Rufus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
badass_tiger) wrote2023-03-02 02:19 pm
badass_tiger) wrote2023-03-02 02:19 pm
Entry tags:
Perspective (Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine)
Title: Perspective
Fandom: Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine (The Royal Tutor)
Characters: Eins von Granzreich & Ernst von Rosenberg
Summary: Canon divergent AU where Eins does not immediately announce his decision to defer the throne to Leonhard.
A disconcerting silence fell when King Viktor announced. Rosenberg was shocked, then he was delighted - he looked at Eins's face and was confused. Eins's expression was carefully closed off. He was not an expressive person by nature, of course but Rosenberg thought that he was trying to hide his emotions more than usual. Eins simply bowed to the king, expressed his thanks, then received his congratulations from his brothers.
The young princes' reactions, too, surprised Rosenberg. They normally celebrated one another so exuberantly that he thought they would be happy for Eins. Or was it because they still, after all their elegant words about supporting him, did not include Eins in their family circle? And what was the sin so severe which Eins had committed to deserve that? He had done nothing more than be the firstborn of their family, and for that, they could give him nothing more than awkward smiles and stilted 'We knew it would be you!'s.
But it was a few hours yet before Rosenberg could speak to Eins about that look on his face. Eins tried to leave the room with Rosenberg, but was immediately persuaded to have tea with the rest of the royal family. Rosenberg stood apart from them until Prince Kai extended the invitation to him. For Rosenberg, at least, it was not difficult to put on a false smile, to accept the invitation with grace, then join in with teasing Eins with an easy manner. Perhaps it was for the best that the tea was held after all, because Eins relaxed somewhat throughout the meal, even joining in the conversation with some of his usual vigour. When they were alone again, however - once they had boarded the coach to return to Schwarz Palace - Eins's expression shuttered once more. There was no point in waiting or beating about the bush.
'What's wrong with you?' Rosenberg said. 'Isn't this what you wanted?'
Eins made no attempt to pretend that he didn't know what Rosenberg was talking about.
'Do you think I'll make a good king?' Eins said, and Rosenberg wanted to explode. He flushed hot with anger.
'What are you talking about?!' he demanded. 'Hasn't everything you've done up to this point been for the sake of becoming king? You have the birth, breeding, training, and education precisely for the position of king! No one is better suited to be king than you!'
Eins scowled. 'I knew you wouldn't understand.'
Rosenberg's heart plummeted to his boots. His anger evaporated to be replaced with fear.
'What? What don't I understand? How can I understand if you don't explain it to me? I'll listen if you tell me.'
He snapped his mouth shut on the rush of words and forced himself to calm down. His bouts of temper had been alarmingly frequent lately. They had worsened with Eins's condition, but Eins was better now, so he should be too. Yet he knew that a shadow still remained over Eins, and so, a shadow remained over himself.
'Someone of an unstable mental condition like me can't be king,' Eins said. His gaze remained resolutely trained on the carriage window, but his eyes did not see the scenery passing by outside. 'If I have an episode like that when I am king, it would jeopardise the entire kingdom. I can't let that happen.'
Something was rising within Rosenberg, travelling up his chest, constricting his throat until he felt unable to speak, and then it travelled up to his head until he couldn't think. He saw Eins's scowl fade to be replaced by a defeated sag of his shoulders, he knew that Eins was discouraged by silence, but he couldn't make himself speak. Rosenberg shut his eyes and took in a breath.
'You complete and absolute and utter fool!' he shouted, causing Eins to jump in his seat and whirl around with a glare. Rosenberg scowled back. 'Episode? What episode? Didn't you promise me that something like that will never happen again? You've never broken a promise to me so I know that you will!'
'I - I - I -' Eins stopped, composed himself. 'I said that I don't want to die anymore -'
'Are you telling me that that's no longer true?'
'No! I'm telling you that I don't deserve to be king because of what I did!'
Rosenberg sat back, willing the cauldron of fury bubbling in his chest to simmer. His words weren't reaching Eins, and he was still afraid of Eins becoming so distant from him once again that he no longer knew what was going on in the head of his childhood friend.
'If King Viktor broke his leg and was unable to carry out his full duties as king while he was ill, do you think that would make him a poor ruler?' Rosenberg said.
'Of course not.'
'Then why,' he said, his voice rising once again despite his attempts at checking himself, 'are you trying to tell me that a single moment of weakness makes you ineligible to become king?!'
'It - it wasn't a single moment ... It was months ...' Eins dropped his gaze, a deep furrow in his brow. 'Months that I was a burden on you, my family, and everyone else ... months that I couldn't do anything ...'
'That is because you wouldn't ask for help,' Rosenberg said flatly. 'Even a broken leg will rot and die if unattended to. Tell me how what you went through is any different from any other illness.'
