Sunshine is You

3. Sweet Deals

Cale Henituse was a bit surprised when the crown prince leaned forward to him. Alberu lowered his voice when he asked to be his friend. 

For the ten-year-old boy, the crown prince looked like a neighborhood teenager rather than a prince. Alberu had this peculiar expression that every puberty teenager tried to do. Showing off their power. 

The red-haired boy subconsciously leaned back, widened his round eyes. "...huh?"

Alberu Crossman always kicked out every worker in the palace during this time, so approaching a person was not his thing. Let alone having a close friend, he's not even close with his siblings. They're rivals, not siblings he could rely on.

Cale narrowed his eyes, thinking that this crown prince was weird. He never joined a noble's meeting outside the northeastern neutral faction. He wondered if this was the noble's way of approaching other nobles. 

 He's only ten years old and Ron always warned him to be careful of everyone. He could not even trust his relatives, so why did this crown prince ask him to be his friend?

"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?" 

"Let's be friends. I think we'll be good friends for each other."

Cale was speechless. He's a kid who could not go out from the estate. Although they'll be friends, they would not meet often. 

The boy stared weirdly at Alberu. The crown prince had not yielded. The more Cale watched this prince, the less he saw him as the first prince of this Roan Kingdom. 

"Is this what Your Highness wants from me?"

Alberu's smile widened. "Yes." He thought the frown on the boy's face was normal because he asked for it. Alberu didn't comment on it. He realized he's a bit forcing this boy. 

However, the dream he had and the short time he experienced with the adult Cale as his attendant really attached to him strongly. His ego as a teenager and his raised confidence pushed him to this moment. 

Then, Cale responded to him with the answer Alberu never imagined from a ten-year-old boy. "What's in for me?"

For the third time, Alberu really questioned whether the Cale in front of him was really a kid or that adult Cale he ever met. How could a Count's first son ask what would he gain by befriending him? Wasn't it usually the reverse where the nobles pursued the Royal to gain the advantage? Or is this boy asking this because he knew he didn't have any support? Or this was the adult Cale he saw in the dreamt?

"...you really never meet me, right?"

Cale refrained from groaning. He didn't want Ron to catch him being impolite in front of a Royal Family member. With difficulty, he made his tone as flat as ever. "This is our first meeting, Your Highness."

Alberu who heard the flat tone from the boy became shocked. He noticed the boy was trying to hold himself from doing something, then he made that flat tone. It reminded him of when he learned to be neutral and composed himself in the past.

There's another resemblance between the two of them. Recalling the past, he also did similarly with his aunt's guidance around this age. However, he ended up being a fierce first prince to avoid his identity being revealed. 

Cale ate another spoonful of cake, grumbling internally. His tone was indeed flat, but his expression didn't. Alberu who saw this let out a small laughed and finally leaned back. 

'He's really ten years old... I think I'm absorbed into my dream too much...'

"Young master Cale, do you really think that I'm planning to be your friend for politic benefit purposes?"