Happily Ever Beginning

Young prince Mickey tended to ditch his lessons for silly reasons - the weather was nice, or he saw a dog outside, or the lessons were too boring for him to handle. On some level he knew he needed to start paying more attention to those lessons since he was the sole heir to the throne. Those responsibilities felt like burdens he could not handle, and often the thought of the future made it hard to breathe. Some days he escaped his lessons just to escape the choke-hold of reality.

Today he ran from his lessons for an entirely different reason - a cute girl in a white skirt.

Mickey was unusually kind to most of the servants, often treating them like equals, but the first time he saw that one girl - the world took on a new light. In turn, he wanted her to see the best of him. He didn't want her to admire her simply because of his blood - no, he wanted to impress her.

The plan seemed very simple at first - her schedule dictated she'd pass by the armory just after lunch, and that's where he'd be with the door wide open. He'd be swinging a large, intimidating sword as if it was nothing, and then oh so casually pretend to notice her, while she was no doubt swooning over this display of manliness.

So there he was in the armory, and there he was picking up the biggest, most daunting sword he could find... except 'picking up' was too generous a word. He couldn't lift it. At all. He was grunting and groaning and sweating, teeth clenched as he tried to pick up the blade that was three times his size and four times as heavy.