Do We Have To Marry Each Other?

by TheDarkestDandelion

Summary:

Noctis is anxious to finalise the paperwork required to marry Luna as soon as possible so he can secure her safety.

However, an ancient law throws a massive spanner in the works and no one is entirely sure how to fix it.

Notes:

I wanted to write some humour today! The last couple of days of Cordyn Week have gotten hard... but that is a spoiler so shhhh!!

Please enjoy this madness with the Caelums XD

Chapter 1

“All you need to do is say yes or no to the following, Noct.” 

“Why do I have to do this again?” 

Regis let out a pointed sigh. “Because if we want your marriage to Lunafreya to be legally binding we have to do this. I went through exactly the same set of questions with my father before I married your mother.” 

“Fine.” Noctis moaned, leaning back in his chair, hooking his feet underneath his dad’s desk so he didn’t fall backwards. “Continue.” 

The prince really didn’t understand the need for all of this. Everyone knew how important it was that they wed and time was of the essence here. Niflheim - Noctis doubted they would with the threat of his uncle looming over them - could ask for his bride-to-be back at any given moment and they’d have to do it. This match, their wedding, would ensure Luna’s safety. 

So why couldn’t they skip the formalities this one time? 

Regis straightened the paper, clearing his throat. “Have you ever had sexual intercourse before?”

Noctis looked skyward, trying to hide the embarrassment that coated his face. 

Why?! Why did this have to be one of the questions?! When Noctis next saw his grandfather he was going to kill him for making this a fucking legal requirment for a royal wedding to take place!

“I know this is uncomfortable.” Regis sympathised. “I don’t really want to know the answers to half of these questions, but if we get it over and done with now, the quicker we can forget this conversation has ever taken place.”

“Yes.” 

Noctis spat out, his jaw clenched, already anticipating what the next question would be. 

He didn’t know who he felt sorrier for in this situation; himself for his private life being violated or for his dad who could have died happy not knowing any of this. 

“Was this interaction with, insert name- Lady Lunafreya, or any other suitable woman?” 

“Luna.” 

There was a brief pause as this horrible feeling of awkwardness mounted between them. No matter what shit they had put each other through in their lives, this had to be the single most embarrassing conversation the pair had ever exchanged. 

It was certainly one way for his dad to find out that he had lost his virginity. 

Noctis heard his dad gulp hard before asking the next question. “And she is the only woman you have-”

“Yes!” Noctis interrupted him, closing his eyes, praying this would all be over soon. “She is the only person! Please, please, don’t ask me another question about sex!” 

“Thankfully, son, that was the last one in regards to that .” Regis said, relief washing over him.

“Thank the gods!” 

“Don’t catch uncle hearing you say that.” Regis chuckled, trying to remove the awkwardness in the room. 

“Yeah, there'd be no need for this wedding to take place if he does.” Noctis smirked, very slowly making his chair level with the floor. “So… anything else or are we done?”

“There are still a few more questions.” Regis informed him with a smile. “Have you ever proposed to anyone, who is not your betrothed… shit.”

Noctis arched an eyebrow at his dad whose face had turned pale. Was he okay? The horrible feeling of worry panged into his chest, thinking that perhaps his dad was in pain; the prince gave him his undivided attention. 

“Dad, are you okay?” 

“I need to call grandfather.” 

Noct’s worry only mounted as his ears were filled by that cutting response. And he was forced to sit in silence while his dad made a phone call to their grandad. Unfortunately, the conversation gave Noct no indication as to what was plaguing his dad’s mind, nor did it last any longer than a few seconds. 

Once the phone was placed back on the desk, and the look of uncertainty on his dad’s face increased, Noctis became more unsettled. 

Regis sighed, rubbing his face with both of his hands, groaning as if was experiencing intense emotional pain or a rather bad headache. 

“Dad?” Noctis asked again, his chest tightening, a little panicked that he may have to call Clarus in here to put his dad to bed for the rest of the day. “What’s the matter?” 

