine? A magical romance between a Prince and a commoner! I’m already getting excited!”
“You are sounding happier than usual... I’d be willing to bet you got a visit from a favorite before Lebanov appeared.”
“That is correct! And I also have some juicy news. Don’t you love those?”
“I’m listening.”
“First of all, dirty icky Lord Norfolk came over. He was as dirty and icky as always.”
“I see...”
“And then he left and in came Lord Lancaster, to take me to a magical land of love and fun! He saved my day from being the most horrible day in the universe. He’s like an angel.”
“And old angel. Far too old for you.”
“You just don’t appreciate good wines or good men, Alain.”
“I won’t comment anything else on that.” He chuckled, making a dismissive gesture with his right hand. “You can continue.”
“Then came Lord Lebanov. He was all stressed, so while I got him naked I asked what was going on. And he told me that there were some complicated dealings with the Ministry of External Affairs.”
“I see. That sounds complicated, usually Internal and External Affairs get along pretty well...”
“Yep. But he said that it was related to something he could not tell, because of security issues. You know what that means.”
“Either we find out soon, or they are hiding something, isn’t that right?”
“Yes. That means that there is a chance of an external conflict. Something they are hiding.”
“That’s dangerous... A conflict with another country so close to the Inheritance Ceremony could mean more trouble than we think.”
“I know! I wasn’t planning on telling you until I found something else, but when you called I knew it was fate. Maybe you’ll be able to pick something up during the party.”
“That’s a good idea.” Alain nodded, resting his back on the chair. “It’s rare for nobles to slip in those events, but sometimes you find things when you know where to look.”
“Exactly. So you better keep both eyes open.”
“I will.”
“Such a serious face, Alain! I wish you’d let me help you ease your thoughts.”
“I’d rather read the newspaper.” The Prince smiled, letting himself fall into their usual game.
“So rude, so rude! I’ll never worry about you again.”
“So you say.”

The phone interrupted them and Alain smiled, gesturing for Virginia to stay silent.

“Stephane.”
“Good night, Prince. Is everything well?”
“Of course, you don’t have to check on me on your free day. I did promise I would behave.”
“So you say.”
“You are the most terrible Knight, I swear. You never take my words.”
“That’s because you are the most unpredictable Prince this Regency has been ever graced with.”
“Why thank you.”
“Everything is fine, then, I will see you tomorrow.”
“We start at eight, don’t be late.”
“I never am.”
“Good night.”
“Rest well.”


Alain made sure the call was over before looking back at Virginia.

“I don’t think he suspects anything.” He grinned, and she laughed.
“So no chances of a surprise visit? A shame!”
“I don’t think so. We can continue talking then, tell me about this week.”
“Oh, I have a few news, even if not as juicy. I’m sure you’ll love them.”
“I’m listening.”
“Of course you are...!”

And for the next two hours, Alain got to hear an update on the actual state of the Regency. Because people certainly loved talking, and Alain loved, really loved, knowing exactly the kind of people the nobles were.





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Notas:

Wut dos capitulos en dos dias wut.