Royally Screwed

Kellin couldn't stop looking at himself in the mirror, turning around every couple of seconds so he could marvel at the attire he was wearing. It was a regal, double-breasted, navy blue shade suit jacket with golden buttons and trimmings along the shoulders to match the golden belt around his torso. The pants were dark blue as well but a red stripe went down the outer side of each leg. The white gloves on his hands were soft and silky and Kellin often placed his hands to his cheek to revel in the soft touch and the shiny shoes on his feet felt so nice and comfortable, he could walk in them for miles.

"If you keep ogling at yourself in the mirror, we're going to be late," he heard Vic say with a little chuckle after and Kellin turned to see the prince leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom, dressed in his own royal outfit. The pants were the same but Vic's jacket was a bright and fiery red with many medals decorating his chest. In his hand was a peaked cap with a golden royal insignia on the black fabric, on his own head a peaked cap with the same crest. He walked in, smiling and stood behind Kellin to gently place the hat atop Kellin's head until it fit nice and snug. Then he placed gloved hands on Kellin's shoulders as he looked along with Kellin at the boy's reflection, "There. Now you look like a prince."

Kellin felt his cheeks heat, "But I'm. . .not a prince. I'm just wearing your old clothes," Kellin replied and Vic rolled his eyes, turning Kellin and taking his hand as they began to walk out the bedroom and down the spiral staircase.

"Well you know what, I believe a prince is someone that is deeply caring and affectionate for all people around him, a leader and would only want the best for everyone, rich or poor, weak or mighty. Doesn't matter if you have royal blood in you or not, anyone can be a prince or a princess."

"Well, that was very Prince Charming of you," Kellin replied and Vic stuck his tongue out.

"Don't be cheeky, after all this parade is meant for you," Vic replied and Kellin smiled, Vic swinging their arms back and forth as they exited out the main doors and headed towards the black car.

"Aren't we supposed to be riding in a carriage?"

"We will. Once we get down to the starting point of the parade. . .Rian already informed me that the consorts are waiting for us," he replied with a grumble and Kellin sighed. After that headline on the newspaper, who knew what Jaime would say to him? He squeezed Vic's hand out of reflex and Vic glanced over at him, "Something wrong?"

"N-Nothing."

"Are you nervous?"

". . .A little," Kellin replied, the two of them getting into the car and the door closing shut behind him. Vic smiled, squeezing Kellin's hand back.

"Don't worry, the town is going to love you, I just know it," Vic replied and with that smile of his, that crooked and cheerful smile, Kellin couldn't help but feel at ease.

------------------

There were so many people lining the streets, singing and shouting and waving the flag of Miridia proud and happy. Balloons were being released into the sky and some hanging on the light posts and confetti was being thrown from everywhere. It was so festive and Kellin couldn't help the big smile on his face as he stepped up into the carriage once he and Vic arrived. Vic stepped in next, taking a seat next to Kellin before Jaime and Sierra came in afterwards. Jaime quickly took the open seat next to Vic, Sierra just giving the brunette an annoyed glance as he sat on the seat across from him. Then came two women holding their fans and fanning themselves as they filled the rest of the available space on the bench and Kellin raised an eyebrow. He turned to Vic and whispered, "Who are they?"

"The blonde is Cher and the brunette is Macey, late entries to be consorts. Rian told me about them just yesterday," Vic replied.

"Where is Taylor?" Kellin asked, remembering the friendly looking girl from the dinner who he only saw around the palace on rare occasions and Vic gestured to the carriage behind them.

"She's sitting with my mom and Mike," Vic replied and Cher gave a small huff as she fanned herself.

"Yes. . .like you should have been," she replied, blue eyes steely to Kellin and Kellin looked over at her with slight worry the same time Vic looked at her with a frown.

"He can sit with me if he wants, I'd rather have him here with me."

"But don't you realize that you can't marry him? Why bother having him around as if you two are some little lovebirds?" she asked and Vic's cheeks flushed red.

"And what should it matter to you!"