However, his dad was denied the chance to answer his question because the door opened allowing his grandfather’s slightly pissed off voice to enter the room. 

“You do understand I am busy, yes Regis? While you are planning his wedding, I am picking up all the slack of your workload!” 

“Yes, well I don’t think there will actually be a wedding at this rate, grandfather!” 

“What?” Noctis asked, shock and anger clouding his mind at his dad’s words. 

What did he mean? Why couldn’t he marry Luna? Noctis knew that Regis thought the world of her. Did him really having sex before they were married mean they had to end things?! Why didn’t anyone tell him that before?! 

Somnus crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his eldest grandson. “Care to elaborate?”

“Yes, you and your bloody stupid set of questions!” Regis bit back, slamming the paper on the desk, making Noctis flitch. “ ‘Have you ever proposed to anyone, who is not your betrothed?’ What type of question is that?!” 

Somnus’s frown deepened. “That question is the reason you dragged me in here?” 

“Yes, because Noctis has!” 

“I did?” Noctis asked, his state of being completely taken over by confusion by this point. Why did that matter anyway? And actually who the hell had he proposed to?! 

“Who the hell did you propose to, you chocobo turd?!” Somnus yelled in Noct’s direction.  

“I haven’t!” Noctis proclaimed, staring back into his dad’s eyes. “I haven’t! And why the hell would it matter if I had anyway?!”

“Because he…” Regis snarled, pointing in their grandfather’s direction. “...made it law that you are legally obligated to marry that person!” 

“But I didn’t propose to anyone but Luna!” Noctis said, getting concerned again for his dad’s health and mindset. He knew he was old but going senile now would not be good for the kingdom.

“You proposed to Prompto, Noctis!” 

“Shit.” Somnus spat out harshly. “He did! Noctis you idiot!” 

“What?!” Noctis laughed in disbelief. “No, I didn’t!”

“Trust me, Noctis, you did.” Regis breathed out slowly, shifted his gaze to Somnus. “And Prompto never said no.” 

“Fuck!” 

“Can one of you explain what the hell is going on right now?!” 

So the kings did and this is where Noctis finally realised just how backwards their family and all their traditions truly were. According to the bloody stupid laws his grandfather - he was pretty sure this was Somnus’s fucking doing - had laid out over two millennia ago, that whoever a member of the Caelum line proposed would be legally bound too. But not only that, this union was considered concrete until the prosposee, in this case was his best friend, had refused said proposal. Unfortunately for Noctis and Luna Prom had not. And to top it all off, the only way to break this union was to get Prompto to say no, with him being antagonised or unstructured to do so. 

“But I didn’t ask him!” Noctis stated with confidence. “Prom’s my friend! He’s like my brother, I would never-”

“You asked him to marry you so I wouldn’t palm you off to a foreign princess, Noct.” Regis explained. “All he said was that he didn’t want to be your queen, he never said no.” 

“But I didn’t-”

“Ardyn fell off his chair! How could you forget that?”

“Grandfather that is not helping.” 

While his dad and grandad got into a mini spat, Noct’s mind started to go into overdrive. 

Because how? How in the name of everything that had ever existed had anyone with one brain cell allow that to be a stupid law?! And how did a stupid question from when he was six years old matter now?! 

But that was not the thing he should be worrying about! What he should be worrying about was the fact Luna’s safety was once again in jeopardy and this time it was truly his fault! No! She wasn’t going back into the Niffs’s clutches! Noctis loved her with all his heart and as long as he remained on Eos, she was never going to be in any danger ever again. 

“What do we do?” Noctis asked, interrupting his seniors’s spat. “How do I end my engagement to Prompto?!”

Chapter 2

Notes:

What?! I am bad at the moment for finishing fics?!

This is very true XD

Oh well here is the second chapter after nearly 2 months.... oh well! Please enjoy :)

“Ulwaat berries!” Ignis exclaimed, gratitude lacing the undertone of his voice. “Of course! Thank you, Your Highness!”

