A Royal Affair
!Link Hyrule Castle

Zelda's coronation ball is scheduled for this weekend. As her personal knight, it is my duty to aid in preparations.

Being busy with the ball will serve me well. Anything to release my neurotic thoughts as of late. I find that I cannot even manage to concentrate on my training without thinking of my last encounter with Y/N.

I have never met a woman with such astounding pride before.

Were my actions not those of a gentleman? Was my offer that insulting?

Then, there are the deeper parts of me that want to find out how she is recovering. Yet I know I cannot.

At least not until the ball. Zelda has informed me that Purah's team from Hateno as well as Robbie's team have been cordially invited. Which means,

Y/N will be in attendance.

Once I gained knowledge of the guest records and saw her name on them, a funny sensation washed over me. My chest was met with a jolt of discomfort. My heart rate accelerated, and I thought for a moment that I may be ill. The paper became saturated from the perspiration of my palms. As I paid attention to the silent language of my body, I realized it was simply nerves.

I was nervous.

So that night, I decided to waive my right to sleep and sneak into the royal library. I became engrossed in the articles of my previous title, The Hero of Time. I also read his account of his findings in Termina. It seems the young warrior was searching for his friend, who departed his side after he saved Hyrule. He found himself within the deepest hollow of a deciduous forest. If Termina exists, the only deciduous forest I could surmise is that of the Lost Woods.

However, I did encounter something troubling. Some of the pages have been torn from the books.

Something is being hidden.

I am Zelda's date for the ball. There will be little time for me to converse with Y/N, if at all. But somehow, some way, I will inform her of my theories. I will politely inquire about her state so that I may rest easy.

Then I will leave her be, if that is her wish.

Though I know it most certainly is not mine.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kilton was a monster of a man.

Whispers passed between the mouths of the residents in Akkala the same way the wind swooshed through their bountiful trees of harvest. People were curious about Kilton and his face, which could freeze an ice wizzrobe with a simple glance. He was the owner of the traveling shop, Fang and Bone. Well, if you could call it a shop, it was more of an oddity parlor masquerading as a shop. Adding more to Kilton's mystique was the fact that his shop was hard to pin down. The Fang and Bone was a vestige of a store the same way Kilton was a vestige of a man. If you were fortunate enough to catch Fang and Bone, it would only be in the wee hours of the night, when monsters would shatter through earth and haunt its plains.

Then there was Kilton himself. His shop specialized in all things weird. All things... occult. Hylia forbids you say that word, however. Admittedly, he didn't attract people who were interested in his shop.

No, they were interested in him. The freak that he was.

Even when he would greet a lone traveler beneath the impasse of moonbeams on a river's surface, they weren't there to purchase stock. They would whip out their Shiekah slates. They would shoot photos of him and laugh.

Kilton couldn't stand the sound of their laughter.

They would point and whisper. Then they'd run off into the night, crueler than the monsters that could shred through his skin. These humans liked to shred through his heart.

Sometimes, Kilton would wear one of his masks. Masks were made to hide behind, after all. And so, after someone was wicked to Kilton, he would pull on one of his masks and silently weep. The masks were never big enough to house his face, drenched with fat teardrops. He would rub the cheap latex of the masks into his flesh, hoping it would adhere to it. He hoped it would possess him so he could metamorphize and shed his human skin.

Humans are the worst kind of monsters. He'd much rather not be one at all. Thanks to his protruding fangs that gave him a ghoulish overbite and his cylindrical head that jutted up so high it could tickle the stars, he was already kind of a monster.

Appearance- wise anyway.

He threw some Hinox toenails into a frothy violet concoction that was stewing in a large cauldron. As he stirred it, he was instantly transported to his great- grandfather's favorite shirt. That's the reason he started this stupid mask business. His great- grandfather had inspired him with wild tales of faraway places.

His great- grandfather and his wide, grin that looked like a shoddy paint job on his face. Kilton knew that, despite his own disfigured face that garnered him vilification, his great -grandfather had met the same bullies because of that smile.

In fact, his great- grandfather created his shop because of his smile, which was more disconcerting than the masks he sold.

The Happy Mask Shop. It was like a spit in the face of the degradation his enemies served him. Kilton brought the ladle of monster stew to his lips, sipping it.

Much too hot for right now.

Yes, perhaps it was the cruelty he endured from humans that made his great grandfather also turn to the comfort of masks and what they offer.

The possibility of being someone else.

