Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hey everyone!!!

Before we start this wonderful story, I want to say that this story is based on a fanfic I have read here.

The thief who stole too much without even Trying by N1rnikun

So check out that one if you haven't already, because it was a huge inspiration for this story. I will use the same universe and character status here, only the storyline will be diverent, and I will mix some things up here and there to go in a flow i want, as im not going to make a complete copy of their work as it would just be copy and paste then, and i don't stand for that.

I will also be using my rules in this story, which means... bring out the hards!!!

Evry chapter is divided into three categories.

Normal story!!!❤️

Fluf!!!❤️‍🩹

You know something's happening when it gets too hot in here!!!❤️‍🔥

Things are getting angsty!!!💔

So I hope you will enjoy My ill little prince and have a great time reading this story, without letting you wait any longer, the next chapter awaits!!!

Chapter Text

The big doors of the prince's bedroom opened abruptly as a man slipped inside. His hair was a rich brown, swept back with a slight wave, and not a strand out of place. Gold cufflinks in the form of violins glinted on the sleeves of his white suit. There was a touch of cologne lingering near him, something floral and expensive. His boots shone too clean for the places he walked.

‘Good morning, Your Highness,’ he said as he walked over to the curtains, opening them and letting the outside light fill the room.

‘Five more minutes,’ came a soft groan from under the blankets. only a ball of ginger hair peeking out from under.

The man abruptly pulled the blankets off, revealing a disoriented and sleepy little chibi. ‘Now, now, no of that Chuuya, you know you can’t keep your father waiting.’ Chuuya knew Lippmann was right, but he also knew he wanted to lie in bed. Rejectionelay, he got into a sitting position. ‘If you keep that scowl on your face, it will stay that way,’ Lippmann teased as he looked through Chuuya's walk-in closet for a set for today.

Lippmann is Chuuya's stylist; he decides what Chuuya wears at what time of day and on what occasion. He's also a makeup artist, something he takes pride in.

The man settled for a white suit with a gray tie and matching pants. Chuuya looked at himself in the body mirror as the other did his hair while fidgeting with the gold cufflinks in the form of wine glasses on his sleeves, one side of his hair tucked behind his ear while the other stayed in its own natural way. ‘So, any news?’ He didn't have to ask about what, as the other man was there last night.

‘The goods have been resold (Changed for money) and tomorrow will be divided amongst the people of the slums.’ The redhead nodded, which resulted in him getting a hurtful tick on the shoulder as Lippmann was still busy with his hair.

‘Anything else?’ Chuuya responded slightly, whinging like a kid who got their candy taken away.

‘As always, so eager.’ Chuuya gave him a side eye. He was not eager; he just liked knowing how things had gone from an outside perspective. (Stage 1 denial) I'm not in denial, shut up! (Sure, if you say so~)

Lippman looked at the little angry chibi beneath him, a little confused, sure he didn't like being called eager, but he didn't think it would piss him off this much. (O Lippmann, if you could only hear me too~)

Walking out of his room he was met with the familiar faces of the flaggs. A group of sparsely trains assassins asind to Chuuya by the king for his protection. Chuuya sees them just more as his friends than guards.

Doc, messy black curls fell into his face, half-obscuring a pale complexion and a set of tired, heavy-lidded eyes. Gold cufflinks in the form of x’s glinted on the sleeves of his white suit. He is the Doctor amongst the group; he takes care of Chuuya's health as no one else had been trusted enough by the king to do so, and he makes sure Chuuya's illness doesn't get any worse. Chuuya doesn't exactly call it an illness, but whatever he could use as a cover-up, he would take.

Albatross, A blast of energy in human shape, blond hair jutted out messily from beneath a pair of scratched goggles perched atop his head. Gold cufflinks in the form of stars glinted on the sleeves of his white suit. He is also the closest to Chuuya, as he was his first personal guard ever assigned to him.

Piano man, his silver hair was slicked back with a smooth sheen, revealing a pale, angular face and a sharp jawline. Gold cufflinks in the form of music notes glinted on the sleeves of his white suit. His hands, adorned with gloves, were black leather, fingers long and still. The light from overhead caught faint shadows under his eyes, but nothing ever softened his gaze.

Iceman, his hair was the color of fresh snow, tinged faintly with blue and combed back with a precision that bordered on unnatural. Gold cufflinks in the form of snowflakes glinted on the sleeves of his white suit.

They made way for the prince to walk through as Chuuya continued on his way to the dining hall. The flags followed behind. Albatross and Iceman opened the two big doors of the dining hall for the prince.