“Luna, you have no idea how long Iggy has been trying to perfect that dessert for Noct! It will be a great surprise for him on your wedding day!” Prompto smiled, trying to remain in the loop of the conversation while simultaneously petting and stroking both Pryna and Umbra who were rubbing themselves on his legs. 

They were so damned cute-

Oh no… He was going to have to have a shower and change his clothes before he went home though because if Cerbie smelt the messenger dogs on him it would break his poor deadly puppy’s heart. But how on Eos could he say no to stroking these adorable little ones?! Cerbie will understand after an hour of sulking, Prom was sure of it.

He hoped…

Luna giggled back. “Well if my fiance had a brain in that sleepy head of his, he could have simply asked me a while ago what the ingredients were.” 

Prompto cringed, quickly biting his lip to hold back his laughter as he glanced up nervously towards Ignis whose demeanour had completely changed. No longer was he the well put together advisor of the prince; his boyfriend was wearing a face of thunder - directed solely at Noctis of course - and Prompto swore he heard Ignis hold back a snarl of rage. Even though it made Prom feel a little uneasy seeing how frustrated Ignis was, he had to admit it was pretty damned funny! His poor suffering boyfriend could have been spared years of failure from their prince if Noctis had just used that noggin of his once in his life! 

Well, no one said that the Caelum line was smart. 

If Prompto was looking for intelligence he certainly would not have looked for it within his family, especially Ardyn’s side of the family. Actually, when he thought about it… he knew he wouldn’t find any in Cor’s either…

“Oh dear… Ignis, are you quite well?” Luna asked, concern present on her features. 

“Yeah, he’s fine, Luna!” Prompto said, rising to his feet, wrapping his arms around Ignis’s waist as a way to silently tell him that it was indeed okay. “Noct has managed to implode his mind once again! This is the second time this month. It usually happens about five times per month so Noct is actually doing pretty good so far!”

“So I have that to look forward to.” Luna joked, oddly loving the idea that Noctis’s antics could make her question her sanity; she knew she needed to let her hair down once in a while and it seems her fiancee was the perfect person to allow her to have that opportunity. 

“I don’t think ‘looking forward’ is the correct set of words, Your Highness.” Ignis muttered, breathing out slowly. 

Prompto laughed, giving Ignis a quick kiss on the cheek. “You love him really, Iggy!”

“I do.” Ignis nodded in agreement.

“As do I.” Luna said softly, a small rosy blush appearing on her face. 

Prom’s smile only got brighter at her words.

For he was so happy that Luna loved Noctis as much as Noctis loved Luna. It was clear to see how much his best friend did love and care for her. On their road trip to locate all the royal tombs, Noctis would get all flustered and go into a daydream once he had given Umbra back the royal’s notebook. It was super sweet. And from the Oracle’s reaction to admitting her feelings alone, Prom had a thought that maybe she’d end up like this after receiving a note from their goofy prince too-

“Prompto! We need to talk!” 

Prompto shook his head, holding on to Ignis’s arm, turning to face Noctis who had stormed through the door with his uncle Somnus not too far behind him. 

“Oh hey Noct!” Prompto said cheerfully, failing to see exactly how annoyed his best friend was. “We were just talking about you!”

“Great but you need to say-”

“You can’t instruct him, Noctis.” Somnus quickly spoke over him and his uncle’s words made Noctis get angrier. 

“You instruct him then!” Noctis huffed back.

“I can’t. You just have to ask and see what answer you get.” 

“Urgh!” Noctis groaned, covering his face with his hands in pure frustration. “You and your stupid laws! Why did you do this to me?!” 

“It wasn’t me! It was my direct grandson, Orpheus, the fourth king’s fault. Thank you very much!” 

“Yeah, well he got the stupid gene from somewhere, didn’t he?! And unless your first wife had an affair with uncle Ardyn, it has to be from you!” 

