Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was stupid, and the ones foolish enough to believe such nonsense were probably deranged. He likes to think so. Change his mind, he dares you to.

He does not care about ‘proof’ nor does he bother with sappy, stomach-churning stories that seem straight out of children's fairytale books, that are too good to be true and probably have a high chance of giving you diabetes from the surrealism of it all.

No. The red-eyed, blond Prince knows better.

Soulmates. Such a risible and ridiculous concept.

Pure madness.

And he was supposed to be the crazy one. Bastards.

An annoyed sigh escapes his lips. This was probably the 100th time that Callisto has heard the forsaken term of ‘soulmates’ today alone. When were they gonna learn?

Disgust lurked inside of him, from the repulsion and idiocy of it all.

It is said, after all, that the fated, (another annoying term most likely given by some batty lunatic that had nothing better to do with their time), are linked together by a thin shiny red string. And pray tell the name of this infamous string if not ’red string of fate‘ which was the most popular and used. But fear not, because the annoying cord had other names like thread of destiny or red faith , and even better fate’s fortune.

In theory, everyone is supposed to have a red string. It connects two souls that are destined to meet and be together, no matter what. Wrapping around their ring fingers, respectively left and right, so that when soulmates hold hands, the encircled fingers touch, and the string starts to emit a sparkling glow. The thread does glow brighter the closer you get to your soulmate.

The kick is that only you and your other half are able to see the string, and it only shows itself randomly and between imprecise periods of times making it unpredictable. He doesn’t like unpredictable things. Always two steps ahead and not one back.

Although there were very few unfortunate souls who did not have the red string, which was very unusual and rare, Callisto was not one of them. The blond man actually thought of them as lucky, despite people’s better judgement.

He wanted absolutely nothing to do with love, soulmates and destiny. That is absolute bullshit in his mindset.

That darned red string of fate was probably one of the reasons his poor mother perished of a broken heart and a shattered soul… and that’s why the strongest feelings harbored towards his Father were of resentments, rancor and enmity.

The Queen had his burning hatred and never ending hostility for easily replacing his kind mother so quickly, and soon after, daring to send assassins over assassins for his life. That harpy could try as hard as she wanted, until she dropped dead to the ground from exhaustion, but she will NEVER even be a crumb of what the late Empress used to be.

His younger half-brother, Theodor, surprisingly wasn’t a pain in the ass, the kid was just annoying, overly whiny and dramatic at times. They even held pleasant conversations from time to time and the older man even gave his younger sibling a sword lesson once.

Theodor was apparently a klutz when it came to any kind of weapon or physical activity that wasn’t horseback riding. At some point he even began thinking that his brother might accidentally stab himself with the blade, after tripping over the scabbard of a sword. How that even happened, was a mystery left unsolved, but that was a tale for another time.

Forsaken fate and cruel destiny lurked at every corner since he could remember, but somehow by a laughable joke played on him by the deities and fate, he did have a red string that attached him to god-knows-who.
Well, Callisto didn’t want that.

And apparently the gods really enjoyed making a laughing stock out of him because the person on the other end of his string was closer than it would have been liked. Every time a social gathering or a royal/special event was held, his darned string manifested out of thin air and started to glow like the sun.

The Crown Prince, a proud and fearless young man, who has seen life, death and miracles, does what a sane person is supposed to do in those instances. He flees the place as soon as the bothersome red glow makes itself known, disappearing faster than men with commitment issues when they found out about an unwanted baby on the way. Time for him to get that milk at possibly the farthest away store from the capital.

Callisto was absolutely not a coward in any way, call him that and kiss your existence goodbye because you are to pack your bags for the afterlife, but the thought of meeting the possibly obnoxious and insufferable ditzy girl on the other end of the thread makes him want to go back to war.

The Crown Prince is aware that love is genderless, he does not discriminate, and although he doesn’t know for sure it’s a girl on the other end, he surely hopes so. He can at least hope for that.
A romantic relationship is not in his agenda, but Callisto is absolutely not into men. The Prince has seen enough with the intellect of a squirrel in the life-span of 21 years, and he is already a man, he knows. That still doesn’t make it pleasant.

He never thought that he’d miss the battlefield so much. Take him to war. Now. Because it so happens that the aforementioned uncomfortable instance was unfolding at the current moment.

A banquet was being held at the royal palace, courtesy of that detestable step-mother of his; all the snooty aristocrats and nobles are swarming the massive throne room like bees would do with a field of flowers.

