Current days.

Exos Empire’s Palace, Palace’s Hallways.

‘’The Second Prince is dead’’, I freeze in place, turning to see the source of those words, just to see the servants of the Second Prince speaking near the Princes’ quarters. That cannot be true, I think, but regardless of the truth or not, I walk quickly towards the Crown Prince’s office.

If Prince Nikias is truly dead, then isn’t that good? He won’t be able to harm Alkaios anymore.

As the years passed, I noticed a constant every time Alkaios were harmed, the Second Prince was always near and watching, not only that but more often than not, the assassins after the Crown Prince were somehow related to Prince Nikias.

Although I know his death will hurt Alkaios more than anything, relief washes over my whole body. Relief that perhaps my best friend will finally be able to rest more. 

Even if at the back of my mind I know I’m wrong for this feeling. 

I knock at Alkaios’ office door, entering soon after, his face is showing clear signs of exhaustion and the curtains are drawn, he always had a habit of staying in the dark. At night he would allow the moon to illuminate his office, but during the day he would avoid the sun the most he could. That's why he's pale as fuck, I think as I bow greeting him.

Compared to back when we were children, Alkaios accepts greetings and doesn't insist I call him by his nickname anymore. Well, we both changed so much in 13 years. I accepted my role as heir to a Dukedom and even got used to things I should never have, and Alkaios became Crown Prince and got engaged to the woman I fell in love with. 

3 years ago when he formed his Knights Order he called me to be its Captain, in his eyes it was probably a way to recognize my effort to become one with the sword and even my bravery for saving his life so many times when I wasn't even his dedicated Knight.

To me, this role just reinforced my position under him, serving him.

The mind of someone that never was called dirty as you kneeled to someone begging for food, is truly astonishing.

It probably never crossed his mind that he was drawing a line between me and him by making me his Captain and dedicated Knight.

“What brings you here so early?” Alkaios asks, his voice is hoarse but just as soothing. His pink eyes shine like jewels in the dark room and his silver hair shines like the stars.

“It's already 10am, your highness,” I say with a sigh and he shrugs. I guess he still acts a bit spoiled with me, so we aren't completely boss and subordinate. And I also know secrets not even his fiance, Evangelia Petit, knows. I hesitate before continuing. “I come bearing bad news”.

He raises his head from the mountain of paperwork he's working on since he caught his aide stealing important documents. 

“I overheard the servants of the Second Prince saying he… passed away”.

My words don't even make him flinch. 

“That's probably a lie, or maybe Nikias is just pretending to get attention”, he says with a tired sigh as he massages between his eyes. “Just check the information and return to me”.

Is he sure? There are two absolute truths when it comes to Alkaios Theodore Chrysl. 1. He’s impatient and hates liars and traitors. 2. He would burn the world down for those he loves with his whole heart.

And the only two people on this Earth that Alkaios loves are his fiance, Evangelia, and his brother, Prince Nikias.

“Alkaios, you should at least visit him”, I say, using his name is a way to smoothly transition from my position as subordinate to close friend.

“I have way too much work Rainier, I cannot possibly put everything in pause to check on my attention-seeking brother. And don't we have Knights monitoring him?” He sighs, it's clear he's overworked, yet I still think he might regret this choice later on.

“As you wish”, I say, bowing again and leaving the office. Should I stop by? Ask the servants? Cautiously I glance at the Second Prince's door, not a soul in sight. First I should check on the Knights monitoring him…

LOWE

Dealing with spoiled nobles is the absolute worst. It's even hilarious how everyone thinks the Prince is the most spoiled one surrounding us, when his noble servants manage to be even more childish than the sheltered Second Prince. It's been exactly six minutes since the Prince’s heart stopped beating, Raphael has bags under his eyes yet he's holding back his tears. I should praise him later for managing his emotions so well in front of others.

When a Prince dies the immediate response would be to report such a fact to the Empress, or even her butler so that everyone can move to the funeral. There's absolutely no point in hiding the fact, eventually everything will come to light, and if we delay reporting it even longer the blame will befall me and Raphael due to our birth origins.

“We need to report it!” I stay firm on my resolve, but the two noble servants ignore my words and continue to discuss between themselves about their next course of action. Should I just leave and report it myself? I wonder as I stare at the empty morning corridor, I feel nauseous. My stomach churns as I watch the sun rays slowly coloring the white marble floor of the Palace, such a beautiful morning that started with a death. As I think about the irony of the situation, I spot the red-haired Knight leaving the Crown Prince’s office, I always seem to spot him when my mood is souring. 

As if the universe is sending me a reminder of my position and the past I can never run away from. 

The fear, the pain, will it all happen again once we are thrown out due to the Prince's death? Who'll take us in if not an Useless Prince? We would be lucky to go back to our mercenary days, but even so, I don't want to subject Raphael to such a life again, I don't want to go back to such a life as well, scrapping for food, begging for work while the other mercenary watches us with mocking eyes. Not even to mention the criminal jobs we were forced to take due to being the only ones willing to accept inexperienced and young mercenaries. 

We're not 16 anymore, but it doesn't change the dirt engraved on our skin due to our birth in the slums. Even if we hid it, pretending we were simple commoners, the truth always comes to light, especially when we barely know the common sense of life away from desperation.

Should I steal a few etiquette books from the library and study in secret? This way we could at least get a more decent job when we're thrown out…

My brain is working overtime as I try to think of a plan, either way we'll end up sleeping on the streets again, even if I saved a good amount of money, we would need someone willing to lend us a room or a house, and staying at an inn would be a waste of money.

Perhaps if I manage to convince one of the servants that are lower nobles I could get a letter of recommendation and rent a room for me and Raphael in the countryside. But all it's mere fantasy, even if they treat us with the minimum of respect due to our position as Prince's servants, that is the line they draw as to them we're still dirty slum kids that are dressed in pretty uniforms.

The stench of our origins covers our bodies and no matter how hard I scrub, I cannot get rid of it.

“The Prince will wake up” Andreas Gasser says, his eyes showing clear distaste for our presence and my words, although I'm sure the right thing is to report, I stay silent.

“We can't take getting on the Empress’ bad side” I overhear Conrad Burton whispering to Andreas. 

“If something goes badly we'll just pin the blame on them”, the words coming out of Andreas mouth make me scoff, I shouldn't mock a noble, but I can't hold it in, not when they're talking about something they're doing as if it was our fault. Most of all, they still have places to go back to, me and Raphael don't.

While they neglected their work, we worked harder, we were there for the Prince no matter the circumstances and took care of him even when his own family wouldn't.

And now we need to take the blame for his death when we were the only ones that did anything? The only ones actually grieving the death of someone we became close to?

The scowl in Andreas' face makes it clear what he's about to say, but he's interrupted by a scream. A scream coming from inside the room of Prince Nikias.