“Excuse me?! He got it from my father! Do not insult my first wife or your uncle like that…”

While Noctis and Somnus continued to bicker, Prom gave both Ignis and Luna a bewildered glance, a glance they all could share. From the shouting and tangent the pair were now on, neither Luna, Ignis or Prompto could really work out what their argument was truly about and Prom had to admit that their shouts were kinda scaring him, so much so that he held onto Ignis just a little bit tighter than before. He didn’t like it when his uncle Somnus shouted and it was a rarity to see Noctis angry. All of it made Prom feel guilty and that he was kinda at fault because the argument started with his name! He hoped he hadn’t done anything to cause offence to anyone! Trying to calm himself down a little he spared his glance away from the Caelum royalty to look at Pryna and Umbra as dogs always made him feel better. But they looked just as scared as he felt! They were definitely scared! They were hiding behind Luna for protection and security. Prom wanted to do the same, hide behind Ignis and pray that he wasn’t the cause of any falling outs! He’d never forgive himself if he was. 

Thankfully, his boyfriend saw his discomfort and raised his voice to prevent this from going any further. 

“Noctis! Your Former Majesty, forgive me, but what is this about?”

“Apparently I can’t tell you!” Noctis snapped, stepping away from his grandfather in an attempt to cool down. “Cause he lets stupid laws exist!” 

“For the last time, Noctis, I do not have any say in the running of the kingdom. My job is solely to advise.” Somnus breathed out through his nose. 

“Well you should have advised against it!” 

“I did!” 

“Perhaps you both need to stop talking about this law as it is making you both very stressed.” Ignis suggested in a calm manner. 

“I can’t Iggy! I have to sort this out today!” 

“Noctis, dear, come here and explain it to me.” Luna suggested, holding out her hand towards her prince.

Noctis sighed heavily. “I want to, Luna, but this law is preventing me from saying anything about it. Only me, him and my dad are allowed to discuss it until we sort it out.” 

“That’s a really stupid law.” Prompto said quietly, his head slightly buried in Ignis's shoulder as he stood behind Ignis. 

Prom tensed up when he felt Luna kindly rub his back and Ignis’s grip on his hand tighten. That made the blonde prince smile. He understood that Noctis and Somnus were upset about something but couldn’t they at least calm down before discussing it. Or even better get his dad involved! Ardyn would be able to smack their heads together and get them to sort it out in no time! If Ardyn was here Prom knew he wouldn’t feel as guilty as he was currently feeling - as he still assumed their argument was about him somehow and that he’d done something bad - since Ardyn would be assuring him he hadn’t done anything. 

Prom really hoped he hadn’t done anything. 

“Yes, Prompto it is.” Somnus agreed. “Noctis you might as well just ask and get it over and done with.”

Noct’s eyes popped out of his head. “With Luna and Ignis here?! Ignis will murder me!” 

“To be fair, Noctis, I am not exactly thrilled that you didn’t ask Her Highness the final ingredient needed for the dessert you ate in Tenebrae… and knowing you for as long as I have it can’t be worse than any other stunt you have pulled in the past.” 

“Oh, this one is bad…” Noctis said, nervously looking down at the floor. 

“If it is easier, Ignis and I could leave?” Luna suggested, giving her fiance a smile to show support. 

“No! Don’t leave!” Prompto said quickly, his nerves getting to new heights and he just wanted Ignis by his side. He poked his head around his boyfriend’s shoulder, his eyes glistening with fear, and gulped. “Just ask whatever it is Noct! Please! And I am sorry if I have done anything to upset you.”

“What? No! No! Prom, you haven’t! It’s my fault and one of my grandfather’s fault… he was my grandad, right?” Noctis asked turning to Somnus. 

“Yes, he was, the third king didn’t have any children. Orpheus was his younger brother.” 

“Good.” Noctis nodded. “See, you’ve done nothing wrong. All you have to do is answer this question for me.” 

Prom’s chest felt warm when he felt Ignis rub his thumb over his hand to give him comfort. Prom had no idea why he felt so insecure today. He’d definitely be talking to at least Iggy about it later and one of his dads. He didn’t like feeling like this. 

“Okay.” Prom nodded, feeling a little more confident and stepped out from behind Ignis. 