Fucking old dingbats and their scatterbrained daughters, all hungry for wealth and power, trying to corner him at every opportunity. The balding hags were getting smarter, for they learned to gang up on him. Oh how he desperately wished to be able to unsheathe his adored blade, and slit their necks for their impudence and daring advances, but the red-eyed Prince couldn’t. He needed the favor of those pesky nobles if he wanted to become Emperor.

It also didn’t help that his stupid string decided that uncomfortable moment to show up and start to glow like never before. This was a very bad sign. It meant that his soulmate was actively looking for him, and succeeding. Callisto needed to leave.

He could somewhat feel the presence of his soulmate. That was unheard of, and it was probably one of the effects of being the descendant of the royal bloodline.

Baking and dishing out a half-assed excuse so the nobles would leave him alone, Callisto managed to stall the place in seconds, long sturdy legs carrying his form elegantly across the ballroom towards the nearest exit.

Relief washed over him as his eyes landed on the opened doors that led outside the suffocating room. He could already taste freedom, it was right about thirty or so steps away.

He managed to reach the gardens in record time.

Looking down to glare at the dreaded string, a sense of relief washes over him. One thing that he does appreciate about the red thread, is its timing of visibility, it only shows itself for a few minutes before disappearing. Good. That meant his annoying soulmate won’t be able to look for him.

Callisto could breathe again.

The Crown Prince couldn’t even bring himself to think about the consequences of his soulmate finding out who he really was.

People would go crazy, and Callisto would be pressured to marry, he didn’t have the time nor the patience.

Most likely, the Second Queen’s head will explode from anger, because a married Crown Prince was a step closer to becoming the Emperor… actually, upon better thinking, that would be quite the show.

She still nurtured a crumb of hopefulness that her son will become the Emperor. Crazy witch. Theodor was nine years younger than Callisto, making him twelve.

He doubts that everyone would wait another ten years or so for his younger brother to take over the throne.

Eh… whatever.She was only delusional at that point. Kinda sad if you asked him.

And even despite Theodor only being twelve, the young boy already expressed his dislike for holding the Emperor’s crown on his head. So young yet already such a free spirit that wished to be rid of all responsibilities.

Callisto couldn’t blame him, the mountains of paperwork he had to do, sucked majorly. At his brother’s age he wanted to be rid of all burdens too, but again, he wasn’t a kid anymore.

His train of thoughts spiraled again, making him forget about the mess that almost happened, and was broken out of his inner musings by the rustling of fabric, and grass crunching softly under soles.

Instinct kicked in and in mere seconds his sword was unsheathed, blade pointed at the mysterious intruder’s throat, who was now up against one of the high hedges surrounding the fountain at the center of the immense gardens of the royal palace.

Chapter Text

His blood boiled. How dare that harpy send another assassin after him, on such an eventful day nonetheless. He’ll give her a piece of his mind the next time they encounter each other. The assassin will be left right in front of her door, bloody mess and all— oh but wait… this wasn’t an assassin… and what was this strange feeling?

He noted with a start this person was shorter than him, barely reaching his shoulders. A head full of probably the wildest and long curls he’d ever seen, their color also quite unique, a vivid magenta that reminded him of the special dahlias in his mother’s gardens.

She doesn’t move, because yes, it’s a she, probably startled from their position and the blade he’s still holding against her throat.

False alarm. He should probably sheath his sword— but before he can do just that, the mysterious maiden with wild curls raises her face, and everything comes to a stop. The music softly playing in the background, the light breeze blowing by, the chirping of the birds and the buzzing of the crickets in the night… everything comes to a screeching halt.

Ruby red meets emerald green, and he is lost, breath catching in his throat.
Every sense in his body screams in recognition, it’s as if his subconscious found a missing part it was desperately searching for. And alas, he comes to the shocking conclusion that she is his soulmate, Callisto can feel it.

Caught so off guard by her appearance and the shocking realization, the blonde man doesn’t quite catch the perplexed expression on her face, nor does he fight back when she pushes his hand away, that was still holding the sword to her throat, and both of her hands go to her neck.
His blade clatters to the ground with a soft thud.

