𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚

𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳

A few days had passed since their night rendezvous, and Ben and Evie had grown closer than ever. Ben spent much lesser time glued to his throne and kingly duties, realising that spending time with those he loved was far more important and sometimes, duty could afford to wait a little longer, though he did eventually get around to them, of course, with the help of Evie.

They spent time around the castle, sometimes, their playful banter echoing off the thick, stone walls or sneaking into the kitchen at night for food, hoping not to get caught by Mrs Potts. Other times were spent with Max. They took him to the amusement parks and regular trips to the ice cream parlour. Ben never knew Max's favourite flavour was blueberry, something the cooks would always prepare for him. They would joke that Evie's little proclivities had rubbed off on the small boy.

During all those times, Ben felt something that he never felt before. He loved Mal, yes, but he felt like she never loved him as much as he loved her, something Evie always countered with a frown. Mal did love Ben, she said. The girl just didn't know how to express it.

Ben could beg to differ. Ever since Max was born, or even when they were married, Mal was slightly distant. They had their loving family moments, quite a few, in fact, but Mal never really seemed like she put in her 100% into being a wife and a mom, something Ben tried his hardest to accomplish.

He was sure Mal tried too, but eventually, she kind of gave up. Max wasn't tended to by anyone other than the servants and Mal seemed to only spend time with him when Ben was around with them. Other times, Mal would be at Evie's or attending a meeting for her little campaigns.

He missed his wife, however. They had had such a great relationship when they were dating. Whole days picnicking in parks, the nights lazing around watching the television, but ever since the stress of royal duties started to pile on them, Mal hadn't been the same. Ben couldn't help but feel like it was his fault, that their relationship could have been saved if he took her many duties away for her to rest.

He tried to convince her, but for whatever reason, she refused. It wasn't like she enjoyed it, to be honest. She never seemed to be really into any of those royal campaigns at all, but she still participated in them, as if she was hiding from him. Hiding from Max. He didn't know why.

Evie was different. She had ample duties, including her tailoring business which took an enormous amount of time, considering that she handmade everything, and she was still his royal consultant after all, assisting him with paperwork, royal decrees and stuff like that. People called them the political dream team. He called her his miracle worker.

Under all of that, he admired that she knew when to take a break, when she needed to spend time with her family.

Family. The word struck Ben like Rapunzel's pan to Flynn Rider's head. They had been spending so much time together that Ben realised he felt that Evie was a bigger part of their family than Mal was.

Max adored Evie, sometimes even more than he looked up to Mal, because she hardly spent time with him. Evie was always there, cuddling and reading bed time stories, tucking him in and kissing boo boos when he fell down and his pudgy little legs couldn't pick him up, while Mal was always away, in business trips and useless campaigns that she would make up.

Still, Ben wasn't sure why he let her continue with it, why he didn't confront her. Perhaps, he told himself, he felt bad, that in a way, it was his fault that Mal had to endure all this royal stress.

Around Evie, he felt at ease, like he didn't owe her anything. She seemed way more willing to be in his life, in Max's life. She was always putting them before her, caring for them and playing the part of Mom and Wife.