Once lunch time arrives, so does Raphael with a light vegetable soup for the Prince, meaning it's time for my work break. Before I leave the room I stop for a moment as the Prince calls out to me.

“Lowe” he says, sitting down at the table to eat. “How's my family today?” His question is said with a serious soft tone, but his eyes show clear anxiety. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I lied, if I eased things up for him. But I can't bring myself to give false hope to him.

“I didn't hear much this morning, your highness, but it seems his highness, the Crown Prince, is having brunch with his beloved today”, the information makes the Prince frown.

It's quite clear he dislikes the Crown Prince’s soon to be fiance, Evangelia Petit is the daughter of a Viscount and beloved not only by the First Prince, but also by the people of the Empire. She does charity events, she feeds the poor and even volunteers at hospitals that don't have enough nurses. Her nickname in the slums is Saintess, an overstatement and poor use of a word I'm not even sure exists. How can it be possible that a noble would do such things out of the goodness of their heart? Sent by the gods? Not likely.

I do not like nor dislike the Crown Princess-to-be. However I do not also believe in the rumors of her selflessness. 

“So he won't be having dinner with mother and me…” the Prince whispers to himself. “Thank you, Lowe.”

I bow shortly and leave, during the afternoon, especially during lunch time, the Palace is packed with people, employees, visitors and nobles that are having meetings with the Royals, suffice to say none of them are for the Second Prince, so my job is relatively easier than for most of the other servants.

Entering the kitchen again, this time towards the servants area I greet the workers that are serving lunch. I ain't picky towards food, especially if it's warm and tasty. 

“How are ya today Lowe?” One of the cooks greets me once I get served lunch, they got my name right today, probably since Raphael had just left there to tend to the Prince. “Is the Prince giving ya much trouble?”

“Last week he slapped another maid that entered his room… I can't imagine how it must be to serve him directly”, a maid talks, butting into their conversation. Well, that happened because she entered the room while he was changing, but they don't care about that. 

“Didn't he ruin the flower bed one of the gardeners worked so hard on? It was the Empress’ birthday too… What a shame”, another one of the cooks says with a sad expression.

Oh that was when one of the Knights stopped him from entering the Empress’ ball and the other servants told him the wrong time for it… I think but don't say. There's no use trying to defend the Second Prince, I tried at first, saying he was just lonely and that he was often misunderstood in his actions. But he was already living this life as the Useless Prince for 14 years, there was no use trying to change people's perception of him.

And it's convenient to have a villain to contrast the goodness of the Crown Prince.

“I'm just glad to have a good job”, I say simply grabbing the plate she was handing to me. I don't smile or waver my expression, if I show any emotion they'll use that as a way to blame the Prince for it.

“You're strong Lowe, I wouldn't be able to do what you do”, the maid comments sitting next to me at the servants’ table.

“It's just a job like any other”, I say again, not that it'll change her opinion.

I eat alongside the other maids and servants, chatting about the Imperial family, events and work. I know they don't mean anything bad when they speak ill of the Second Prince, however I still can't shake the feeling of unfairness.

It strongly reminds me of how Raphael was treated at the Tower, just because his feelings were more sensitive he was mistreated, often I would take his punishments in his stead, however that didn't stop others from treating him poorly due to the researchers doing so as well.

The main objective of the Magician’s Tower where Raphael and I were sold-off to by our parents is to engineer mana blessed children into robots that’ll follow their every order, using food to tame their emotions, physical punishments to fix their attitude and endless experiments to make sure their mana becomes shaped to their objectives. Of course they wouldn’t just throw those things at us, they would also use faith to brainwash us into submission, it didn’t work on Raphael, but I cannot say it wasn’t successful with me.

Even if I know it was a way for them to shape my mind, the faith brought me hope to leave and helped me forge the plan that I used to escape the Tower with my brother.

So I can’t let go of my beliefs so easily, even if they were tailor-made to tame me into a puppet.

The afternoon shift is a bit different from the morning as I don't accompany the Prince, instead I go to the heart of the Capital to check his orders of clothes and jewelry. After working for him I developed an eye for those things compared to my brother, therefore Prince Nikias entrusted me with those roles.

He should ask his other servants…

Of course as a Prince, he has two other servants besides me and Raphael, and the other two are nobles, to be completely honest I do not even know what they do. They spend what? 4 hours maximum near the Prince, spewing nonsense about the social circles they partake in just to make the Second Prince feel even worse about himself or be on edge and end up doing something rash.

After the season of balls Prince Nikias tends to drink a lot, he would often also cry alone at night, such action was only caught by me because of the stained pillowcases.

Exhausted, I arrive back at the Palace with the sunset, with me there are six boxes of jewelry. This is more than my yearly salary in accessories, I think with a sigh as I walk towards the Prince's room carrying the boxes.

“...Evangelia is missing again, send three Knights towards the Abfluo Kingdom to search for her, Alkaios is worried since they were supposed to meet for brunch, but she never appeared.”, as I pass the almost empty corridors I overhear the conversation between Knights near the Princes’ rooms. 

The Knight in question is the most famous one at the Palace. 

‘’Send Sir Philippe to tend to Alkaios while I go to town on an errand’’, he continues with a sigh, I can’t help but glance at their direction even if my presence goes by unnoticed by them in the sea of servants walking by.

It’s hard not to notice Rainier Bauldry, not only because of his tall stature or fiery red hair and imposing figure, but because he is the hero of commoners, the hope of the slums and the thorn on the nobles' side. However the truth is, he is nothing more than a mere noble’s dog that got a fancy collar. 

His presence is a mere reminder that although our origins can be the same, he was allowed to step into the light while I was trapped in the darkness.

I attempt to not listen more into their conversation, as I enter the Second Prince’s room.

