Queen & Poet || Ivan x M!reader
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TW: Angst , Alcohol
ALIEN STAGE X M!READER
โQueen & Poetโ John Michael Howell
Kingdom Au , Unrequited Poet ! Ivan x King ! Reader
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"you're the fairest in all of the land"
Dazzling. That was what Ivan thought when he first laid his eyes on you for the very first time when he was a child.
He hid behind his father while secretly admiring you, noticing how your head held high in confidence and your entire demeanor screams royal. Despite you being the same age as him, you and him were different.
Just how you are able to speak difficult words to adults is just crazy to him. He couldn't understand half of what you and his father were speaking about.
As he was heading home, Ivan tugged on his father's sleeve.
"What is it?" His father asked, it was a rare moment when his son actually wanted to speak out of his own record.
"Is it too late to want to become a famous poet like you?" Ivan asked, his head tilted sideways.
His father blinked in surprise, "I thought you wanted to be a merchant?"
Ivan shrugged, "Being a poet gives me a higher chance to serve the government isn't it? I could even be his highness advisor."
Ivan's father secretly rejoiced and thanked you from the bottom of his heart.
"Many of kings and their kingdoms have fought for your hand"
Ivan would occasionally visit the castle so in no time, you and him were considered pretty close friends.
It was another day of just hanging around in the garden, Ivan would also see a lot of other kids that also rank higher than he is in the castle. All the noble kids were trying to fight for your favor and attention, making Ivan look at them in disdain.
They only cared about your crown, not you as a person. it is disgusting to see them already acting like their corrupted parents are already at such a young age.
Ivan focused his attention onto you, who was trying your very best to act benevolent to the rowdy self-centered kids.
At least he was the one who understood you the most, Ivan thought inwardly, feeling his own mood become better.
"But if I could give you the world with my paper and pen"
You disappeared from everyoneโs sight and it made everyone freak out. Luckily though, he was able to find you in the woods alone, crying.
Heโs not the best at comforting people but he knows he should do something.
"Your highness?" He first asked, startling you since you didn't see him coming up.
Ivan knelt down to your level and brushed your tears away from your cheek and smiled, "Crying silently is bad for your health, do you want to share what you have on your mind? I am a pretty good listener."
You blinked, you actually never seen him smile at you before and for a second you thought it was pretty cute before immediately shaking away those thoughts.
"I'm alright, thanks though Ivan." You said with a tired smile before getting up, patting the dirt off of you.
"I'll get going first, the servants are probably extremely worried about me."
Ivan watched as you walked towards the castle, your figure getting farther and farther away from his view until he could no longer see you.
His smile slightly drops in disappointment as he looks down at his hands that just touched your face.
If only, he could turn his pen into swords that protects you and gives you anything you'd want, it would've made everything better.
"I'd write all night, lyrics and rhymes, tracing these lines through, sing these words to the sky, hoping they find you"
Ivan spent years writing, not just for getting a good reputation among the nobles to gain an official rank but also to help you deal with your emotions by conveying his feelings into these poems.
And today was the day he was getting the title of the crown prince's advisor so he paid extra attention to his official attire.
As he slowly walked towards the large banquet hall, the door slides open as the attendant calls his name.
Ivan walked in, his hands felt a little sweaty as he was the center of attention. Everyone was gossiping and murmuring to each other, wondering how a mere baron had gained such a title even with his poems that became an all time classic among nobility and commoners alike.
You stood in front of the throne, where your father sat, waiting for him.
His eyes met yours, and he saw how you smiled brightly at him, as if you were extremely proud of his accomplishments.
Ivan smiled lightly too, feeling immense pride in himself and his stride became more confident.
He knelt in front of you, his head down as he accepted his new position issued by the king.
You weren't particularly listening, your eyes were only on him as he gladly accepted the title of being your future advisor.
You felt immensely grateful for all the poems he had written, and sometimes you wondered if he had specifically written those just for you.
Those poems weren't just ordinary poems, it felt more personal and reading Ivan's work made the crown feel lighter.
It helped validate your feelings of pressure and reassured you that the future will be bright and you will do well. You took the poems message to heart and as you grow older, the crown doesn't feel as heavy anymore as it did when you were younger.