'An illness,' Eins echoed. His chagrined frown took on a puzzled air. 'You think of what I did as an episode of illness?'
'Well, yes. You were ill for a while, and now you are well. It is the same as any physical illness.'
Eins was quiet, but this time, Rosenberg didn't interrupt him. He could see that Eins was turning over his words. Perhaps he would even accept them.
'If it is an illness,' Eins said, 'what happens if I become ill again?'
'Then you will rest until you are well again,' Rosenberg said with a shrug.
'I was thinking,' Eins began, and Rosenberg had to bite his tongue to refrain from telling him to stop doing that, because it clearly wasn't helping, 'that I would accept the throne when the king retires, but only for a short while, until one of my brothers is fit to take the position from me. I feel myself unfit for the responsibilities of king, but I don't want to run away from my duties as I did before.'
It was Rosenberg's turn to silently digest the information. The proposition made him deeply uncomfortable, but ...
'If that is your decision, then I will accept it,' he said, although somewhat stiffly. 'Either way, you will be king, so my burden is lifted.' But it didn't feel that way at all.
'Even if I am no longer king, I still want you by my side,' Eins said quietly. 'Your support is the most invaluable thing to me.'
His honesty threw Rosenberg off guard. He wanted to smile, but he was so deeply touched that he could have as easily dissolved into tears. In that instant, his burden really was lifted, and he was no longer afraid that he wouldn't be able to do his due by Eins.
'Well, of course,' Rosenberg said, and found it within himself to laugh. 'What would you do without me?'
'If you think of it as an illness,' Eins continued in a steadier tone, 'I will ask you if you're okay with supporting a cripple like me.'
'There's no need to ask. An illness doesn't make you who you are. You are still the person who made my dream come true when we were children.'
Even as Rosenberg spoke, he realised that that was the crux of what he was trying to say. For Eins to martyr himself over a suicidal episode was as ridiculous as giving up the throne because he had been in bed a week of fever. It was a thing that could be overcome. Eins didn't speak again until they reached Schwarz Palace and were sitting inside the parlour with two coffees.
'It was always my dream to become king, and I don't want to give that up,' he said. 'Will you help me to better myself until I can become the best king Granzreich has ever had?'
'How many times are you going to ask?' Rosenberg said, but he smiled. 'Yes, I will.'
Eins said no more, but for the first time in so many years, the lines in his brow relaxed. He closed his eyes on a sip of his brauner and looked just like any other man his age - proud of the responsibilities he held and hopeful that he would see them through the best of his abilities.
Fandom: Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine (The Royal Tutor)
Characters: Eins von Granzreich & Ernst von Rosenberg
Summary: Canon divergent AU where Eins does not immediately announce his decision to defer the throne to Leonhard.
A disconcerting silence fell when King Viktor announced. Rosenberg was shocked, then he was delighted - he looked at Eins's face and was confused. Eins's expression was carefully closed off. He was not an expressive person by nature, of course but Rosenberg thought that he was trying to hide his emotions more than usual. Eins simply bowed to the king, expressed his thanks, then received his congratulations from his brothers.
The young princes' reactions, too, surprised Rosenberg. They normally celebrated one another so exuberantly that he thought they would be happy for Eins. Or was it because they still, after all their elegant words about supporting him, did not include Eins in their family circle? And what was the sin so severe which Eins had committed to deserve that? He had done nothing more than be the firstborn of their family, and for that, they could give him nothing more than awkward smiles and stilted 'We knew it would be you!'s.
But it was a few hours yet before Rosenberg could speak to Eins about that look on his face. Eins tried to leave the room with Rosenberg, but was immediately persuaded to have tea with the rest of the royal family. Rosenberg stood apart from them until Prince Kai extended the invitation to him. For Rosenberg, at least, it was not difficult to put on a false smile, to accept the invitation with grace, then join in with teasing Eins with an easy manner. Perhaps it was for the best that the tea was held after all, because Eins relaxed somewhat throughout the meal, even joining in the conversation with some of his usual vigour. When they were alone again, however - once they had boarded the coach to return to Schwarz Palace - Eins's expression shuttered once more. There was no point in waiting or beating about the bush.
'What's wrong with you?' Rosenberg said. 'Isn't this what you wanted?'
Eins made no attempt to pretend that he didn't know what Rosenberg was talking about.
'Do you think I'll make a good king?' Eins said, and Rosenberg wanted to explode. He flushed hot with anger.
'What are you talking about?!' he demanded. 'Hasn't everything you've done up to this point been for the sake of becoming king? You have the birth, breeding, training, and education precisely for the position of king! No one is better suited to be king than you!'
Eins scowled. 'I knew you wouldn't understand.'
Rosenberg's heart plummeted to his boots. His anger evaporated to be replaced with fear.
