Thread by @astralismika, [tcf]au where, instead of transmigrating into cale henituse, kim rok soo reincarnates [...]

[tcf]
au where, instead of transmigrating into cale henituse, kim rok soo reincarnates into one of the roan kingdom's princes-
basically, him and alberu are actual brothers
half-brothers, but still brothers

note: in this au, kim rok soo's name is apollo- apollo crossman

alberu is known for not liking his younger siblings. he acknowledges then, but he dislikes them. a big reason as to why is because of his brothers' and sisters' parents- specifically, their mothers.

many of the king's lovers who bore him a child wished for their own child to gain power and strength in the kingdom. as the first child of the king, his status was undoubtedly a big hurdle and a major cause for concern for his siblings and their mothers

however, with kim rok soo- well, now apollo crossman- it was different
the reason was simple.
it was because his mother was dead.

she died giving birth to him. therefore, krs had no one to back him up, to defend him from the others. it didn't take long for him to grow up and end up becoming the metaphorical punching bag of the entire royal family

although his own mother died when he was young, she at least still left him with people he could somewhat trust and people who could take good care of him.
but apollo... he had nothing
he had no one

krs'/apollo's mother was the daughter of a fallen noble family of another kingdom- she was not even a resident of the roan kingdom. she was an outsider, a foreigner, and was shunned by the other concubines (idk if concubine is the right word- but idk what else to call them)

even when she was alive, she only had a handful of servants tending to her. even then, the servants were only really doing their job and didn't care for her all that much. the only reason why they bothered was because the king himself ordered them to

so, the day that his mother died, apollo was neglected
he was still cared for, but it was only the bare minimum. none of the servants really cared enough for him, only giving him food and occasionally letting him down to the floor to play

admittedly, alberu felt sympathy for kim rok soo/apollo crossman. he was just a baby, barely even a year old, and his life is already pretty shit

however, his own life is also shit and he has a lot of things to deal with himself, so he doesn't pay much attention to this particular younger brother of his

that is, until one day, years later, when alberu comes across apollo in the stables, feeding the horses. he was wearing clothes that were even worse than a servants, and he was covered in filth. he wasn't at all what one would call a prince.

alberu wanted to ignore him. he wanted to just ;eave him be. after all, it wasn't any of his business-
however, something about this younger brother of his made him step forward and call out to him

and that was basically the start of their relationship-

alberu took apollo under his care and took care of him himself.

he made apollo move out of his shabby castle (over the years, it's been basically neglected, and it wasn't really all that big- if anything, it was more akin to an abandoned manor) and move into his. he provided apollo with food and clothing and taught him how to read and write.

he taught him how to wield a sword to protect himself (krs is terrible at it) and taught him how to be able to read others with just a glance, to be able to discern who was wearing a mask and who was not

in short, alberu taught him everything he needed to know in order to survive in this world- to survive as a prince
he also learned the proper mannerisms of a prince on top of that-

as kim rok soo, he was able to easily adapt to many situations, and that didn't change now that he was apollo crossman

he was able to learn quickly, and even alberu himself at some point stated, "you're like a hidden genius in the sea of morons"
sea of morons, of course, referring to their other siblings

alberu and kim easily bonded with each other
they had more or less similar views on many things- they had a mutual dislike for nobility, more notably their other siblings and their own father. they both shared the same pains of not having a mother figure

(although alberu admits that krs definitely has it worse than him, in a way. krs' mother died before he even knew her, while alberu at least had the chance to know his mother. additionally, he had his aunt, tasha)

it didn't take long for them to regard each other as true brothers- not just two people who happened to share somewhat of the same blood

additionally: i just want protective older brother alberu
i have a thing for protective characters-
just- alberu protecting krs from harm- both in the form of their siblings and their father

alberu hides apollo from zed, because he doesn't want zed to realize just how brilliant apollo is. if their father does, then he will easily become the new target of their siblings,

since they would fear that the position of crown prince would be given to apollo, which would undoubtedly be unfavorable towards them (particularly for those who used to bully him). plus, their own father might decide to use apollo for his own benefits.

to alberu, it was better if it was himself who received the knives and daggers of their siblings and became subjected to their father's manipulation (although his manipulation isn't really all that effective- alberu's not dumb enough to fall for his tactics).

he could take it. he's faced it for several years now, and he can put up with it
however, he will never allow apollo to be put in the position that he was in.

