The Prince and the Knight

1.1

The sounds of a pleasant morning on the weekend—the squawking of seagulls and the sounds of the waves lapping the rocks and the shoreline below—eventually woke the prince from his peaceful sleep. He yawned quietly and stretched his arms out, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in his bed, whose mattress was made out of only the finest materials. He pushed the silky sheets off himself and stood up quickly, pausing for a moment to wait for the head rush that he'd received as a result to subside. Sighing, he shoved his feathery brown hair out of his chocolate brown eyes and sauntered over to the bathroom connected to his enormous room to take his morning shower. Once he'd slid off what clothes he had on and turned on the hot water, he stepped into the pristine and large shower, letting his mind wander as the room filled with the steam rising off the water.

After the long shower, he got out, dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his hips, feeling the soft and fuzzy cotton against his skin. He wandered into his room, over to the seemingly endless wardrobe his walk-in closet contained, to pick out his outfit for the day. What was he going to wear to impress the ladies and make himself even more irresistible than he knew he already was? He ended up picking out a powder blue polo shirt that hugged the muscles in his arms and showed the definition in his abdominal and back muscles, along with a pair of dark khaki pants and some boat shoes that had the finest leather panels on the outsides of them. He slid on a golden watch that shine in the sunlight before brushing his teeth and sweeping his hair in different directions until it was perfect. Once he'd paused to admire himself in the mirror for a bit longer, he put his hands in his pockets before strolling out of his room and downstairs to the dining room where he ate breakfast with his father—if he seemed to care about him that day.

"Good morning, mother," he greeted the woman sitting primly at the table, he delicate and smooth hands clasped in her lap.

"Tooru! What took you so long to get down here? Your fan girls are already becoming ravenous," his mother replied, standing to kiss his cheek and adjust the collar of his shirt. Her gentle voice sounded more caring than scolding, however, and the young man didn't mind, since he knew his mother always came from a good place.

"I was getting ready..." he answered simply and kissed her cheek in returned before sitting down at his spot at the table. His mother sighed and sat back down, brushing her long, ash blonde hair away from her wrinkle-free face. The prince soon noticed the absence of his father in the seat at the head of the table and frowned slightly. "Where's father?"

His mother's caramel colored eyes looked away for a moment before returning their gaze to his. "In a meeting," she answered, her voice taking on a harsh and detached tone, "But it's alright. We don't need him to have breakfast, do we? I was unaware that he'd been abandoning you at the breakfast table all this time. I'm sorry, baby."

Tooru forced a reassuring smile onto his features as he looked at his concerned mother. "Don't worry about it, mom; you were busy and I'm fine eating by myself anyway," he told her. He had to hide the boiling anger he felt towards his father—the one person he looked up to. He hated him now, however, especially since he'd hurt his mother.

The concerned look on the queen's face softened as she smiled at her son, reaching out to stroke his cheek before picking up her utensils and beginning to eat the breakfast that the chefs had made specially for them each morning. Tooru place a napkin on his lap and sighed quietly before digging into his food. As he ate, only pausing to speak to his mom, he thought about the relationship between his parents with much disdain that he had to hide behind his calm facial features.

His mother had been the princess of a nearby kingdom called Nekoma. His father, who had been the king of Aobajohsai at the time, as he was now, had visited them for a business trip since the two kingdoms were allies. When he spotted her, the pinnacle of beauty, quietly minding her own business in the garden, he knew he wanted her. She would probably make him some strong and healthy children, he thought, so he had snatched her up and taken her back home with him to marry her. She, being a young woman, felt a strong dislike towards her older captor, but, after being able to spend more time with him, she had started to love him. Unfortunately for her the façade he'd put on had won her over and not the real person he was. She still loved him even though he never returned the favor.

After he'd impregnated her, he pretended to take care of her for the publicity, and she'd fallen for it every single time only to end up severely disappointed whenever they returned to the castle and he left her to do more important things than take care of his wife. Nine months later, Tooru, a strong and healthy baby, was born and his father had taken so much pride in him that the queen thought he might be able to help their relationship. While his father did help him and eventually became a role model for him, his attention towards the young boy started to decline when he'd become interested in economic expansions and ways to become more powerful.

As a result of this loss of interest that his father showed him, Tooru became more attached to his mother, who had also been tossed aside. After giving birth to Tooru, she had found that she had become infertile, which has angered her husband even more, causing any love he felt towards her to diminish. He was probably off having affairs with other women, but she didn't even care at this point. If anything happened, she was going to take Tooru with her since she knew that he was the only thing her husband seemed to want to protect, but only for political reasons and continuation of the Oikawa bloodline. All of the other women he was having kids with on the side didn't have the full royal blood she had anyway.

Recently, Tooru's mother had been sent away by his father since she was "getting in the way of business," so the young prince whined and made a fuss about it until he brought her back. He couldn't deny his son anything. He was going to succeed him, after all. Tooru had become more content with the return of his mother, but he had also been severely disenchanted when she'd come quietly to his room in the middle of the night to sleep with him after she'd been attacked by his father.

Since that incident, what little respect he'd had left for his father had disappeared as he'd been hit with the cold, hard truth: his father didn't even love him. He and his mother were simply pawns. However, as long as his mom was stuck here in this glamorous prison, he was staying as well. He couldn't just run away and leave her.

"Tooru, dear," his mother called, awakening him from his thoughts and recollections, "have you been thinking about which lovely young lady you'd like to take as a wife?" Her eyes were wide and hopeful as she watched him, twisting the chain of the bracelet she wore.

Tooru crinkling his nose in disgust and shook his head quickly. "They're pretty and all, but they're all the same," he responded, thinking about the constant stream of female visitors he had received. His mother set up dates between him and some nice girls she found, but Tooru was never completely satisfied. Sure, he loved being fawned over constantly—hell, he loved the attention—but he wasn't looking to marry anyone. "I'm only seventeen, mom."

"Yes, but you'll soon be eighteen," his mother chirped, "and the time between now and your birthday is the prime time for choosing your future wife." She gave him a small smile and he pursed his lips, looking away in dissatisfaction. When he looked back at her, she seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. She snapped out of it, however, and continued to smile at her son. "You should get to seeing the nice girls who showed up today."

Tooru nodded and wiped his mouth with his napkin before setting it down on the table. He stood up and walked through the hallways that were lined with either pictures of the Oikawa family of windows, some of which had stained glass that spilled colorful shards of light onto the floor. Once he'd arrived at the door, taking his sweet time as usual, he met his father on the way out. He was a tall and intimidating man whose handsome smile hid his true feelings. He had brown hair that went down to his shoulders and was immaculately kempt. Tooru looked at his father, not speaking as he continued on his way out.

"That's some speed you're walking with when you have young ladies to please, son," his father commented when he noticed his slow and relaxed pace.

"They came to see me, therefore they should be glad that I'm even gracing their presence. I'm much kinder than most other princes when it comes to women," Tooru shot back cockily and brushed a stray piece of hair away from his face. His father hadn't seemed to care much about his response since he simply murmured and continued walking down the hallway. "What are you doing anyway?" he called after the man.

"That's none of your business, Tooru," his father barked at him. He soon rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight. He had known that he would get that response, yet he'd still asked in hopes that maybe he would have something better to say instead. Well, if his father wasn't going to give him any attention, he would leave that job up to the fans awaiting him outside.