Whoever marries him, would be the luckiest person alive. you thought with a proud smile. He was your friend, and the closest confidant you feel yourself starting to genuinely consider as a best friend as time goes on.
"Darling, you're a queen, and I'm just a poet writing these songs"
"Your Highness, or should I start calling you your majesty now? Your coronation is in less than 10 minutes, I hope you are ready?" Ivan asked as you were fixing your sleeves.
You looked at him with confidence brimming in your eyes, "Of course, the father of the nation can't be nervous over this can't he?"
Ivan smiled lightly as he walked towards you and knelt on on of his knee, bringing your hand closer to his face.
Peck.
You felt his lips onto the back of your hand, making your heart start beating a bit too fast to your liking.
"Ivan?" You asked, unsure what he was going to do.
He looked up at your face, his eyes filling with care as he gave you his signature toothy smile. "your majesty, may the forms of your belonging, in love, creativity, and friendship be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul"
You're a King
And I'm just a poet writing these songs for you
"Hoping you'll notice, notice me"
"Have you heard? His majesty is getting married soon, with the neighboring princess to stop this war!"
Ivan stopped on his way to your room before glaring at the servants who were gossiping about you.
"You should keep your mouth shut if you want to live a long time," he said darkly, the servants, scared of their wits apologized and immediately scrambled away.
There's no way you'd be wed to the enemy's daughter right? Everyone in this kingdom knows it as an open secret that the king despises you.
Ivan shook his negative thoughts out of his head before heading to your office.
Knock.
Knock.
"Come in."
The door creaks open before you see your advisor walking in with a mountain of paperwork heading your way.
You groaned, complaining inwardly from just how much things you have to do.
Ivan set the stack of papers next to you, "Your Majesty these need to be reviewed by tomorrow."
"what?!" You shrieked, your head was already hurting and to have to do at least 20 inches of paperwork has made you just want to give the throne up.
Ivan smiled helplessly, "If you'd allow it, I can help you to the best of my abilities."
You blinked before you slowly beamed, stars glittering from your eyes. "Really? Great! Lets get to work now!"
Immediately, you took half of the stack and handed the rest to Ivan so he can sit next to you and start working on his pile.
Before he took it, Ivan asked, "Your Majesty, I have an inquiry, are you truly going to marry the princess of our enemy kingdom?"
"hmm" you thought for a bit, "I am thinking of it. So our people can be freed from the war, you know how there's been scarce resource of food because of how much food is needed to feed the soldiers."
Clank.
"M-my apologies" Ivan said quickly before picking up his dropped pen that was on the ground, "Is that truly wise for you to marry someone you never have known before?"
You gave Ivan a reassuring smile, "it's alright. How bad can one spoiled princess be? They won't dare to try and stir something up if they want to stop this war that doesn't favor them"
Ivan didn't feel reassured, in fact, it made him even more bitter.
"I'm just a helpless fool for you"
SMASH!
The echoes of broken alcohol glass can be heard from the lone estate of the king's advisor.
It was Ivan, who has been drinking up until sunrise.
He sat on the floor, his face red and buried deep into his arms as if trying to console himself.
His eyes lifeless as he hears the birds chirping outside, the sound of a new day.
He dreaded the new day to come, knowing it is your wedding day.
He hated it. How you were willing to marry this stranger from afar for your kingdom to be in peace.
But he hated it even more that he felt bitter, knowing he would never be able to confess his love to you.
Seventeen years.
That's how long he has been liking you, starting from the very first day he met you. Yet he didn't dare to speak of his love for you, only by writing poems and songs just for you could he at least feel a bit of a closure.
"ugh.." his eyes started tearing up, thinking about how much of an idiot he is to fall in love with you. He wished he could stop, stop loving you and stop trying to keep you by himself.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ivan, as the king's advisor had to be there on your wedding day but he couldn't go and see you just yet.
He had to mentally prepare himself to let go so he decided to take a walk at the garden one final time where he first met you.
"Is everything ready?"
Ivan froze, hearing a small whispering among the darker areas of the garden.
He couldn't shake the feeling of something wrong before he quietly stepped towards where the noise was.
With comfortable distance, he hid himself while listening into the conversation between the soon to be queen and a person hidden in black robes.
