Butterfly Reign

18. Now I Make My Own Decisions

With the foreign delegations riding off through the gates one by one, the palace falls back into its usual slumber. Extra chambers are cleaned and locked away until they're needed again, the corridors are no longer filled with chatting voices and Tommy can pass through the hallways without the prolonged routine of greeting every guest he meets on his way.

It's a short-term relief, though; the crown prince's responsibilities don't end with managing a few evening festivities. The paperwork that was put to the side as Tommy was busy with the guests now cramps his desk in tall towers, each threatening to topple over with the slightest breath of the wind. The sight of it makes some part of him howl in frustration, but he is mostly glad for the sense of normality it brings. Long afternoons spent in the company of rustling papers and old, leather-coveted books, the rhythmic tap of his foot against the carpet - everything's back to its usual self.

"Your Imperial Highness, you have a visitor," Beau announces, thrashing the doors open.

Well. Almost everything.

Tommy's hand twitches. He looks over a long stray mark left on the paper before him and drops the quill with a loud, exhausted sigh. The physician had told him that it will take about a month for his broken hand to heal, and a week or two more for the stiffness to be gone completely. Tommy refused to wait for that long and decided to exercise his left hand in writing. Rather unfruitful so far, if the ugly scribbles, the polar opposite to his usual perfectly aligned documents, were anything to judge by.

It irritates Tommy more and more with each following day, especially as the third month of the summer balls in, marking the start of payroll orders. The stewards help Tommy to manage the palace staff, but it's on the crown prince's shoulders in the end to make sure that no maid nor servant is paid a coin short of their salary.

While Beau has proven herself fluent in both manners of text and calculation, Tommy still checks every record and every paper to make sure that no mistakes are made. Beau knew what she was signing up to, and she never complains about the load of her new responsibilities; at the same time, she finds rather creative ways to let Tommy know how his meticulousness makes her feel.

He casts a glare up and sees the lady smirking at him from the other side of the office, not in the slightest ashamed of startling him. Beau is simultaneously everything and nothing that Tubbo was; both are ghostly silent in their movement, but while Tubbo used to creep in with a deer's cautiousness, Beau's sneakiness ends the moment she speaks and catches Tommy off guard with the thunder of her voice. Tommy ignores the knot of emotions that thinking about Tubbo tightens and instead focuses back on the desk.

He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment to rid of the stinging sensation, gathers the ruined document into a fist and throws into the bin without looking - it, of course, doesn't land, missing the target by a good few feet and rolling into the corner to the other balls of crumbled paper gathering there since the start of the day.

Tommy has been curious to see how big the pile will grow before either of them gives up first and calls for a maid to clean up. He thought that Beau had had enough when she drew closer, but instead, she smears him with an unimpressed look and kicks the bin closer so it's right next to the desk.

It's a draw.

Tommy sighs again and pushes his chair back. "Your Ladyship, how many times did I ask you not to disturb me during my working hou-"

"Is this a bad time?"

"Prince Dream!" Tommy is on his feet before he can process another thought. "Not at all, please come in."

Dream steps into the office half-way through, looking around curiously. He grasps it all: Tommy and Beau at the table, tall curtainless windows behind them, bookshelves filled to the brim with folders, ledgers and sheaves of paper. The mess on the floor earns Tommy a half-hearted chuckle - his shoulders twitch up in embarrassment - but to his relief, Dream's gaze rounds back to him and Beau.