Anastacius had initially wanted to stay with Penelope when she first entered to see Claude. But like the last time he had seen Claude in this state, Aeternitas took it upon himself to push him to do things again.
As she had approached the bed, he heard his raspy voice once again.
'The perfect chance...Kill him.'
And the young prince DID feel some parts of him itching to grab Penelope, throw her out of the room or through the window, then strangle his own brother to death with his own hands. It really really itched him. His hand was already raising itself.
'What are you waiting for?! It's the greatest opportunity ever. Your mother already did half the work for you!'
He felt his mana starting to boil. He almost lost control, but Penelope had sat by Claude with such a hard expression. He didn't want to do anything more to disturb her.
'Then just send her out then do it you little wuss!'
Aeternitas had stopped trying to convince him to do it and instead tried to take control over his body and do it himself. Feeling the dark mana rising up his chest and clouding his vision, Anastacius had hurriedly left, unsure of his own capacity to control the dark spirit. He didn't want Penelope to see him in such a state, and he certainly didn't have any genuine desire to harm Claude.
'You IDIOT!'
He ran out of the room, leaving Felix to look at him in confusion as he left, running to the other end of the hall, only stopping when he came across Claude's mother's half-open bedroom door.
'Coward, incapable of getting your hands dirty!!'
Anastacius kept on ignoring Aeternitas as he peeked through the door. A few maids were hushing down Adriana as she struggled against them. He could hear her say her son's name a few times in such a worried and hoarse voice. He wanted to go in and talk to her, but his mother told him not to do so. And there wasn't much he could say anyway. Still, he sorta liked it whenever he was with her since she was always warm to him.
He ran to his own room instead and shut the door, crashing down against it.
'You are a disappointment.'
Anastacius had made it a habit to stop replying to Aeternitas's every comment since they were so numerous and he didn't wish to converse with him in any way. He had teleported to go get Penelope in the first place to get himself out of the Emerald Palace so that Aeternitas would shut up. But the second they got back into Claude's room, the spirit started pestering him once again.
The prince was with Felix and Claude when the latter fell unconscious. They were strolling through the garden, taking advantage of the chilly season since it's insanely hot in the summer and they liked the cool breezes passing through. At one moment Anastacius had looked back up to his mother's bedroom window, and something had bothered him. He just had a feeling.
He saw her standing at the window, with her back faced to them. And she saw her stab something small he first thought was a pillow. But strangely, at the exact same time, Claude had coughed violently and puked out blood and in a matter of seconds he had fallen down, leaving the two older boys dumbfounded and very panicked.
While Felix and a few guards got Claude back to his room, the crown prince raced up to his mother's room. He had looked back to his mother once again and he saw that she looked down at them with a satisfied smile.
"Mother what did you do?!" He immediately asked, trying to keep a straight face.
"Hmm?" She asked, looking up from her paperwork once again as if nothing worrying is happening.
"I meant Claude. You did something and now he's unresponsive!"
"Oh. Right. Do you know what a divine beast is?"
"Yes. Yes I do." Anastacius said.
"He had one. I just slayed it." She responded very simply.
"W-what?!" The blond prince had blinked "W-Why?"
"Why do you think?" She looked at him with her sharp gaze.
He was frightened by those eyes. He did remember Morgana throwing vases around her own room, throwing tantrums about his little brother. He remembered her slapping him sometimes a while back, calling him names, starving him and...well anything to make him feel down. But he never imagined she could actually harm him so gravely this way. He never actually thought she'd attack his life. Somewhere inside he wasn't surprised either.
He wasn't angry at his mother. He knew how she felt about Claude's existence. Her husband's other child who threatened her position and her own son's. But he was very scared. He didn't like what she did at all but he couldn't resent her for this. He just really hate what she did. It was very cruel.
"It is all for you." Morgana said in a very simple way.
'It is all for you.' Aeternitas had echoed back in his head.
He had left her room in some sort of disgust. When he came back he saw Felix in his childish hysterical crying state. Anastacius was surprised. Felix had seemed stoic, almost neutral, during his mother's funeral. He didn't even cry. He had a straight face the entire time. He was calm even when they burned her body. He was literally emotionless.
But now he's sobbing like an infant child because the master he was in charge of protecting fell ill.
"How is he?" The prince inquired.
"Nobody knows. It's due to his mana." Felix cried, hugging his knees. "I'm such a failure! I couldn't protect him on this and now I'm useless! I can't even do anything for him! I can't help him avoid these kinds of dangers!"
Anastacius would've hugged him but that would've been way too weird. Felix is not a 'hug person'. He's sweet and adorable but due to lack of affection as a child, he's not into physical contact such as embraces. He's more of a 'pat on the head' guy. A loyal dog who doesn't really need rewards after.
