chapter four week one
trigger warnings // none

it has only been one week since diana arrived here, and god she hate it here.

it's not because of the place, the food, the other workers, or something of that sort.

it's ranboo.

well, she wouldn't say that she 'hates' him, but he's just really annoying.

so bright. trying to hang out with her every second he saw her.

so different. compared to her. and diana doesn't like that.

"dumb fucking spoiled prince." diana always murmured after ranboo finally went away after bothering her.

but well, she accepted the job. what more can she do?

----

day one.

a day after their first meeting.

diana is quite...confused? hyped? she don't even know at this point.

as she exited her room to start her day, she already has ranboo walking behind her.

"oh hello, ms. lovegood!" he exclaimed with slight excitement.

diana sighed softly and turned her head to see him.

he has a soft smile while waving slightly when he saw her looking at him.

he looks really kind compared to his height which makes him quite scary.

"uh, hello." diana sends him a fake smile.

"what are you doing?" he asked, a smile now evident on his face.

can this boy just stop bothering me? this is my first day for god's sake i'm just trying to go eat in peace.

"uhm...i'm just going to go get breakfast." diana answered.

"oh what a coincidence, me too! do you maybe want to go have breakfast together? so we can chat for a bit before the day start."

"i-"

"i'm afraid you can't do that, your highness," a voice interrupted. "your parents have requested you to have breakfast with you everyday, remember?"

diana and ranboo looked at the person, who turned to be fundy.

oh my god thank you so fucking much furry man.

"oh yeah, i almost forgot about that." ranboo sighed.

"well, i guess i'll see you later after breakfast then! i hope you like the things we're- well, i'm going to do today." he said.

the butler and the prince then walked to the other direction where the royal dining room is, leaving diana alone in the hallway.

god fucking dammit. if that's the person i'm going to protect, how am i going to survive?

----

day two.

just another day.

diana really hope that ranboo would stop bothering her.

well, if she's being honest, he wasn't technically bothering her. he was just there, existing, as his kind, shy self.

but well, that's the thing. diana are not the type to really hang out as 'friends' around people, especially ones like ranboo.

but oh well, what can she do anyways?

right now, she's waiting for ranboo to finish his sword fighting practice. a good time for her too, she can observe how she can easily kill him from today and plus he's away from her now.

he acts quite...clingy? friendly? oh whatever, diana really can't really see the difference so she just labeled it as a 'bother'.

she watched him fight against his instructor, swishing his sword in ways she knows.

he was pretty good, debunking what dream told her.

he then finally finished his practice, already changing back to his normal attire. he then approached diana, who was just looking at the swords that ranboo's mentor own.

"h-hey there ms. lovegood! i'm ready to leave." ranboo greeted, slightly panting from rushing to her and the practice earlier.

"ah, you're finally done. alright. let's go." diana sighed. she sure does sigh a lot, huh?

as they were walking, diana looked at ranboo's hair. it was quite damp from sweating. because of that, she took out a small handkerchief from her pocket, and hold his hand to stop him walking away.

"h-huh?" ranboo's eyes went slightly wild. "stop for a second. can you like, kneel down a bit? like not on the floor just- lower your body a bit i can't quite reach you." she told him.

ranboo just stayed silent, eyes wide. no one has talk to him like this. well, not like he thinks like it's impolite or some sort it's just...surprising. he then followed what diana told him to do, still quite confused on why is she asking him to do this. he didn't see the handkerchief in her hand because he was standing in the right while diana is holding the handkerchief in her left hand.

diana then got closer to him, to his face to be exact. "w-w-woah there, what are you doing?" ranboo slightly jumped back out of embarrassment. he was slightly blushing. well, who wouldn't be blushing at this scenario? some lady that you just know is getting closer to like she's going to kiss you.

"hey there buddy, chill. i'm just trying to wipe the sweat from your forehead and hair. your parents is pretty strict, they literally warn me if you look untidy going to lunch, they're going to do something to me. i don't want to risk it, buddy." diana face-palmed.

"well you could've just give it to me?!" ranboo softly screamed. diana sighed, and just started to wipe the sweat with her handkerchief. "don't you see your gloves? it's literally dirty. you don't have any handkerchief in this clothes." "how do you know if i have a handkerchief on me or not?!"

"i- it's common sense. you're wearing a shirt with a tie and black pants only. you don't have your suit with you. i saw that you keep your handkerchief in your suit on the first day i met you." diana said.

now it's ranboo's turn to sigh. "i guess you were right. alright then." diana then continued to wipe the sweat with a slightly red-faced ranboo.

"don't think that this is some romantic thing, your majesty. i think it's quite obvious i'm not interested in you in that way," she said.

"or in any way, to be honest."

----

day three.

oh god diana is just so done with ranboo. it's been three days and they already have a minor argument.

fucking spoiled prince, getting mad at her when she's trying to help him.

so now, diana's just sitting down at the royal garden. it was really pretty, and diana is actually holding a black rose in her hand given by the gardener. kind fellow, she should say.

without her noticing, ranboo has got closer to her with his quill and book in his hand. he then sit beside her, shocking her.

"what are you doing here?" diana asked while looking at him. "nothing." ranboo replied while starting to write on his book.

"i- what? aren't you supposed to be in the library studying?" "well yeah, but i'm quite bored. and plus i'm still studying. look."

diana looked at his book, and he was studying. huh.

"so why do you come here specifically?" diana said after a while. "i-i want to know why do you seem to hate me so much." ranboo explained without looking up from his book.

"what do you mean? i totally don't hate you."

"yes you do. and because of that, i want to know why."

