Chapter Text
When Prince Auguste was born, the entire nation held their breath in anticipation and excitement for the arrival of the new heir to the throne of Vere. All in the kingdom, after hearing the news of his healthy birth, celebrated and cheered on the streets. In the following years, Auguste charmed the world with his blonde hair and bright smiles. News vans camped outside the palace gates, trying in vain to catch glimpses of the darling prince playing in the gardens at the Arles palace. Whenever he appeared in public, Auguste was gracious and well-behaved, the perfect prince who ruled the palace staff with wide blue eyes and a quivering lip. He got everything he wanted, to the dismay of his mother.
A few were nervous when Prince Laurent of Vere was born—how would the six-year-old Crown Prince Auguste react to having a little brother? Would he glow green with envy, having to share the attention? But those people need not have worried. The moment the younger prince reached and yanked onto Auguste’s blonde locks with a grin, cerulean eyes bright in a photograph that was sneaked to the media, the whole kingdom knew Laurent already had his older brother eating out of his hands, and he was barely a month old.
To the displeasure of Laurent’s nursemaid and the amusement of Hennike, Auguste insisted on being involved in nearly every aspect of Laurent’s upbringing. Auguste raced home from his elite private school every day, learning his alphabets and sitting through history, music, and art lessons with no complaints so long as his evening was freed up to play with Laurent.
Laurent’s first word was ‘ma’ although Auguste swore up and down to whoever would listen that Laurent’s first word was actually ‘Auguste’ when Laurent cried out ‘Aw,’ if only the rest of the kingdom had the patience to let Laurent finish. Laurent’s second word was ‘goose’ and Auguste answered to that for the next two years.
When Laurent took his first two steps, Auguste shouted in elation, shocking the toddler and sending him falling back to the floor. Auguste spent the next hour trying to coax Laurent back onto his feet, and Hennike recorded the entire affair, fondly pulling back out the footage every few years to the embarrassment of her sons.
When, over the summer, Auguste’s tutors complained that the presence of Laurent distracted the Crown Prince from his studies, Auguste decided to study with Laurent, who was now nearing two. He would sit on a cushion in their library and pull Laurent onto his lap, and open up his books. Laurent would point at the pictures on the pages and start talking, trying to repeat his older brother's words as Auguste read aloud to him. By the end of the story, Laurent would be slumped against Auguste napping, drooling into his shirt.
Later, Auguste would request for whipped cream to be sprayed on the clean dining room table to help Laurent learn the alphabet. Laurent would be attentive for a while, sounding out the letters as Auguste guided his finger to give the sound its alphabetic shape. Shortly, however, he would abandon the lesson to mash his hands in the sweet cream and then bring it into his mouth, smearing it over his face with a laugh.
Once Laurent began having his own official lessons, Auguste would boast that Laurent was a genius and learned his letters so brilliantly fast because he had started Laurent young. Hennike reflected back and blamed Auguste for Laurent's sweet tooth.
In all, Laurent was a chubby, happy child, and Auguste could deny him nothing. At all. Sweetmeats, milk, whipped cream, chocolate, or even an extra bedtime story; whatever he cried for, he knew if he asked it of Auguste, he'd get it.