5 Princes and I(Preview Only)

Chapter 69 Inheritor

Chapter 69

All of us looked at Ren, who only smiled sheepishly from our stares. "Sorry. Just got used to it." In my irritation, I slapped Ren at the back of his head. "Ow!"

And to think that I felt relieved because I thought that it was Ace! Stupid Ren.

"Yes." Eltur confirmed and continued. "Ace is the third one who possesses such a gift. Imagine our surprise when mother, Darem, and I found him in the garden bringing dead flowers back to life." Eltur grinned at the memory. "At first, we didn't have a clue what his gift was, but after a few trips to the library, we finally figured it out. Ace was only five when his gift manifested."

"That is so unreal," I muttered.

"Yeah. Imagine our cute baby brother obtaining such a rare gift coming from previous kings. Great kings, if I may add."

"Er...that too, but I was kind of talking about Ace reviving dead plants," I said.

"Ohh...oh!" In the last sentence, you could tell that Eltur got where my words were coming from.

"I don't get it. If Ace's gift is this powerful and ancient, why would he wish to be rid of it?" Wondered Dan.

"Oh, it's actually not his gift that Ace hates," Darem said for the very first time. "It's the restrictions that he hates."

"Restrictions?"

"As a prince and as the one who possesses a powerful gift, Ace is prone to different sorts of danger, especially when he's only a child. Our father didn't know of Ace's gift because our father has a weak heart, and mother doesn't want him to worry. Ace was always kept inside and couldn't leave unless escorted by one of our palace guards. Eltur and I would frequently sneak him out to play with us when we were younger. When I looked at him back then, I could see the joy in his eyes as he chased us. Only during those moments that Ace felt like he really was a kid."

"However, it didn't last long." Eltur continued by patting Darem on the shoulder. "Mother discovered that we were sneaking Ace out of the castle. She became enraged and slapped my brother and me in front of Ace. And, apparently, Ace cared about us because he began crying and begged our mother to stop. He vowed to her that he would never leave the palace unprotected again. Ace refused to accompany us whenever we asked him to sneak out afterwards. He devoted his entire time to training and studying. Every morning he would study in the library, and every afternoon he and the palace guards would go out and practice sword fighting or archery." There was a brief pause before Darem said, in a low, whisper-like voice, "As you can see, Ace desired to be free of his powers in order to get away of the constraints....the fences that our mother had to construct for him. It was all because of his gift."

There was silence as we let all the information sink in.

'No wonder Ace is such a bitter prince and a bookworm.' Ren spoke in my mind, making me slap him behind the head again. "Hey!"

Insensitive mutt!

We all fell silent as we waited for who knows how long outside. The silence was deafening and suffocating, giving me time to reflect on how we all misjudged Ace. Sure, he's a grumpy pants, but everything he did had a purpose. People frequently misjudge others despite not knowing them well.

As I was busy pondering over my thoughts, Queen Siera finally came out of the greenhouse and we all stood up and watched her in anticipation as we waited for news about Ace.

"Mother, is Ace..-?"

"He's fine, Eltur." Queen Siera reassured him. "Your brother is fine. He's just resting. Although whether he will wake up soon is up to him. I've already done my part on calming down the flow of energy from his body." The moment she said it made me that dark circles were forming under Queen Siera's eyes. Also, her eyes were a bit puffy, which I assume she cried while trying to help Ace.