So he pat Felix on the head and entered Claude's room. Aeternitas acted up and down, begging him to kill his defenseless brother. He refused and ran to Penelope's instead. He figured she'd undoubtedly yell on him if he didn't call on her immediately.
Now he was sitting against his door, a hand on his forehead. This day sincerely disgusted him. Questions swirled in his head.. Would it have been better if he HAD did what Aeternitas asked and killed Claude? Would that have made half his problems vanish? His mother would praise him. Aeternitas would leave him alone. His father wouldn't be pleased but he wouldn't dwell on it. He'd have Penelope's attention fully once again. He'd stop receiving pressure from each of his teachers. He'd have his own reassurance that he was the only one in line to the throne. He'd be able to sleep soundly, knowing his position was secured. Would that had been better?
'YES.'
Anastacius shook his head and cracked a bitter smile. Felix would resent, hate, loathe, and detest him for life. He's the next heir to duke Robane who is a powerful pillar of Obelia. Having Felix against him wouldn't be the best option to take. Penelope too, would look at him with distaste. She really seemed to like Claude. She'd hate him. She wouldn't even look at him again. Her cousin, Roger Alpheus, was heir to the ducal house that was normally the royal family's biggest support. If Roger Alpheus turned against him, a huge part of society would immediately follow. And that was too big a risk. Not to mention Penelope's younger sister, Roselia, was cozying up one of the wealthiest marquesses of Obelia. And then Penelope and Roselia's social circles combined...And then the church surely would disapprove of fratricide.
"Wait...Penelope and Claude combined have too many contacts..." Anastacius couldn't help but find it funny. "Did you ever think of that, Carax? Killing Claude would've had too many repercussions..."
Aeternitas gave him no answer.
"Be ashamed of your simple mindedness, Carax. At least I think a bit ahead." Anastacius chuckled bitterly.
He heard footsteps in the corridor and when he peeked the door open a little bit, he could see Felix running after Penelope. The latter wore a determined expression. Felix was screaming at Penelope something about not going into the water again and Anastacius froze. Did Penelope want to suicide herself for this?"
And then Penelope yelled on Felix for even suggesting the idea. The prince felt relieved. Penelope wasn't THAT crazy.
After talking a while in a hushed tone, they both ran outside. Anastacius did worry for the young brunette lady, but with Felix by her side, there were no risks. If Felix has his whole head, there's no one he can't protect.
Anastacius finally detached himself from the door as he saw Felix and Penelope running towards the lake.
"Are they going to throw themselves off the bridge TOGETHER?" He blinked confusedly.
He was quite relieved when he saw them cross the bridge entirely.
"Well okay." He sighed as he sat at his desk, deciding to study to take his mind off things a little bit.
--
He had no idea how much time had passed before he finally heard voices in the hallway again. When he looked out, he could only see Penelope and Felix walking beside a full grown man. They were far but he could see how he was dressed. He seemed to be a sorcerer of some kind.
'A sorcerer?' Aeternitas asked 'Go check.'
"Why?" Anastacius asked, not taking any orders "Thought you said that no mage could help Claude when he's like this."
'There is one.'
"The tower guy? I thought you said he was long gone."
'He is."
"Well then why do I have to go check? Those two probably just fetched back a random sorcerer in their combined hopelessness." The prince shrugged "If you want to see the guy so badly, why don't you go see for yourself?"
Aeternitas was speechless. How was he supposed to go see for himself when his soul was attached to the prince's body?!
'Go there myself...' He repeated dully 'You brat. Do you sincerely believe you're funny?'
The young blond bit his bottom lip. Yes, he believes that was indeed a good one until he felt some sort of pain on his side. Aeternitas didn't find it very amusing. Whenever he was displeased, Aeternitas allowed himself to bring pain upon his host until said-host was fully back under his orders.
"ACK-Fine fine fine. I'll go check it out in a few minutes. Just let me finish this paragraph first okay?"
--
The prince finally finished off his work and headed towards his brother's room after a few minutes. He was quite surprised when he came into the wooden hall to see that there was a strange eerie light coming out of the room.
And so without further hesitation, he entered.
Felix was sitting on a chair not too far away from the bed, watching the magician do his work while Penelope sat on a stool right next to the bed where Claud still laid.
'It is him'.
