"Relax Lucian... Just breathe in and breathe out. That's it tesoro. Just listen to big brother's instructions..."

Lucius' warm breath fanned against my nape as he pushed me from behind. My shoulders trembled. Sweat cascaded my forehead. I allowed him to stretch me to an almost unbearable length. My muscles strained and ached from the intense activity that he leisurely partook in.

"You're stretching me too much..."

"Am I? Does it feel good?"

He was even more unrestrained today.

"You're being too hard," I grunted.

I was put into countless positions for his iniquitous desires. As a result, my lower back sensed soreness from the abuse. He proceeded to place me in a more convenient position, spreading my legs further. His harsh thrusts were becoming more and more unendurable. I briefly wondered:  Did we really have to do this every morning just because we were both stiff?

"I don't want to exercise anymore," I deadpanned.

"But we're just getting started!"

My body was not meant for sport. My legs were spread out in a V-shape.  I was told that I needed to try to reach my toes. When I couldn't manage to do it, he pushed my back forward.

"Your body is too stiff; you seem like a puppet with strings!"

For the past five days, Lucius had patiently tried to teach me how to feel, what to feel, and why to feel certain emotions in certain events. I still had no control over my power. The release was ticklish. I could understand why the king and queen barred me from using my abilities.

Lucius declared a short break after a vigorous training about basic defence and offense. I was getting the hang of it due to his guidance and perseverance as a mentor. He never got frustrated with my failures which were…very strange for me. With every chance he got, he commended me for my achievements. Whenever I did fail, he would grace a smile and say:

"You can do it. Don't give up!"

Harmonizing with the elements was the key to a precise concierto.  Everything will come naturally if I merely open my heart because the strength of the elements was rooted from the intensity of emotions.

"Lucian, what do you feel now?"

I zoned at his face while I structured an answer based on my heart. He told me that he would ask me what I felt thrice a day. I was required to answer him honestly.

"I am fine, not too bored and not too enlivened."

It was very difficult to reply to him at the start. I had to lie at first despite hearing him lecture me of being truthful because he could not tolerate my honest replies of: "I feel nothing."

He was persistent. He was so tenacious that he would go to the extent of kidnapping me, forcing me to be in this situation, making me feel things that contraindicated what was taught to me, and embracing myself.

Under no circumstance had he stopped reminding me of how important I was in his life. He always pampered me. Despite the training that I had gone through under the Higher-Order, I couldn't apply what I had learned to this world that was kept hidden from me.

"Is that right...Remember that honesty is the best—?"

Ah, I forgot.

"Atrocity?"

He chuckled. "Come on, you heard this from me a couple of times."

"Comedy?" I tried it again.

Lucius' smile twisted into a playful annoyance. "You're doing this on purpose aren't you?"

I tilted my head at him in question. "Now why would I do that, onii? Remember that honesty is the best mythology. It exists in our greatest imagination especially in yours," I deadpanned.

"Lucian, I did not teach such a thing!" he protested.

During the past nights, I attempted to escape and to return to the Kingdom of Florencia. Although I did place the greatest height of trust on Lucius, there was still a part of me that pursued to go back.

Lucius was fast asleep. He had not noticed me slipping off from his embrace to head out. The vampires were livelier during the night and though I could feel their gaze on me, they did not attempt to converse with me.

Crickets made continuous stridulation. Argo stood awake outside of the house with his tail swishing side-to-side. I made my way out of the village, drawing a distance between my brother and me.  The further I went the heavier my legs became. I kept looking behind me, expecting that any second now Lucius will wake up and realize I wasn't there.

My feet stopped moving. I stood rooted to the grass—something that I wouldn't see and feel beneath my feet again once I went back. The cold and light breeze of the night will be replaced by the suffocating weight of the castle's air. This freedom will be nothing more but a mistake caused by an external force.

I have only met the moon and yet I would live my life again without it.

I ceased walking at a certain distance. That was how far my willingness could go. I returned, hoping that I could go farther, but every night was the same unfinished race. Last night was the last time I attempted to leave. I chose to stay because no bird would want its freedom to be taken away and no bird would return to a cage of disarray. I refuse to choose the shackles. I had always followed a law of impossibility and contradictions. Lucius became my moon, guiding me through the darkness that I was submerged in. I was trained into something invaluable to my own kind. I was turned into someone useless to every kind. I was no one. I was nothing. I was only a prince with no quality, but Lucius dug me out from my misery.

He wanted me to become more, and it sounded better than being nothing at all.

To the people who I turned my back on it may seem that I was betraying my own race. I had thrown away buckets of sweat, blood, and tears.

They must understand that I didn't plan on carrying a past that would only drag me back. Tossing them out didn't mean that I was forgetting them fully. They have stained me, and I will keep those stains on to remind myself to never go back.

'Have you decided?'

A dark-cloaked man was on a pegacorn, having the same shade of Argo. Half of his face was covered with a black mask. The hood of the cloak was pulled down, revealing platinum short hair. The colour of his eyes was almost blending with the white if not for the light blue pupils.

'I have been observing you for the past nights. Where exactly are you going?'

'I just went out for some air.'

'There wasn't enough air in the village?'

'The air is fresher here,' I replied.

'Ah…The air must be spoiled by vampires then, understandable.'

'I did not say that do not misinterpret me, ' I deadpanned.

'Of course, no misinterpretations here, please call me Arrah.'

'I did not ask.'

'I did not answer. I was merely reminding myself of my name.'

'This conversation is severely stupid. You are stupid.'

'Indeed, but my name is Arrah and not Stupid. You are extremely forgetful, aren't you?'

I had met a more suitable adversary than Lucius.

I turned my back on Stupid and started walking back. Stupid slipped off from his pegacorn, ambling beside me while guiding his pegacorn by its rein.

'What is your name?'

'My name is Lucian.'

'Ah my name is Arrah,' he squeezed in.

'I did not ask.'

'Of course, I was simply letting the world know of my identity.'

'You seem to be very proud of it…'

'No, in fact, I despise it.'

What a baffling man.

'Then why do you keep introducing yourself?'

'So that you can hate it with me…'

Once we arrived in front of the residential provided for us, I petted Argo and then nodded at Stupid.

'Goodbye.'

'Farewell,' he responded.

As I twisted the knob, Stupid spoke again.

'I hope that the world greeted you well, Your Highness.'

I turned around to look at him but what was left was his pet pegacorn tied beside Argo. He must be residing near here but why leave his pet in front of a stranger's house?

I returned beside Lucius, realizing the exhaustion of that short walk pouring in. Just then, he chuckled. I completely relaxed against him.

'Thank you for staying,' he whispered.

I closed my eyes, somewhat bothered yet relieved that he knew that at long last, I made my decision.

Thank you for coming back.