"Yelling at a lady, how charming," she replied with another huff and Vic frowned hard, his hands balling into fists and Kellin looked over at Vic in worry. He placed a gentle hand on Vic's, giving a squeeze as Vic looked over at him and Kellin gave a gentle smile.

"Smile. Don't want those kids to think that you're just a grumpy ole' prince," Kellin replied and Vic sighed, the carriage jolting forward with a start as the driver of the carriage directed the horses to follow the little trail for the parade. There were cheers as they made their way around the corner, confetti falling onto them and Kellin smiled brightly and laughed. He never seen a parade before, not a parade like this and everyone just seemed so bright and happy. Happy to be there, happy to see the sights and hear the music, just general good feelings. He looked across from him, seeing Sierra was shyly retreating away back into the seat while Cher and Macey gave little waves and such to people that looked of higher status than those of middle or poor class. Jaime was the same, waving and laughing and throwing an arm around Vic to try and pull the prince in closer but Vic didn't budge in the slightest.

Kellin could hear the spectators of the event chatting away from the speakers on the light posts, "And look at that, here's La Bande Losange Rouge playing one of their showstopping numbers winning first place at the Fall Festival. Beautiful music indeed! And there's Miss Miridia, oh isn't she a beauty! Fit for royalty even!"

Kellin heard Vic give a scoff at the woman's cheerful voice and the prince glanced over at him, "She's nice. But not my type."

"Let me guess, she didn't have rosy cheeks or she wasn't witty?" Kellin asked with a little smile and Vic smiled back, ready to say something but then paused as they rounded the corner once more and his eyes grew sad. Kellin looked over at the prince's face with concern before he looked over to his left, there seeming to be a lot more people on the street than before and not wearing very elegant or rich clothing. In fact, the clothing was simple and plain, them waving the Miridian flag and smiling and cheering as they stood in front of such old buildings and weathered stone. And amongst the crowd, there were so many children of different ages and sizes and genders, smiling and waving and shouting out loud with their young and sweet voices. Vic didn't say anything, he kept his head low and he twiddled his fingers as Kellin watched the smiling and shouting children, shouting out for the prince to say hello, shouting out hellos themselves.

They still loved Vic. And Kellin couldn't help but smile gently.

Then out of the crowd, he saw a little girl skinny and small running and trying to push past the people while keeping her eyes on the carriage. Her clothes were poor and her hair was dirtied, her hand outstretched and trying to catch Vic's attention. Kellin began to shake Vic's hand, his eyes following the girl closely and urging him to look but Vic only held his head down lower. Then Kellin's eyes widened, the girl tripping and falling straight down to the hard ground and he squeezed Vic's hand tight.

"Stop the carriage!" Kellin shouted and Vic looked at him with confused eyes, Kellin only seeing that the little girl was still on the ground and the crowd was beginning to grow bigger and bigger. The carriage stopped, the driver looking over his shoulder with a confused expression as Kellin stepped past Cher and Macey and Jaime to step out of the carriage.

"What is he doing?" Jaime asked and Vic got out of the carriage as well, the marquess' face turning upset.

"Causing a scene, just like at the dinner," Macey said with an annoyed sigh and Kellin tried to ignore the woman's disparaging remark as Vic rushed up beside him.

"Oh, what is Prince Victor and his American acquaintance up to stopping the parade?" Kellin heard the spectator's voice and he rushed over to where he saw the girl fell, pushing past the crowd to find her on her knees with a little cut on her arm. Kellin reached down and picked her up onto her feet, the little girl giving a sniffle as the people made room for him and Vic.

"Your Highness," the townspeople greeted and Vic gave a shy nod, looking down at Kellin. Kellin gave a gentle smile to the little girl, the girl rubbing at her eyes.

"You shouldn't run in a crowd like this, it's dangerous," Kellin said and the girl gave a shy nod.

"I wanted to see the prince," she said softly, accent thick and Kellin could see a blush spread form on the prince's face out of the corner of his eye. Kellin dusted her off, his gloved hands running down her arms, "Where are your mommy and daddy?"

