Link woke up early, he went inside his closet and changed into a simple mustard tunic and black breeches. Was about to head out when he noticed Zelda sitting up hugging her belly.
"You are not training today; I don't feel like squirting you like a ketchup bottle"
Zelda stays laying on the floor but glares at him biting her tongue. She refuses to begin her day throwing insults and snarky remarks. So, she chooses to just nod at Link instead.
"By the way… you need to keep a registry of your cycle. Call Carla and ask her how, she can guide you through that"
Zelda sits up suddenly curious "I… will do that, thanks. What are you going to do now?"
"My exercise routine, and then see if I can still avoid answering a letter without repercussions... since I am a prince now"
Zelda looks at him a little worried "Why won't you answer it?"
Ziel sighs "Because I know the contents of it"
"Would you mind telling me? if you didn't commit a crime, maybe I can help?"
"It's a letter from my ex-fiancé, requesting that I show up to talk about the compromise, she wants me to back off on my annulment of the engagement"
ZELDA POV
THE ANNULMENT OF A FUCKING WHAT?
Zelda starts chocking on her own saliva due to the shock. Once her coughing fit ends, she takes a breath and asks.
"You were engaged, you broke it off, and she wants to get you back on board. Did I get everything correctly?"
Raziel nods drawing the letter out of his pants and handing it to Zelda. She quickly reads the sender and opens her mouth and eyes wide.
"PRINCESS RUTO?" she starts shaking her head "But she is a FISH"
"Aquatic humanoid is a more appropriate term… she does have gills, but also has the appropriate sex organs to incite and accommodate me"
Zelda glares at Link with aversion "I… am not going to ask how or why you know that"
Link chuckles "It's hard not to notice… either way, I don't want her"
"THAT I believe, who would? From what I remember, she is stubborn, selfish, arrogant"
"And the list goes on… I KNOW, she does have one good quality though. She cares for her people and actively tries to uplift the Zora race"
Zelda rolls he eyes "Because she was obviously thinking of her people when she said: lets marry this Hylian boy… Sounds more like a tantrum if you ask me"
Please, tell me you are not actually considering marrying her.
Link directs his eyes to an upper corner of his vision frame "It's not a simple tantrum, I believe she is infatuated with me"
Zelda glares at him with a little of anger at first, but that immediately morphs into genuine curiosity "So, Ruto actually got out of her egocentric self to look at you. How did you achieve that?"
"Not easily" Ziel sighs "I was young and naïvely stupid at the time. She lost something inside Lord Jabu-Jabu, I retrieved it for her"
"You mean the massive whale? You would have to go inside it if you don't want to cut him open, essentially killing it in the process…" her face goes pale, Link just sheepishly grins at her.
"Din, Nayru and Farore." The Princess exclaims.
He retrieved it without killing the whale, against all odds… because of course he would.
"I don't hate her, I really don't. And I am sure she has matured a lot, aside from developing beautifully… but I still prefer my fish grilled you know"
He just told me he finds Ruto gorgeous, didn't he? how can he find someone like her to be anything but disastrous? SHE IS NOT BETTER THAN ME… or is she?
"I know now" Zelda says staring at Link with hatred and deeply hurt.
Link nods at his Princess and opens the door to exit.
Zelda blurts out "You are a Prince now, you have to answer, you can't keep stalling this"
Link stops before crossing his door frame and looks back at Zelda over his shoulder.
"I was dreading that… I will head to Zoras Domain later today"
"DON'T YOU DARE" Zelda says crawling to pull him back inside "If she still wants to marry you, she should come to you at least, not the other way around… You are no longer Link Saller, you are Raziel Link Nohansen, that is a few steps up on the hierarchy scale. Write her a letter to inform her that if she still wants to discuss this matter, she needs to come HERE… and set a date for this meeting, if she fails to show up you are not obligated to discuss with her about this again"
Link stares at his Princess amazed, and a little in shocked. "Confronting her in her territory is not the wisest move I presume, will do as you kindly advised me"
Zelda smiles as she drives her right hand to her chin pondering "Our Postman is fast, like REALLY FAST. Write that letter now and send it, she will be receiving it today, you may even receive an answer from her today too… Set the date of that meeting tomorrow. I don't want this to interfere with your job."
