Cannon fodder is too lazy to act

18

"The saint was just introduced to the King and Queen, your last attempt at killing her failed. She was inexplicably revived... I don't think we can kill her with normal methods, we have to try more orthodox ways." Sigrun held his head low as he spoke, his voice just below a whisper. It looked like he was mumbling something to himself but the glowing card on his breast pocket showed otherwise.

After a while of silence, the card lit up, indicating a response on the other line.

"More orthodox ways? Haven't we been using unorthodox ways for the past 3 life-lines? Because of this, Kai is threatened to have his soul completely dispersed." There was a sigh, "No matter how we try it, we can't kill this goddamn thing. Sigrun, have you been keeping tabs on Esmond? I heard some odd rumors going about the heir... It's been so long, don't tell me he still hasn't gained consciousness yet?"

"No," He quickly replied. "I felt a slight tremor of strange energy fluctuation recently, I'm sure he has."

"... Tsk. That annoying dog,"

"It's been 3 months already, yet the Saint has already gained the loyalty of most of my men here, and of course, she has the church completely wrapped around her finger." Sigrun tilted his head slightly, his red eyes glowing slightly in the dark corner where he stood hidden between two walls. In his line of sight, just slightly overshadowed by the pillar next to them, stood two extremely familiar figures. "It seems her next target should be Esmond."

"I'm not surprised. She always went for him first, maybe because of convenience. Haha, he was always the most accessible out of all of us, what a cheap dog."

Sigrun didn't respond to the other's taunting of Esmond, but the corners of his lips did curve up ever so slightly.

"Prince Esmond, it's been an honor to meet the royal family." Dressed in a white gown, with golden lace, the saintess spoke to Esmond. Her brown eyes flashed a faint gold within. "Um, I'm sorry to have troubled you so much... I was just wondering if, if I could continue to visit the palace when I'm free. I, I don't mean to be presumptuous! After all, I'm just a lowly peasant girl who was suddenly proclaimed this 'saintess' title...  I, I'm sorry, Prince Esmond."

Esmond glanced down at the girl. Her looks were average, with the tear mole below her right eye giving her a slight edge. Brown hair, and brown eyes; her frame was thin, cloaked by the white fabric of the church's attire. If it were any other person, Esmond could swear he would be able to ignore them, but no, this was the saintess... or what they prefer to call him, saint.

The girl standing before him was nothing but a vessel to be used by that 'saint'. The power residing in her is not human, they were aware. But it wasn't anything holy either.

Even so, doesn't that still make her guilty by fault of complicity?

Esmond returned her nervous smile with a confident one, "Not presumptuous at all, Saintess. You are the new saintess, after all. It can be argued that your current position is even higher than mine, but let's not dwell on such topics. How can I refuse your innocent request? Ah, I heard before the church found you, you were in quite of a pickle. I can assume you're much in a better state now?"

"Ah! Y-yes! The church and priests' were very kind when taking me in, I'm forever grateful for them! S-so, I can visit you--I mean, I can visit the royal palace, right?" The girl stumbled to fix her words, by the end of it her face was flushed as a tomato. 

Esmond nodded. "Of course, as long as you're the saintess, you will always be welcomed."

...

In his first life, he took the people around him for granted; abandoning his real allies and letting the saint sneak his way into his heart. Esmond could feel it was wrong, but back then he was still too weak to realize the true weight of his actions.

"Master...Prince Esmond, I, I don't understand..." The adolescent face of Kai Idunn reflected in his amber eyes. The boy knelt on the floor, his hands stained with dirt and blood. Though none of it belonged to either of them.

"What don't you understand, Kai? I think my words were quite simple and clear." The arrogant prince side-stepped the kneeling figure, his eyes devoid of feelings. "I have no more use for you." 

"No!" Kai scrambled up, reaching to grasp the silver-white sleeve of the other. The other whom he admired so much, whom he uncontrollably fell so deep with; whom he did anything for. Kai grabbed his wrist, for the first time. 

There was a slight tremor in his heart as he held the other's wrist. Happiness, joy. This would be the first time he ever held or even touched the other person. He's long imagined such a scenario, it would've been so romantic, so pink, so red. But he was also hesitant. Scared of tainting those white sleeves with his dirty hands, his dirty body, his dirty soul. 

Not even a second after Kai grabbed his sleeve, Esmond flung him away. "Remember your place, Kai! You dare touch the crown prince with those disgusting hands!?" 

Kai gasped for breath, painfully curled against the floor, broken fragments of porcelain around him. He had collided against the table, where there was a vase, and with the collision his back was pressed against it, breaking under the pressure. 

"...Ah...Ah...I, I'm sorry. I, I didn't mean...to." Esmond refused to look back at him, he looked at his sleeves, stained with the blood of others. With a sneer and a wave of his other hand, he left the room. 

With the sensation of glass still deeply embedded into his back, Kai struggled to lift his head, his vision partly blurry from physiological tears. He was the wide shoulders of his prince leave, closing the door to him, shutting him in the dark room, never looking back. 

He collapsed his head back down onto the floor with a dull thud. After a long minute, Kai's shoulders began to shake heavily and a laugh-filled with self-deprecation and mockery left his parted lips. 

"I've overstepped...Why? Did I forget who I was?... Why did I think I could change the story... when I'm nothing but a cannon fodder."

Why was I such a fool back then? 

This thought crossed both of their minds, Kai and Esmond, yet one only realized this much sooner, leaving the other to desperately amend their broken relationship.

Author's corner:

I think I failed my Ap Lang Exams. (Please pray for my poor soul)

I still got finals after this and will be having them this week and next week. (If I was a better student, I wouldn't be doing them.)

Well, here's a still excerpt of Kai and Esmond's relationship from their past. 

If anyone is confused, you may ask about it(as long as it doesn't include spoilers)

Anyways, I'm going to explain some stuff now regarding Kai and his memories: As you can put together, Kai is not from their world but from the modern era. And as you have also probably put together, this is not his first time being reborn in their world. 

His first time in their world, Kai wanted to change his fate as an unfortunate cannon fodder by staying by the Prince's(Esmond) side. Unfortunately, that doesn't go well and his life restarts again(through some means), but life restart erases the memories of when Kai did live it, only keeping the memories of his modern life. But even without the memories, Kai is still subconsciously affected, emotionally.

His emotional and mental state deteriorates through each reset.

(This whole thing was just an excuse for the Author to tell you the plot instead of showing it to you. i.e. Author is bad at writing and is too lazy to plan out this whole plot.)

Hmmm. I just realized I don't have a drawing to share with this chapter...(dissatisfied.)

I'll give you guys a spicy one next time, of Kai and Alcestic. I promise :)))