The girl said nothing at that, biting her lower lip and looking down at the ground and Kellin tilted his head in confusion when he saw the crowd begin to shuffle and move about at the sound of a woman shouting out loud.

"Selena! Selena!" Kellin heard and a woman came into view with a crowd of children following behind her, "Selena, no deje así! Me había preocupado enfermo!" she shouted out and then saw Vic standing there, her eyes widening and she quickly curtsied, "Su Alteza."

Vic nodded, gesturing to the little girl, "¿Es ella una de las tuyas?"

"Si, Su Alteza," the woman replied and Vic sighed, crouching down beside Kellin.

"Kellin, she's an orphan," Vic whispered in his ear and Kellin looked over to the girl with such empathetic eyes, the girl just biting her lip and looking at Kellin with such large doe eyes.

". . .I just wanted to see the prince, I've never seen the prince," she said softly and hung her head low and Kellin glanced over at Vic before back to Selena.

"Well. . .do you want to walk with him in the parade?" Kellin asked and she looked up, her eyes wide with surprise before looking at Vic and his worried face. Vic glanced at Kellin, the prince biting his lip himself.

"Kellin, I don't really-"

"Can we walk with the prince?" a boy's voice piped up.

"I want to walk with Prince Victor!" a little girl chirped.

"Me too! Me too!" other children chimed in and Vic looked over at them with surprise. The woman smiled upon Vic gently, "Ils ont vraiment vous avez raté,"she replied and Vic gave a small smile himself. Kellin then grinned, getting onto his feet and letting Selena slip her small hand into Vic's grasp. The other children quickly rushed over off the sidewalk, some trying to grab Vic's other hand while other children surprisingly went to hold Kellin's hand with such amazement and looking up at him with wide eyes and cheerful smiles. Kellin could hear the music beginning to start up again, the parade beginning to resume its course before he interrupted and the carriage that held them beginning to pull off and move down the street.

With Jaime, Cher and Macey looking quite bitter about the whole thing.

Kellin shook off the glares with a sigh, feeling the two little girls that squeezed both of his hands as they began to walk down the street and the kids were waving at the crowd happily and skipping along. Vic came up to walk beside Kellin, carrying Selena with one arm while the other was holding another little girl's hand whose face was positively red from a shy love. The prince glanced over at him, smiling to himself as he gained a better grip on Selena.

"You're just full of surprises," Vic replied and Kellin shook his head.

"But this is a good one."

"Very."

Kellin felt one of the girl's tug his hand and he looked down at her, her brown eyes curious, "What's your name?"

"Kellin."

"Are you a prince?"

He smiled, shaking his head, "No, I'm-"

"Of course he is! He's Prince of the Americas, don't you know?" Vic said to the girl with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and Kellin blushed.

"I am not!"

"And he's a grumpy prince at that," Vic replied and playfully stuck his tongue out to which Kellin mirrored. The children laughed out loud, rounding the corner again and continuing down road as they marched along to the music playing and smiled and waved at the large crowds of people. And Vic was looking so much more happier, laughing and smiling and he gave Selena little kisses on her cheek to which she responded with a blushing and happy smile. Kellin heard the shouts of Vic's name but then when they rounded the corner again and he heard the spectator's voice coming over the speaker once more, his face began to turn red at the words.

"Isn't this a delightful surprise, so reminiscent of our beloved King Ferdinand's walks with the orphans and surely this shall end in a little trip to the ice cream parlor. And it is all because of the compassionate and loving hearts of our prince and Prince Kellin, Prince of the Americas!"

Kellin's eyes widened, he didn't believe that the spectator could have heard Vic actually say that. Or better yet, maybe someone heard the prince's little joke and it just spread through word of mouth. After all, not like any of the citizens really knew who he was except for the fact that their prince brought him here out of the blue. Vic was beaming, "See, I told you so."

