𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙞𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 - [Technoblade x reader ]

21

I hoped there would be more to life than going to the courtyard and mandatory dinners with my future family. Alethea had grabbed her favorite book from the library for me to read when she went to sleep but I still felt like my boredom wouldn't be so easily cured.

Nonetheless, I sat in my nightgown late at night hoping that reading this book would make me tired enough to fall asleep without trouble. The heat of the Nether still hadn't gotten much easier to sleep in, even if I kept my room much cooler than the rest of the castle.

Alethea was such a hopeless romantic for loving books like this one. I remember Akkar used to like reading books with romance and I always called him silly for believing love was that simple. I suppose I was right in the end about that.

I missed Akkar. Not as much for the sake of my future hand in marriage, but as my best friend. Alethea had quickly become a close friend, and Ishton was working his way into my circle, but I had grown up with Akkar, and I wished I had his guidance when so lost here. I hoped he was doing alright.

There was a knock at the door that startled me from the train of thought that distracted me from my book. Who would be here this late? Alethea was an early sleeper, and the nighttime servant usually stayed posted at the door and didn't care to talk unless absolutely necessary.

"Oh, hello," I said surprised to see Techno standing at the door. He smiled nervously, playing with his hands. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"May I come in?" He said side glancing at the servant standing post. She didn't even seem to acknowledge his existence. I felt a giggle rise to the surface and I tried to hide it as he smiled at me. I stepped back to welcome him in and he took the opportunity. When the door closed, he seemed to relax.

He was wearing his normal attire, but he wasn't wearing his cloak, which made him so much more relaxed looking. The white shirt hugged his low-hung shoulders and ruffled down him in a flow that flattered his build excellently. I suddenly was very aware that I was in my nightgown, and likely looked like a living ghost. Techno had excellent timing.

"What's going on? You seem stressed," I said looking him up and down. The urge to get closer to him was unrelenting, but I pushed it down and strode to the couch I had been reading on, gesturing to the spot in front of me for him to sink into.

"How can you tell?" He said taking the seat I had offered. He even kicked his shoes off, resting his feet on the footstool in front of him. I felt my cheeks heat rise at how alone we were. How close our bodies were.

"To me, it's just written on your face. It's obvious by the way you're standing, but maybe it's just the bond of the betrothed. I can just read your every thought," I said with a joking wink. He laughed genuinely, the laugh I had heard so many times that night at the ball. A laugh I had grown very fond of.

"I knew I came to the right place," he said with a smile on his tired face. "Talking to you eases my stress. I just wanted to talk to you like the night of the ball. Like how we sat in the Warped forest and just talked. It's relaxing to me."

My heart seemed to skip a beat at his words. The blush that played at my cheeks was not something that I could hide, not in this close proximity. Where had all of my royal training gone? I felt like my emotions were displayed on my face.

"I'm glad that I can do that for you, it doesn't seem like you have a lot of stress relief other than training," I said playing with the sleeve of my nightgown. He had such an alarmingly charming smile. Even if he looked embarrassed at his lack of coping skills.

"It has always been drilled into me. Ever since I was very young. Training was one of the most important things I could do. Whether that was training my etiquette or my physical ability, it was what was most important to Father."

"I do notice getting his approval is challenging," I said before I could think over the words coming. His laugh of surprise was hidden well, but it was there, and I suddenly felt like I had crossed a very important boundary. "I'm sorry you don't have to comment on that. I shouldn't have said it."

"No, no," he said with a smile on his face. "It'd be ignorant to think you wouldn't have seen it after all of the dinners you've attended. My father can be very challenging to please. He always has been."

"Would you like to talk about it? I know a lot about royal parents' high expectations," I could tell that is what his stress was stemming from. It was written so clearly on his face after I had brought up his father. Maybe that's what we did to each other, wiped all royal training off the table, and wore our emotions on our sleeves.

"I mean, you can see a lot of it. Father wants nothing but the best from us. Ishton gets the brunt of it, and he still seems to carry himself so well. Yet I get even a sliver of my father's disapproval, and it rips me apart. I have no idea how he does it. How Ishton can still be himself after Father gives him a lecture. I just proposed my newest military plan and he hated it. He ripped me apart about it, and it just hurts so deeply," he said running a hand over his handsome features.

My heart broke for him. It broke in every place it could for the pain written on his face. I really wanted to hug him. I wanted to take his pain away and let him know how incredible I truly think he is. He had surprised me at every corner, with his kind, caring personality that I didn't know was possible, and yet his father could still put him down after all that he was.

It was wrong.

"I can't imagine being where you are, dealing with what you deal with. Has it always been this way?" I asked resisting the urge to rest my hand on his arm so close to me. Even if it was just a kind gesture, it felt like it crossed our boundaries. But him being in my room alone this late seemed to cross it as well.

"Since my mother died," he said looking down at his hands. I had never heard them mention his mother. "She was human. My father met her when the leaders all met for the first time. She was a servant to the king of the Overworld. He says it was love at first sight, they were wed almost immediately. She came here and she loved him every day. She had me, and Ishton, and she ruled this dimension with everything she had. Everyone was so surprised when she got sick. She had so much light, it felt wrong that she fell so ill."

"I'm so sorry," was all I could muster. I couldn't imagine losing my mother. To be left with a father like King Erix. If I hadn't wanted to hug him before, I surely wanted to now.

"It's okay. I appreciate you saying that, but it's been years. I miss her more than I'll ever be able to explain but she gave me a lot of wisdom and wonderful memories in her time with us. After she died, my father wasn't the same. He buried himself in work, and Isthton and I became reminders of her. It's gotten better, but we used to go weeks without seeing him. It has always felt like a battle to make sure we were good enough to make him stay."

"Techno," I said letting my hand fall on his arm. The familiar shock went through me at the contact. He smiled slightly at the gesture, resting his other hand atop my own. "I hope you know that you are incredible. You are smart, and kind, and more than I ever could've hoped for. Your dad doesn't see everything that you and Ishton are."

"And you've only known us for a short time. Yet you make me feel like it doesn't matter what my dad says," he said taking his hand back and putting it behind his head. "I suppose I lucked out pretty hard on this whole betrothed thing."

"I think I did too, don't you worry," I said pulling my knees to my chest. This was better than any book. 

A/N 

Wasn't that chapter just precious? I absolutely love them. But that's not why I'm here! I just finished writing the last chapter of The Piglin Prince and want to throw myself into a new story!! I was curious who people would like to see a story about if I were to write one. I have a small outline written for a story but I'm not sure if the character it's planned for would be one that people could care to read so curious about what people would like to see! 

Thank you!