Penelope is absolutely flabbergasted. Bringing one of her hands to her face, she can see small traces of blood on her fingertips. Her eyes widened. ’What the actual HELL?!’ “Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?” The magenta haired girl is pulling on all of her restraint to not blow up in the Crown Prince’s face, not only would it be disrespectful, but it could also cost her greatly. The man before her is known for his explosive rage, not thinking twice before striking his enemies fatally. Her audacity might be of great magnitude, but being beheaded is not on Penelope’s bucket list. Even after her inquire, he remains silent. His lips are slightly parted and his eyes are wide open. She scrunches up her nose. He looks like Yvonne’s gold fish with that stupid expression. ‘Is this supposed to be the mighty Crown Prince?’ She questions herself.

As much as she would like to make fun of him for his resemblance to her sister’s fish, Penelope doesn’t quite like to be ignored, paired with the fact that he just pointed a sword at her, all the patience she mustered up until this moment goes flying out the window.

“Your Highness, I demand an explanation.” She crosses her arms, as her foot taps the ground impatiently.

The raise of her voice seems to finally snap him out of his stupor. “Pardon?” He blinks at her, as if coming out of a trance, recollecting. “W-what did you say?”

Penelope’s mouth falls open in bewilderment. He made an attempt at her life, and the only thing the dumbass has to say is ‘pardon’ ?! To hell with being polite! “Are you joking?!” Her voice raises to an octave higher, and he flinches.

A manicured sharp nail pokes at his chest. “You almost slit my neck open, and all you have to say for yourself is ‘what did you say?’” She mocked his deep baritone on the last bit, while waving her other hand around.

“Your Highness, just because you are the Crown Prince, that does not give you the permission to assault innocents! Was the war not enough for you? Now you’re taking it out on your subjects as well?” Penelope spoke in a haughty tone, the one she would use on Reynold whenever she guilt-tripped him.

His eyebrows furrowed. Just who the hell did this girl think she was? “I—I did not have such intentions! It’s you who wandered like a… a ghost around the gardens! I thought you were an assassin, and was just simply defending myself.” Why was he even explaining himself to her? He had never done that, and for sure didn’t owe her an explanation as to why he was on guard.

Her nostrils flared as she exhaled. “Well I hope my one-hundred-sixty centimeters of height didn’t scare you too much, Your Highness, because I’m clearly not an assassin. And no one told me that I was prohibited from visiting the gardens.” Yeah right. His half-assed ‘excuse’ didn’t fly with her.

His eyes narrowed. “You are quite arrogant, miss. Your ego surely must be something worth admiring.” The banter that began settling between the two, made him momentarily forget that he just met his soulmate.

“And you still didn’t apologize for injuring my neck! It was very rude. I don’t know about you, but I treasure my life.”

Whomever this audacious girl was, she was doing a really good job at grating Callisto’s nerves. “My resolve stands unchanged. I refuse to apologize. Your way of speaking towards a member of the royal family is very uncouth. You have some nerve daring to talk to me like that. I should punish you for your impudence.”

As much as Penelope didn’t like it, he was absolutely right. However it didn’t mean that she was about to yield so easily.

“Well…I suppose that I’ve been rather impolite towards your person.” As her pride took a backseat, he hummed while nodding appreciatively.
“Yes, you were very discourteous indeed.” He looked like he was enjoying her display of subordination.

‘Does he perhaps have a dominant kink?’ Her impulsive thoughts were really not helping, because a small titter escaped her. He quirked a brow.

“However I’ll apologize only after Your Highness does.” Seemed like a fair trade in her opinion.

He scoffed at her proposal. “And pray tell, why would I do that?” This lady was probably crazy, otherwise he can’t explain their dispute.

Her eye twitched. “Why? Because it was you who resorted to physical ways!”
He huffed. “I already told you I had no harmful intentions towards you. But that may change if you keep this farce up for much longer. My patience has a limit, my lady.” he used a condescending tone to address the last part. “If I have to ask for forgiveness in order to get your apology, then I’d much rather do without.”

“Oh is that so?” She inquired challengingly.
At his assured hum, in a swift motion, she swapped their positions, and it was him who was up against the tall hedge this time. The gathering bored her to death, so she concluded that having a little fun with the Crown Prince wouldn’t hurt.

She pressed her right palm flat against his chest, right above his heart, while her left hand was placed next to his head, on the hedge. Penelope pushed him a little further in the green leaves, giving him no way to run away.

Callisto clearly wasn’t expecting this because his eyes were wide, and his mouth was hanging open. He was at a loss of words.

