ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ❅ 𝕽𝖔𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊𝖘

❝𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 8❞

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A few hours ago on the plane

Gathered around the table, the boys watched as Prince Leon placed the last post-it notes on the world map.

Prince Leon stood at full height and regarded his options based on the notes written. "From England, the closest location is Saudi Arabia," he said.

Prince Albert and Prince Felix leaned closer to inspect the notes written by the German prince, meanwhile, Prince Ciel eyed the entire set-up with mild interest. Alexis, on the other hand, took great interest in the German prince's meticulous planning.

"Is that our next destination?" he asked.

"No," Prince Ciel looked away as he said, "we need to go to America first."

Alexis was shocked. He glanced back and forth from the notes on the map to the French prince, noticing that it takes 8 hours and 5 minutes to fly from London to New York City. It made no sense to him why they would choose a longer route over a shorter one.

"Why?" Alexis croaked out.

"In truth, I've never been to Saudi Arabia before," Prince Albert confessed, not meeting Alexis' eyes.

"What?" Alexis said, "I thought you all have been to every corner of the world." He had imagined that the princes stayed in different cities every night and walked on red carpets everywhere they went. He seemed to have forgotten that they were just young boys like himself.

"I haven't been there either," Prince Felix added, looking guilty. "I dislike extremely hot weather." His reasoning sounded outrageous to the brunette boy who had lived his entire life getting used to extreme weather.

Prince Leon sighed, knowing that things are slowly getting out of hand. "We don't know much about Prince Uthman," he said, trying to placate the younger boy. "He rarely talks about his home."

"We have no choice but to leave him behind," said Prince Ciel.

Alexis stared at the pair in distress, feeling like he doesn't know them anymore. What happened to the kind and caring friends he knew?

"There are too many places to cover and 72 hours isn't enough," said Prince Leon grimly. "We still have to consider Australia which is on the other side of the globe."

Prince Ciel cut him off. "Instead of searching blindly in a place we don't know, we'd better search for Charles first," he said with great certainty.

"Albert and Charles are close," Prince Leon nodded, "so we have a higher chance of finding him."

The more they talked, the more upset Alexis became. He was revolted by their ways of choosing who to save and who to sacrifice. They are no better than the wicked Prince Gion who set them up in the game. What happened to fairness? What happened to friendship? What of all the promises Prince Ciel made? Alexis could not stand their nonchalant behavior any longer.

"NO! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!!" Alexis stood up shouting.

It shocked his princely friends who were used to his quiet and meek nature. Seems that they mustn't judge a book by its cover. Tears started to well up in his large blue eyes.

"I'm not even close with Prince Uthman but he is kind and never grumbles," Alexis cried. "How could we leave him like that? Like . . . like . . ." He choked on his words, hiccoughing.

Suddenly, he felt a resting hand on his head. Alexis looked up.

He saw Prince Ciel staring at him with a gentle smile.

"Yes, I understand," the French prince said. "Have you forgotten? I promised I will bring everyone back no matter what."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Princess Caitlyn let out a tired sigh.

"Should we tell Gion about this?" Princess Caoimhe asked hesitantly.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Caitlyn groaned out, "No, we're not obliged to tell him anything." She had stopped pacing entirely and moved to lean by the window, feeling the cool night breeze against her skin.

She could hear Caoimhe pause from typing on the keyboard. "You're not going to help him out?" The Irish girl wondered. Knowing Caitlyn, she would have at least lent a hand. Being cruel to her allies is very much unlike her, especially when Prince Gion is one of the more powerful allies available.

"Help?" Caitlyn repeated. She scoffed mockingly, "I've given him more than enough help. If he could plan and carry out a whole scheme in less than a week, he could get himself out of a sticky situation." Her face was devoid of emotion as she stared into the distance where the city lights never sleep. "Remember, it's his game. We're just spectators."

Yes, it was uncommon for her to be cruel to allies but it is not rare for her to leave when there is room to run. Prince Shintarou understood that well. Furthermore, she's not the mastermind. This time, she's just an initiator. A devil whispering ideas in Prince Gion's ear.

"What about that mouse-like princeling?" Caoimhe's question brought her out of her musings.

"He's not noble, contrary to what the princes believe," said Caitlyn. She could not fathom what went through her brother's mind for him to conclude that there was such a country called the Broccoli country. He probably never used his head there. Some things never changed.

Caitlyn then decided, "Alexis is going to be a dangerous enemy in the future with all his righteous talk about peace."

She could hear her friend chuckle on the other side of the phone. "He reminds me of Evan Fowl," she said.

"Your father told you about the General Assembly?" Caitlyn asked with a slight shadow of a grin on her face.

"Yeah, I'd assume that's the same for you?"

"Yes."

Caoimhe let out another laugh. Caitlyn shook her head, looking bemused.

"It's about time we pull away from the game," Caitlyn sighed. "It's becoming more risky to continue. I'm not in any position to order you so I'd suggest that you proceed onwards in absolute discretion."

"Naturally," Caoimhe replied. "I can't help that I like good gossip. I'll let you know if anything unpredictable happens."

After the call ended, the Norwegian princess continued to stare into the night sky, watching the stars twinkle. In her head, she knew that her plans had failed, for the other princes trusted Charles enough to sacrifice him. Charles' spirits could never be easily crushed anymore, not by her or his friends at least. If it were her grandmother, things might have been different.

Unfortunately, that side of the family must never know that she's involved in this. Convincing her father was more than enough trouble for her.

Then, she remembered something her brother said before.

Ciel's a little weak. He caught a fever the other day because of exam pressure.

He'll fall sick, won't he? She thought to herself. And the game will end anticlimactically.

A creak from the bedroom door opening was picked up by her hypersensitive ears. The soft footfalls she recognized as Valkyrie's approached her quietly.

"Your highness," her lady-in-waiting whispered. "It's getting late, you should get some sleep."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

1652 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜

𝐚/𝐧: is Caitlyn just being careful or overly cunning?