Link smirks taping her forehead with his index finger "Good thinking" he pulls his desk drawer and takes some paper, a pen and some ink. He quickly stars writing.
Gosh, he writes fast, and his handwriting is beautiful, so elegant… DAMN IT. I need a calligraphy class.
Once Raziel is done he folds the letter and rubs Zelda's hair before leaving. The Princess huffs as she stands and heads to Link's closet. She stares at her messy hair in front of the mirror and starts to fix it.
I… don't think I can be present when Link meets with the Zora Princess, this is more of a personal matter between them, me meddling on that would be a bad public image for me. BUT I JUST DON'T WANT TO LEAVE HIM ALONE WITH THAT SUCCUBUS.
Well, she is coming here at least; decorum demands her to dress out of respect for us and our culture. I hope Link kicks her to the curve fast… she can't be the one to have him, ANYONE but her.
Zelda sighs and exits the closet once she hears Chacha entering the room.
"Good morning my Princess, it is still early, I won't start cleaning the room yet. I just came to give you this note from the Queen"
Zelda takes the note and quicky reads it.
I am to go to the royal chamber to talk to her ASAP. We are eating breakfast together. Well, the idea feels nice… but what are we talking about?
Zelda slowly heads to the north tower, were her mother awaited her arrival. She was about to knock when a maid opens the door from the inside, the brunette respectfully salutes the Princess and performs a curtsy before leaving. The Queen amicably calls her daughter to enter the room. In front of Claire was a table full of different foods and treats.
"Good morning mother… isn't this too much food?"
"Yes, it is. I had no idea what you would like to eat, so I tried to order a little of everything. I even ordered a tea for the menstrual pain" the Queen laughs loudly "Rolo had NO IDEA what I was talking about, I told him to ask Nana, he went grumbling"
Zelda smiled at picture of the cook pulling a tantrum in front of her mother. Sitting down she asks "Mom, am I in trouble? Or what did you wanted to talk about?"
"Grab a fucking plate and chose something to eat first" the Queen opens her eyes wide and sighs "damn it, I am sorry. I keep treating you like the rampant toddler that refused to eat a few years back... But you are a lady now"
I don't mind mom, I used to… but not anymore.
"I love you too" Zelda says as she grabs some scrambled eggs, bacon and an apple.
The Queen is caught off guard and just walks around the table to hug her daughter "I know… sit, let me explain what is going to happen from now on"
The Princess sits anxiously looking at the Queen. Claire takes her choosing what she is going to eat and sits down across from Zelda.
Claire sighs "Zelda… you are considered a lady now; you are 13 and your cycle has started. That means you have entered the dating pool"
Dating pool? Is that a thing?
The Queen smiles at Zelda's distressed face "You are just going to be receiving visits from young man… or maybe older man… Overall AVAILABLE man. People that want to meet you and are interested in courting you"
"What if I don't… is there a way to delay this?"
The Queen shakes her head "The King has already been refusing suitors; yesterday's noble came trying to negotiate with us about approaching you. He claimed that you are already 13 and that should be enough. But Daphnes still refused claiming that you had to meet the criteria imposed to high novels eons ago, you have to be 13 or older and have reached a fertile stage" Claire smiles sadly "I still see you as a baby…. MY BABY. But since that is no longer the case I can't protect you further"
Well… not all of the nobles have to be pompous brats, right? maybe I get to meet somebody worthwhile.
"WAIT, what about Raziel? Isn't he supposed to be meeting girls too?" Zelda asks.
Queen Claire laughs at that a little "Yes, but he refuses to. He claims that if a noble girl requests a visit from him, the girl's father must earn that visit by doing his job and treating the people fairly" Claire tilts her head grinning "I support him on that"
"All right, that sounds like a good filter. Let's do that for me too"
Clare shakes her head "You can't, you may not share the King's blood, but you are his daughter by marriage… That means you are obligated to meet with EVERY NOBLE AVALIABLE. Link is his son only by adoption, making him legally unable to contest you for the kingdom, even if he wanted to. Apparently, he finds it tedious" sighs "That means he is not obligated to do anything, but YOU ARE"
I entertained the idea that he accepted the King's adoption because he wanted the throne. I have come to the realization that he is BETTER THAN ME. Physically, mentally, even emotionally. He excels me in every fucking way and I am willing to yield him the throne if he asks for it. But now turns out, he never wanted it.