Two heads inside de room turned to the new arrival. The king sat at the head of the table, the tall-backed chair framing him like part of the room’s design rather than a seat of power. His formal robes were deep navy, lined with silver threading that shimmered faintly under the morning light, and a wide sash of royal gray wrapped his waist, pinned with a crest that matched the banners hanging overhead. The fabric moved like still water, smooth and without a wrinkle. A fur-lined mantle draped over his shoulders, fastened at the collarbone with a polished clasp — ceremonial, but not ostentatious.

His gaze was steady but soft. When the doors opened, he glanced up with a flicker of warmth behind his eyes, not a smile yet, but the kind of look that meant he’d been listening for familiar footsteps down the corridor long before they arrived.

‘It's good to see you finally got him out of bed,’ the man laughed softly as he looked at the flags who bowed in return, not trying to hide their smiles and grins from their prince. Chuuya looked at them, betrayed, the audacity!

One seat down sat Chuuyas' older brother, Paul Verlaine, his posture straight, but not stiff. He wore a dark formal coat, fastened with silver buttons and lined with clean folds. A sword rested at his side, polished and ceremonial, though his hand hovered near it more out of habit than need. His long ash-brown hair was tied back neatly, but a few strands had fallen loose around his face.

‘Good morning, father, brother.’ Chuuya gave a polite bow before he walked to his sead opposite Paul’s.

‘Good morning, Chuu’ Chuuya's face flushed slightly, it's embarrassing that his brother still calls him by that old nickname. Oh, how badly he wanted to punch some sense into him. He took a deep breath, calming down, not letting his anger show from the outside. He had to play his role and be the kind and fragile prince who couldn't hurt a fly. That didn't include punching his brother for still calling him Chuu, but it would be ow so sweet if he could. (Ye, dream on Chuu~) Shut up!

Chapter Text

Biting down on the pastry, Chuuya enjoyed the sweet taste as long as he could, not often where sweets are part of the menu, making the taste extra special for Chuuya, which also means something must have happened for them to be here. As if on cue, the king tapped his glass with his spoon to get their attention. ‘As you may know, Chuuya will come of age soon, and with that comes marriage. I have received a proposal from our neighboring kingdom to strengthen our bonds and have their bay accept their marriage proposal.’ Chuuya felt his stomach drop. Suddenly, the sweets didn't taste as good anymore.

He knew, of course, marriage would come to the table once he became 18, but then it still felt so far away, but now? It felt as if it was around the corner. Poul´s fist came down on the table. ‘Peposterus!! Chuuya hasn't even recovered from his illness yet! You can't put marriage on top of that!’ Suddenly, the urge to punch him felt less than it could be.

Chuuya swallowed his pastry, trying to keep cool and stay in act as he spoke, trying to keep his voice cool and composed, but instead it sounded like he was scared, which is not entirely false, but still!! ‘If I my ask, to whom will I be married?’

The king smiled at him as he gave a sign with his hand for his royal advisor to speak, ‘The kingdom of Darethayne sent the kingdom of Yokunara a marriage proposal. King Mori wishes the hand of Prince Chuuya for his two sons, Prince Dazai and Prince Fyodor. To which King Neris accepted.’

Chuuya couldn't hold his hand back from letting the pastry fall back on his plate. Albatross steps closer from beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He leaned in, whispering. ‘Are you alright, Chuuya?’ Chuuya shook his head softly.

‘I want to go,’ He whispered back, and Albatross nodded.

He gave a bow before speaking. ‘If you could excuse us, Uwe Hinges, Chuuya isn't feeling so well, he should return to his room to rest.’ The king gave a short nod, concern made its way onto his face as his eyes moved to his youngest son.

‘You're excused,’ Albatross stopped bowing and took Chuuyas char back so the young prince could stand. Gifing a small bow, Chuuya turned and left the room, the flags following close behind. He made a beeline for the archive. The flags exchanged worried glances. Piano Man was fast to open the door, preventing Chuuya from kicking it in.

‘I can't believe it!’ were the first words that left Chuuyas mouth once he was sure no one but the flags and a startled Poe could hear him.

Poe, A quiet young man, calm and still. His hair was black with a slight violet sheen, soft and just long enough to brush his chin. It curled a little at the tips and framed his pale face in a clean, neat way. He wore a dark coat with silver buttons and a black cravat tied neatly at his neck. A white shirt was visible under the sleeves and collar, always clean and in order. Gold cufflinks in the form of Raccoon heads on his sleeves. One hand, covered in a dark glove, rested over a small leather notebook he carried everywhere.

Poe manages the archive; he rarely leaves the place as he's not a big fan of many people, which also made the archive mostly an operational room, as no one ever goes there. Poe is also the strategist and planner of the group, having come up with amazing plans for their one and only subject. (But more of that later)

‘My luck's so bad~’ Chuuya winced as he plopped down into one of the chairs at their meeting table. ‘Why does it have to be them~’ If anyone could judge him right now, they would say he looked like a kicked kitten.

