Butterfly Reign

1. Golden Thrown

At the young tender age of eleven, kneeling solemnly in front of his father as the golden crown was placed on his head, Tommy knew that one day, he was going to be an emperor.

For over six years, he has been the perfect crown-prince. Rumors spread out of the country, about a boy, a spitting image of the current ruler of the Antarctic empire, who holds control over the royal palace and has an influence around the whole thirteen regions. When his time comes , people talk on the streets and markets , the true era of prosperity will start .

Tommy would be flattered if he had the time to listen to these stories. Between the endless meetings, trading agreements and constant flow of paperwork he barely sleeps and eats. He isn't complaining, though – it's the fate he chose for himself, even if he didn’t know at the time that the position of the crown-prince is possibly the loneliest there is in the entire empire.

Matters worthy only of the emperor’s hands kept His Majesty busy; Tommy hasn’t seen Techno ever since he left to train their armies in the North, and even if Wilbur was here, in the capital, their relationship could be described to be strained at best.

The royal family doesn’t need to be close, it only needs to be balanced, like the pillars holding their country above their heads – as long as they are strong and steady, the Empire will be too. It’s a principle that held Tommy’s back straight and his shoulders broad through the years of hardships and trials of errors; through yet another formal meeting where his father’s gaze would look past him and where his brother’s words would be filled with poison that makes the deepest parts of his soul ache. In the end, it made him who he is: the future of the country, the heir to the Imperial throne.  

At the time, Tommy didn’t know that his family would replace him with a commoner named Ranboo.

***

The day that would eventually lead to his doom doesn’t start with a sinister sign or a lingering rain. After a long night spent with a quill in his hand and a tower of documents to look over, Tommy wakes up to a shuffle of someone’s steps in his bedroom. As his eyelids flutter open, he sees Tubbo drawing the curtains tighter to block off a sharp ray of sunlight sipping through.

“Don’t bother,” Tommy says. “I’m already awake.”

Tubbo spins on his heels, not in the slightest bothered by Tommy’s sharp tone, and bows. “Your Highness.”

“Morning,” Tommy echoes, blinking. “What time is it now?”

“I’d say it isn't morning anymore, Your Highness.”

Tommy pushes himself up on his hands. His head pounds, and his mouth is drier than the Badlands’ deserts in the boiling summer months. “My schedule- “

“-Is emptied for the first half of this day.”

Tommy frowns. “You have no right to do that.”

“I don’t,” Tubbo agrees. He offers the prince a glass of water. Tommy takes a sip, savoring the honey-sweet taste that immediately soothes his throat. Tubbo continues, “But his Majesty has. He returned from his trip last night, and when I informed him that you’re working, he ordered not to disturb you till today’s evening.”

Tommy is fully awake now. He stands up, running a hand through the mess his hair had turned into overnight, trying to think of the past few weeks and whether there was anything he did that might’ve angered the Emperor. Meetings went fruitfully, reports were sent by letters and secretaries in time – then where did the sudden change in his behavior come from?