he wanted apollo to grow up peacefully, not having to worry about all that much. nor did he want the weight of the kingdom to fall onto apollo's shoulders (he also simply doesn't want apollo to become king.

it's a bit selfish, but he just doesn't wish to give him that seat. alberu was even prepared to fight krs head-on for the position. fortunately, krs has no interest in politics and would rather sleep than fight for the throne)

addtionally, another reason why krs/ apollo was ostracized was because he, unlike the rest of his siblings, did not have blonde hair nor blue eyes. in fact, his hair was dark as ebony and his eyes were a sort of reddish brown.

in short, he looked similar if not identical to how he did when he was still kim rok soo- the only key difference is that he doesn't have any scars.

it's sort of comforting for him, in a way, but it's lead many to label him as "cursed" or "abandoned by the sun god"
it's also one of the reasons why zed decided to cast away this son of his

it's a bit funny, really, considering the fact that krs is named apollo, which is a name related to the sun god, yet he's said to be shunned by the sun

it's a cliché story point of him looking different from his siblings-

however i do have an idea for why krs/apollo specifically is different from the rest of his siblings, just like alberu, who is mainly different because of his dark elf lineage

and that's because the sun god isn't chaining them
it was sort of hinted at in the novel that the sun god was keeping a close eye on the roan kingdom- specifically, the crossmans. it was a kind of guard and prisoner kind of relationship-

where one party kept watch of the other's every move. however, both alberu and apollo are free from this gaze
alberu because, again, he's a dark elf
and apollo because he's a reincarnation

krs/apollo's appearance is also maybe one of the reasons why alberu was softer around him. after all, they were basically the same. they both lost their mother at a young age and they both looked different from the rest of their family.

although, of course, alberu's was less evident because he's had his appearance altering magic device since he was a child-

while apollo was in a position where it was already impossible for him to masquerade around as a person with blonde hair and blue eyes because everyone already knows that he doesn't

since krs/apollo can't hide what he looks like, alberu just does the next best thing: protect him

i imagine alberu doing it more in secret. he's afraid that apollo would become a bigger target for their other siblings and be put in danger all because of his relationship with alberu

so, alberu decides to hide his attachment to apollo
this is also a way so that they wouldn't think of apollo as his weakness and use him [apollo] against him
so, to outsiders (namely their siblings and other nobles),

he makes it seem like he simply saved and sheltered apollo in order to gain some good guy points from servants, as well as to gain an easy target to manipulate to become absolutely loyal to him-

the more it looked as if apollo was just a poor boy who was being manipulated by the "tyrannical" prince alberu, the less likely it was for apollo to become a target

still sort of trying to figure out how they first meet choi han and about the whole henituse situation
i refuse to kill raon in this au-

maybe krs/apollo is forbidden from attending royal events (like baquets and balls) because he's seen as a disgrace?
because of that, he's able to have some free time to go wherever he want in the months (yes, months) that lead up to the event

normally, alberu makes apollo stay in his castle with the company of his [dark elf] servants to make sure he's safe- however, this time, apollo somehow managed to convince alberu to let him explore some of the other noble territories outside the capital

thanks to that, he was able to travel all the way to the henituse territory

you know what? i'll bullshit some stuff
because i wanna make apollo and cale childhood friends

because honestly, i want og cale in the team
so, before this, apollo had been able to also go outside the capital on some occasions, starting from when he was a teenager (around 13 to 14)
he still had to have secret guards at the time, but that was normal

that's when he met cale henituse, someone who was the same age as him and also born on the same day (because why not

)

apollo, of course, recognized him as the trash young master of the henituse household. he knows who cale is and what happens to him in the future.
in true krs fashion, apollo tells himself that he doesn't care and tries to leave cale be-

but somehow, he just keeps ending up helping the young boy avoid getting into fights he can't win, escaping from thugs, and even makes ends up helping him get through some more personal struggles

(namely cale's grieving for his mother's death, his feeling of being lost, and, later on, his drinking problem)
in the end, they both become good friends

because, surprisingly, they also have some things in common
that being the fact that neither or them give a shit about what other people think

it would be nice if cale was the first one to know about apollo's ancient power, the indestructible shield, as well i think

they'd both be close friends in this au, and i imagine that cale would have helped apollo navigate through the slums in a way that would ensure that he lost his hidden guards and reach the man-eating tree
idk tbh, it's just a nice idea in my head

cale isn't as scummy in this au, since he had apollo to partially guide him onto the right direction- he's not an alcoholic either, which is good

anyway- onto choi han
i imagine that apollo would have gone to the henituse territory again in the days leading up to the nobles' meeting

that's when he first meets choi han- whom he came across when he was simply walking down the road- hunched up against a corner i nan alleyway. apollo recognizes him as the main character of this world.