Her emerald eyes narrowed. She lifted on her tippy-toes to get into his personal bubble even more, nearing her face to his, their breaths mingling as their lips almost touched.
“You seem very sure of yourself.” She gave a light laugh. Scrutinizing his expression, she liked what she found, he was quite flustered. His heartbeat quickened as he drew in a sharp inhale. It meant that she succeeded in her intentions.
Penelope brought her lips near his ear, whispering in a quiet yet serious tone. “Then so be it, Your Highness. But I assure you that our relationship will be strained from now onwards.” She blew lightly in his ear at the end of her sentence, making a shiver ran up his spine.

She looked him in the eyes yet again, with a predatory glint. “I—I… tha—that’s not—“ She cut him off, even if she had to admit that it was quite amusing sending him into a tizzy.
“I see you’re not keen on apologizing. Very well.” She took her hand off the hedge and placed it on his shoulder, rubbing her thumb lightly on the fabric of his red cape.
”Although our interaction wasn’t exactly pleasant, it was most entertaining. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get along as I expected we would. Perhaps next time we cross paths you’ll finally decide to apologize, but who am I to decide?”

She smirked and lowered her heels to the ground, dragging the palm of her hands down his chest slowly, detaching them only when they arrived at his stomach.
“I bid you goodnight Your Highness. May you have a pleasant sleep.” Penelope curtsied gracefully, keeping eye contact with the Crown Prince in the process.

Turning on her feet, almost in a pirouette, Penelope walked for the exit, with a slight sway of her hips, making her lavish red dress swish. She did not look back once.
Callisto’s eyes followed her figure until she wasn’t visible anymore, and even then, his gaze lingered where she had been seconds prior.

He slowly placed his hand on his heart, where hers had rested earlier, to steady his heartbeat but it seemed like it wasn’t working. His ears and face felt awfully warm and it was as if his clothes were suddenly suffocating.

As the rush came to an end, Callisto remembered that the magenta haired girl that just left, was his soulmate. He just met his soulmate and he actually didn’t mind… she was very interesting, character wise, was also very bold and overly confident. Callisto had to admit that the mysterious maiden had a very mesmerizing charm.

The blond man had so many questions… apparently she knew who he was but he didn’t know her name.

He shook his head, as if chasing away those thoughts. Why would he need her name? He told himself that it was simply to seek a mild vengeance against her, but it just didn’t sit right with him. Callisto gave her identity a thought.

She was a noble lady, that much was obvious from her fancy and elegant clothing to her elaborate jewelry.
The way she carried herself paired with her manner of speech, radiated confidence and a little arrogance, meaning she was from a very powerful and rich family, otherwise she wouldn’t have tried such gutsy and witty remarks with him.

Probably the daughter of a Marquis? The only two he could think of were Marquis Allen and Marquis Verdandi. Marquis Allen had no daughters besides the Second Queen, and the lady with emerald eyes was way younger than the Second Queen.

The only members of the Verdandi household remaining were Winter Verdandi and his younger cousin, Thalia Verdandi, he remembers making their acquaintance briefly, and the two were very polite and well spoken. He remembered overhearing a few of his subordinates, as well as Marianne, talking about how Thalia Verdandi was engaged to the heir of the duchy, Derrick Eckhart— Callisto remembered him, having seen him often at banquets and gatherings. If he recalled correctly, the heir of Eckhart had three other younger siblings; his brother Reynold, who was a spitting image of the Duchess Evelyn Eckhart, and his two younger sisters.

Unfortunately, he did not know the names of the daughters, though it would be plausible that she was an Eckhart. The lost memory of a rumor from years prior floated in his brain, about how one of their daughters' appearances didn't match the coloring of the family's. Hmm, interesting.

Her attitude was certainly one befitting of a high noble. Perhaps he'll get Cedric to look into them when morning comes.

But for now he had to get back inside.
The gathering was pretty much close to an end, and Cedric will give him an earful again, since he basically stalled the place for the better part of the night. He could already imagine what his assistant had to say: ‘Your duties as the Crown Prince should not be neglected!’ Callisto bent down to pick his sword up, sheathing it, and with an annoyed sigh he made his way back inside, although his mind kept wandering to his soulmate with vivid magenta curls and bright eyes, with the intent of ridding his thoughts of her presence. Little did he know, the girl will be a persistent presence in his mind from that moment onwards.