~ Heine ~

The king of the realm of Glanzreich rests his elbows on his desk, and smiles.

'I have a request, Royal Tutor.'

I bow, eyes on the carpet.

'I would be honoured if I could fulfil your request, Your Majesty.'

This feels like a constructed ruse enacted on a stage.

For all the kingdom knows, our acquaintance is due to the matter of his sons' education.

I glance up. The king's high steward bows and makes his exit, leaving His Majesty and I alone, framed by a violet-stained view of Glanzreich.

What the kingdom doesn't know — is that the king and I have history.

He exhales. Smoothly swings his feet up onto the desk, and in the same movement unfastens the braided gold collar of his jacket with one hand.

'This behaviour reeks of habit, Viktor.'

'Don't tell me that your academic uniform is any more comfortable.'

I flick the tassel hanging off my mortarboard to the side. I dislike having things at the edge of my vision. It feels like having someone in your blindspot.

Viktor takes his leather boots off the desk and stands. He towers over me, but then again, most people do. Most people also assume I'm a child, and I'm anything but. 'Please, sit,' he says.

I sit on the edge of his desk. My shoe clicks against the coat of arms embossed on the desk's front. The hand-carved national motto catches at my heel — Unteilbar und Untrennbarer. Indivisible and inseparable. Viktor takes a decanter and two crystal glasses from a sideboard. He gives me a wry smile, and his eyes betray his humour. 'I'd offer you a drink… but I can't give wine to a child.'

I cut him a sideways glance and flick the glass from his grip and into my fingers. 'If you were wanting a captive audience for your jokes, perhaps you should make better use of the audience chamber.'

He laughs. 'I can't break tradition now.' He pours for the two of us.

'Prost!'

Soft lights flicker outside: the glow of candles in windows, polished street lamps, fires burning brightly in the countryside, far away. I watch Viktor. He looks out the window, over the kingdom. His kingdom. The lights reflect in his eyes and spill gold dust into blue irises. To be able to see the rewards of one's work is always a reward in itself. He's worked hard for it. For this.

I'm merely glad that I'm able to help him build this kingdom's future.

Victor drains his glass and sets it down on the desk.

I swirl the yellow amber in my glass. 'So? Why did you request an audience with me?'

'I can't merely catch up with an old friend?'

I watch him out of the corner of my eye, emptying my glass as well. Viktor straightens his jacket and fingers his shoulder-length blond hair, untangling it from the medallion around his neck.

'I want you to take on the role of bodyguard for the princes.'

I know perfectly well what he's asking… but I feel the need for further clarification. 'Would you care to elaborate, Viktor?'

'I'm aware that you've stepped in on my sons' behalf on multiple occasions. You defended Kai during the von Fuchs incident. You accompanied Bruno when he went to meet with Doctor Dmitri of Orosz. You frequently accompany Licht during his shifts at Cafe Mitter Meyer. And Leonhard… All right, not Leonhard. But you see what I'm getting at.'

It's all true. I set my glass down and the base of it cuts a crystal splash over the mahogany. But I'm a teacher — not a bodyguard, nor a soldier. I merely grew up in a… difficult environment and had to learn how to live according to the fact. Having a chequered past isn't grounds enough for what he's asking.

'Forgive me, Viktor — but I'm inclined to request that you release me from this. The princes have perfectly competent guards, and I'm here as their teacher, nothing more.'

Viktor rests his head on locked knuckles, and his hair falls over his hands.

'I'm aware of all that, Heine. And I'm aware that this situation will be opening up old wounds for you.'

My breath hitches.

He looks up. 'I didn't want to ask you. But — '

'How could you not?' I say. 'I would be in a perfect position to protect them from behind the scenes. You want what's best for your sons, and the opportunity is too good to pass by, as a father and as a king.'

'Thanks for understanding. But you can say no, Heine. Really.'

I could. But it's you. My one weakness.

I evade the point and change tack. 'Is there anything that I should know?'

'In other words — why am I asking you to do this now, when I've had good opportunity and reason to ask you before?' Viktor's smile doesn't reach his eyes. 'I'm afraid that I have no good reason, yet.'

I fix my gaze on the glittery landscape out the window. 'In other words — something's wrong, but you don't know enough to start flinging accusations around the kingdom with free abandon.'

'As sharp as ever. I'll follow this up and attempt to resolve it myself,' Viktor says, flicking through papers on his desk, 'but I'm going to be leaving the country at the end of the week. It's for this diplomatic meeting that's been on my calendar all year, but now it's just around the corner, with the worst possible timing. Hence my request, so to speak. I need your help to get this under control and I'm not willing to leave it up to chance.' He fingers the worn edge of a telegram. 'Do you think I'm paranoid?'

'Most parents are. Besides, someone has to do it.' I cross one leg over the other and close the curtains. '…I won't be able to protect all of them at once.'

