Chapter Text
In a kingdom not so far away, lived two men. These two lived completely different lives, with one standing at the very top since birth while the other was stuck at rock bottom. Two very different boys with different experiences but they both share one similarity. They both wish to do something different. To live different lives. To get out of their bubble and grow in their own way. In this little kingdom, two men live to see another view of the world they already see.
One man, the eldest prince of the kingdom, strays further and further away from his duties as he longs for the outside world. The other, a humble farmer, gains big ambitions for the country despite his tiresome duties.
In a kingdom on the brink of bankruptcy- a faceless prince and a nameless farmer meet.
The large double doors slammed open as Wilbur walked in with closed eyes, “Techno, it’s time to wake up!”
He opened his eyes and looked towards the bed which was carefully made. He blinked and turned towards the balcony where the curtains flowed against the wind. He sighed and walked towards the opened glass doors and rapped his knuckles against them. He only received a hum as he leaned against the door frame with crossed arms.
“I see you’re up early.”
“Didn’t sleep.” Technoblade muttered, tracing meaningless things on the marble railings. His shoulders were hunched and bare of his usual red velvet cloak. His sleeves were pushed to his elbows clumsily and his hair was a messy braid.
“You’d think the amount of times you go out to your balcony someone would see you and your reputation as the ‘Faceless Prince’ would be ruined.” Wilbur teased, moving to stand beside his brother, leaning on his arms as he looked up at him.
“Why are you here?” Technoblade let out a sigh, looking down at his brother.
“Dad wants to meet you, it’s about the bankruptcy.” Wilbur explained, nudging him. “Go bathe, you stink.”
“No you do.” Technoblade stuck out his tongue as he stretched his arms above his head. He turned to Wilbur and waved him off, “I’ll go prepare for the meeting.”
“He’ll be meeting you in the throne room as usual.” Wilbur smiled, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Take care.”
“I will.” Technoblade chuckled and waved him off. Wilbur gave him thumbs up and flashed a bright smile as he walked backwards to the door. Once he left, Technoblade let out a long sigh. He can’t help it, he’ll have to get ready. He stretched and smiled when he heard a satisfying crack from his back. He gave the outside world one last look before he turned and walked back into the walls of his castle.
He didn’t take long to clean up, changing into cleaner garments and letting his red cape rest on his shoulders once more. He fixed the cuffs of his sleeves as he walked out of his room. He had opted to have his hair in a low ponytail since he didn’t necessarily care about appearances and braiding it would take time. He walked down the stairs and entered the throne room after a bit of walking. There both his parents sat on their thrones.
“Mother, father.” Technoblade murmured as he bowed, “Wilbur informed me you needed my presence?”
“Yes.” Phil nodded, standing from his throne and approaching his eldest son. He smiled and embraced him before his face turned solemn, “I’m really sorry about this Techno.”
Technoblade cringed at the tone. It was the tone that Phil used whenever he had a plan that would end up with him locked in his room in refusal. He let out a sigh and nodded for him to continue. He’d at least hear his father out before he would give his verdict about whatever social gathering he had to attend to now.
“Due to our decrease in gold and precious minerals,” Phil began his explanation, “we decided to ask for aid from a neighboring country. I will have the King visit and we will talk about how to go about with a partnership with his kingdom.”
Technoblade could feel the disgust and it must’ve shown on his face when Phil shook his head.
“I know you don’t like to do the negotiations but Techno, you’re the eldest prince… You’ll have to do these one day.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Technoblade made sure he didn’t sound whiny. He wasn’t whining. He was complaining. He didn’t enjoy social interactions. He hated those. “Can’t Wilbur do the negotiations? He’s really good at these.”
“I know you don’t like to do these but you’ll have to eventually.” Phil sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder, “It’s your duty as the crown prince and heir to the throne.”
Technoblade looked down, feeling his chest tighten. He didn’t like disappointing Phil like this. But he didn’t like to socialize or negotiate either. It made him shake and overthink. It made him feel like he was making a million mistakes. He clenched his hands at his side and looked up at Phil, “I’ll think about it.”
Phil smiled, “That’s enough for me.”
Technoblade tried to smile but felt like it was too awkward so he nodded. He waited for Phil to regain his seat next to Kristen who had been smiling encouragingly at him the whole time. Once he was sure that Phil was settled, he bowed down, “I’ll retire to my room.”
“Of course, Techno.” Kristen smiled, placing a hand over Phil’s. “Don’t stress over it too much.”
Technoblade nodded at her words but deep down he knew he’d lose sleep (again) over this. He already stresses over the fact that he’s stuck in the castle, he didn’t really need another thing to stress over. Lo and behold, he had another thing to stress over. The moment he was in his room, he let out a loud groan and fell onto his bed. He heard obnoxious laughter and groaned once more.
“Tommy, please, I don’t have the time.”
“Why not?” Tommy whined. He whined . Tommy whined, Technoblade did not. That was the difference between the two.
He rolled his eyes at Tommy and turned over so he could give Tommy a look, “Can’t you see I am wallowing in my despair?”
“Well, get off your butt and come with me.” Tommy groaned, “We don’t have time for your wallowing!”
“Why me?” Technoblade huffed, rolling his eyes as Tommy grabbed at his arm and tried to pull him up.
“Because Wilbur is busy.” Tommy grunted, still trying to pull him up.
“So, I’m your second choice?” Technoblade deadpanned, sitting up just to see Tommy stumble back. “Why do you even go out to the city square a lot anyways?”
“I just- I want to see stuff.” Tommy crossed his arms, “But dad won’t let me go unless I’m with Wil.”
