‘’The universe defines fate as the flow of a river, it has a determined path, but the strength and rockiness of the path depends on the external influences on the river.’’

Nikias stares in shock at his walk-in closet. He's royalty so of course he would own a quite considerable amount of clothes, but he didn't think it would be this much. The closet is practically the same size as his room, filled with clothes, shoes and jewelry. A prince never dresses himself, suddenly words that he read in the novel comes to his mind. The silver-haired man should call back for his servants to dress him, per usual, but the idea of another man or even a woman helping him dress makes Nikias want to throw up. I hate people touching me. And that's something that comes from his time as Vahe, being a pretty boy from the slums, he was touched a lot by unknown people with false pretenses.

It can be counted on one hand the people Nikias would allow to touch him. He enters the closet and starts looking at the clothes, each piece is unique, they even are made with good quality materials, all that you would expect a Prince to have. As a man with not much notion of fashion, especially from this world, the silver-haired man chooses clothes that he would wear normally. Well fitted black pants, a silk white shirt that's slightly open on his chest, a black coat with small pearls on its sleeves and black boots. The attire makes the second Prince look elegant yet simple, as Vahe the man used to wear black clothes all the time and that won't change just because he's now seen as someone else. His soul it's still his and that's all that matters.

For the first time after waking up as Nikias, the man leaves his room. The Palace corridors look like museums from the world he came from, the walls are made with white marble and they're decorated with beautiful patterns made of gold, between rooms there's also displays of treasures or even just outstanding works of art. Differently from what one must imagine, the corridors are bursting with people, all of them bow when passing through the Prince, but none stay long enough to direct a word at him. It's at this moment that he realizes just how much everyone despises the second Prince, their eyes full of annoyance and disgust.

Nikias walks with false confidence, he's not used to the attention, however what good would it make showing so? He realizes that he has no idea where the dining room is, lucky for him he passes Alkaios room at the same time his brother is leaving for breakfast.

“Brother”, his hoarse voice startles the Crown Prince, the brother’s eyes are filled with confusion but he recomposes himself quickly. Nodding towards his younger brother and turning to walk towards the dining room, Nikias follows him quickly like a puppy following its owner. Every servant that walks past them shoots them eyes of confusion, it is quite disturbing indeed to see the wicked younger Prince following the kind older one like some kind of innocent soul.

“Why are you walking behind me?” Alkaios asks with a sigh, his voice is sweet and silkier than ever, he probably just barely woke up. “As a Prince you must walk beside me, we're still equals”. Wow, he’s kind hearted for sure, Nikias thinks with a smile, he doesn't want to get on the bad side of the Crown Prince, after all, he's his biggest death flag.

“Sorry, brother”, Nikias says with his best innocent expression, it's not easy to look innocent when your heart is full of darkness. Vahe wasn't as wicked as the old Nikias, but he's no pushover. He just needs to look like one. The man walks a bit faster to catch onto his brother, this time walking beside him. “How was I before?” It's a stupid question if you consider Vahe read all about the old Nikias, however, to appear like a person with no memories, he needs to ask it.

Alkaios is suspicious, that much is obvious, after all Nikias wasn't the type to follow him around, no, he used to look at his older brother with hate in his eyes. Although right now he looks just like a harmless younger brother, just like his friends talk about their younger siblings. Cute, Alkaios thinks when he steals a glance at his younger brother who's pouting at his lack of answer.

He's hard to crack, Nikias thinks, annoyed, my older brother would never… A headache strikes the man, almost as if his brain is burning inside his own head, he stops on his tracks, catching the attention of Alkaios, who turns to see the younger man agonizing in pain.

“Vahe, eat quickly, before our parents come back” a blinding smile of a gorgeous eleven year old, black eyes and hair combined with a gorgeous personality, that was Zerah, Vahe's older brother by four years. He ruffles the boy's head with pride while the younger Vahe's eats to his heart content the hard old bread. “Don't worry, I'll protect you, my little brother”.

A memory. It's hard to think that a sudden memory about his childhood would appear at a moment like this. However due to trauma, Vahe had no memories of his life before he completed thirteen. So suddenly remembering a moment with the older brother he never remembered the existence of, is a shock in itself.

“Nikias, what's happening?” Urgency is heard on Alkaios voice, even if he tries being cold towards his hellish younger brother he can't avoid but worry seeing the man in pain. “Call a doctor!” He yells towards a servant, he touches Nikias' arms but it's suddenly pushed away.

“Don't touch me”, the youngest Prince whispers, trying to recover after the pain suddenly goes away, just as fast as it came. His eyes are filled with disgust, Alkaios is taken aback, he's used to that gaze, but the youngest seemed fine just a moment ago. Zerah… Nikias thinks it's the first time in four years that he remembered the name of his older brother. Tears gather in his eyes, pain in his chest and his head feels heavy. A sob is trapped in his throat, he's aware, though, of the eyes on him, however he isn't able to stop the flow of tears. 

The Crown Prince is frozen in place. When you're so used to the disgust and annoyance of your younger brother, you tend to spent a minimal amount of time with him. And even if you don't despise the younger boy, you tend to be cold and dismissive when he approaches you. What if he truly lost his memory? Alkaios thinks with heaviness in his heart. If he doesn't hate me anymore, does that mean that we can finally act like brothers? Or is it too late? His wish was well funded, after all the Crown Prince never hated Nikias, on the contrary, he always found the younger man adorable and lovable.

Yes, he was a doting brother inside.

After a few moments the doctor arrives to find Nikias sitting on the floor bawling his eyes out in silence and the Crown Prince staring at him in awe. “Your highness' ', he bows with caution. “Do you mind if I analyze you for a moment?” The doctor asks Nikias to stop crying for a moment. The silver-haired younger man shakes his head.

“There's no need, the pain is gone”, he gets up with his whole face and ears red like a cherry. “I'm sorry for the scene I caused”, he's embarrassed but can't actually explain what happened.

“It's okay Nikias, let's eat something”, Alkaios says with a faint smile. It's the first time he smiled towards his younger brother. Something in the book he regretted deeply.

The younger Prince nods, hiding his face with shame. “I can't believe I cried”, he scoffs.

“It's okay”, the Crown Prince repeats, walking next to his brother. “You used to cry a lot when you were a baby” Alkaios comments thinking fondly of the baby Nikias that cried for days with no end.

“I'm not a baby anymore”, Nikias laughs dryly at his brother. Repressing the thoughts of the brother he lost all those years back. He doesn't have the mental strength to think about the past he fought so much to forget.

“I keep forgetting that”, Alkaios comments under his breath. The second Prince wants to ask him to repeat as the man hasn't heard what he said, but they enter the dining room.