'What? What don't I understand? How can I understand if you don't explain it to me? I'll listen if you tell me.'
He snapped his mouth shut on the rush of words and forced himself to calm down. His bouts of temper had been alarmingly frequent lately. They had worsened with Eins's condition, but Eins was better now, so he should be too. Yet he knew that a shadow still remained over Eins, and so, a shadow remained over himself.
'Someone of an unstable mental condition like me can't be king,' Eins said. His gaze remained resolutely trained on the carriage window, but his eyes did not see the scenery passing by outside. 'If I have an episode like that when I am king, it would jeopardise the entire kingdom. I can't let that happen.'
Something was rising within Rosenberg, travelling up his chest, constricting his throat until he felt unable to speak, and then it travelled up to his head until he couldn't think. He saw Eins's scowl fade to be replaced by a defeated sag of his shoulders, he knew that Eins was discouraged by silence, but he couldn't make himself speak. Rosenberg shut his eyes and took in a breath.
'You complete and absolute and utter fool!' he shouted, causing Eins to jump in his seat and whirl around with a glare. Rosenberg scowled back. 'Episode? What episode? Didn't you promise me that something like that will never happen again? You've never broken a promise to me so I know that you will!'
'I - I - I -' Eins stopped, composed himself. 'I said that I don't want to die anymore -'
'Are you telling me that that's no longer true?'
'No! I'm telling you that I don't deserve to be king because of what I did!'
Rosenberg sat back, willing the cauldron of fury bubbling in his chest to simmer. His words weren't reaching Eins, and he was still afraid of Eins becoming so distant from him once again that he no longer knew what was going on in the head of his childhood friend.
'If King Viktor broke his leg and was unable to carry out his full duties as king while he was ill, do you think that would make him a poor ruler?' Rosenberg said.
'Of course not.'
'Then why,' he said, his voice rising once again despite his attempts at checking himself, 'are you trying to tell me that a single moment of weakness makes you ineligible to become king?!'
'It - it wasn't a single moment ... It was months ...' Eins dropped his gaze, a deep furrow in his brow. 'Months that I was a burden on you, my family, and everyone else ... months that I couldn't do anything ...'
'That is because you wouldn't ask for help,' Rosenberg said flatly. 'Even a broken leg will rot and die if unattended to. Tell me how what you went through is any different from any other illness.'
'An illness,' Eins echoed. His chagrined frown took on a puzzled air. 'You think of what I did as an episode of illness?'
'Well, yes. You were ill for a while, and now you are well. It is the same as any physical illness.'
Eins was quiet, but this time, Rosenberg didn't interrupt him. He could see that Eins was turning over his words. Perhaps he would even accept them.
'If it is an illness,' Eins said, 'what happens if I become ill again?'
'Then you will rest until you are well again,' Rosenberg said with a shrug.
'I was thinking,' Eins began, and Rosenberg had to bite his tongue to refrain from telling him to stop doing that, because it clearly wasn't helping, 'that I would accept the throne when the king retires, but only for a short while, until one of my brothers is fit to take the position from me. I feel myself unfit for the responsibilities of king, but I don't want to run away from my duties as I did before.'
It was Rosenberg's turn to silently digest the information. The proposition made him deeply uncomfortable, but ...
'If that is your decision, then I will accept it,' he said, although somewhat stiffly. 'Either way, you will be king, so my burden is lifted.' But it didn't feel that way at all.
'Even if I am no longer king, I still want you by my side,' Eins said quietly. 'Your support is the most invaluable thing to me.'
His honesty threw Rosenberg off guard. He wanted to smile, but he was so deeply touched that he could have as easily dissolved into tears. In that instant, his burden really was lifted, and he was no longer afraid that he wouldn't be able to do his due by Eins.
'Well, of course,' Rosenberg said, and found it within himself to laugh. 'What would you do without me?'
'If you think of it as an illness,' Eins continued in a steadier tone, 'I will ask you if you're okay with supporting a cripple like me.'
'There's no need to ask. An illness doesn't make you who you are. You are still the person who made my dream come true when we were children.'
Even as Rosenberg spoke, he realised that that was the crux of what he was trying to say. For Eins to martyr himself over a suicidal episode was as ridiculous as giving up the throne because he had been in bed a week of fever. It was a thing that could be overcome. Eins didn't speak again until they reached Schwarz Palace and were sitting inside the parlour with two coffees.
'It was always my dream to become king, and I don't want to give that up,' he said. 'Will you help me to better myself until I can become the best king Granzreich has ever had?'
'How many times are you going to ask?' Rosenberg said, but he smiled. 'Yes, I will.'
Eins said no more, but for the first time in so many years, the lines in his brow relaxed. He closed his eyes on a sip of his brauner and looked just like any other man his age - proud of the responsibilities he held and hopeful that he would see them through the best of his abilities.