"Alright, then…" Lloyd sighed softly again. Nathaniel had fallen asleep in Lloyd's arms by now.
Cinderella AU // OxO // Closed
Ellis looked over at the princes.
"…I worry about him." Lloyd said softly, glancing down at Nathaniel. "He's so delicate…"
"Maybe you should stop putting him in situations that upset him, then."
"It was for the good of everyone, Ellis. I don't typically do reckless things without reason."
"Yeah? You've been doing a lot of reckless things lately."
"Because there was an assassin running around and I needed to deal with it. It's basically my job to protect the people. What if I hadn't gotten him? He could've hurt you again, he could hurt Nathaniel, my father, Anton, anyone! I had to."
"Or you could have let other people deal with it. People whose job it is to deal with this sort of thing."
"I don't want them getting hurt either! That's what happened to Philip! I'm not going to just let people die for my sake."
"Lloyd, you're the prince. You're more important. You can't just risk yourself like this."
"The people are more important to me than myself. If getting stabbed is what it takes to keep them safe, so be it."
"You reckless, stupid, stubborn prince!" Ellis burst out exasperated.
"I just care about other people than just myself! I don't care who I am; I'm not just going to let people die for me!"
He groaned. "God. Just…"
"I refuse to sit idly by while people are dying! And anyways, the situation has been dealt with and I'm not dead!"
"Yeah, but only by chance!"
"I'm not as stupid as you think! I wouldn't have gotten myself killed!"
"Yeah? You sure about that?"
"Yes! Because I know what I'm doing!"
"I don't believe you."
"I went to war, Ellis! And I didn't die! Clearly I've got some experience!"
"Yeah, well the fact remains that you're a complete and utter dumbass!"
"Maybe so, but the fact remains that I took care of the assassin and he can't hurt anyone else!"
"But you got stabbed!"
"But I didn't die! I'll be fine soon!"
"Yeah, but–"
"But what? Like I said earlier, the benefits outweigh the costs for me."
"Oh, forget it."
Lloyd sighed. "I just… want you to understand that this is important to me. If I have to get hurt for the good of the people, that's what I'll do."
"Yeah, I understand. I just…ugh."