"That was really good, Young Master," Asher complimented Pier. Pier dusted his bottom off and stood upright before bowing respectfully in front of Asher.
"Thank you, Your Highness. It's my pleasure to receive a compliment from you," Pier said and completely ignored Asher right after because he saw the young servant kneeling on the ground and was shaking in fear.
In front of Caleb were two of the three most feared individuals in the kingdom. One word from either of these people could lead to getting his entire family executed and hanged on the palace walls.
"Caleb, stand up." Pier crouched down and helped the young boy stand up but Caleb remained motionless and continued to kneel. Pier sighed and looked at Asher. The Crown Prince flinched as he was surprised by the sudden glance Pier gave him.
"Your Highness, this servant is with me. Please do pardon him if he ever aggravated his highness." Pier said in a monotonous voice.
"But what are you doing here with the servant, Pier?" Raphael asked as he glanced back and forth at the young master and the kneeling servant.
"He must have gotten bored while I was attending the gathering and decided to wander around the palace, thus leading him here in the garden. It was with luck that I met him here." Pier answered. Raphael nodded his head and looked in Asher's direction.
"Your Highness, please do not punish the young servant. He's still young to experience such things." Asher's eyebrows twitched in response to both Pier and Raphael's words.
Aggravated? Punish? Sure, he might have been planning to punish the servant when he saw him with Pier for the first time but seeing how close they were, he decided not to because he thought it would only distance himself from Pier further.
"Of course. You don't have to worry about it," He said and the servant stopped quivering in fear. Pier smiled as the servant stood and dusted off his ragged clothes.
"Here, you can return now. It seems the young duke and his highness has something to talk with me." Pier said and Caleb nodded his head before grabbing the small guitar. He bowed his head to the three nobles and went back.
After Caleb left, he turned to face the two individuals who were silently watching the interaction between him and Caleb.
"May I know the reason why Sir Raphael and His Highness came to find me?" He asked and the two stood there for a moment before speaking.
'He says Raphael's name without any worries but he can't even say my name.' Asher thought about the way Pier addressed him and Raphael.
"How about we speak over a cup of tea, young master? It would be improper for us to talk with the young master in a place like this" Asher said and Pier agreed. The three started to walk towards the center of the garden where a pavilion was also located.
Servants rushed to tend with the three individual's needs after seeing them walk towards the pavilion without any assistants.
"You sing really well, Pier." Raphael started to talk with Pier. The young master who was uninterested in the two persons nodded his head.
"Thank you, Sir Raphael." He said and his lazy eyes darted to another location. Raphael felt an unpleasant feeling with Pier's disinterest in his talking.
Maybe it was because no one had ever disregarded his initiative to talk with him?
'I want to play with the ukulele more but these two showed up and made Caleb scared' Pier sulked and decided not to interact with them further.
'I wonder where he bought the ukulele, should I try looking for stores in the capital?' He thought. When they reached the pavilion, the servants immediately served them tea along with different types of pastries.
"Young Master, we would like to formally apologize for the nobles' behavior earlier. It was an unpleasant scenario but we also know what the other nobles were trying to point out." Asher started as soon as they sat down in their respective seats.
"There is no need to apologize, your highness, Sir Raphael. I know what their perspective is as well. It was immature of me to question their decisions to prioritize the safety of the future nobility." Pier said and picked the teacup served for him and drank the tea inside it.
"I... I see" Asher hesitantly said before a calm silence engulfed him but Raphael and Pier kept talking about some stuff.
Asher was not used to the new Pier he was facing right now. It felt so different than the Pier he had been dealing with in the past years.
The Pier right now in front of him was full of elegance and maturity. It was hard to speak with him without feeling anxious even a little bit.
Once the two individuals got a moment of silence, Asher decided to speak in and start a new topic.
"Ah, young master. I would also like to formally apologize. I have been rude with my actions for the past years and it even reached the point where I had publicly shamed the young master. It was a fault on my part." Pier stopped sipping on his tea after hearing Asher speak.
'Why's he bringing this up again? Aren't we over this issue?' Pier sighed and turned to look at Asher who was looking at him with an expectant gaze.
'What does he expect me to do? Shout with joy that he finally started to notice me?' Pier scoffed at the idea in his head. It was repulsive to even think about it.
"I also had my fault in the process, your highness. It was insensitive of me to force my affections when his highness does not want to be with me. However, just as I have said back in the Sun Palace, I no longer wished to be with highness but simply stand with the crowd and watch the love of the century bloom." Pier said affectionately.
Asher on the other hand felt unpleasant with the words. He did not know why, but Pier saying that he will watch with the crowd irked a part of him.
