Motheaten Memories [Yandere Prince x Enemy Princess Reader]

2. Royal Announcement.

After bidding Enicia goodbye Y/N exited the open-air store and stepped into the sunny cobblestone street. The weather in Luccia, especially the coastal region where the capital was located, was much fairer than it had been in her mountainous home country. The fair weather meant that market stalls and shops could be open to the air all year round without fear of snow and most of them were, forgoing facades for the downstairs parts of their shops, only places like brothels had proper front doors for the privacy of their guests.

Double-checking that her coin purse was stowed away in her pocket securely, out of the reach of any would-be pickpockets, she started her trip to the east quarter of the city. Not having very much money, the two women could barely keep up with the costs of living on the western fringe of the city, just inside the city walls. The east quarter in contrast was the wealthiest district apart from the palace grounds. It was over an hour's walk, but the merchants with the best overseas goods, including the dyes that Y/N needed, only sold their wears in that part of the city.

The walk wasn't unpleasant though, being that Bocio was the capital city of a large and prosperous nation it was filled to bursting with interesting buildings and people. Y/N would amuse herself by watching the people she passed in the streets and imagining what the story of their life was like.

She felt her heart jump into her throat as she caught sight of a young peasant couple walking home from the market arm-in-arm, the woman holding a basket with produce and the man carrying his laughing daughter on his shoulders. The gigging child couldn't have been more than five or six years old, though the sight of the happy family would have brought joy to most on-lookers, Y/N bit her lip and turned her head away quickly as sad nostalgia clawed at her stomach.

She had been about the same age as that little girl when her family had been killed. Over the years she had done her best to move on, knowing that no amount of wishing would bring her family back to life, but that didn't mean that she had stopped missing them. Even a decade later, a day didn't go by where she didn't wish that her family was still alive, it wouldn't even matter to her if they lost their position as royalty, as long as they were together she would be happy, but they had all been killed and now she had to travel through the rest of her life without them.

While Y/N had been caught up in her reflections her feet had carried her to the eastern quarter of the city. She only emerged from her trance when she bumped into a portly man in fine clothing and was sent tumbling to the ground. She gave the man a hearty apology, scrambling to collect herself and get back on her feet.

After that she made straight for the merchants selling imported fabrics and pigments, ignoring the others loudly hawking their medicines and jewelry. Weaving through the many colorful stalls, being careful to avoid the blocks where newly arrived slaves were being sold she continued to weave through the wealthy marketplace, the masts of the tall ships in the harbor towering over like the market like strange trees.

Once she arrived at the booth of the usual dye merchant she purchased the scarlet and indigo pigment, along with some sulfur yellow dye that she managed to get at half price by flirting with the old merchant. With her basket filled with the necessary dyes, she started walking back the way she had come hoping to get back home before nightfall.

However, a large crowd of people had gathered around the notice board in the main square of the east quarter catching Y/N's attention. She slowed her steps, trying to see what all the fuss was about. Elbowing her way through the excited mass of bodies she came to the front of the group of people and froze as her eyes landed on an official-looking notice nailed to the board.

BY ROYAL DECREE

A ball is to be held at Ficcioro Palace in a month to celebrate the king and queen's seventeen wedding anniversary along with the coronation of their only son as crown prince and official heir to the Luccian throne. All of Luccia's citizens are encouraged to participate in the festivities even if they are unable to attend the gala, and are free from their normal duties for a week.

King Ilidoro of Luccia.

Those gathered around were overjoyed at the prospect of a week-long national holiday, but the same could not be said for Y/N who was trembling with suppressed rage. She had known that the man responsible for destroying her kingdom, the Luccian king, had lived on and in the highest comfort but something about seeing a notice written by him to celebrate his family made him take form. He was no longer an untouchable concept, but a living man of flesh and blood.

Y/N gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her palms. Her blood felt like it was burning with the same fire that had consumed her country, Vascini, a decade before. She couldn't stand to know that the man who destroyed her kingdom and killed her family now enjoyed a peaceful life with his own. The basket with dyes fell from Y/N's hands as she ran, oblivious to the lost items, her mind consumed by one thing; ire.

. . .

"ENICIA!" Y/N screamed as she rushed into the small wool store, out of breath and disheveled from running back as fast as she could. "ENICIA HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS?!"

"No," the graceful woman replied, her eyes went wide as she saw the state that Y/N was in. "No, I- Goodness! What happened?! You aren't hurt are you?!" She asked, rushing over to the younger woman.

"I'm fine!" Y/N spat, pulling away from Enicia as she began to pace. "But the king! He-he- that bastard! He's turning his wedding anniversary and the coronation of his son into a national holiday!" She growled, fire blazing in her E/C eyes. "It's not fair! How can the man who destroyed countless families in Vascini, including my own, be allowed to grow old with his own?!"

"Y/N, please calm down," Enicia said, both kindly and sternly. "There's no use in getting upset about something you can't change."

"No..." Y/N whispered, growing deadly calm as she finally could give a name to the strange blend of anger and pain that had lingered in her soul ever since that terrible night; it was a desire for vengeance. "I'll make him pay... A life for a life - He killed my family so I'll kill his."

"Y/N, assassinating the Royal Family would be incredibly difficult, not to mention dangerous," Enicia tried to reason with her. "You could get hurt, or die."

"I know that, I'm not the naive Princess I used to be," She replied calmly. "But I don't care if I die. I've lost my home, my family, everything, with how secretive we have to be it's like I'm dead already." She took a deep breath, thinking carefully about her next words, making sure that she meant them. "I don't want to live in fear of King Ilidoro finding us anymore," she said as she made eye contact with her governess, all external anger vanishing, replaced by cold hatred. "I want to make him pay for everything he's done, even if it kills me."

"Y/N, you're mother's final orders to me were to protect you no matter what," Enicia said, a shadow falling over her face as she thought back to that dark day. "But I know that I won't be able to talk you out of this either - how many times have I myself laid awake at night dreaming of avenging my own family." She continued with a touch of bitterness in her tone.

"What are you saying?" Y/N asked, confused that she hadn't tried to resist more.

"I'm saying that I will help you," Y/N was caught off guard as Enicia got down on her knees and bowed her head, a gesture that she had never done to her, not even before the fall of their kingdom. "Princess Y/N of Vascini, I swear that I will do everything in my power to serve you, and to help you get revenge, even if it costs my life."

A/N

Looks like after a decade Y/N has finally decided to avenge her family and her kingdom, but will she succeed?

Until next time I'll see you on the other side

~J. C. Coltt.~