"But I'm not a-"

"Prince Kellin! Prince Kellin!" the citizens shouted and cheered aloud, cameras flashing and Kellin groaned. This wasn't good at all, absolutely not. For sure he'll be hearing from Parliament about this horrible mix-up. And they continued to march with Kellin shouting out that he absolutely wasn't a prince but the citizens shouted out 'Prince Kellin' regardless if he said otherwise. He only could wonder what Jaime, Cher and Macey could be thinking now at this moment, what Rian was thinking, what Her Majesty was thinking through all of this and Kellin just hoped that none of those people would be too mad at him.

He just hoped that once they reached the end of the route that everyone would be smiling happy just as these orphans were right beside him.

-------------------

The ice cream parlor was packed, children on the outside sitting on the curb while some were in the shop all crowded at the tables eating sundaes and cones courtesy of the Royal Family. Kellin was seated at a table with the two girls that were holding his hand, Vic managing to squeeze a seat in at the table along with Sierra quietly eating a strawberry sundae herself. The little girl looked at Kellin suspiciously, taking the little spoon out of her mouth, "Are you sure you're not a prince?"

"I'm sure. I've worked for all of my life and lived in a suite, not some fancy castle."

"And he has an evil stepfather and a wicked stepsister that made him cook and clean for them," Vic said dramatically and Sierra gave a tiny smile.

"Like Cinderella then," she said and the girl's eyes widened.

"So you must be a prince! If you were a girl, then you would be a princess!"

"But I'm not, sweetie. I'm just a normal American boy," Kellin replied and the girls looked at each other.

"Creo que está mintiendo," one of them whispered.

"Creo que tiene amnesia," the other whispered back and at this, Sierra and Kellin began to laugh and Kellin looked between the two confused.

"What? What's so funny?" Kellin asked and the girls began to giggle themselves, taking their ice cream and going to sit with their friends. Vic wiped at his eyes, smile big on his face.

"Well, the one with the curly hair thinks you're just lying. And her friend thinks you have amnesia and just don't remember you are a prince," Vic chuckled out and Kellin blushed red.

"If you hadn't said I was a prince, this wouldn't have happened! Now I have to explain myself to Parliament if they think I'm trying to pass myself off as a prince," Kellin said with worry and Vic scoffed.

"Rian will sort things out with them if they ask, don't worry about it," Vic replied and Kellin glanced over at the advisor, sitting there rubbing his head with a small bowl of ice cream in front of him that Mike was stealing spoonfuls of toffee ice cream from. Must have gotten stressed over Vic leaving the consorts in the parade and Kellin bit his lip, he didn't want Rian to grow sick over this entire thing. A chair scooted, Kellin looking over to find that Jaime had pulled a seat to sit beside Vic and the marquess was smiling dashingly at the prince.

"Hello, Your Highness. Mind sharing some of my ice cream? I think I got too much," Jaime said with a bashful smile and Vic glanced at Jaime's bowl of ice cream before back at the marquess.

"I don't like vanilla," Vic blatantly replied and Jaime eyed the prince's ice cream cone.

". . .Isn't the Victor Mapua made with vani-"

"Coming mother!" Vic shouted out and quickly got up from his seat to rush to where the guards were surrounding where the Queen was seated at with the Spanish caregiver. Jaime watched with stunned expression before looking over at Kellin's own sorry face and frowned.

"That was a good trick you played. I'm impressed, Princess," Jaime commented and Kellin frowned.

"I don't know what trick you're talking about and I told you I'm not a princess."

"This entire thing. Kissing and hugging orphans, it's a good political card to play," Jaime replied and Sierra crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"And how did you think about this strategy? Or did your father just implant that idea into you and now your stupid little pea brain actually thinks Kellin's trying to manipulate the citizens?" she asked and Jaime stared blankly at the girl.

". . .I-I didn't get anything implanted in me!"

Sierra rolled his eyes, "You have no idea what you're even talking about."

"Yes I do! Princess is playing a trick!"

"No I'm not!" Kellin retaliated.

