Grivaria

The king's eyes opened slowly due to the blinding light beaming into the room through the tiny cracks in the curtain. He groaned as he brought himself to lift his head from his desk. He felt as though his brain was trying to remember something, trying to recall a dream. He shook his head thinking it was nothing important before stretching his arms. He looked around, realizing he had fallen asleep again in his study. He slowly rubbed his eyes. He also looked to make sure to pick up the various books and papers that had fallen on the ground whilst rambling that he should take better care of himself. He only picked up a few, but he was satisfied with his work. He laughed at himself and got up from the chair that he was sitting in and looked at himself in the mirror next to his desk. His hair and beard were both entangled and messy, while his shirt had a moist spot from his own drool. He laughed at the way he looked, thinking how embarrassing it would be for his own people to see him like that. He then looked at the little calendar he had next to his desk and realized he was actually scheduled to attend a meeting later in the day. He looked at himself some more in the mirror before smiling. He walked towards the exit, then looked back at the room around him. The room was a simple study filled with books, papers, among other common things. He spent most of his time in the room as he liked reading and gaining the knowledge books held. The kingdom was in a time of peace, meaning he'd had a lot of time to himself. He gave one last smile before he walked out of the room. He made his way down the narrow hallway, passing by many rooms on each side. He smiled and casually greeted every servant he saw on his way to his room. They all smiled and greeted him back. He looked out the few windows along the walls of the hallway, admiring the view of his kingdom that each window gave him. He had a happy feeling inside himself as he saw the common everyday life walking and running from place to place. He approached the door that opened to his bedroom and turned the doorknob before pushing it open. what greeted him on the other side was a neatly cleaned room. He sighed and smiled as he closed the door behind him and walked over to his wardrobe. Opening the doors to the wardrobe, he was greeted with a bunch of neatly placed robes, shirts, cloaks, and day to day clothing. All were custom-made just for him which made him feel somewhat special. but since he was the king, it was normal for him to receive such luxury no one else had. He quickly scanned through the multiple garments before settling on a robe he quite liked. It was a light grey one with special markings all over it. There were multiple little strings you had to tie to make it fit, but it was quite cozy. He took off the clothes he had on before putting the robe on. He took the time to try to carefully do each string correctly, but he knew he messed up on almost all of them. giving up, he decided to take a quick look in the mirror next to the wardrobe. Once he noticed how messy his hair was, he picked up the brush next to his bed and carefully brushed his hair. After he got as many tangles out as he could, he set the brush down and looked in the mirror once more, thinking it looked decent enough to get a pass as a successful job well done to him. He smiled, then approached his desk that was located in the center of the room, under a big window. He slowly pulled the chair out and sat down (With a small disagreement from his back) before taking a more scrutinous look outside. What met him was his home. a city he has known since his birth and raised him to what he was today. The everyday crowd was coming and going, innocent people going among their regular everyday lives. The king smiled as he saw children playing in the streets. He smiled, but he knew he envied them. Envied the childhood innocence they had. Since he was born into a royal family, he never had time for such trivial things. He was raised to always be proper and to not play with any toys or games. He hated this while growing up, but in his older days, he looked back and understood why it was like that. His parents were only raising someone they could trust to take over once they were gone. And it had to be him. And honestly, they had done a successful job. But ever since he had put the crown on his head, his life had been full of pain, unrealistic expectations, and the burden of everyone's lives on his shoulders. He would never say it out loud, but he had moments where he wished he hadn't been born into royalty... wished that he had been born a normal child who had friends and could go outside and play whenever he wanted to. He enjoyed his job a lot despite all that though, because he takes pride in everyone believing in him and taking pride in having him as their king. He performs his job to almost perfection. but as the days go by, and The hairs on his head and chin are grey from old age, he has bit hit with more and more stress every day. from the stress of his body one day giving out, or his mind going mad. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw that the children had stopped and waved cheerfully at him. The king smiled and waved back. Seeing the children reminded him of his own children. Oh, how he wished they hadn't grown up so fast. Once they became of age, he had sent them both away on separate missions to different areas and kingdoms to improve diplomatic relationships. He knew it was a risky move to send them both, but he was confident in them enough to know that they would both return alive. His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock at the door. The king waved away the children before slowly getting up from his chair. He cleared his throat before telling whoever was on the other side to "come in!" The doors opened slowly to reveal the head servant of the castle, who was also a good friend whom he had saved from their previous job to come work at the castle. After seeing her he smiled. "Hello, Lidia. What are you here to remind me of this time?" Lidia chuckled before clearing her throat. "The knights are waiting for you in the meeting room. I was told to come get you as they figured you had lost track of time again," a look of disapproval filled Lidia's face as she looked at the king's outfit. The straps and ties around the robe he was wearing were done incorrectly and looked as though they were about to fall off. She sighed and motioned for the king to approach her. The king laughed before doing as she commanded and stepping towards her. She then took to tightening, and knotting all the strings correctly, wiped away all the dust she saw and made sure his outfit was presentable. She then took out a mini comb she held on her at all times and quickly fixed the king's hair, obviously not approving of the job the king did himself. Once she was done, she stepped away and smiled at her work. The king laughed as Lidia did all the work for him again. "I'm really sorry, I keep thinking I could do it better but it always ends up being a mess in the end". Lidia chuckled and smiled, "don't worry about it too much. Your disability is what gives me a job in the first place" The king pretended to be hurt at that comment, putting his hand up to his heart and giving Lidia a sad face. Lidia laughed and shook her head. "Alright I'm sorry, just stick to your main duty, and I'll stick to mine. Now that I've reminded you I'll be heading off now, the dishes still need to be done for tonight's dinner. speaking of that, any requests for dinner tonight?" The king thought for a moment before giving a cheeky smile. Lidia immediately knew what he meant and smiled. "Alright guess we are having giant pig again tonight. I'll make sure to go get the ingredients from the butcher. I'll see you after the meeting however to give you more information about the messenger the Lunar kingdom is sending our way. Have a great day my king." Lidia then quickly bowed and smiled. The king smiled back and thanked her before she left the room. The king then took one last look outside the window before making his way out of his room, and towards the meeting room.