“I'm so stuffed”, Nikias comments while laying on his bed. The light humor of the man doesn't go unnoticed by his servants, both Lowe and Raphael watch as the man has a light smile on his face. Lately he's been tense, always on edge, as if he needs to be one step ahead, and now he just looks like a kid that got what he wanted for his birthday.

I wonder what happened at lunch to get his spirits up? Lowe thinks, he glances at his brother who seems to be wondering the same thing. Raphael was worried that Nikias would toss him aside if he didn't show enough service, and if it was a month prior, he would probably think the same, but now? They feel safer, almost as if even if they disappointed the Prince he wouldn't toss them out. How much of this trust is reality and how much is blind faith?

“Oh!” The man jumps to sit, he stares at the twins, the smile still on his face. “You guys were saying?” They went to pick Nikias up at his lunch to report news to him.

“Fleuri is coming soon to talk with you”, Lowe says with a serious expression, “He didn't sound very pleased, though”. Nikias becomes deep in thought before speaking again.

“Makes sense that he wouldn’t be, I told him that I think he cheated his way into the Academy and that I was going to request a criminal investigation on him if he didn't come to see me”, he shrugs and the twins stare at him dumbfounded. 

“My Prince, you're quite inconsequential”, Lowe says with a sigh, at this rate he might even ask for a raise, he knows that the Prince will approve it anyway. 

Nikias laughs, making the two men glance at each other with fear in their eyes. “Perhaps I am”, he says. When was it the last time the twins saw the Prince laugh like that? Especially on his birthday.

Lowe opens his mouth to comment about how freaked out he is at that moment but he is interrupted by a knock on the door. Raphael opens the door to check, a voice of an older man is heard. “Excuse me, Sir Fleuri is here to talk with Prince Nikias”, the voice belongs to the Butler of the Palace, he rarely comes to the wing where the Princes’ rooms are, he reports and answers only to the Emperor. Nikias can't recall his name from the novel, he was a character that disappeared after the Emperor went insane.

“He may come in”, Nikias says, walking to his desk, his smile is gone and his eyes are back to the usual bored dull gaze. 

A lean figure enters the Prince's room after a couple minutes, he's tall, his hair is a shiny tone of blonde, his eyes are clear blue, Fleuri has an air of elegance and beauty around him that certainly doesn't match his annoyed and angry expression at the moment. The 20 year old blonde man wears clean clothes that are almost identical to those that Lowe and Raphael use, showing his humble origin clearly. However it isn't something Nikias minds, as his clothes are similar to those he used to wear as Vahe. 

“I greet the second star of the Empire”, his bow is elegant, he doesn't act like someone from the slums. Lowe and Raphael stand next to Nikias, the Prince requested the twins to stay during the meeting. 

“Nice to meet you Fleuri”, Nikias speaks casually, intentionally ignoring the ‘sir’ used before the man's name after the man graduated from the Academy. Fleuri might look elegant, however he certainly doesn't make an effort to hide the anger in his face. Nikias doesn't let the blonde answer to him. “I'll go straight to the point”, he grabs a few papers he put together the night before, a contract he formulated alone based on records he read in books from the Imperial Library. “Sign this”, a direct and disrespectful approach, that's what Nikias decided to go with, and there's a reason for that, he wants to see Fleuri true colors, if you start as enemies you can already claim you saw the worst of each other.

The blonde man grabs the papers and silently reads them, his expressions go from annoyance to anger and finally to disbelief. His eyes say it all, this Prince is completely insane, that's what his eyes show that he's thinking. 

“I won't sign this”, Fleuri says, his voice is like a whisper from the wind, melodical and low, he tosses the papers back at Nikias’ desk, he doesn't seem worried about the consequences of disrespecting a Prince. Lowe feels the urge of cursing the man, but he was advised against by Nikias before, he was warned that this reaction was a possibility.

“May I ask why?” Nikias says, reorganizing the papers the man messed with. 

Fleuri snorts, “You're kidding right?” The Prince's gaze is directed at the blonde again, his golden eyes are fierce, and maybe the youngest Prince isn't as qualified as his brother, or even as knowledgeable. However he has something no one has in this current world, the future. And the novel had an interesting passage about half-bloods.

Those who are born by the mix of human and other species’ blood, tend to avoid attention, they rather hide and spend their lives in seclusion than to gather attention from others. They don't belong among humans or among their other species, they're something else completely different. History erases then, as a shameful side of human desires, a proof that breeding with other species is nothing but a whim of desire.

Children that are known to be halflings can be killed by law, as they defy the laws of nature, however they still exist, and those that can't adapt among humans tend to run away.

