The Invisible Prince

Chapter 16 - A Realization (Part 3)

Arien and Arjen's POV-

Arien looked down in embarrassment after receiving praise from two of her brothers. However, before she could celebrate internally, Arjen began to speak to her telepathically.

'Arien...Wasn't the second prince only ten years old? I thought Arden was the same age as us. Why is he so small?'

"WHAT?!"

Arien could not contain her shock and yelled, surprising the second and fifth princes.

"Is something wrong?"

The second prince looked at her confusedly, with Arden mirroring his expression.

"N-no...nothing is wrong..."

Arien responded awkwardly, her eyes observing her two brothers.

'Arjen...You're right. I didn't notice last time because we were sitting down, or when we met Arden back at Derolina Castle because he was covered, but they do look different from their actual ages...'

Arjen nodded before realizing no one else heard their conversation. He blushed, then continued listening to Arien's rambling.

'The second prince looks like an adult. Is this part of the powers of a royal?'

'I think so. As for Arden, I think it is because he is sick.'

'Mhm...'

Their conversation was interrupted once again by their older brother.

"Arien, Arjen. How does it feel to finally be at the beautiful palace you mentioned when we first met?"

The siblings in question looked at him, with Arien gripping her flower crown.

'I've said this before, but why is he so interested in us?'

'To be fair, we're still illegitimate children from the prince's point of view, so it would be more reasonable for him to ignore us.'

'It could just be curiosity. He could be curious about his siblings who suddenly appeared one day or the strangers who are trespassing into his territory.'

Arien and Arjen were too busy speculating and ended up ignoring Alec's question.

"...I hope you like the palace. As for my name...you can just refer to me as Alec. Since we are family, I would like it if we could call each other by our nicknames."

The pair remained silent, their faces becoming darker.

'Family...'

'He doesn't know how sensitive we are to that word.'

Arien clenched her flower crown.

"Can you tell me about your nicknames?"

Arien and Arjen looked down.

"We don't have any."

Alec looked surprised for a moment before responding with a gentle smile on his face.

"It's probably because your names are already pretty. All of my brothers were named by my mother, but you three were the only ones who were named by our father."

Arden smiled slightly at this revelation, but Arien and Arjen only became more tense.

'What difference does that make? It was just something he did on a whim.'

'If he really thought of us as family, he wouldn't have left us in the hands of Rurahel for five years.'

Arien squeezed her flower crown, thinking about the suffering they had to endure in the care of Rurahel, their bodies that were littered with scars from their abuse, and their value that was lessened as a result of this fact. She only stopped when she felt a sharp pain on her palm.

"Ack! My hand!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and trembled in pain, her actions alerting her three siblings who were present.

"You must have gotten bit by a bug on one of those flowers. Come here, I'll heal it."

Alec approached Arien, who gave him her palm. However, he suddenly stopped and pulled Arien toward him.

"Your scars...why do you have so many?"

[539 words]

Sorry I published this so late! I've been procrastinating and completely forgot about my school projects, so I didn't have time until now. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!