THE TYRANT AND THE GAUDANI AU-A BITE OF LORE= Catnap N' Dogday Relationship.

THE TYRANT AND THE GAUDANI AU-A BITE OF LORE= Catnap n' Dogday relationship.

This is the central point of the AU itself; and if you were expecting something romantic... well, you're wrong. Catnap and Dogday starts their relationship off on the wrong foot. And they had several stages before it became functional. So, here are the stages:

1. awkward first meeting

Catnap and a group of soldiers from the Empress's household of Crimson Noir invaded Astrawald's capital in a desperate attempt to regain status (I'll explain why in a future illustration), as it's a territory the Empire has always targeted. However, they were disastrously surprised when the Gaudanado civilians knew how to defend themselves to the point of causing trouble. Furthermore, the man who seemed to be in charge did something unthinkable for everyone: hurting the imperial prince, who is a fighting machine. The prince was able to remove his mask, and realizing he was extremely young and beautiful, something instinctive in him told him, "I want him for myself." In a macabre deal, he placed him face to face with his latest trick: a poppy gas bomb, the most dangerous weapon in the world. It was either go with him or he would blow up the entire capital.

2. Why isn't courtship working?

Once in the empire things for Dogday were completely uncomfortable: the emperor instead of stopping the madness despite initially believing that he was committing a "gypsy wedding" tries to cover up the whole act and start doing everything possible to make it someone "civilized" so that the empire would finally have access to the almost infinite resources of the empire (since the empire is going through a serious season of famine because the territories they have conquered left the arid land on purpose and the territory of Astrawald is known as a virgin and fertile land for any crop) exclaiming Dogday as the best trophy that his empire could ever obtain; returning to him his status as a legitimate prince.

Added to that, he has to endure the hostile environment of high society, the mistreatment of the wet nurse designated to reeducate him, who has no privacy because a few hours after being in his room they discovered that he was "a false man" and suffer for clothes and food. so after having to endure Catnap's courtship it's just a joke in bad taste.Catnap, for his part, begins to get frustrated because Dogday treats him with rejection; even more so because none of the advice he gives him works, he is even more frustrated when "the saintia", the most powerful authority figure outside the control of the emperor and the church, announces that she would be Dogday's godmother, voicher and guardian; someone who could help him not only delay the wedding date as long as possible but also contact Gaudanado allies to get out of there ASAP.

Even so, Catnap still had more power than him and tried his best to make him play his game… until…

3.equal conditions

Dogday was already lost regarding Catnap and everything that surrounded him= he's a prince; but everyone speaks in a pitiful way and that they will be surprised that the Emperor returned his influence of the crown, saying things like they would have to find a new imperial family and that this one would fall very soon… it was something that was rumored throughout high society, but he was not clear about one thing.

One night of a full moon, where he goes to complain about Catnap's abandonment of him at a party where he got into a fight, he discovers something interesting: the "sick" prince is actually cursed with a beastly form every full moon. And if it became known, it could undermine the image of the imperial family if it became public. The reason he was desperate to find something or someone to give himself power. With this information, for the first time, Dogday had an advantage over Catnap; he has power over Catnap. But even in his innocence and naivety, with this information, he decides to make a deal with the prince: annul the engagement (with the power he acquired through his kidnapping and engagement) and free them, in exchange for not making the information public and asking Bobby to treat his curse. And the slightest sign that the cat fails to comply with this agreement, he will immediately open his mouth, and Bobby has the right to stop the treatment.

Catnap was stunned; it was the most merciful thing anyone had ever done to him, and he didn't know how to react. There was no lying, no malice; his actions were clear, and even Dogday was helping him!