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"No one likes a Princess trying to be a smarty-pants!" Jaime shouted and Kellin's cheeks flushed red and he bit hard down on his red lips to hold back an outburst. Jaime slammed his hand on the table, "Ha! Since you didn't say anything back, I win this round, Princess!" Jaime boasted and stuck his tongue out, grabbing his ice cream and shooting a glare at them both before getting up and walking over to the table where his father sat at. Kellin huffed, leaning forward and looking at Jaime with a sigh escaping his lips. They saw Taylor making her way over to the table with smile on her face.

"Hey guys," she greeted and Kellin nodded, "So, this was fun. And it was very sweet what you did, Kellin."

"It was nothing, really."

"Are you kidding? I heard those kids, this means the world to them that they saw His Highness and walked along with him and hold his hand. And I know you made Prince Victor happy, you always seem to be able to," she replied and leaned forward with a smile, "Like you're the prince's little ball of happiness."

Kellin blushed, "Am not. First being called a princess, then a prince, and now a ball of happiness?"

"I call it like I see it," she replied with a shrug, smile still on her face and Kellin just rolled his eyes with a blush on his cheeks. Then he saw Taylor's expression falter, Sierra beginning to tense and Kellin looked over her shoulder to see Cher and Macey approaching the table with frowning faces.

"Just so you know," Macey replied once the two of them got to the table with ice cream cone in her hand, "You're not going to win with your little tricks you're playing."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not playing any tricks on anyone," Kellin said sternly and Cher raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Kissing orphans? Passing yourself off as a prince? Scaring away the other consorts, how despicable of you," she said with a sneer and Kellin frowned, getting onto his feet.

"I did what I did today to show Vic that these kids still cared about him. I don't have a secret agenda for the things that I do and I'm not trying to trick anyone. Unlike you two, why are you here when it only seems you put everyone down and think that you're better than everyone else?" Kellin questioned and the women frowned, taking a threatening step forward.

"Don't talk to us like you're worth something. Remember, you're just some stowaway little American boy that just got lucky. You're not a prince, you're not royalty, you're not anything. Hmph, you're just a nobody and I don't know what reason His Highness keeps you around unless it was for you to be his little play thing. Why would he want to have a naïve, childish boy when he could have one of us?" she replied and Sierra got up, her face upset and mad.

"Because you two are the most rude and petty girls that I have ever had the displeasure to know in my life and for one would make horrible queen consorts," Sierra stated, her voice wavering as she tried not to let anger get the best of her, "If anyone deserves His Highness, it's Kellin, not you two."

Kellin blushed red at that. Him? Vic. . .and him? Macey scoffed, her grip on her ice cream cone tightening.

"Oh really? I don't think the prince would like a clumsy slob as his 'consort'," she replied and then smashed the ice cream against Kellin's chest, the chocolate ruining the navy blue fabric and Kellin stared in horror. She smiled, pulling back her hand and giving a fake gasp, "Oops."

The women laughed aloud and Kellin tried to wipe the ice cream off of him but only making it even worse and more sticky. Then he glanced up to look back at the women to have his eyes widen as Vic slammed an ice cream cone smack on Macey's head. She screamed aloud, turning and glaring angrily at the prince that was looking at the two of them with arms crossed and upset expression on his face.

"You spoiled brat! How dare you!"

"You're not allowed in my presence any longer, neither of you. Leave," Vic said in a flat and emotionless tone and the women growled.

"You're really going to choose some little American stowaway over gorgeous duchesses like us? What kind of prince are you!?"

"Apparently not a very charming one," Vic replied with a shrug and glanced over his shoulder, "Guards, escort these women out and to the vehicles," Vic replied and the men nodded their heads, moving to stand behind the women and usher the two shouting and angry women through the children staring at the scene they were causing and out the door for paparazzi to quickly begin snapping pictures for the magazines. Kellin could see Rian looking in shock before placing his head into his hands, Vic moving to grab a couple of napkins and try to wipe the ice cream away. He sighed, "It's going to leave a nasty stain."

"Why did you do that?" Kellin whispered and Vic rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't want someone that treats people the way they treated you," he murmured and Kellin blushed as Vic sighed, "Come on, I'll take you back to the palace so you can change.