"I see. Thank you, young master. I do wish to reconcile with the young master once as a friend and a close confidant." Asher said. His hand shook silently underneath the table as he said those words. He was finally able to let go of the words he wanted to say to the young master after the Royal Banquet.
He was nervous as to what his proposal would come out because it solely relied on Pier's decision. He cannot force someone of such ranking to become his confidant and his close friend once more because of the strain that happened between them.
Pier placed the teacup down and proceeded to stare at Asher. The prince gulped as he was conscious of what Pier thought. He never felt this way, no, never in his seventeen years of existence did he experience feeling nervous just from the stare of another person.
"Such offer is a great opportunity for me, your highness..." Pier started. Raphael and Asher were both silent about the next words Pier was about to say.
"However, I would like to decline." Asher felt like a huge weight suddenly crushed his expectations.
"May I ask the reason for declining, young master?" He spoke. He almost stuttered. The heavy sensation he felt back at the Royal Banquet while watching Pier dance with Raphael returned but this time, it was greater.
Why did this happen? He thought that they were now good.
"It is bold for me to request this, however, please do consider my feelings, your highness. I have been free of my affections which I held on to for years now. I wanted to live a life free from any complications. What would the people of the kingdom say if I were to suddenly become his highness's close confidant?" Pier was stating his points one by one. He hated how insensitive Asher was being right now.
'Most of the crown princes from the novels and manhwas I read are not as insensitive as this jerk right here.' Pier rolled his eyes at the thought.
"If I were to get acquainted with his highness' close confidant position, my reputation would take a downfall once more since I am starting to slowly be in the better light. It would hurt my pride to hear the sentences 'the young master pretended not to love the Crown Prince anymore just to get his attention, right?" Pier said as he chuckled and took a cookie from the plate served for them.
"I will make sure you never hear them, young master!" Asher said with a hint of hope in his voice, but Pier had already made his decision.
"There's still no difference between hearing and not hearing things, your highness. The mouth may speak sharp words but the heart feels the intention even without them." He smiled at the words he said. He sounded so wise right now.
"I will still be your supporter, your highness. The Belmiunde Household will still become one of your supporting households. If you intend to get a close confidant from our household, you can hire one of my step-brothers in my stead for they will surely be glad to serve you with all their life." The burden Asher felt became bigger and bigger to the point his chest hurt from the words Pier said.
He did not want to get a close confidant from the Belmiunde Household, he wanted Pier himself to be by his side, as a friend that he can rely on. But the words Pier spoke were like daggers that penetrated his wall of expectations.
'Is this how it feels to be rejected?' Asher thought. He silently pondered over Pier's words for a few more minutes before answering.
"I see, it was presumptuous of me to expect your agreement, young master. I have been insensitive." Pier nodded his head.
'Not every royalty is all of that, they need to learn new things sometimes' He thought.
"Maybe if his highness offers the position for me years from now, I would agree, but I still need time to recuperate with the damage I have taken for the previous years, your highness," Pier explained further. He wanted to draw the line between his and Asher's relationship.
'Forgive me, Pier, but I think it would be hard to fix your relationship with Asher based on my judgments.' Eliam said in his thoughts about the original Pier. However, he knew that this is the right decision.
"My reputation had hit rock bottom from all the things that happened in the past and I have greatly damaged the name of our household I am to rule in the future as well. I wanted to rebuild myself and my family's name before I take another step." Pier said with finality. Asher felt the walls of confidence he had built slowly break down at the words Pier had said.
'It hurts so much... why?' Why? Why was Asher feeling this way? He should have been able to take it with slight disappointment but hearing it directly from Pier's mouth was harder than he thought.
Raphael who was listening to Pier's explanation also felt the guilt and burden. Was he simply lucky enough that Pier had allowed him to become his close friend once more? He thought about the possibility of Pier having declined his offer to become friends again.
'No.' Raphael did not linger on the thought. He could only see the days where he was questioning his years filled with nothing great to expect. Now that he had Pier, he had been thinking about the young noble multiple times a day and had a purpose of attending gatherings where he could possibly see him.
He did not want to admit it but he wasn't naïve nor dense either. He knew the stage he was getting at with his feelings for Pier but he did not want to rush it.
"I-I understand, young master. Then please do not linger on the thought of my proposal. However, can we at least become ... friends?" It was his final attempt at reconciliation. Not as close confidants, not as close friends, but simply friends that would be of a greater alliance to each other.
Asher realized how he had longed for his relationship with Pier. Years ago, the three of them would be the group that represented the entire kingdom, they were always the team that Asher truly liked, they were the true friends he only had. He had gotten the realization of how he dearly missed those times.
As the sun slowly went down and the birds went into their respective nests for a good night's slumber, Pier spoke the words that Asher did not want to hear.
"I'm not sure about that either, your highness."