He learns more about Dogday while being cursed; he knows he was cultured because he knows manners and how to interact with foreign visitors (and not precisely because of the witch of a wet nurse assigned to re-educate him), but when he watches over him during full moons, he learns what a Dogday is like without the need for that facade of hostility he was forced to build. He felt that bestial side that wanted Dogday all to himself was growing, but at the same time, the rejection made it all the more devastating to know that Dogday didn't want to have that same interest; he forced himself to find any reason to reject him, even if they had interests in common. In a question, already frustrated, he asked him why he did this, and the answer Dogday gave him was "It doesn't matter that you are the sweetest man in the world, you threatened me, you kidnapped me, and you're using me for power… you can't ask a prey to see you as an equal if you, as a hunter, haven't put down your weapon."

4.It's just part of the deal...

A night, the karma hits him in the form of a legitimate Gaudani soldier who not only overwhelms him, but also defeats him and cuts off any chance he has of calling for reinforcements. When he realizes that this soldier is there to kill him… Dogday interrupts and recognizes the soldier, calling him "Big Bro" and intervening, telling him they'd only be in bigger trouble if they killed him. Things only got worse when he discovered that Dogday's older brother was actually Luke Meowluck (introducing himself as "the middle Gaudani Solaris Luke"), the third son of the royal family from which his mother came, and who was going to take over as Catnap due to his "illness" until he was on his way to Crimson Noir in a storm. That is, the person who was going to replace him, and who even wielded more power than he did now. He said without a shred of doubt that he wasn't interested in ruling the empire because he owed his life to Astrawald and being a complete person to his parents, the Gaudani, and his younger brother. If the prince didn't decide to free his little brother ans their friends, he would use the influence he had both within and without to force them to do so within two weeks, or they would have to choose between paying for the artificial power of his crown to fall, or worse.

There he realized that if Dogday only defended him, it was to minimize the reprisals that would fall on him and his friends. He didn't want his company; no matter how hard he tried, Dogday only showed genuine interest in him, ever since he learned of his curse and wanted to help him, hoping that once he was cured, he wouldn't need him. He felt angry when he realized that he wasn't allowed to claim anything from him. He created an environment where he could only react in this way and create meaningful bonds with everyone in the palace and beyond… except for him.

5. trying to fix the damage

In that time when time ran out, a desperate measure against Dogday was born = several explicit assassination attempts, both commanded by the emperor (because if he died and they could erase his traces he could blackmail the Elder Gaudani to ask them for whatever he wanted to repatriate his body) or with the church of prototypism (who already had their eye on him, because his mere presence and influence were already a big problem and they wanted to get rid of him). At first, it was attempted in a short period of time; but the situation and the injuries overwhelmed him and in all the attempts, Catnap intervened in several receiving the wounds to protect him; even on one occasion where one of the stewards turned out to be a murderer, he preferred to reveal his full moon appearance rather than have Dogday hurt. He truly regrets the huge gap of distrust he created on a whim and a thirst for power that involved them in something absolutely unrelated and wants to remedy the damage he caused to Dogday's trust in him from day 0.

Catnap makes an active effort to stop his father no matter what he would lose… and Luke certainly made good on his threat.

6. It's not just goodbye...

In an essay, the ambush that Catnap carried out on their capital was returned to them, led by the Elder Gaudani. The Middle Gaudani, his troops, and they surrounded the imperial palace. The emperor had no choice but to give in, dissolve the engagement, and pay the price for having attempted a gypsy wedding. Several past incidents involving the empire and the Gaudani were revealed, which they would also have to face; among them, the disappearance of Luke, which his country never assumed, the attack on his family, and a well-deserved treatment so that the prince would not die until he paid his debts. And the Elder Gaudani, influenced by his children, demanded that Catnap stand up and pay for the crimes he committed (incidentally, preventing the emperor from stripping Catnap of his power once he was out, which would be more beneficial to Catnap than to the emperor). Before they left, Catnap actually begged him to know why he helped him even with that. With a smile, Dogday tossed him a raven scroll and told him he was giving him a chance to meet the real Catnap, without the deals, traps, titles, plans, plots, and all the entanglements he created, but from a distance. This time, Dogday was the one setting the rules of the game, and he only gave one: be yourself.

It wasn't a goodbye… it was a "see you later."