"Y-You can't leave like this. What about-"

"Don't worry about it," Vic said, taking Kellin by the hand and leading Kellin past the children sitting at the table, past the two little girls that were watching them and they smiled. And Kellin couldn't help but just give a groan, this day turned out nothing like he expected it would.

-----------------

He shed the coat while they made their drive up to the palace, the crowd from the parade still lingering around and enjoying the spirit still in the air. Kellin said nothing, just giving glances every so often at Vic in shyness as he thought about what Sierra had said. If anyone deserved His Highness. . .it was him? But that wasn't even possible, Kellin couldn't be with Vic. He wasn't of royal blood and he didn't have any ties to the military. He couldn't, he absolutely couldn't be with Vic. Besides. . .what most of Cher and Macey said was true. He wasn't a somebody, he wasn't important. He just got lucky, he wouldn't have made a consort than they would.

"What's wrong?" Vic asked and Kellin glanced over at him, the prince's face concerned and Kellin sighed.

"Just. . .what they said-" Kellin murmured, the women's cruel words in his mind as well as Sierra's kind but surprising outburst starting to make his head throb.

"Was nothing but jealousy and a lie. Don't worry about them, they won't be around for a long time," Vic said and crossed his arms, "The nerve of some people, how could they have done that to you when you never did anything wrong to them."

"Well. . .they thought I was playing a trick."

"A trick? What trick?"

"About the orphans. Like. . .I planned on doing it to make myself look good and-"

"Then they're nothing but liars. You're kind and genuine and you have a big heart, why do you need to make yourself look good? For what reason?" Vic questioned and Kellin gave a small shrug, feeling his face heating.

"Because. . .they thought that maybe. . .you and me. . .y-yeah, it's all really silly isn't it? I mean, I obviously can't be a consort because I'm me and you're you, it's silly!" Kellin said and laughed, but it felt dead and forced and he closed his mouth as quickly as he opened it. He didn't know what was coming over him, a nervousness now and he wasn't sure why. This was Vic, he was comfortable around Vic and the prince was comfortable around him. Why now did Kellin begin to feel shy, feel nervous and feel so. . .plain. Compared to someone as charming, as handsome and kind as Vic was. . .ha, him his consort, what a silly joke. . .ha.

". . .Are you alright?" Vic asked and Kellin shook his head.

"Of course I am, I'm just fine. It's awfully hot in here though, do you think we can open a window maybe?" Kellin asked, his face growing absolutely flushed and Vic furrowed his eyebrows. He scooted over, placing a hand on Kellin's forehead and humming before placing his hand on his own forehead and comparing the two. Then Vic leaned forward, their foreheads brushing against each other and Kellin's eyes widened as the prince closed his eyes before leaning back and crossing his arms.

"You feel fine to me. What's going on? Really?"

"I-I'm fine, Vic."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm perfectly fine. . .are we there yet?" he asked, looking out the window to see them rolling up the path and as soon as the limo stopped, Kellin quickly got out of the vehicle and rushed inside the palace. He ran down the hall, past the servants and up the spiral staircase to his bedroom and not daring to see if Vic was trying to follow him. He closed the door shut and he leaned against the door, taking in nervous breaths and feeling his cheeks going hot. All because of what Sierra said, all because of that statement and now Kellin felt his heart all a flutter at the thought of him and Prince Vic. It was silly, it was so absolutely silly and it couldn't ever happen. Yet Kellin was thinking and thinking about it, thinking about why Vic was keeping him around and if there was maybe more to the hugs and hand holding than what Kellin had noticed. Kellin shook his head, no, he shouldn't entertain this idea. He wasn't of royal blood, he couldn't be with Vic. He was a nobody, he was someone that just got lucky.

Nobodies don't marry princes.

That was why this whole thing was so silly but Kellin couldn't even find it in him to laugh.

And as he made a paper star later on that night with Vic deciding to leave the boy alone for the time being, he just wished that by tomorrow his head will be cleared and all things will be back to the way they were, that little inkling in the back of his mind that he hasn't had since he was five desperately wanting to wish for something else.