#like my own little enrichment maze of holey canon

[lazlolullaby]

Lost Royal Eugene Plot Bunnies~

hot takes and plot ideas on Eugene and his royal heritage being significant to how he ended up as a thief...because the brainworms are wriggling again

Normally in these kinds of fantasy stories, there’s a letter, or an item, or even a caretaker that stays with the Lost Royal and reveals the truth either when they’re old enough or when the chips are down.

Eugene doesn’t have that. He didn’t have that at all.

It can be argued in the movie (if he knew) he didn’t mention it because -

A (the letter): he just met Rapunzel 2 days ago, she’s not getting everything at once. Plus if he has proof his family abandoned him, even for good reason, it still hurts.

B (Royal item): he’s got a family heirloom that’s stashed somewhere that he can’t sell because he’s sentimental. May or may not know where it came from. Backed up by: the entirety of Tangled and also: the engraved comb and the scrapbook of wanted posters from RTA.

C (caretaker): He’s proudly a Thief, and a New Adult, who wants to tell their parental figure what they’re actually doing for a living??? This is assuming that they’re a Decent Person - if they were abusive and Eugene paralleled that with the Gothel situation - hoo boy now that’s a rabbit hole filled with plot bunnies~

The only thing Eugene ever had in his possession that hinted to his Royalty was a two-headed coin. That’s it. I suppose that was part of Edmund’s master plan - keep him as far from the Royal Line as possible so he would never find the Moonstone at all.

But he was carried away as a baby - he had to have had a nursemaid at least to feed him.

So in canon. We’ve got a gap between being sent away as a baby and being a “employed” by the Baron as a teenage thief.

I’ve uhh...got a theory.

The world isn’t kind to immigrants. Even in a lighthearted "never say die”, fantasy world, it’s going to be rough. The nursemaid (for funzies, let’s call her Claire) tries to support herself and baby Horace. And some people are kind enough, but there’s people that see Horace as a meal ticket, an obligation or a trade for a later reward when he’s King.

So Claire changes their names and runs, further than anywhere anyone she’s known has ever been. Claire throws herself into maintaining an orphanage in Varadaros, essentially hiding orphan Eugene in a stack of orphan needles.

Meanwhile, a Princess is stolen and a King tries to eradicate every criminal possible. The unlucky who are accused of more than what they're guilty of flood Varadaros.

The panic creates a power vacuum and one man rises to the top of the dust heap ; a man who styles himself as royalty, mimicking their manners and excess. The Baron.

Plague happens and there's no magical Flowers to save anyone. Claire dies when Eugene is around five, young enough to vaguely remember her voice but not her face. Claire’s possessions are gone through and divided.

The letters for Eugene are read. At first they think it’s a joke - ah, of course her favorite kid is a Prince! What a funny family joke! But the more they talk to others - they realize that he does line up with the facts.

Word gets out. Sure, it’s not the Lost Princess, but it’s something.

The Baron hears about it. And the one thing he wants that he can’t ever have is a Royal Title. So he shows up at the orphanage. Talks to them real gentle-like. Tells them to look the other way when he brings Eugene over to his gang.

They refuse.

Baron puts the pressure on the orphanage, threatening them and cutting off their supplies. And - in an effort to save everyone else - they relent. Baron gets the Royal item and the letter. It’s lucky that Stalyan takes a shine to Eugene - they could legitimately marry and cement the title in their family. If he doesn’t work out - he still has the letter, he could pass off another kid as Horace. It’s not like there’s a shortage of brown eyed kids anywhere.

And that's the story of how Prince Horace was swindled out of his destiny for the first time.