Rose

Rose and his brother, Treze, were adopted by Mistress Erina very soon after their birth. Being the first born, Rose was the crown prince and heir to the throne that Mistress Erina held. There was no fanfare surrounding their adoption, and Rose was the only brother ever largely in the public eye. He, unlike his second-born brother, was the subject of everyone’s grand expectations from the moment he became Prince.

Mistress Erina was not looking for a child. She simply desired an heir that she could influence and mold in her image, an heir who would do everything correctly. Rose was taught from the moment he was born that failure resulted in scorn. If he wasn’t exactly what Mistress Erina wanted to see, he was worthless… Rose’s brother, who was treated unfairly by Erina for the crime of being born second, was an example of what “failure” led to. With that threat hanging over him, young Rose grew to fear the consequences of being less than perfect.

He made sure to never fail, never make a mistake, never show anyone any side of him other than a well crafted persona. Rose had to be perfect. He always had a calm smile and didn’t dare let his expressions reveal his thoughts. His tone of voice was friendly, and he studied the arts of discussion and small talk so he could always carry a conversation. It was everything a prince should need to present himself with confidence.

Behind this smiling mask, he hid everything. If Rose was not effortlessly perfect at something, he would not let that fact come to light. He would only show sides of him that reflected well on his abilities. No one was allowed to see the Rose that was bad at something or the Rose that practiced for hours in secret just to present the final result as if he’d always been the best.

Then came a certain grand ball. Rose wasn’t very approachable, but a courageous young lady broke custom by asking the prince to dance. She was beautiful and seemed so giddy when she asked - Rose was enchanted by that smile and those eyes. He couldn’t refuse the request… and so, they danced. It was the most amazing dance, but it came to an end all too quickly. He never even got her name before she faded into the crowd

He’d see her again, though, at another dance. And then another. Her name was Esmeralda. They’d started meeting each other outside of the palace balls. When Rose was with her, he no longer cared about his mask of perfection. He genuinely smiled and laughed and loved. Unfortunately for the two lovers, this love would not be written in their stars for long.

While the relationship wasn’t public news, other members of the Aurum were aware of it. Mistress Erina had remained silent about it until she started seeing sides of her son’s personality that she detested. While it wasn’t obvious, she could tell there was a difference. He was less attentive. Distracted… by her. Erina never saw any benefit in love when it only made those involved become lax in their duties. She wanted Esmeralda gone.

The Mistress offered Rose an order: exile Esmeralda himself or both Rose and his lover would be cast out by Erina’s hand. Faced with the option of losing everything he’d lived his life for, Rose was too scared to make any other choice. As much as it hurt his heart, he felt that he had to choose self preservation over the woman he loved most. He put on his mask of smiles and deceit, and he told the girl who had done nothing wrong that she was exiled. He strained to keep his eyes dry while he told Esmeralda a lie: he no longer loved her. She had to leave the city. She was no longer welcome there. He burned that bridge and hoped it’d hurt less that way, but in reality he regretted everything the second Esmeralda left the room in tears.

Rose didn’t know what to make of his feelings. His mother told him to blame Esmeralda; he couldn’t. Searching for some explanation as to why his love was doomed, he turned on himself. It wasn’t Esmeralda’s fault he loved her, it was his for not controlling his feelings and letting them get in the way of his duty. It was a flaw that he could love - an inescapable defect that got in the way of his perfection. He just had to make sure that piece of himself wouldn’t see the light of day again.

After Esmeralda, Rose was content with hiding behind his mask and doing as he was told. It was simple that way, and he made his own fun by being an annoyance to his brother and whatever other unfortunate souls crossed him. He still longed in his heart for something more, but he suppressed that as much as he could.

(snipped paragraph) where he met Holland, a secretive member of the Magistratus who never revealed his face to anyone. Holland yelled at Rose for being irresponsible, an act that bothered the prince so much that he assigned Holland as his personal guard just to get back at him. He thought that his presence would be punishment enough, but this plan backfired horribly… when he spent so much time with Holland, he found himself charmed in a way that was all too familiar.

Rose was immediately sent spiraling into a whirlwind of emotions he didn’t want to confront. He was back to being conflicted the same as he’d been years ago. In hopes of making the feelings he felt go away, he fired Holland and avoided him for weeks. This didn’t help, and Holland confronted Rose on the past he’d learned of in his time being fired. He said that he, too, had grown close to Rose - neither of them were doing anyone a favor by hiding from the truth.

Rose was so tired of hiding from his own heart - he wanted to love and be loved, no matter how much he said he didn’t. He warily accepted Holland back as his guard and they’d take it slow. Rose still felt guilty about Esmeralda, and he felt bad that he still loved her even after his past actions made that love hopeless. He couldn’t think about Holland without thinking about her as well.

When he confided in Holland, a surprising solution came to light. Holland’s face, which Rose had still never seen, had a curse upon it. It made anyone who saw the bearer’s full face fall deeply in love with them, something that had ruined Holland’s life in the past. Holland warned against it, but Rose was so intent on getting rid of the pain he felt that he would do anything. Rose hoped it could make him forget about Esmeralda.

So he took the chance… the curse worked. Rose no longer felt anything about his past love - no happiness and no sadness about losing her. It was bittersweet, how happy he could be only because of what he lost. But now he could be imperfect with someone again. He could love and laugh with a genuine smile again. Although his memories of Esmeralda now lacked any passion, he could freely dance with Holland without his heart feeling waves of sadness.