“Great. And you two, I am only asking this of Prom because of this law. It means nothing to me other than the fact that once this is over dad said he is going to scrap it!” Noctis said, trying his best to make the situation clear to all in the room before turning to his best friend. “Prompto, will you marry me?”

Prompto immediately raised an eyebrow in pure confusion. 

He wasn’t even certain that he had heard his best friend, who was engaged to the frigging Oracle, right. Because of this overwhelming amount of uncertainty he looked to his uncle who just seemed impatient with the situation. When wasn’t he impatient though? But when he looked at Luna and Ignis… they looked puzzled to say the least but that was all he needed to see to know he wasn’t hearing things and Noctis had actually asked that of him! 

“Huh, dude? You are getting married to Luna and I’m with Iggy.” 

“Yes, I am aware of that.” Noctis said, his voice sounding strained and angry again. 

“Then why are you asking me?” Prompto asked innocently, going back to clinging to Ignis’s arm and this time it was Ignis who was tense. 

Oh no… he hoped Ignis didn’t actually implode or worse explode. That would be a scary sight to witness indeed. 

“Grandad, can I just tell them?!”

“No, you have to do it properly otherwise it will still be legally binding.” 

“When I am king I am gonna take all your stupid laws and legislations and shove them up-” 

“Noctis… don’t you want to marry me?” 

Luna’s saddened voice nearly broke Prompto’s heart in two. Oh no… now because he wanted Ignis and Luna to stay with him she was hurting! Ignis was probably hurting and this was his fault. Why did he have to let his insecurities get the better of him today?! Prompto really hated himself when things like this happened because of him! And if it wasn’t for Noct’s next set of words Prompto would probably be in tears by now. 

“Yes, Luna. I really want to marry you. I love you. And I want Ignis and Prom to be together.” Noctis explained quickly rushing over to the princess to give her all the comfort she needed. “But I need to ask this for stupid political reasons that grandad could have changed if he wanted to!.”  

Luna pursed her lips, blinking in confusion. “I am really sorry I don’t follow.” 

“Neither do I.” Ignis said, finally breaking his silence, and Prom could tell how protective Ignis was being over him just by the gruffness in his voice. “Why are you asking this, Noct?” 

“Because he has to. So Prompto, just give him an answer.” Somnus snapped.  

“I did!” Prompto cried innocently. “I want Iggy and you want Luna.”

When Noctis almost keeled over in what looked to be in pain, Prom was about to suggest they take him to the medical centre. 

 What the hell was going on?

Why was Noctis asking this and he’d literally just said no, hadn’t he?

Why was Noctis still asking and what the hell did it have to do with this stupid law none of them knew anything about anyhow? 

Chapter 3

Notes:

I can finish a story! Apparently! XD XD

I don't know what has happened this year... ummm... I want to pick up the pace cause I actually want to finish this series - believe it or not XD

Please enjoy :)

“Grandad, can we bend the rules this once, please?!” 

Ardyn jumped out of his skin upon hearing his youngest nephew’s roar at his brother from an unknown location. 

The hairs on the back of his neck went on edge, his normally slow heart rate went just that little bit faster as the daemons leapt around inside his body in a frenzy; confused and scared at the cry of the being that was meant to end their existence. Noct’s greatly unexpected shout even forced some of the scourge to trickle down Ardyn's face before all the little monsters jerked his 6’2 frame away from the sound and directly into Cor. 

“Ass Hat!” Cor gritted his teeth in pain, smacking the left hand side of his body into the wall. “That fucking hurt!” 

“I’m sorry!” Ardyn apologised in a panic, thinking the worst. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I am so sorry.” 

“Hey, it’s fine.” Cor told him, waving it off with a smile. “I’m fine.” 

Oh thank Eos. 

Ardyn let out a sigh of relief and once he was certain the scourge had disappeared from his face he gave Cor a small peck on the cheek to further his apology. He hated that one single action of his had the potential to hurt his husband. Ardyn knew he should have thought before jumping a mile at the sound of Noct’s voice. He was just glad Cor was okay… or saying that he was okay… Ardyn still found it a little hard to tell when Cor was telling the full truth or not; but he was not focusing on that right now. No, he was going to focus all his attention on the person who had caused him to jump into his husband. 

