‘’My apologies, your highness, you are correct, I stepped out of place’’, Andreas steps back, of course he does, if he kept insisting he would anger the Prince even further.

His highness shakes his hand, saying coldly: ‘’Enough, you both leave, I’ll talk with my mother about your compensation later’’, his words make my body shake, are we really all fired? 

Andreas, though, seems more shook than the rest of us, ‘’Your highness, what do you mean?’’ His hands are shaking and even his voice, but his stance is still perfectly worthy of a noble.

‘’I meant leave’’, the Prince’s words were definitive, there was no hesitation or even space for them to question again, my feet feel heavy, I can’t move, hoping he solely meant the other servants, Raphael and I remain still, until the door closes behind the two noble, extremely annoying, servants. ‘’What about you guys? Who are you?’’ His eyes turn dull, he leans back and although his words aren’t as cold as before, his gaze shows pure distrust. 

We need to be careful, if this is or not a test, whatever we say will decide our future in or out of the Palace.

Even if I’m just as hesitant as Raphael, and also scared of what will happen, I step in, of course I do, I can’t let Raphael be first to deal with anything. ‘’I’m Lowe, a commoner’’, I say, hoping the Prince will simply see us as a harmless bug near him.

Raphael follows suit, saying: ‘’And I’m Raphael, also a commoner’’, both of us respond calmly, hiding our shaking hands behind our back, and avoiding to look the Prince in the eyes, a sign of respect towards Royalty. 

‘’Are you guys twins or something?’’ His question always makes me laugh, not because the question is extremely obvious, but because it was the exact same thing he said to us back when we kidnapped him.

‘’Yes, your highness, we’re twins’’, I reply and we bow again, trying our best to look like  weak, insignificant, respectful servants. Not that we ever wished to be anything but that towards the Prince.

Knowing our place in society always did us good.

“From now on, Raphael please use a freesia flower pin on your clothes so I can differentiate you”, the Prince continues to speak and we nod in response. By the look in his eyes I can tell he can't actually differentiate us like before, such a realization makes my heart ache, weirdly, perhaps because he was the first person besides our parents to be able to do so. It shouldn't matter so much, I can't understand why it did hurt me, realizing that. “If you're my personal servant, that means you guys are probably quite knowledgeable, tell me what you can do”.

His words startle me, how far does his amnesia go? How much can he deduct from the little he remembers? If he forgot everything, how can he still assume and deduct such things? I really want to read a book on clinical amnesia right now, I think, my heart pounding with uncertainty. If there's one thing I strongly dislike is being in a situation I know nothing about.

The theory that this is a test no longer can be applied by the moment he didn't recognize us, he might be able to fake amnesia, in fact he has done it before, but he can't fake the look of unfamiliarity in his eyes.

Unless being poisoned made him a better liar.

If we wish to keep our jobs, however, there is no use lying to him right now, we must show ourselves to be useful yet loyal and harmless to him.

Again, I'm the first one to speak: “Yes, your highness, I, Lowe, was hired because I'm well versed with poison, so I analyze your meals, drinks and medicine before you consume them”, and also concocted a poison for the Crown Prince by your orders, which later was used to almost kill you. Not that I'm saying that, after all, I'm not stupid.

“I see”, the Prince answers, tilting his head, I can feel his gaze analyzing me, scanning for any potential threats. His behavior is just… bizarre. “If you test my food for poison, how did I die then?”

Four years by his side, I always questioned if the Prince was secretly intelligent, just pretending to be a crazy stupid Prince, so that his beloved brother wouldn't see him as competition. And although a few times he would comment things out of the ordinary, he would never behave like this. His words aren't incorrect, I should've stopped, we should've done everything as per protocol.

That was if me and Raphael were his only attendants.

Mere commoners cannot go against the word of nobles, regardless if they share the same work stance. Sure, I don't usually care for other nobles, however when it comes to Prince Nikias, I can't help but walk on eggshells, just so we can bask in the warmth he gave us a bit longer.

I don't show any hesitance, I can't present myself as a fool, composition in stressful situations is something necessary as a servant, and even if Raphael isn't as composed, I'm enough to convince the Prince for both of us.

Just until we can have enough money to run away to a different nation if necessary.

“The poison was administered directly to you during a moment where we weren't standing guard”, the regret in my voice is clear, but I remain firm as my knees touch the ground, and so does my head right after. “We were incompetent and allowed harm to come to you, we will accept any punishment you deem fit…”

I don't mean it.

But I am a better liar than Raphael and Prince Nikias.

If we were to be punished by Imperial Law we would be executed, and I'm not willing to die for anyone but Raphael.

However.

We were always and will always be loyal to the Prince, I won't allow us to die for him, but I would kill for him if so were necessary, I would keep poisoning the Crown Prince and would even poison the Emperor if he so requested.

I would steal, harm and do whatever necessary to stay here, to have food, a roof, a job, and to be alive.

And the moment this job became dangerous enough for us to die, I would drag Raphael away and run, but I would never change sides and share private information about the Prince.

There isn't anything in this world I would be willing to sacrifice mine or Raphael's life for.

Well, that is… except one thing, but regardless of my own choices and life, Raphael will always be my top priority.

“Should I fire you as I did them?” The Prince’s question makes me flinch, fire? Not execute or torture?

I don't raise my head, I can't, the heaviness of his highness gaze makes my whole body tremble. Something I never felt even in the presence of the Crown Prince or the Empress. 

“I…”, my heart races. “I beg you to allow us to stay, we have nothing left, your highness, we swore our loyalty to you!” Those words are sincerely what I believe, sure, we can survive somewhere else, but here we can live normally like people, not laboratory experiments.

His highness’ gaze alleviates. “Get up”, he says and I do as told. “I'll decide your punishment later, continue your introductions”, his eyes finally fall upon Raphael.

I'm relieved, at least now he won't be as harsh to Raphael due to our mistakes.

Raphael introduces himself, mentioning his more practical and offensive abilities, not that I agree with him revealing such, but I can't control my brother to such an extent. 

He is his own person after all.

The Prince's golden eyes blink slowly, he looks tired, probably due to his body recovering from the poison. He says: “You both may leave now, I would like my meal two hours from now, I'll rest”, he stares at us, waiting.

And with a simple and quick bow, we both leave the room.

As the door closes behind us, Raphael lets out a loud sigh, closing his eyes and crouching on the floor. “I was so scared, that he would be dead and that we would fire us, I'm so glad he's alive”, he mumbles, I can see the tears forming in his eyes, but he doesn't shed a tear. “Should I tell him?” His words aren't directed at me, he's talking to himself, but I answer his question either way.

“Raffe, don't. We can't act like friends when all we are is subordinates”, I sigh as well, feeling my whole body aching from the mess everything was. “For now, let's act just like we did at the beginning, carefully and intelligently”.

Raphael nods, “I'll do as you say, Lowe, I'm just happy, aren't you?”

I pause, looking at the corridor’s window where the sun shines brightly. “I guess, a bit”.