Now looking closely at Fleuri, Nikias can understand why he isn't in the novel. First there were clear indications by the author that they were against halflings, even if they were part of the story, the author always made them evil or killed them off a few scenes after they appeared. Readers felt especially wronged after the author introduced other species just to make them slaves for the heroine to save, they were never part of the main story or even important at all.

They were just there to fill the ‘fantasy’ aspect of the story.

Of course that most readers didn't mind, after all they were too caught up on Alkaios and Evangelia’s story, especially considering the heavy focus on gods and other aspects.

“Your existence by itself is a cruel joke, no?” Nikias says coldly, he isn't there to suck up to the man or try to make him feel pity or debt towards him, no, he's there to show Fleuri that he doesn't have a choice but to be by Nikias' side. He's not looking for equal allies, he's looking for subjects. “By nature itself you shouldn't even be born”, the Prince continues, watching Fleuri's expression change to pure horror. He seemed to work hard to hide it, how his long hair hides his ears and his polished appearance, just right to never catch others attention. “Isn't that right?” 

The blonde stares at the Prince, he's frozen in place, waiting to see what his fate will be like. The law forbids halflings from existing, as a way to preserve the integrity of other species, slavery is a crime as well but a lot of nobles indulge in it so… Fleuri clenches his fist but doesn't move. “What do you want?” In order to keep a secret? Nikias could do that for free, not that he's going to.

“Sign the contract, become my advisor and make a mana pact to me, it's not much”, the Prince shrugs, it is too much, but even being way more than necessary, it is a precaution. Fleuri laughs, blood drips from his hand, his nails dig deep into his own skin, the blood when reached the floor fizzles and burns the wood. Cursed blood, Raphael thinks as he watches in silence. There used to be a rumor that elven halflings were blessed,but that's wrong, not only most never survived, the ones that did, lived their whole lives with cursed blood. He could never have mana or children, he can't even let his blood touch others or the curse will spread, just like a disease.

Nikias didn't know that. That information wasn't in the novel, how could it be? Elven halflings were said to not exist. “I'll sign the contract” Fleuri looks at Raphael, the tallest twin flinches. “But I don't have mana, so I can't make the pact”. Those words catch Nikias by surprise.

Raphael bends closer to the Prince and whispers in his ear, “It's true, elven halflings don't have mana, they're mostly cursed”, the confirmation confuses the Prince, but he tries not to show.

“The contract is enough for now then”, he says with a nod. “You'll need to move to the Palace, I'll arrange the rest with my mother”, Nikias gives the paper trying not to come in contact with Fleuri’s bleeding hand, but the blonde reaches with his other hand.

“I must admit, for a stupid Prince you're quite smart”, he isn't sure if what the blonde said is a compliment or an insult, whatever it is, the halfling signs the contract either way. “This won't benefit you as much as you think”. And the man is right, if anyone finds out that he's a halfling, Nikias could answer for it too. To be honest he didn't know that Fleuri was a halfling at first, but even if he is one, his goal doesn't change.

“It doesn't matter, I'm not any noble, is it the law? Let's change it”, he sounds confident but he isn't truly. “My existence by itself already defies the laws of nature, so fuck the other laws as well”, the god of nature is probably contorting in anger hearing those stupid words. 

The blonde man laughs, “you're just as crazy as the rumors say”. Fleuri gives the signed papers back to the Prince, the injury in his hand already healed, he might be cursed but the elven blood still runs in his veins. “If you change the laws, what prevents me from running away?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

Nikias ponders before answering. “Your job? An advisor for a Prince isn't any job. It is the job”.

“For the Crown Prince? Maybe. For you? Nah, you're hated all over the Empire”.

Lowe wants to interrupt the conversation, defend the Prince even if the blonde’s words are entirely correct, but Raphael beats him to it. “His highness isn't like the rumors, if you think about running away after working with him you'll only prove that your academic qualifications were bought not earned.” Nikias feels touched by Raphael's words, it's adorable to think that he earned that trust, the truth is, though, that he's still working on it. But since the twins came to the castle they've been taking care of the youngest Prince, so the red flag isn't that red anymore.

“I guess I'll need to see that with my own eyes”, he says before leaving. Nikias sighs, he's already exhausted, he was tense the whole conversation they had. He doesn't need Fleuri, but being called an useless Prince won't do, even if he's used to the disgusted gazes, this new shot in life needs to be different. He was dull at it first, but after spending time with the people around him he noticed that something was changing inside him. He wants to be respected, he wants to live a good, long and fulfilling life. He isn't alone anymore, so life is now starting to become more colorful.