“Where are you going?” Cor asked sternly, knowing what that seething look on his husband’s face meant. Someone was going to get hurt. 

“Oh no where.” Ardyn sang, allowing the daemons to heighten his hearing before walking in the direction of his nephew’s voice, and Noctis was still ranting at Somnus. “Just going to have a word with Noctis…” 

“Ardyn. Ardyn, come back here.”

Ardyn chose to ignore that command and carried on down the hall.

He heard Cor’s footsteps following close behind him and warning him not to lose his temper over something so trivial and Ardyn wasn’t all that interested in listening to him. 

No, he was far more interested in the reason why Noctis Lucis Caelum was shouting. For his nephew didn’t tend to shout or get angry. He was quite a calm and quiet person, the complete opposite of Regis when he was his age, and only ever reserved his shouts of rage when they were absolutely necessary. Aka when either Somnus or Gladiolus had pissed him off enough to warrant that reaction. And if his brother was truly the root of Noct’s problems… well Ardyn had to be the supporting uncle and help him out! It was his duty as Noct’s ‘fate buddy’ after all. It was the law! Despite whatever Cor was yelling at him.

As he drew closer to the room where Noctis was still hurling aggressive words at his grandfather, Ardyn could hear his sunbeam’s voice too? 

“I don’t understand what you want me to say! I’ve said I love Iggy! Isn’t that enough?!” 

“No, Prom! It’s not!” 

“Noctis, I have told you, that you can’t-”

“Oh fuck off, grandad! Prompto, please just think about what you are saying!”

“I don’t know…” 

Something in Ardyn’s head snapped when he heard his little sunbeam begin to whimper with great frustration and upset.

No one upset his son.

Ardyn’s eyes flashed yellow, he bore his teeth and the need to stand with Noctis to annoy Somnus suddenly turned into hatred for the heir apparent and sheer protectiveness for his baby boy! 

No one was allowed to make his Sunbeam cry. 

Not even Cor was allowed to make Prompto cry so if Noctis thought this was acceptable he better have another think coming! And very quickly at that! 

Again, ignoring the rational voice - that was his husband - to calm down, Ardyn let out a massive growl and shadow dashed through the Citadel until he had located the exact room where his son, nephew and brother were. 

When he entered the room, nostrils flaring in a fiery rage, he was ready to kill Somnus - since his brother was the only one who could come back from death. Prompto was a mess, nearing on the verge of a panic attack hiding behind Ignis who looked as angry as Ardyn felt! If Ignis was angry that made Ardyn’s anger more then justifiable since again, young Scientia did not get angry unless it was about Noctis or Prompto; since Prom was the one in tears Ardyn could conclude it was Noct’s fault. But his son wasn’t the only one struggling to keep it together. Princess Lunafreya looked glassy-eyed and he dared say heartbroken.

What the hell was going on?! 

“Prom, I don’t want to ask this-” 

“Then stop!” Prompto pleaded, holding Ignis’s arm tightly. “You’re making everyone upset, Noct.” 

“It’s his fault!” Noctis yelled, pointing aggressively at Somnus. 

His brother’s response was to roll his eyes. Typical Somnus. Never willing to take the blame for anything. 

To prevent any further upset, Ardyn decided to make himself known to everyone in the room by saying loudly: 

“Most things are your fault, brother.” 

“Dada!” Prompto cried, and immediately ran over to him, latching himself on to him like he did when he was a child. 

Ardyn, of course, returned the embrace and he could feel himself getting so protective over his son now that it wasn’t funny. For the daemons could sense how anxious and upset their sunbeam was and that wasn’t allowed to happen. Ardyn could also tell by the way Prom was holding on to him that he wasn’t acting like himself and that was a sign his son’s mental health wasn’t great today. That was the deciding factor for him. Ardyn was putting a stop to whatever was going on and it was happening now! 