Technoblade stared at Tommy before he sneaked a peak at his open balcony. Tommy noticed this and grinned, tugging even more at his arm. Technoblade grunted and glared at Tommy.
“I know you always wanted to go out!” Tommy grinned widely. Technoblade hesitated a bit, “Come on, Techno! It’ll be fun!”
“Right… right.” Technoblade sighed and rolled his eyes. He stood up and stretched his hands above his head, “Let me grab a cloak-”
“Great!” Tommy clapped his hands, “I’ll meet you at the front gates!”
“Are we taking a carriage?” Technoblade raised an eyebrow as he took off his hair tie.
Tommy snorted and waved his hand, “You need the exercise anyways, old man.”
“We don’t all wake up with boundless energy, Tommy…” Technoblade scowled, “Actually, I don’t even sleep.”
Tommy sent finger guns and left the room. Technoblade let his hair hang around him and set the hair tie down. He looked at the mirror and tilted his head. While he never made a lot of public appearances to the point many gave him the title of ‘Faceless Prince’, they know the color of his hair. With a hum, he pulled his hair together and twirled it into a tight bun. He grabbed the hair tie to keep his hair in place. He also grabbed a red ribbon to add an extra strength to keep his long hair out of the way.
He hummed and nodded. He turned and looked into his closet. He shuffled around and traded his red cape for a dark brown and unassuming cloak. He brought it over his shoulders and let the hood hang low over his head. He turned to his door before his eyes trailed back to his balcony. With a mischievous grin, he ran towards the balcony and vaulted over the railings. He grabbed the edge before he could plummet to his death. He shifted his weight and swung towards the wall.
He let his foot hook the ledge and he pushed off to stand on the wall’s ledge. He balanced on the ledge and walked along the walls until he reached the nearest tree. He reached out and grabbed the sturdiest branch and let himself fall. He hung on the branch and let his legs swing until they hooked onto another branch. He let go and his right hand shot out to grab the trunk of the tree as he balanced on the branch. He looked out towards the courtyard where he noticed Tommy waiting at the gates. He was pacing around and Technoblade chuckled at the sight.
He jumped down from the tree and he brushed any leaves off his person. He broke into a sprint and caught Tommy off-guard when he grabbed him and lifted him off the ground with a cackle.
“Wha- TECHNO!” Tommy screeched, his hands clawing at Technoblade’s hands. “PUT ME DOWN!!”
“Not a chance.” Technoblade shifted his grip and threw Tommy over his shoulder. “If we’re walking then I don’t think you can catch up.”
“I can! Let me down!” Tommy kicked with his legs, pounding on Technoblade’s back.
“Nope.” He chuckled and started to run. “If you struggle even more then I might just drop you.”
Tommy stopped squirming, realizing that the threat of being dropped was real. He deflated and let Technoblade carry him the whole way. It didn’t take long for them to reach the village and Tommy was back on the ground. He huffed and fixed the hood on his head as he looked around. Technoblade let out a breath as he stretched.
“You must be getting old.” Tommy quipped, seeing Technoblade stretch. He swatted the younger male on the back of his head without saying a word. “Anyways, since we’re here, you can go and do… whatever.”
“Woah, wait a moment.” Technoblade grabbed Tommy by the arm. “I don’t think Wilbur let’s you run off alone and I won’t either. Dad would have my hide for that.”
“Then uh- look over there!” Tommy pointed to the corner. Technoblade raised an eyebrow at him. He deflated and conceded, “Fine, fine… but if you complain about the dirt and the heat-”
“Shut up and walk, Tommy.” Technoblade rolled his eyes, “I don’t know the place very well.”
“Whatever.” Tommy snorted, walking towards the less crowded part of town. Internally, Technoblade was grateful that they weren’t stuck in the middle of a big crowd and squeezing in between bodies. He looked around and took in the sights as he shadowed Tommy. He squinted as he eyed the buildings as they slowly became more decrepit.
“Tommy where are we going?” Technoblade frowned, seeing how the economy around the parts of town was getting worse the further they go.
“Shush.” Tommy hissed, slapping at his brother’s arm. “Do you really want us to be found out or something?”
Technoblade rolled his eyes but kept observing the areas around him. He could understand why Phil wanted to fix the bankruptcy now. Seeing his kingdom like this made chills go up his spine. As he walked through the streets, it almost felt like the struggles of his people had seeped into his very being. He frowned and recounted some of the paperwork he had done. Most of the proceeds were given to trading and yet only 40% of the actual income was being brought back in for the kingdom.
“We’re here!” Tommy called out, a wide grin on his face.
Technoblade blinked and looked up at who Tommy was shouting at. In front of him was a wide plot of land and standing before Tommy was someone who looked to be his age or younger with messy brown hair and bright blue eyes.
“Tommy!” The kid screeched, opening his arms as he ran forward.
Tommy stretched his hands forward and stopped the kid from barreling him over. The kid was still smiling despite being denied a hug. Technoblade stepped to the side as the two delved into friendly chatter.
“Oh, you’re not Wilbur.” Another voice mused and Technoblade snapped up. He realized that someone was speaking to him.
“Uh…” Technoblade’s mind blanked out when he stared at a dirty blonde (though it looked more light brown) haired man with startling green eyes looked at him. He looked to be trying to see under his hood and Technoblade cleared his throat, tugging it further down.
The man’s gained a smile when he noticed his action, “Well, whoever you may be, a knight or some kind of servant, you’d have to keep a good eye on-”
Technoblade groaned when he realized that Tommy had gone off with the other kid. He turned back to the wheezing man who had spoken to him. He was going to die before Tommy could come back.