----

day four.

yesterday was weird. what in the world is ranboo doing?

oh well, let's just put that aside. it was weird, but diana should be thinking about other things such as how to take down that spoiled prince.

right now, she's accompanying ranboo to school. ranboo's parents actually offered her to go to the same school, which she obviously denied. the school is filled with people that has a high status in herieth, and honestly diana can't really see herself being between these people.

and so they walked in to the building, and diana explained about how she's ranboo's so-called personal bodyguard. the guard doesn't seem surprised, it seems like this happened a lot. diana was only one year older than ranboo, maybe that was the reason the guard asked about who she was.

they entered the school, and diana and ranboo went seperate ways because it seems like the personal butlers and/or bodyguards of people attending the school seems to have their own place to wait.

so currently diana is sitting there, tea on the table beside her and a book in her hand. she did talk to some other people there, but she couldn't really get along with them due to their age difference.

waiting and waiting, and finally every students went out of their class for a lunch break. diana instantly look for ranboo.

after finding him, he said that he wanted to sit with some other people from his acting club. obviously, diana allowed him.

she went back to the previous place she was. she just sat there, not doing anything but watch other kids her age having fun with their friends. she can even see ranboo hanging out with his club mates. he seems pretty awkward, but they all seem pretty close either way.

i wish i could enjoy things like this as well.

----

day five.

diana feels like her head is going to explode because of ranboo just existing. is this maybe a beginning to a enemies to lovers type of story? surely not.

i mean, diana is the only one hating the other so maybe half enemies to lovers type story? i don't know.

but oh well, she is now accompanying ranboo to the castle's library. she was actually pretty excited for this, due to her love for literature. her deceased grandfather was actually a librarian, and they were very close.

while ranboo was strolling through the many shelves, diana also did the same.

she looked around, impressed by the amount of books there. she could see some books that she recognized, and some new books she haven't see.

she saw a familiar book between the shelves, one that she used to read over and over again. the book 'little women' by louisa may alcott. a book about the four march sisters-meg, jo, beth, and amy-and details their passage from childhood to womanhood.

truth to be told, she was not really interested by the book when she first read it until it displays more of the romance going on between jo and her best friend laurie. after reading the rest of the story one night, she stayed awake at night, heart aching because the two didn't end up together.

diana become a huge fan of romance since reading that book. she might not seem like the one to like that genre, but she sure love it a lot.

as she was lightly reading one of her favorite chapter, she didn't notice that ranboo has approached her silently, curious of what she's reading. he sure does like appearing at random places, huh?

because of his height, he can see what she's reading. little women? and the romantic part of the book? interesting.

"so it seems you like romance, huh?" ranboo asked.

"oh. my. GOD. stop appearing at random places please. with all due respect." diana said while shouting, but obviously not too loudly because of where they are.

"h-hehe. but you haven't answer my question, so you like romance?" ranboo slightly smirked out of mischief since he can see diana slightly blushing.

"i- i don't like romance. stop it."

----

day six.

can't believe the first week of her work is already close to an end, yeah?

time sure does move quickly. but oh well, what can we do?

diana...doesn't know how she feels about ranboo. not in a romantic way or something of that sort- just in like how does she feel about him as a person she's supposed to kill.

the thought is obviously always in her head, but today she just thought about it a bit too much since today and tomorrow is break for her. she was just in her room, but then she heard knocking on her door.

the person knocking opened the door softly.

"ms. lovegood, it seems like your king and a certain someone has sent you a letter." furry boy- i mean, fundy, said while holding two letters in his hand. diana then stood up from her chair, approaching him to take the letter.

"who's the certain someone?" she asked. "the person asked to remain anonymous." he replied while closing his eyes and shaking his head for some reason.

"i uh- alright then. thank you." she thanked him. he nodded and leave, of course closing the door first.

she opened the first letter, the one from the king. it's just another letter of him reminding her about killing ranboo and threatening her. diana really can't have a break, shaking my head.

she sighed as she placed that letter aside, and started to open the other letter.

hey, i just want to say please don't hate me :D i'm nice i promise.

- r.

she stared at the letter, slightly confused at first. who the hell wrote this? they even added a drawing of a...thumbs up after the second sentence.

she stared at it for a while, but then it clicked. ranboo. the initial at the end fits too.

"i- did this person really just sent me a letter to say that they're nice? what-?"

----

day seven.

last day. woohoo!!! oh wait, i meant last day of the first week. damn :")

anyways, today diana decided to revisit the royal garden. she has always liked gardens, and seeing ones this wide is really nice.

as she walked around, she could hear a soft piano playing. she doesn't know from where, but she is intrigued.

she decided to follow the beautiful song, looking for the player of the piano. it wad quite hard since the garden looks like a maze.

after around three minutes, she is finally close to the piano. the player of the piano has played a new song, but the song is just as beautiful as the previous one.

it seems like there is an area where the leaves are surrounding. she slightly peaked, to not get caught.

she saw ranboo, the prince that she 'hates' playing the piano. his parents are sitting down while drinking tea to see their son play the piano. it was quite a beautiful sight in diana's opinion if she didn't hate ranboo so much.

she stop peaking, but she didn't leave. she stayed there to listen the beautiful tunes that ranboo played.

"that was a beautiful song, dear! i knew i taught you well." queen olivia exclaimed. "i agree, you did a great job son." king rowan said proudly.

"hehe, thanks mom and dad. it was pretty mediocre, but mom did taught me very well." ranboo replied, a little bit overwhelmed of the compliments.

diana stood there, and listen to their conversation and ranboo playing the piano again. diana has always have a soft spot for people who act like that. she doesn't know why.

that was kind of nice. i suppose ranboo isn't that bad- no. i need to focus. he is my target. why am i even here listening to them?

----

to say that diana felt conflicted and confused at the end of that week was surely an understatement.