Ardyn quickly kissed Prom on top of the head before snarling in Somnus’s direction. “What did you do?” 

“It wasn’t me. It was Noctis.” Somnus explained, taking a small step away from his brother, aware of the immediate danger that was Ardyn’s rage. 

“Oh no! You can’t pin stupid engagment laws on me when I wasn’t even thought of at the time it was written!” Noctis shouted back, refusing to let his grandfather do this to him. 

“Noctis, my dear, I don’t think shouting is getting you anywhere.” Lunafreya told him gently, lightly pulling Noctis’s arm closer to her. 

“Her Highness is correct, Noct.” Ignis said and Ardyn could hear the clear rage in his tone. “Prompto is already upset enough, don’t make it any worse.”

Noctis took in a massive breath to compose himself and let out a sigh of frustration. “Look, Prom, Luna, Ignis, I am sorry. But you have to understand that I need to ask this.”

“You’ve asked of it enough though.” Prompto whimpered, snuggling his face deeper into Ardyn’s chest. 

“Asked what?” Ardyn questioned, narrowing his golden eyes evilly at his nephew - he didn’t like the sound of this.

“Noctis keeps asking me to marry him, dada. But he is engaged to Luna and I want Ignis. I don’t want to marry him.” 

For a split second Ardyn wanted to rip Noctis’s head off for asking such a life-changing question that involved his son without asking his permission first and that moment of raw anger quickly transformed into confusion when Noctis gripped his hair with both of his hands and tugged on it roughly looking as if he was about to scream the whole Citadel down. 

Okay… was he alright?

“Orpheus, brother.” Somnus explained, again not seeming too bothered by what was going on around him.

“Orpheus?” Ardyn said, giving Somnus a rather confused expression. “What on Eos does one of your dead grandchildren have anything to do with this?” 

A small gasp from the Oracle and tense wince from Noctis filled the air when Somnus and Ardyn locked eyes. 

“Dad, maybe you could have worded that better.” Prompto told him quickly, once again his grip getting tighter. “It wasn’t kind, say sorry.”

“No, it wasn’t kind.” Ardyn growled, not caring for Somnus’s emotions right this second or the enraged twitch in his left eye as his brother continued to stare at him. “Nor is making my child upset. And I don’t see what Orpheus has anything to do with an engagement- Oh!” 

Ardyn kept his hold on Prom with one arm and raised his free hand to the bridge of his nose.

Astrals! That bloody law was so annoying. Ardyn didn’t exactly know what had occurred but he knew why Noctis was asking his son this question and he could understand his frustration and annoyance at it all. Prom was simply too kind to say a direct ‘no’ and if he didn’t Noctis and Lunafreya couldn’t be married. 

“Yes, oh!” Noctis said loudly, relief underlying his tone guessing Ardyn was also aware of this crap law. “He isn’t allowing me to break it!” 

“For the last time, if I do it will still be legally binding, Noctis.” 

“Let go of me for a second, Sunbeam.” Ardyn said gently, unhooking Prom from his frame. 

“Dad, what are you doing?” Prompto asked, fear creeping into his voice.  

“Sorting out this situation.” 

In a flash, Ardyn summoned a dagger and flung it directly in Somnus’s chest without hesitation.

When the dagger pierced the Founder King’s heart, everyone’s eyes popped out of their head in fear and shock. Ardyn shrugged off the looks of horror Lunafreya and Prompto gave him, quickly making his way over to where his brother stood, with blood coming out of his mouth. With no emotion on his face, Ardyn pulled the dagger from Somnus’s body, blood oozing out everywhere making his death a hell of a lot quicker. In no time at all Somnus fell to his knees and bled out within a matter of minutes. 

“Right, now he can’t say a thing, Prompto, say no to Noctis.” Ardyn said, wiping his dagger off on his coat. 

Unsurprisingly, no one dared say a word. All four of them just stared at him and were actually shocked he had done that. Ardyn rolled his eyes. The only person who should be shocked by his actions was the Oracle since she hadn’t grown up with their antics. Noctis, Prompto and Ignis, however, shouldn’t even bat an eyelid by at this anymore. 

