Heavy rain was pouring down, hard enough to blur the world into grey, when a man walked out of it and stopped over him.
"Are you dying?" the stranger asked. "Do you want to live?"
He answered immediately, because there was nothing else left in him to answer with. He wanted to live. He wanted it more than anything.
"I can save you," the stranger said. "But only on one condition. Once you recover, you work for me."
He agreed without hesitation. If he could escape the situation he was in, he told the man, he would do whatever was asked of him.
Then the stranger removed his cloak, and both of them went still, because they were looking at the same face.
The man laughed. "This is perfect," he said. "I need someone to act as my replacement. I have two identities to manage."
"Two identities?"
"I am a mercenary," the stranger said. "And I am the prince of this nation."
That answer stunned him so completely that he had no reply at all.
The prince took him back to his office and introduced him to one of his trusted attendants, and explained the arrangement as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. From then onward, the two of them would switch roles whenever it was necessary. Whenever the prince went out as a mercenary, his replacement would act as the prince. And whenever the replacement handled the mercenary work, the prince would take care of the royal duties.
He could not believe how easily the prince was handing all of this to a stranger picked up out of the rain. He said so. He asked, out loud, whether this man was truly a prince at all.
Another servant standing nearby admitted that he was also surprised. It was a miracle, the servant said, that the kingdom had survived this long under such a carefree prince.
When they asked him for his name, he thought about it and shook his head. His real name would probably have no meaning in this world, he told them. They could think of him as someone without a name.
"Then use my mercenary name," the prince said. "Royal. My real name, as the prince, is Daniel. But whenever I work as a mercenary, I am Royal."
Royal turned to the servant. "Has he always behaved like this?"
"Always," the servant confirmed, helplessly.
Daniel only looked more delighted. "You said you were no ordinary person. Are you secretly a prince from another nation?"
"No." Royal shook his head. "I came from another world entirely. A world completely different from this one."
"Do you want to go back there?"
"There's no way back," Royal admitted, and the sadness of it sat in his mouth like a stone.
Strangely, that made Daniel happy. "Then stay by my side from now on."
Royal could only stare at him and wonder whether there was something seriously wrong with the prince's mind.
Eventually the two of them formed their alliance, and Royal began living as Daniel's replacement.
Two years passed.
"Are you really sure about this?" Daniel asked one morning, leaning over the desk to study Royal's face from an unhelpfully close distance. "Sure we weren't separated at birth? Look at us. Are you absolutely certain my parents didn't misplace one of you?"
Royal sighed. "I came from another world. I have told you this."
"Details." Daniel straightened, dumped the entire day's royal responsibilities onto the desk in front of Royal, and headed for the door. "Handle everything. I'm going out."
The door closed. Royal looked at the paperwork.
"One day," he muttered, "I am actually going to kill him."
Later that morning he met the king, who did not realize for a moment that he was not speaking to his own son. The king greeted him normally, said something pleasant, and went on his way.
Afterward Royal contacted Daniel through the magical orb they used and explained the situation. Another nation's ruler would soon be visiting the kingdom.
"I don't have the confidence to face a guest like that alone," Royal said. "Come back."
"You'll do fine," Daniel said cheerfully. "He isn't coming for political business. It's a casual visit. There's nothing to worry about at all. Oh — my friends are calling me. Bye."
The orb went dark.
Royal stood there with the irritation crawling up the back of his neck, then went and found the butler and ordered a grand banquet prepared to welcome the visiting ruler, Emperor Lenhard.
He had heard a great many rumors about Lenhard. That he was incredibly handsome. That he was still unmarried. Every woman in the kingdom would probably lose her mind over the man's arrival, Royal thought — and then noticed, strangely, that he himself seemed to be more nervous than any of them.
When the banquet finally began, the entire hall was stunned the moment Lenhard entered it.
Royal greeted him formally, and then found that he had nothing else to say, because the rumors had undersold the man badly. As they talked, Royal realized that Lenhard was also far kinder and gentler than he had expected. That should have made things easier. Instead it made him more nervous, because Lenhard kept looking at him — not glancing, looking — with an intensity that did not let up.
Later, when Lenhard turned to speak with the other guests, Royal felt something drop in his chest that he recognized, unwillingly, as disappointment. He told himself he had misunderstood the situation entirely.
A young woman approached him. "Are you all right, Your Highness?"
Royal smiled awkwardly. "I'm only tired. Preparing all of this took a great deal out of me. I think I'll get some fresh air."
He walked out into the garden and sat there quietly, alone, until eventually Lenhard came and found him.
"It's a beautiful garden," Lenhard said, and did not look at the garden while he said it.
"I'm glad it pleases you," Royal replied politely.
"You didn't need to prepare so much for my visit." Lenhard paused. "May we spend some time talking? Privately."
They talked in the garden, and the peace of it stretched on, and it became more and more obvious that Lenhard was becoming completely captivated by him. Eventually Royal noticed how late it had grown, and stood, and offered to escort the emperor back to his room.
Lenhard refused gently. He wanted to remain in the garden a little longer.
After Royal had gone, Lenhard sat alone with a hand pressed flat over his own racing heart, and asked himself why he kept thinking about Prince Daniel in such a way, and why, no matter how long he sat there, his heart would not calm down.