[Saria and Malon smiling and waving at her] Oh yeah… those two exist. I guess Link never wanted to be King, he just wanted to assure that he will be able to help and protect those girls. Being Hyrule's Prince is a position that guarantees that.
I am a little jealous, why does he bother looking out for them? he gains absolutely nothing from it.
After the long pause, Zelda finally blurts out.
"It's not fair… but if I have to meet with them, I will do so, UNDER MY CONDITIONS. Meaning it will happen on the day and time I please. I don't want this to interfere with my studies, the sword training or when I get the chance to follow Ziel to the quantum world"
The Queen squints her eyes "Ziel? That is a cute nickname… I will relay this to my King. Sounds reasonable enough so he will agree, I am sure"
Zelda smiles and continues to eat. Grabbing some apple pie too she bluntly states "By the way, Raziel may be receiving a visit from his ex-fiancé tomorrow"
Queen Claire spits out her food and starts coughing aggressively, scaring the Princess who started yelling for help.
LINK POV
"Is that you Ichiro?" Link looks at the carpenter up and down "I swear you just made my day. What are you doing?"
Link said admiring the man's body, Ichiro had lost most of his belly and his arms looked stronger.
The carpenter laughs "Pretty much the same, but now I lift mi legs a few times, and I can also lift my chin over the door header like you, but just 5 times before I fall"
"STILL PERFECT, but when do you train? I haven't seen you around, thought you got bored or discouraged"
"NO. I just hate being an inconvenience, so I build my own doorframe in my house's garden" he cackles remembering "The wife thought I was crazy, but she is more than pleased now and sends you this" Ichiro hands over a burnt milk with hazelnut candy "It's a tank you gift. She made it herself, and it's delicious"
Link takes it, and bites on it immediately producing a moan "No wonder you where over weight, send your woman my thanks for the candy"
"Will do… I actually came here to ask, am I doing it right? I was hoping for my belly to have disappeared by now"
Link chuckles "I actually though that it was going to take you longer to reach the point you are at now. You are doing great; it does take time… but anything that is worth it does. Keep it up and don't be a stranger, come by from time to time to say hi and to flaunt me your body… you are going to grow big from what I can see"
Ichiro laughs loudly "Of course I will… on a side note, the doorframe works my arms and abs great, but what can I do for my legs that doesn't cost me? money is tight you know…"
Link ponder about it "You can try squats" he performs one for the carpenter "No added weight at the moment… you have to learn what it means to lift with your legs first. Spoilers, the morning after you are going to hate me"
"I… will take that in consideration. Thanks, I must go now, see ya" He waves and starts running back home or to his job.
THAT, was a very pleasant surprise. Might have been what I needed before facing the 2-legged mermaid.
Link then notices an unnatural cloud of dust coming his way, he immediately took a defensive stance. But then everything stopped and he noticed… it was the running man. The Hero had met him running around Lon Lon Ranch, and somehow 7 years later, he became THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE.
[The postman is fast, like… REALLY FAST] It appears he is already on his way to becoming Sonic the hedgehog, hahaha.
"Good morning my Prince, I have a letter for you" the postman hands over the letter and remain idle.
Link quickly grabs it smiling "Thanks man, that was fast. I don't intend to send a replay, you are dismissed"
The post man bowed and said "I remember you, thanks for the bunny hood mask… and for the job idea" grinned genuinely happy and left running again.
I am so glad he actually listened to me, I remember he loved his job as a post man in Clock Tower so I figured that maybe…
*No you don't remember, you CANT*
Yes I do, they all got inside me, I remember EVERYTHING, even though I did not got to experience it firsthand… that is why I find my job as Zelda's mentor difficult. I encompass eons of frustration and hate towards her.
Link finally opens the letter to read it. At first, he was puzzled since it appears to be an empty sheet of paper, but at the top right corner it read ¨I will be there my love¨. Raziel groaned rolling his eyes.
Talk about a fucking waste of paper