So from the heroine’s allies, the best option is Rainier Baudry. How am I going to make him accept my proposal? The marriage would benefit him as well, but he hates my guts. Finally, after an hour, the second Prince stops running, his whole body is dripping sweat, but no one that sees him at this moment could say he looks disgusting, he rather looks like a model from a sports commercial. The knights that glance at him blush with the realization of the beauty the Prince is at the moment. Gross, Nikias thinks when he notices the gazes full of lust directed at him. I think I'd rather someone that hates me than someone that wants me like that. 

Still, I should think about other options. There were so many characters during the four books that it's hard to even remember all of them. He walks towards the knights bathroom to wash his face and get rid of a bit of the sweat. When he enters he finds only one other knight there, who only glances at the Prince with seemable disinterest. Thankfully this society is advanced enough with magic to have a plumbing system. The man thinks, distracted enough, before he can go back to his thoughts, the knight speaks.

‘’I thought you gave up playing royalty’’, the knight comments with disdain. Nikias scoffs. This is beyond limits, how can they think so little of royalty? Throughout the story, Alkaios was revered by the knights and employees, and the simple words that described the second Prince as someone hated isn’t enough to describe these situations. How did Nikias react when they treated him like this? Why do they find this okay?

‘’And I thought that royal knights were smart enough to not be insolent towards their employers’’, his eyes are full of disdain and anger directed at the young knight. By the dull appearance of the man he seems to be a commoner, black hair and green eyes are common in the Exos Empire, and his clothes are full of holes and patches, almost as if he’s stitching the holes that keep opening again. Even if he’s skilled enough to enter the order of Royal knights, he should know better than to attempt to bully a Prince.

The knight doesn’t back off. ‘’Do you known what the people think of you?’’ I don’t really care though, Nikias thinks but awaits for the knight to continue. ‘’They see you as a disgrace, compared to Prince Alkaios, you’re the trash of the Empire’’. Nikias laughs, however his laugh isn’t of amusement but disbelief. ‘’You should just die soon’’. The knight finishes and attempts to leave the bathroom but Nikias stops him. Brimming with anger, even if the previous Nikias was indeed trash, doesn’t mean that those words are being directed at him right now, and Vahe never allowed others to step on his pride, at least not without a fight.

His eyes are glowing with the challenge, his lips are up in a smirk. He looks completely mad. ‘’Who do you think you are? I never asked for your advice, I allowed you to talk because it was amusing to see someone speak complete bullshit’’. His grip on the knight's arm tightens, his other hand grabs the sword on the man’s hip. ‘’I couldn’t care less about a bunch of rats like you’’, he raises the heavy sword towards the man’s throat. His arm trembling by the unfamiliar weight of the weapon, the way he holds the sword incorrect in any instance. ‘’However, don't think you can insult a royal and live to see another day’’. Nikias’ tone is confident, making the knight falter, the commotion at the bathroom door catches the attention of the other knights. ‘’Do you know what is the punishment for insubordination against a royal?’’

‘’What’s happening here?’’ The bravest of the bunch asks. Nikias doesn’t divert his gaze.

‘’Let this be a warning, to all of you insolent rats’’, the tip of the sword cuts the knight’s throat slightly enough to bleed. ‘’I am Nikias Gregor Chrysl, second Prince of the Exos Empire, and however decides to act with insolence towards me…’’ With a clean cut, the man cuts the knight’s throat, gushing sounds are heard in the silence of the training ground as every single knight there seems to have grown quiet. The cut isn’t enough to kill the man, as it was made rather clumsy, some of the men present rush to treat the man. Nikias did attempt to kill him, but whichever result, he was still able to shock the knights present there. Soon word of what happened will reach the Palace and those who saw the second Prince as someone to play with will wonder, has he changed? If so, should we be worried about him? ‘’Will not live to see another sunrise’’, he completes his phrase, cleaning the blood that splattered onto his face.

Shock, confusion, fear. The emotions that cross the knights face is rather obvious, they can’t attack the Prince back as they will be accused of treason, however they also can’t avoid but want to fight back. I hope this will be enough to plant the seed of fear inside them, of course this won’t make the tree grow, it is however, the beginning.

It might even seem like the second Prince suddenly went crazy, a man that never touched a sword to suddenly attempt to kill a trained knight with one. Even if the man didn’t fight the Prince off, holding a sword and doing such a clean cut isn’t as simple as he made it look like. In his life as Vahe, this isn’t the first time he killed or attempted to kill someone, survival of the fittest, that was how living on the streets was like. It was kill or be killed, traumatizing to a child, of course, but to Vahe, that was never a struggle, he didn’t like killing, but he understood the necessity of doing so. That’s why he enjoyed ‘Odd Eyes’ so much, Evangelia did what she had to for the good of the majority. However Vahe did what was best for himself only. He isn’t unable to feel empathy or pity, but he learned that sometimes, people don’t deserve mercy.

And in situations such as these, if you don’t make them fear you, they will think you fear them. 17 years of neglect, 17 years looking down upon someone of higher status, this isn’t a situation where a simple change in actions can make them think differently, they need the shock of the change, they need proof so baffling that they won’t have a choice but believe that Prince Nikias isn’t the same Prince as he was before.

As a Prince of the Empire, he can’t show weakness, he needs to show that he isn’t the poor old Nikias anymore, that he won’t be walked all over again. Vahe isn’t a pushover, and he won’t start being one now. 

I hate the smell of blood. He thinks, before taking the path back to the Palace, leaving the mess for the other knights to deal with. I need a shower and a good cup of tea. I wonder if Raphael and Lowe finished their assignments. A sigh leaves his lips, his hands start shaking, just because he is used to killing, doesn’t mean it doesn’t take a toll. Maybe I should take the war route instead of the marriage one. Nah, I don’t intend to die in a meaningless war for a people I don’t even know. In the death of night, Nikias walks calmly, covered in blood, trembling, but his steps are just as confident as ever.