he tries to ignore choi han- he really does- but he just can't
there's something about his pitiful state that made him move instinctively (maybe because his sorry state reminded krs of his teammates)

he doesn't really carry or support choi han- gods know he'd just crash onto the floor trying to lift him up- but he does lead choi han towards where he needs to be. along the way, he also ends up picking up the two kittens he'd also seen the last time he was here. he figured-

why not just take them with him at this point? he's sure that butler hans person from the count's castle would love them. or, if the cats didn't like him, he's sure he could just talk to alberu about it

when he leads choi han to the henituse castle, he's immediately greeted by both cale, who'd evidently just gotten home from a day of patrols (he ended up joining the henituse county's knights at some point- mainly because apollo pushed him to).

he stares at apollo, the kittens in his arms, and the strange man limping behind him
cale: wtf is this shit

apollo managed to convince cale to let choi han inside and let him rest before arranging for him to meet with count deruth in the morning. cale doesn't know nor does he understand why apollo was so insistent on helping this random stranger,

but he ended up just sighing and giving in. it's been 5 years since they both met, cale knows how stubborn apollo is
that's how choi han ended up where he needed to be in the story- inside the henituse castle with a chance to talk to deruth about harris village

the only difference was that cale didn't get beaten up like a cheap sandbag

the kittens are also taken under hans' care. however, they refuse to get too close to the butler and only let him feed them. they also refuse to leave apollo's side- they're like ducklings glued to their mother

since cale isn't a scumbag in this au and has a better temper, he's allowed to go to the nobles' meeting. at first, apollo was going to just stay behind,

but cale argued and said that there was no point in him staying anyway if he was going to go back to the capital just a day after the meeting anyway.

cale mentioned that it'd make more sense for apollo to just hide out in the henituse manor in the capital and just wait until the meeting ends there. apollo eventually ends up agreeing

apollo also ends up giving choi han the information about the red haired mage and wolf village- he told him that he had to go there and meet those people as a repayment for "saving" him

when venion appears first, apollo stays inside of the carriage while cale goes outside to assess the situation. when cale looks as if he's about to punch the daylights out of venion, however, apollo pulls up the hood of his cloak to hide his face and steps-

-in between them, subtly making cale back down. fighting would be beneficial to no one, and it would only potentially cause harm to the henituses

venion looks at the hooded figure (apollo) with suspicion but ignored him otherwise and just went on his way

also- yes, apollo still has the tools needed to save raon
him, choi han, cale, on, and hong all make a move in the middle of the night to rescue raon. (they found out about on and hong's identity around the same time as the novel-)

choi han and cale were both in charge of keeping away the enemies and knocking them out while apollo was, of course, in charge of the actual rescue

they do wear the fake arm uniforms too- and cale disses on apollo's bad sewing techniques
cale: what is this, a kindergarten arts project?
apollo/krs: oh please, like you can do any better

i like imagining banter between apollo and cale it just sounds fun

anyway- raon rescue is successful and apollo ends up having a dragon follow them all the way to the capital, how great

when they reach rock village, only then does apollo remember about the ancient power there
so, he ends up sneaking out in his cloak and crawling through the dirt hole to get it

the scene is basically the same as the one in the novel
when he comes out, however, ron is there to greet him
ron: where have you been?

apollo doesn't know how to answer-
ron just laughs at his shocked face and drags apollo back to the place they're staying at
he draws a bath for apollo and tells him to wash up and go back to bed

ron secretly secretly cares about apollo- since he was the only one who was able to drag cale back onto the right path
deruth is also grateful towards apollo, and thanked him profusely for "saving his son" at some point-

they also end up helping out cage and taylor still-
since apollo is a prince, he has better equipment to make one invisible- but they still make a show of making cale seem like a trashy noble with a terrible temper to make the guards back off

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this is all i had written for this au, i hope you guys enjoyed! i might add on to this here and there in the future (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
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extra note: some parts of this thread might be out of place like the naming and stuff- that's mainly because i ended up changing krs' name halfway through making this au and i might have missed some parts of it eheh

also, this au is all compiled from a long seriesof messages from discord, so that might have also caused some problems with the flow- i'm not entirely sure hehe
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