And Kilton knew of one mask in particular that might provide him with the someone else he wanted to be.

Kilton glanced at the letter stamped from Hyrule Castle, a formal invitation to all the citizens of Hyrule to the Queen's coronation. Kilton couldn't believe he had been invited.

As he poured the stew into a bowl, he had a brilliant idea.

If the mask of great evil that his great- grandfather spoke of truly exists, Kilton had a hunch where he may find it.

He watched the steam vaporize the air above his bowl like a ghost howling at the clouds above.

Yes, Kilton would get his hands on that mask.

And then he'd show them.

He'd show them all.

                                   ❤️❤️❤️

"Y/N, you've swept the same spot for the past ten minutes." Jerrin crossed her arms in your direction, tapping her foot against the floor. "I appreciate you wanting to help, but really you need to rest. Something traumatic has happened to you."

Jerrin and Robbie had forbidden you from working since your robbery. With your savings gone, you really didn't have much of a choice. Unless you used the rupees, Link had infringed upon you.

Link. The thought of your actions made your stomach lurch into your throat.

"I must work, Jerrin. I must..." A huff of exasperation escaped your lips. Jerrin rushed to your side as she saw your knees begin to wobble.

"Y/N, please, you're overdoing it. If it's about the rupees, can't you take the offer from Link? He and the Queen are most generous; it's ok to need help sometimes. When you're ready to work, we can pay them back."

"We?"

Jerrin gave you one of her motherly smiles. "I don't want to say I told you so, but if you would just stop going to that damn stable. But I know that your savings for a home were in there. Robbie and I would help you pay Link back."

You found yourself leaning on the broom handle. How could you be so tired from simply sweeping? "No, then I'll just be indebted to Link, you, and Robbie."

Jerrin stalked away in a fit of giggles. She returned with an envelope in her hands. You could tell by its crisp ivory color that there was something prominent within. "I suppose you could talk to Link about your debt at the ball!"

"Ball?"

"The Queen's coronation! Link is going to be Zelda's date! Oh, I can't wait to see what dress she wears. All the glitz and glamor..." Jerrin continued with a wistful sigh. "Maybe Link will propose to her! Could you imagine?"

You dropped your broom when you heard Jerrin say "propose." "If he proposes to the Queen, he'll surely be in a good mood; I doubt your debt will even be on his mind. Maybe the Queen will even talk him into forgiving it."

"I never asked him for anything to even be forgiven!" You snapped. "That settles it. I will give him his rupees back at the ball. I am done worrying about this!" You weren't sure where your irritable mood swing came from, but you were certain why it came.

You know he and the Queen are an item. It isn't possible that they aren't. No man, in his right mind would do what Link so selflessly did if not for love.

And you didn't care. The sooner you gave him his pity payment back, the better you would feel. You wanted to rinse your hair of Link once and for all. But if that were true, why did your chest feel like someone set off a firework within you when you thought of him.

"So, you see, Y/N, that's why I need you to rest; I want you to be in top shape for the ball." Jerrin winked at you, and you knew you weren't going to like what she said next. "Who knows. Maybe Hylia has a special man destined for you, and he'll be there."

You opened your mouth to contest her statement, but your lips were met with the shadow of a finger hovering over them. "Oh! I love events like this! We must put you into something smashing! Don't give me a tough time either!"

"Actually," you took Jerrin's hand and held it in yours. Your question felt like a glob of honey stuck in your throat. "I would like to wear traditional Shiekah clothing if I may. As a homage to all the Shiekah have done for me."

"You- WHAA-?" Jerrin grabbed her chest and teetered backwards, the surprise consuming her. "Robbie! Robbie, come here!"

Jerrin ran out front to see him in front of Cherry stoking her with a branch.

"Y/N, wants to wear Shiekah clothing!"

Soon, you were sandwiched in between Jerrin and Robbie, who swirled you around in elation. You didn't see what the big deal was. Much like the Kokiri raised the Hero of Time, the Shiekah have always been a candle in a darkroom for you. While you didn't have all the answers, their guidance and hospitality got you further than you ever could have alone.

Something a prissy knight boy wouldn't understand.

But then, there was something you didn't understand either.

If you didn't like stuffy Sir Hero Knight, why were your thoughts constantly flooded by the image of him asleep on your desk.

You couldn't wait for the royal coronation ball to pass.

Then maybe this feeling will as well.

Edited: 6/9/23