There is not a single soul inside his room. What? Where is Raphael? I told him not to ever… My train of thoughts stops once I spot the Prince on his bed, he’s fully covered with his sheets, something I never saw him do before. ‘’Your highness? I came back with your jewlery…’’ I say, approaching the bed carefully.

He doesn’t move.

So I pull the sheets from over his face.

My whole body freezes, my blood runs cold and I can’t help it but let out a small whimper. 

The Second Prince is lying there, frozen, with his eyes wide open.

A few hours later.

Exos Empire's Palace, Second Prince’s Quarters.

This is complete bullshit.

‘’There’s nothing we can do, the physician is busy and we cannot request outer Palace aid’’, one of the Prince Nikias’ noble servants say, Andreas Gasser pisses me off, and what drives me even more mad is that due to our difference in status I cannot even express my dissatisfaction. ‘’Aren’t you knowledgeable in medicine, Lowe? Last time you were the one that healed him’’.

It was a mere cold, not poisoning! I think but do not say, I only nod. 

After finding the Prince completely immovable on his bed I called the other servants and attempted to call the Imperial physician as well. But of course, he’s too damn busy to come to the room of the person he’s hired to heal.

My gaze goes to Raphael, who's frozen in place, I can see in his eyes that he’s about to cry. He never dealt well with the death of people in his orbit, the same happened before with the children from the Tower, although they treated him poorly, he still weeped when they died through experiment complications.

‘’Shouldn’t we report to, anyone?’’ The other noble servant, Conrad Burton, asks. 

Andreas shakes his head. ‘’No, the Prince probably did this for attention, if we report we’ll be the ones punished’’.

You’re joking, there is no way the Prince would drink poison himself, he doesn’t even have access to such things! 

It’s easy to know that the Prince was poisoned, not only because I’m extremely knowledgeable in poisons due to the nature of my mana, but also because of the strong sweet scent emanating from his mouth and the small blisters at the corner of his lips. I also know exactly which poison was given to him. It was the same poison I’ve been giving the Crown Prince per Prince Nikias’ orders, but the one fed to him is around fifty times stronger and the alleviating herbs I mixed are also gone. 

The problem is, that poison was my mana liquified with a few herbs extremely diluted. I do not have a ready-made antidote for it, and considering this wasn’t made from my mana, it's safe to assume the content is different with similar effects, which means the antidote would also be different.

My mind is racing, I desperately want to save the Prince, but I cannot think of how I can do it. My years of training, hours studying every single poison in existence, it all feels like air. ‘’Raphael, bring me the bag under my bed’’, I say in a whisper while the two noble servants discuss whether to report the Prince’s poisoning or not.

Slowly I place my fingers on Prince Nikias’ neck, feeling his weak heart. 

I should’ve acted quicker… I should’ve reported this even if I wasn’t allowed to.

However I did call for the physician.

This isn’t my fault… Is it?

The next hours go by like a blur, even with my portable lab I couldn’t craft a proper antidote, although I did manage to slow down the poison inside his system. 

‘’Even with this, he needs proper treatment’’, I say, frustrated, it’s been hours and we’re all exhausted. Well, me and Raphael to be exact, as the other two already retired to their rooms hours ago. ‘’Raphael, we should run away’’, I say with a sigh, there’s no other choice.

Prince Nikias will die, and the ones blamed for it won’t be the two noble servants or the physician that ignored our call, but the two suspicious commoner servants that were brought in by the Prince from god-knows-where. 

‘’C’mon Lowe, there’s nothing else you can do?’’ Raphael pleads, his tears already falling now that we’re alone. He’s desperate, of course my heart is also clenching, even if I do not wish to admit, I did enjoy working for the Prince, and he was miles kinder than the researchers from the Tower or the mercenaries we worked with. 

Of course, good things wouldn’t last for us.

‘’Please’’, Raphael begs again, kneeling on the floor next to the Prince’s bed, I turn my gaze away. I don’t want to see my younger brother crying again, the pain inside my chest becomes even more unbearable. 

‘’We need to leave Raphael, we cannot stay!’’ I say again, more firmly, packing my things inside the briefcase again. What is the use of a portable lab and rivers of knowledge if when I need it the most, I cannot do anything? I feel faint, desperate.

‘’We cannot leave!’’ Raphael says, grabbing my shoulders, ‘’Lowe! We promised to take care of him! He’s just a child!’’

‘’So were we!’’ I yell. I didn’t mean to.

‘’I can’t let him be alone right now…’’ Raphael whispers, ‘’Anyone would be sad to die alone’’.

A frustrated sigh leaves my mouth. Although I do care about the Prince, my biggest priority will always be mine and Raphael’s safety in this big and cruel world, our bond is the only thing keeping us alive and safe.

‘’Fine’’, I can’t possibly drag him away. It worked when we were children, but now that we’re both twenty-two  and Raphael is taller and stronger than me, I wouldn’t be able to, even if I tried. ‘’Just… Don’t cry too much’’.

‘’Yeah…’’

‘’Once he dies, report back to me. I will be the one to do the talking with the other servants for them to report to the Empress.’’ My words are cold, but painful, it feels as if needles are prickling my tongue. 

‘’I know, brother’’, Raphael says, he’s back kneeling next to Prince Nikias’ bed, he gently cleans the sweat from the young Prince’s forehead with a wet cloth, as if that was going to help him recover his health. 

We’re just so fundamentally different, I think to myself as I leave the Prince’s room, while Raphael showcases his care so openly, I can’t bring myself to do the same, especially towards someone that isn’t him. It’s my job as the oldest twin to take care of Raphael, that’s how it's been since we were five. I need to protect him, be it from someone else, or even himself.