“I mean it, Prom. Say no. Pretended I didn’t prompt you to do so and all of this will be over.” 

“You killed uncle Somnus! For no reason!” Prompto yelled, his mouth hanging open. “I am telling dad… and ummm… uncle G-il-gy.” 

“Okay, do! Say no to Noct first.” Ardyn huffed out, failing to hear the terror in Prom’s voice as his son slowly retreated back to Ignis.   

“Alright no!” 

“Excellent! You’re off the hook, Noct! You can now marry Princess Lunafreya.” 

Instead of doing a victory dance like Ardyn had expected him to, Noctis glared at him before taking Luna’s hand and leaving that room as fast as his legs would carry him. Ardyn hoped it was only to thoroughly explain to his fiancee the actual reason behind his ‘proposal’ to Prom and not because of him. What did it really matter if it was? The Oracle already saw him as a monster; it mattered very little to Ardyn what she thought of him. However, that didn’t explain why Ignis suddenly grabbed Prom’s hand and ran in the same direction as the two royals. 

“What are you-” 

“Ardyn.” 

Ardyn’s stomach dropped, he bit his lip in actual fear and turned around very slowly to see Gilgamesh standing behind him with his sword in his hand. There was no doubt in Ardyn’s mind he had seen him murder Somnus or at least heard Prompto shout what he had done from the rooftops. 

Fuck. 

Ardyn gave his brother’s shield a nervous laugh, staring at the weapon in the giant’s hand and gulped, hard. “I can explain this…” 

Ardyn didn’t get a chance to explain. 

In one fatal strike of the shield’s weapon, Ardyn literally lost his head.

---

Noctis slowly peeked his head around the door and noticed that his dad was sitting at his desk, scribbling away, supposedly hard at work or he was doodling. It was probably the latter. But he wasn’t here to criticise his father’s work ethic, he was here because it was the best hiding place Noctis could come up with! And probably the safest place in the world for him right now. 

Ardyn, Cor, Somnus and Gilgamesh were pissed! All of them were pissed at him! And the only one capable of saving him from the ‘Immortal bunch’ was his dad! 

“You are lucky both grandfather and uncle Ardyn have already thought to look in here, young man.” Regis chuckled, not looking up from his papers. 

Noctis closed the door behind him, locked it and didn’t bother to hide how much comfort those words gave him. “I didn’t know it was going to turn into a blood-scourge bath.” 

Regis glanced up and shook his head. “When doesn’t it turn into a blood-scourge bath with those two?” 

“Fair point.” 

Noctis sighed, returning to the chair in front of his dad, where he had sat before all this madness had taken place. “Well at least I’m not engaged to Prompto anymore and Ignis doesn’t want to kill me.” 

“It’s always a bonus when your advisor doesn’t want you dead.” Regis agreed, putting his pen down - and sitting here Noctis saw that his dad was in fact only doodling. “The amount of times Wesk threatened vegetables over me and the restriction of my nap time is far too scary for my brain to comprehend.” 

“Have Ignis and Wesk been in contact recently?! Iggy uses the same threats over to me!” 

Regis laughed. “Probably, advisors are crafty in nature.”

“It’s the worst when Gladio agrees with him though.” 

“Oh don’t even get me started on a ‘Clarus and Weskham’ team up, Noct! After enduring one of their punishments I was finding sand in my hair and my bed for weeks!” 

Noctis’s smile grew wider, very intrigued to hear the events of this particular tale. Even though Noctis knew he had to finish the engagement list that they were going through earlier but it could wait. Spending some time with his dad felt just that little more important to him. 

Especially as… for some reason or other… Noctis thought that in the near future he wasn’t going to be able to do this with his dad for much longer… he didn’t know why he was thinking this way and he truly didn’t want to fester over it. 

All the prince wanted to do was see his dad smile and spending time with him was the key to exactly that. 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 151 of The Daemon, the Soldier and a Stolen Bio-Weapon AU