The Prince's Loyal Knight

"I shall serve you until I die."

Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom in the middle of a city. Two young siblings ruled the castle most of the time because their parents would often be absent for unreasonable things. The star prince, Tsukasa Tenma. And the sun princess, Saki Tenma. Sometimes, people would think they didn't have parents or that they were the king and queen.

"Tsukasa, it's time for you to look for a wife. I and your father are slowly aging away to death, and this village needs a new King and Queen." Said their mother, the ACTUAL queen of the Tenma Kingdom. She puts her hand on her chest dramatically and Tsukasa groans. "Mother, I don't need to find one. I can become King without having to marry some girl, right?" Tsukasa angrily replied. "No, we need guards first. How will our wimpy son defend a girl?" Said his father, the King. "I agree! Our son isn't that capable of that." Their mother agreed instantly. "...I'm right here, you know?!" Tsukasa said and sighed in annoyance. They were always like this, purposely making him and their sister feel bad. Well, he's used to it.

He walks away while his parents still ramble about a wife or a knight for the kingdom, and goes to his sister's room. He hesitates, but knocks. "Come in!" The muffled voice in the room replies. He opens the door and sees Saki just sitting down on her bed. He sits next to her, and she smiles. "What brings you here, brother?"

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He asks and she just chuckles. "No need to worry, I'm feeling alright. I'm more concerned about you." She pats his head and he averts his gaze, frowning. "If you need help, I'm gonna be there for you." She holds his hand and looks back at her. "I just don't want to ask you for help. I'm worried that you will think of me less." She shakes her head and stops petting his head, putting her hands on her lap.

"Of course not! We are siblings, right? So we have to be there for each other. We all have our hard times, and I'm gonna help you in any way I can. Promise?" She holds out her pinky, and Tsukasa smiles. "I promise. Now go to sleep." Saki nods happily and lies down on her bed. He fixes her blanket and sits down next to her. He kisses her forehead and holds her hand. "Goodnight, little sister. Sweet dreams." She closes her eyes and smiles. "Goodnight, big brother." He stands up and goes to his own room to sleep.

The next day, his father announces that they were hiring knights for the kingdom. And to Tsukasa's expectations, he gave him the role of interviewing every single one of them. The only good thing was that there was only 28 people who were auditioning. A few hours passed, and he sees a familiar face once he calls for the next interview. It was Toya Aoyagi, his childhood best friend.

"Aoyagi, I didn't expect to see you here!" Tsukasa smiles, recalling the memories he had with Toya. The times when they ran around outside of the city before and collected berries together. Suddenly, the blue haired man bows to the him and he looks at him in surprise. Of course, he was still trying to get a job and show proper manners. They aren't little kids anymore. Tsukasa coughs in embarrassment and looks back at Toya. "Hello, Prince Tenma. I guess I won't be needing to introduce myself since you already know me."

Toya takes a seat and he goes through the interview. After, they have a little chat because his father paused the auditions for a while. Tsukasa looks at him, astonished on how tall he is now. "How have you been, Aoyagi? It's been a while since we have crossed paths."

"Ah, I've been doing very well. I got to move back here when my father died." Toya replies simply, but the star prince frowns. "I am very sorry to hear that." Tsukasa frowns, but Toya shakes his head. "No, you shouldn't be. How have you been, prince?" He teases and Tenma just laughs.

"Ah, the same as ever. Nothing ever changes in this kingdom." Tsukasa looks at the castle while speaking. "My mother and father want me to find a girlfriend already, can you believe it?" He ranted.

As time went on, the break ended and he had to continue with his work. He was a bit disappointed to part way from his good old friend, and got bored. Until he met this guy.

"Good afternoon Prince Tenma, I am Akito Shinonome. I am quite experienced in combat and have practiced in a military school."

Tsukasa looks at Akito in interest. He wasn't lying about being experienced because he had a VERY masculine figure. He was taller among the many others in line and he still has multiple scratches and wounds that looked like they were still healing on his arms.

"That is great! But have you been trained about defense?" Tsukasa asks genuinely without any bad intentions. Well, the ginger took it to offense.. "Excuse me?" He looked a bit mad and the star started to get nervous. "Uhm, n-no. I didn't mean to say that to offend you. I was just asking if you have been taught about defense because that is the important thing of being a knight." Tsukasa explains. awkwardly, and Akito gets it. He puts his hand behind his neck in embarrassment for assuming so quickly.

"Oh, sorry. But um, to answer your question.. Yes, I have been taught about defense and that is mostly what I was good at when I was still doing practice." Akito replies.

"Okay, nice. And the-" He tried to ask more questions related to being a knight because of his job for today, of course. Until Akito cut him off.

"I shall serve you until I die."