The fire crackled between them, its glow painting their faces in flickering gold. Sun’s words hung in the air like a blade—*I’m the King of Waltonia.*
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then **Renn** lurched to his feet, his chair clattering backward. His face drained of color. **"Your—Your Majesty,"** he stammered, dropping to one knee so fast his kneecap cracked against the dirt. **"Forgive me. I didn’t know. I—I called you *Baldie*—"**
Sun reached out, gripping Renn’s shoulder before he could press his forehead to the ground. **"Stop. Get up."**
But Renn didn’t. His hands shook. **"They’ll kill us. The royal house—they’ll burn the farm just for *looking* at you wrong—"**
**"No one is killing anyone,"** Sun growled.
Then came the sound of quiet, hitched breaths.
**Lira** wasn’t laughing anymore. Tears streaked down her dirt-smudged cheeks, her fingers clenched white around her skirt. **"Why?"** she whispered. **"Why would you do this to us? Was this all some game? Were you laughing at us the whole time?"**
Sun’s chest ached. He’d expected anger, disbelief—not this. Not *hurt*.
**"No,"** he said, voice rough. **"This was the first place I ever felt real."**
Lira wiped her face with her sleeve, glaring. **"Real? You’re a *king*."**
**"And you’re the first people who treated me like I wasn’t."**
Silence.
Then Renn, still kneeling, peeked up. **"...So you’re not gonna have us executed?"**
Sun rolled his eyes. **"If I wanted you dead, I’d have let you fall off that roof last week."**
A slow, wobbly grin broke across Renn’s face. **"Huh. Fair."**
Lira sniffed, still scowling. **"You’re a jerk."**
**"I know,"** Sun admitted.
---
As the night deepened, the fear thawed into something else—**curiosity**.
Renn, now sprawled on the grass again, poked Sun’s boot with a stick. **"So, uh. Do you, like, *own* the sky?"**
Sun snorted. **"No."**
**"But you *could*,"** Renn insisted. **"If you wanted."**
Lira, quieter, asked the real questions. **"Why did you leave?"**
Sun stared into the fire. **"Because I forgot what it meant to be human."**
They talked.
**About their parents**—Lira’s mother, who died bringing her into the world. Renn’s father, who drank himself into an early grave. **About the farm**, the seeds their parents had left to buy, the dream of a harvest that could feed a village.
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And Sun, for the first time, spoke of **his** life.
The gold, the silk, the suffocating weight of a crown. The way servants flinched when he raised his voice. The way his sister, Lumina, was the only one who ever told him *no*.
**"You have a sister?"** Lira asked, her voice softer now.
Sun’s mouth quirked. **"A loud, stubborn little beast who once stabbed me with a fork for stealing her dessert."**
Renn barked a laugh. **"I like her already."**
Lira, though, was watching Sun’s face. The way his eyes warmed when he spoke of Lumina. The way his voice tightened at the mention of **Sixhonia**.
**"Who’s she?"** Lira asked. **"The queen?"**
Sun’s fingers twitched. **"No. She’s…"** He trailed off, searching for words. **"The only person who ever looked at me and saw *me*."**
Lira’s stomach twisted.
*Oh.*
She recognized that tone. That look.
**He loves her.*
And just like that, something in her chest wilted.
---
By morning, something had shifted.
Renn clapped Sun on the back like he always had, but now with a grin. **"Alright, *Sun*—show me how a king chops wood."**
Lira, though, was quieter. She caught Sun’s wrist as he passed her in the yard.
**"You’re going back, aren’t you?"**
Sun didn’t lie. **"Yes."**
She swallowed. **"Will we ever see you again?"**
He turned his hand, gripping hers. **"If you want to."**
She forced a smirk. **"Maybe. If you beg."**
But her heart wasn’t in it.
Because she knew the truth—**kings and farmers don’t share the same sky**.
And yet, as Sun walked away to help Renn with the axe, she let herself watch. Just for a moment.
Just long enough to memorize him.
-
The sun had barely risen when **Lira** cornered **Sun** by the old oak tree, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her usual smirk was gone—replaced by something raw, unguarded.
**"I need to say something,"** she blurted out.
Sun wiped sweat from his brow, still half-asleep. **"If it’s about the turnips again, I told you—"**
**"I love you."**
Silence.
Sun blinked. **"…What?"**
Lira’s face flushed, but she didn’t back down. **"You heard me. I *love* you. And I know you’re a king, and I’m just some farm girl, and you’re in love with that queen—Sixhonia—but I had to say it."**
Sun’s stomach dropped. **"Lira… you don’t."**
**"Don’t tell me what I feel!"** she snapped, eyes burning. **"You walked into our lives, made us care, made *me* care—and now you’re just going to leave?"**
Sun exhaled sharply. **"I’m not *worth* this. You think a man like me—a man who’s killed, who’s lied, who’s *run* from his own kingdom—deserves anything from you?"**
**"That’s not your choice to make!"**
A rustle in the bushes. **Renn**, frozen mid-step, eyes wide. He’d heard everything.
Lira’s face crumpled. Without another word, she turned and **ran**, disappearing into the wheat fields.
Sun didn’t follow.
--
That evening, Renn found Sun sharpening his sword by the fire, his movements tense.
**"You really gonna let her go like that?"** Renn asked, arms crossed.
Sun didn’t look up. **"It’s better this way."**
Renn kicked a log into the flames. **"Why’d you even come here, Sun? To play farmer? To make us love you just so you could walk away?"**
Sun’s grip tightened on the blade. **"I came because I was *tired*."**
**"Well, congratulations,"** Renn muttered. **"Now we’re tired too."**
Sun said nothing.
By midnight, he was gone.
---
Sun rode hard under the moonlight, his **red hair**—now grown past his ears—whipping in the wind. He didn’t look back.
*Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.*
He’d ruined everything. Again.
A shout cut through the night.
**"HALT!"**
Sun’s blood turned to ice.
**Red Lion Guards.**
Their crimson cloaks billowed as they spurred their horses after him, lances gleaming. Sun **panicked**—he couldn’t be caught. Not yet. Not like this.
He dug his heels into his horse’s sides, veering off the road into the dense forest. Branches lashed at his face, but he didn’t slow.
Then—
A **roar**.
Deep. Primal. *Familiar.*
Sun’s heart stopped.
*No. Not him. Not now.*
A massive **golden lion** burst from the undergrowth, muscles coiling as it **leaped**. Sun’s horse screamed as **300 pounds of predator** slammed into it, sending both rider and steed crashing to the ground.
Sun rolled, gasping, as the lion **pounced**—its jaws snapping inches from his throat—
—then froze.
Hot breath huffed against Sun’s face. The lion’s golden eyes widened.
**"…Gold?"** Sun whispered.
The lion **whined**, nuzzling his face like an overgrown house cat.
The Red Lion Guards skidded to a halt, their faces **pale with shock**.
**"Y-Your Majesty?!"** one stammered.
Sun groaned as Goldmane licked his cheek, tail wagging.
*Of course.* Even his **own pet** had to humiliate him.