"My Queen, as soon as the king comes closer to you, we will immediately strike his heart before his guards will have time to react. and then we will take you away from this land."
"Alright," the queen said as she flipped her hair, "just be sure to get me out safely without any injuries, father will be angry if you lay a hand on me."
"Understood."
...
What did the queen say?
That.. That woman! Ivan gripped onto his knuckles until it turned white. Anger flaring up into his eyes. How dare she do such a rebellious thing!
Ivan waited until both the queen and the black robed man was away before hurrying off to try and find you before the wedding began.
Unfortunately for him, the sound of wedding bells started ringing and you were pretty far away from the main wedding hall.
Damn it!
Ivan immediately started running towards the wedding hall, hoping in his heart that he will make it.
"As long as my heart has a beat"
You wondered where your closest aid and friend was, considering this was your wedding day.
You wanted to wait a bit more for him but the Pope had told you that you are already behind schedule and making these guests wait would be bad for your reputation so you just let the Pope proceed with the ceremony.
Your feelings could be described as feeling disappointed, why didn't Ivan come?
Was he feeling unwell? or did he have something to do last night so he is still in bed, trying to catch up on the lack of sleep?
Before you could think of any other reasons further, the soon to be your wife walked into the hall as the instruments started playing.
Frankly you didn't feel any love for this stranger you only met like twice but for the sake of your people, and as a royal, you must give up your own happiness for the greater good.
The queen stepped onto the podium, her smile not reaching her eyes. You assumed she didn't want this either and sympathized with her.
Before the Pope could speak of his rehearsed lines, the Queen raised her hand.
"What is she doing?"
"Shh, maybe she has something to say to his majesty?" The nobles started whispering among themselves.
"What is wrong?" You asked, your gut starting to tell you that something is extremely wrong.
The queen ignored your question before turning to the nobles. "I don't agree with this loveless marriage."
Before anything had time to react to what she was saying out loud, a few black robed men came into the banquet hall. Their hands armed with swords.
"Guardsโ" you started to speak but three of the men in black robes were already closing in on you, their swords pointing at your heart.
You closed your eyes, knowing that this is going to be the end.
I was careless, you thought. Who knew the neighboring king didn't care about ending this war peacefully.
PIERCED.
You were mentally prepared to feel the pain, but you didn't feel anything.
What? You opened your eyes once again, and instead of seeing swords being stuck into your heart, you saw Ivan with his bloodshot eyes and bloody mouth facing towards you with a relieved smile.
"You.." Your eyes widened in shock.
Thankfully the royal guards were able to keep the situation under control as everyone else all screamed and ran away from the scene.
leaving you with a bloodied advisor whom you truly cared about on the ground.
"why.." You choked out, your tears forcing its way out of your eyes.
You felt Ivan's blood filled hand touching your face lovingly, as if admiring his savior he would never get.
"It's truly a relief to see you unharmed, my king." Ivan said, while wiping your incoming tears that were streaming down from your eyes.
He leaned in closer to, bringing your face close to his before he shared his increasingly cold lips with your warm ones. "I want to thank you.. and to apologize to you for being the victim of my shallow emotions."
You couldn't even say anything before you feel his body go limb. Leaving you with a dead and cold body of your once advisor.
"ugh... ueung.." Your suppressed cries all came streaming down, you couldn't even speak, all you see was him, in your arms dead.
Your cries turned into a screeching wail.
The guards couldn't bear to see you absolutely devastated, and so they left the halls to give you some space.
Before all of them left, a knight came up to you, awkward but he managed to give you an envelope that was entrusted to him from Ivan before he went in the banquet hall.
You took the envelope, opened it with shaky hands and started reading the few lines he wrote for you.
I'll write this love 'til my hands are numb
Darling, I'll sing to kingdom come
You're a King
And I'm just a poet writing these songs for you.
My most beloved king, forever and always.
You gripped onto the piece of paper tightly as you held Ivan in your arms. Gritting your teeth as you loathe yourself even more and more.
Why.. did I notice my own emotions so late?
Whats it use to regret it now?
He's gone.
He won't come back.
You hugged his body, refusing to let go as you drown in sorrow.