'I know. That's what Maximilian and Ludwig are there for. As you said yourself, the princes have competent guards. But Heine… frankly, your skill alone makes you a terrifying opponent.'

I scoff, and glance at the portrait on the wall. The one of the king cutting his way through Europe with a double-edged rapier. And he's saying I'm terrifying?

He rests a hand on the dress sword at his side, and says, 'You're the one who taught me everything I know, after all.'

We lock eyes. 'Very well. I won't fail you, Your Highness.'

'Very well, Royal Tutor. Or should, I say, Royal Tutor-Bodyguard?'

I slip off the edge of the desk. 'That's just absurd.'

He laughs. 'Hyphenated ranks are all the rage now.'

'Spare me.'

Viktor fingers his empty glass, spinning it in his fingers. 'I'm curious, Heine. You know, there's a reason you were the first to come to mind when I thought of this. No matter the circumstance, you're always focused, and always prepared.' A trace of the steel that shapes him shades his expression. 'Have you kept your edge, my friend?'

'I'm afraid I don't understand your meaning. If you're asking if I'm carrying weapons: no one is allowed before the king while armed. How would one even get past the guards?'

He waits.

Always prepared? Perhaps. More like skilled at prediction. Skilled at guessing what goes on in this palace.

And I remove my coat, the silk lining sliding off my shoulders.

I have an ivory-handled six-chambered revolver strapped to my waist, and the holster cuts across my waistcoat. A stiletto knife glints behind my arm in a sheath. And my teacher's pointer hangs from my belt, because I am a teacher first and foremost after all.

I confess it's been a while since I've carried so many weapons, however.

The faintest trace of a smile lights Viktor's eyes. 'How would one indeed?'

I bow. 'If you'll excuse me, I have lessons to prepare.'

I leave, and stride, coat billowing behind me, down a hall of paintings and gold and rulers gone by, past the very guards that dismissed me as harmless for nothing more than my child-like looks.

I adjust my glasses. Glance over my shoulder.

And disappear, the darkness painting my weapons with shadow.

End of Prologue: Steel Heart

To be continued in Act 1: Blue Whip...

WELCOME TO
THE WORLD OF
…THE ROYAL BODYGUARD…

The Story Begins With:

'The Royal Bodyguard' (Completed)

Yet to Come:

'Alone Together' (June)
'Mein Schatz' (September)
'Red Banner' (December)
'The Royal Gardes du Corps Féminin' (TRB's Sequel)(2020)

On the Timeline:

- Set after the anime, and references the anime-original backstory.
- Set during Volume 7 of the manga.
- Set between 'Chapter 38: We Are Rivals!' and 'Chapter 39: Twinkling Love'.

Backstory:

Manga and anime plot information has been combined and streamlined, with the idea that the characters are continuing through the manga storyline after having learned the backstory information from the anime.

Headcanons:

- (Dead!Queen) In an attempt to rationalise why the queen is barely mentioned, I experimented a little. But Volume 10 (in which Adele vaguely hints that the queen is alive), was not in print at the time of writing. If the manga confirms that the queen is indeed alive, then I'll rework this story to be canon-compliant when I edit the TRB series at a later date.

Personal Canons:

- (Bodyguard!Characters) Given that bodyguards can easily slot into the TRT Universe, if a character can be one and still be canon-compliant, then it's definitely happening.

Notes:

- Complete: Yes
- Edited: Yes (April 2019)
- Canon-Compliant: Yes
- OC's: Yes
- Warnings: Violence (in all shapes and forms), Peril (if someone isn't dying then they're probably about to be), and Angst (or so I'm told).
- Anime Spoilers: Yes
- Manga Spoilers: No. But if I ever need to include major spoilers for the manga in the TRB series, I'll tag those chapters with an Author's Note.

TRB Project Progress:

In April 2019 I did a quick edit of this story and 'The Next Steps.' Once I've finished writing the TRB series, then I'll go back through and revise it in its entirety for consistency and canon compliancy. Edited stories will be tagged '(Edited)' and revised stories will one day be tagged with a '(Revised)'.

This Story Is Dedicated To:

shalom.03
Thanks for reading all those first-drafts, apprentice.

Author's Note:

Guys... What can I say? This was a side project. A pile of printed pages and fanart in my desk drawer. It was a random question I asked myself over a year ago: 'What if Heine became the princes' bodyguard on the side?' Then someone gave me the push to post this thing online, and somewhere along the way... it became one of my most favourite projects I've ever worked on.

Now I'm sitting here writing author's notes and adding explanatory material, because somehow after hundreds of thousands of words and what will eventually be six stories later, it became a series. How'd that happen, again? I'll blame Higasa Akai's gorgeous books, the ones I'm writing these stories about, because her series made me who I am as a writer and I wouldn't have it either way. And to everyone here, thanks for coming along for the ride. -Electrikitty, April 2019

And without further ado...

…IT'S TIME FOR A LESSON…