WITCH - The Revolt

Chapter 81

Leopold

He couldn't sleep. Leopold rolled from side to side, but he just couldn't sleep. Eventually, he gave up and quietly crept into the kitchen. All doors were still closed. He was the only one awake. He looked out the window. It was still dark outside, but he already heard some birds calling. Soon the sun would rise. He made himself a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Already awake?" Prince Peter shuffled into the kitchen.

"Oh. Did I wake you up?" He made some room, as the prince sat down with him at the table. "Would you like some tea too?"

"Well yes, I heard you boil water. But, I don't want tea, thank you."

"Oh. Sorry."

"All good. I didn't sleep very well. I kept waking up. And? What keeps you awake?"

"A lot." Leopold stirred some sugar into his tea, which he took from a white sugar bowl. The sugar was almost out. "I'm worried. And I don't know what to do. Do you think Juli will forgive me?"

"Eventually. Perhaps? She loves you." Peter rested his arms on the table. "Shall I tell you a story?"

"A story?" Leopold drank a sip of tea and almost burned his tongue. The tea was still too hot.

"I know the feeling of not knowing what to do."

"Really? But hasn't a prince... How can I say it... Hasn't a prince his future already prepared? A place in the nobility? Taking on important tasks? Marry? You could have chosen it. Taken the easy way."

Peter laughed briefly. "Sort of, yes. How shall I explain it to you... I don't think I'm made for taking responsibility. I wanted to be a magician as a child. I wanted nothing more than that. I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to admire me. I wanted to stand out! The Queen told me again and again that she had seen that I would be a mortal. My siblings told me the same thing. I didn't believe them. It had to be a mistake! When my sixteenth birthday came, and magic had never shown, I fell into a hole. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what I wanted from life... I've always enjoyed the luxury that comes with the privileges of the nobility, you know? I liked being a prince. I liked living in luxury. But I let everything else slide. I could have studied. Politics. Economy. I could have contributed. I never did. I didn't know what I wanted. I was trapped..."

"Trapped?" Leopold snorted. "How so? You could go wherever you wanted. Do what you wanted."

"Not really, no. The Queen left me alone for a long time. As long as I was dressed presentably and played the role of the good prince in public, she left me alone. I've always been a bit headstrong, and rebellious, you know? My father often ignored this, and my mother tolerated it for a long time. But I always knew that I wasn't good enough in her eyes. Julia was always her golden child. She expected great things from her. She also bragged about the achievements of Cleo, Lea, and Fritz. I was always just Peter. The mortal. She never bragged about me."

"That must have hurt."

"It has. That's why I became even more rebellious. On Julia's sixteenth birthday, I appeared in pajamas. I wanted my mother to get upset. She celebrated Julia's birthday hugely. I had only had a small, modest celebration. I was jealous of Juli. I still am."

Leopold didn't want to believe that. They were so close. Everyone could see that Peter adored his little sister, that he would fetch the stars from the sky for her.

"I wanted mom to see me. Myself. I wanted her to brag about me like my other siblings. I didn't know who I was. I think I would have needed her help. Even my father's. But Mom's response to my desperate attempt to find myself was for me to marry Babette. So that I grow up and stop all my silliness. And so that I would give her grandchildren. Who, at best, of course, would be witches and wizards. She never wanted me. She wanted powerful children. That's why I rebelled even more. I wore silly clothes. I wore a lot of jewelry so that Babette rejected me and all the other witches who wanted to marry would find me unattractive. And at some point, I plundered Julia's wardrobe. All just to get attention and to make it clear that I didn't agree with my mother's plans."