Butterfly Reign

8. You Swore You Would Stay By My Side

"It seems as though the search for Ranboo's family has been unsuccessful so far," Tubbo says. "His Majesty said that he is free to stay at the palace for as long as he wishes for, and is looking for people to serve him on a permanent basis."

Tommy pinches the bridge of his nose. Majority of the foreign guests have already arrived at the palace, and he is getting sick of dodging their questions about the 'shy young man' lurking around the eastern wing. He was hoping that Ranboo would be out of his hair before the start of the celebrations - how endlessly naïve that was of him.

"For all we know, Ranboo could be an orphan, and this all has been pointless from the very start." Tommy says dryly. The quill in his hand threatens to snap and join a bunch of others already thrown into the trash can. "Or, perhaps, Ranboo is lying about his memory problems to take advantage of His Majesty's kindness."

A crack of lighting runs across the night sky. Candles and lamps flicker, their light momentarily mixing in with a white flash and then it's back to normal again. Tommy listens to the hum of the rain behind the closed windows. He counts six seconds before the thunder comes.

"Ranboo's telling the truth, Your Highness," Tubbo says, in an unexpectedly defensive tone that makes Tommy glance up and frown. "He gets nightmares about his memories- I've seen him afterwards. It's not something that can be faked."

Tommy clenches his fists tighter under the desk. He doesn't know why he'd expected Tubbo to take his side, given how close he and Ranboo had become. Tommy isn't blind. He sees two figures flashing in the corner of his vision, and hears their laughter, so clear and full of life that it hurts . Hurts that he can't remember the last time Tubbo sounded as happy, and that it's not Tommy who he shares his happiness with. It hurts that the moment Tubbo's eyes fall on Tommy, he pretends not to see him and rushes to lead Ranboo away.

"Why are you defending him?"

It's not as much a question as it's a warning. Tubbo deflates, but doesn't look away even as Tommy's eyes bore into him harshly. "Ranboo is nice," he says. "Sure, he might not understand how things work in the palace, but he means no harm."

"No harm?" Tommy laughs bitterly. "Did you even hear the rumors going around about me?"

Tommy thought that he and the Emperor were keeping their tones low enough during their argument, but in the palace, everything has ears: from the paintings on the walls to every bush in the gardens large enough to hide a particularly curious individual. Whatever the original rumor has been, in a span of a week, it was mauled and twisted until everyone was talking about how Emperor scolded the crown-prince like a misbehaving child.

"It wasn't Ranboo's fault that Prince Wilbur stole the credit for your tea party," Tubbo insists.

"And maybe he didn't make me look like a villain in His Majesty's eyes by retelling him of that stupid incident?"

"Ranboo didn't," Tubbo says. "I did."

It takes a moment for Tubbo's words to settle in, and when they do, it feels like lightning had struck him. Suddenly it makes sense why Tubbo looked so guilty during the tea party, and avoided looking into Tommy's eyes afterwards.

The feeling of betrayal digs its claws into Tommy's chest. Tubbo stands before him, his head dipped, shoulders spiking up to his ears, and waits for his next words- but what could Tommy even say ? He thought he was already over that incident, but the anger bubbling in his veins proves otherwise.

"Why?" he grits out.

Tubbo grips his hands in front of himself. "It wasn't right of you to treat Ranboo that way," he says, keeping his tone low. "He didn't deserve it."