‘Touch, you got the worst of luck, my dude,’ Albatross commented as he sat down beside the winy boy, petting his back.

It had become more difficult for Chuuya to act nowadays, as things just kept going the wrong way. Last month, he tripped in a puddle and fell behind the building where guards were looking for him. But not for him, of course, but for Arahabaki naturally!! 

Arahabaki, the prime hatred of the rich and joy of the poor. Arahabaki, or Baki for short, is a thief who appeared five years ago. Always wears black, black skinny jeans, and a black shirt with a turtle neck, a black cape clipped on his shoulders. Back hair that curled around his face (Let's just say 22 Chuuya hair but black ︿(￣︶￣)︿ ).

The only other collar he had was his black fedora adorned with a red band, which had a bow in the back where the two ends of the red fabric hang off. He always wore a full-face mask. It fit on his face like a second skin, thin but still hiding his features. The mask is black with red filigree at the top and around the edges. It's held to his face with a red ribbon tied behind his head, fading into the black locks.

(But enough about that, even if Chuuya could never stop rambling on about how good he looked… o, did I not mention that? Sorry, my bad~. Baki is Chuuya, and Chuuya is Baki.)

Chuuya leaned into Albatross's side as he complained about his life's decisions. The man in question only petted Chuuyas's back as he nodded along to everything he said. Chuuya's eyes closed as his voice slowly trailed off to nothing as he fell asleep. Doc walked over, putting a hand to Chuuya's forehead, shaking his head. ‘He should rest now, the whole marriage fiasco put too much strain on him.’

Albatross nodded as he took Chuuya bridal style in his arms and left the archive. ‘No mather how playful or calm he looks from the outside, he still keeps all the enkzaity and ankst incide’ Piano Man commented once Albatross was out the door.

Iceman only nodded while Lippmann let out a sigh. ‘This month's been busy enough as it is, of we also need to come up with something for Baki to do now has heard his precious prince is engaged.’

To that, there was silence till Piano Man suddenly smiled, not his usual kind smile but a plotting one. ‘Then we will just have Baki take his prince away.’ Lippman, Doc, and Iceman looked his way, not protesting, only curious to know more. Poe felt like he didn't want to be part of this scheme, but he also felt like he had no choice. Once they looked at him, he swallowed.

Chapter Text

The Kassel's halls are empty, staff and servants having gone to their rooms. Only the guards remained patrolling the hallways. It's no surprise, as it's the middle of the night. Ice man and Lippmann walk along the castle grounds, black cloaks hiding them from sight. ‘’You sure he's going to be there tonight?’’

Lippmann looks up, of course, he is, he would never ditch that place for a single night.’’ As the two approached the city, they pulled their hoods up and moved through the streets to get to the poorer districts.

—

Chuuya awoke not long after the sun was done roasting his face. Where is Lippman? And what isn't he shooting him out of bed for sleeping in? Not that he misses it. (Stage 2 denial) He sits up in bed and stretches his arms. What was it? His best sleep in two months? He grabs a tissue from the bedside table and wipes his nose. Did he get sick or something? He wipes it again. God, it's invigorating! Did he get sick or something? His answer was a soft purr. On the pillow next to him sat Mackerel, curled up, sleeping peacefully. A black cat with one brown spot on its right eye. The said eye had always been irritated and closed. Chuuya had found the kit when he was five years old. The kit had been abandoned by its mother because of its lack of a survival instinct.

When Chuuya had walked up to the kit, it hadn't backed away like its mother and siblings; instead stood proudly on its tiny little legs, not scared of him. That's also how a dog got him. Chuuya visited the kit evry day in the castle garden where it had lost its mother. One day, when Chuuya visited the bush behind the greenhouse, he in shok had let the treat fall from his small hands. His beloved little kit stood bravely hissing against a stray dog defending his little territory.

Chuuya's hands fly to his mouth, trying to stop his sobs as the tears stream down his cheeks. The dog had taken the little kit's head in its mouth and bit. Chuuya was anything but brave in that moment; instead of helping the kit, he ran away back to the greenhouse to alert a guard.

Chuuya had cried himself to sleep that night in his mother's arms. Only a week later did little Chuuya get to see the kit again. Its head was bandaged; the dog had bitten into the kit's eye, permanently blinding it. To prevent the infection from reaching the kit's head, the eye had to be removed.

Chuuya reached out and petted him, mackerel turned in his sleep as he woke up, stretching and rolling onto his back to let Chuuya pet him. Chuuya still blames himself for that night; if he had stepped in, if only he had done something, the dog wouldn't have had a chance to bite the eye. Grabbing another tissue, Chuuya sneezes, but it didn't help the fact that he turned out to be allergic to kats.