Aerin bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows.

His mother didn't know it hurt, he didn't want to make her know that all this time, the tears weren't because he was frustrated or didn't want to stay still for a whole hour without doing anything, but because of the terrible pain inflicted on him.

He held back his whimpers and sobs. His eyes were starting to water and he quickly wiped a tear that had escaped before his mother noticed.

His mother was too busy with her work, she didn't even glance his way, and continued to unknowingly hurt him.

She tried to do it carefully but didn't know that it didn't matter, it still hurt.

She cut the plants she thought had grown too much, she thought of them like overgrown hair or fingernails.

The ones that grew from his finger tips, bending gracefully and looking like an extension of his hands were cut to the skin as if they were never there.

The small amount of leaves growing from his collarbone were cut too, even the yellow flowers there, were cut without hesitation.

She also cut the ones that grew from his ankles and beautifully surrounded his leg with blue baby flowers starting to bloom.

She cut until there were almost no leaves on him. She looked at him and smiled. He returned it with his own painful one.

She then started to dress him with the clothes he had chosen in spite of his reluctance. He hated how the fabric brushed against his sensitive and aching skin.

Another tear slid down his cheek, this time his mother noticed and rolled her eyes.

"Aeri, stop being so dramatic"

She tightened a thin blue fabric around his waist and tighten it as if she was working with a corset, he grunted to hide the pain.

He wore tight white pants that fit a bit too tightly around his thighs but perfectly on his waist. His mother slid a thin long sleeved blouse on him, showing his collarbone with a small ribbon beneath it that surrounded its collar. The sleeves were long and tight until it ended with a flowery fabric folding at the middle of his hands.

His mom then braided his hair into a long French braid, twisting strands of vivid red hair with vines full of colorful flowers, the only ones she didn't cut. She said it gave his hair an otherworldly beauty.

When she finished she saw a small pink flower had bloomed behind his ear, she took the scissors and cut it quickly without warning, Aerin closed his eyes and gulped.

"Alright, almost done", she said with a cheerful smile.

She picked a brush and started covering the freckles around his face, particularly the one on his nose and naturally blushed cheeks. She said they were an imperfection that ruined his face.

Once she finished she admired her work with a proud face, running her eyes over her son's now flawless face.

She clapped her hands making him flinch.

"Better, now get up, they're waiting for us" .

She called for someone to clean all the now dead plants in the floor and took her son's hand pulling him to her side while they walked through the long corridors of the palace.

When he was starting to feel his legs go numb, they finally reached a large door.

His mom knocked.

"Let them in", a deep voice called.

Aerin breathed out looking at the door nervously, his shoulders shaking.

The door was opened from the inside, revealing a giant room, except for two people sitting in a sofa in the middle of the room.

The man sitting to his left was older, white hairs starting to show at the roots of his hair and beard. His deep dark blue eyes stared intently at him.

The other man beside him was younger, a bit older than Aerin, he was staring at him too, with a weird content smile, he had a familiar look in his eyes, the same he'd seen in people when he walked past them.

"You must be Aerin"

He didn't notice his mother was bowing her head. He immediately did the same.

"Yes, your majesty", his mother replied before he could.

Aerin's breath hitched. He balled up his hands, nails painfully digging on his palms.

The crown prince?