Anastacius looked at the sorcerer, confused. Said-sorcerer stood next to the bed. What he was doing to Claude was out of the young prince's grasp of understanding, (he isn't this advanced in mana yet), but he could see by the looks of things that he was only helping Claude. The first thing Anastacius noticed was his long black hair. He never saw hair like that, especially on men. The second thing was his clothes. They seemed appropriate for a mage but it occurred to the prince that it was no longer in the trend. He'd never seen clothes like these before. And when the man finally looked at him, Anastacius almost jumped back due to the effect of the ruby red eyes on himself.
'That's the magician of the tower.'
The prince had multiple questions, but the most important one was 'How did Penelope and Felix find him?!' Aeternitas shared the same question. They were two confused souls in one same body.
Aeternitas was scared. It was some sort of fright that came close to total panic. His mana was acting up. Anastacius didn't understand how but Aeternitas never tried so hard before to take control over him. Clearly Aeternitas wasn't happy to see the magician.
'Scram. Right now.'
And he left the room.
--
I had turned back to greet Anastacius when he walked in. I knew it was him I could recognize his footsteps. I didn't understand why but the second he walked in, he jumped up and bolted away as if he just saw a ghost.
I had exchanged a confused look with Felix.
"T-That was weird." I said.
"Who was that?" Lucas asked.
"That was the crown prince, Anastacius." I said.
Lucas was busy feeding off the excess of mana that Claude's body was trying to process, which was the reason why he was unconscious on the first place. Lucas had assured me that Claude would regrow his mana on a more steady pace this way and if the mana was too much for his body, his heart could explode. Lucas even told us that right now Claude's heart must be exhausted already.( And I know how painful that could be). I didn't want him to be in heart pain and neither did Felix, so we let the mage have his mana buffet.
"You should go see how he's doing." Lucas suggested. "You're sorta useless here."
Ow...
"Oh..." I said "Am I bothering your work?"
"Yes."
Rude.
I used to defend Lucas because of how hard Athanasia sometimes is on him, but now I take it all back. This dude is very blunt. I understand her desire to smack him and rip his hair off. Next time I won't wake him up. But he was right. I am sorta useless here. I'm not sure how exactly I'm bothering his work, but one thing was for sure, I wasn't needed here.
"Then I'll let you work, sir." I released Claude's hand that I didn't know I was holding and left.
Felix looked at me with pitiful puppy eyes: Nooooooo don't leave me alone with him.
I winked at him: You have Claude!
He mouthed back: But he's unconscious!
I rolled my eyes: Don't be so picky!
And I ran after Anastacius. Our beloved crown prince was in another guest room. I could hear him mumbling things and pacing the ground. Through the half open door I could see how he seemed worked up, distressed, but also deep in thought. He was pacing the floor really quick, going from one end to the other, looking down and mumbling things.
"Stacy..?" I opened the door a little bit more, making it creak slightly.
He slowly looked up at me with his...
Red eyes.
Aish...C'mon. Should I just come back another time or...But too late, he saw me. I can't back down now. I mentally cursed myself, looking back behind me and muffling an annoyed scream into my fist. Then I looked back to Aeternitas.
"Hey...Stacy..." I said as I finally built up my resolve and entered the room, the 'danger zone'. The whole room was filled with Aeternitas's dark aura. I could sense it in my bones. He could almost envelope this room with darkness. I could almost see the shape of his pointy hair soul dark misty cloud thingy floating over Anastacius's body.
Why didn't I predict this?! MY BRAIN IS IN PIECES TODAY!!!
OF COURSE this was why Anastacius suddenly ran away when he just came into the room! It wasn't Anastacius who ran, it was Aeternitas because of his 'deep history' with Lucas! Aeternitas probably got scared. Scared of Lucas or scared to be unveiled, I don't know, but clearly he had to get out of there.
"Are you okay?" I nevertheless asked "You just ran away. You looked like you saw a ghost."
"He is a ghost." Anastacius's replied, but in a deeper voice.
Since it's Aeternitas, I'll play the kid.
"Oh no, it's the magician of the tower!" I said "It's okay. He'll help Claude!"
He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Clearly he didn't like hearing that.
"And where did you and that...red haired friend of yours find him?" He asked.
"Aha I don't remember...I just recall stepping outside and poof, now it's all gone. I remember stepping back inside and him saying he'll help Claude." I lied innocently "So now here we are! I think he erased my memory."
Aeternitas REALLY looked extrememely pissed off. I don't remember what he did but suddenly my self defense hairclip activated itself and I found myself at the other end of the room. He just made a move to kill me! It only activated upon certainty of immediate danger!
"S-Stacy." I gasped, although let's agree this isn't Anastacius here. I have to call him back.
My hair clip could save me once, but if Aeternitas is smart enough, he could deactivate it with a spell. And that would suck.
"Anastacius. What are you doing?" I said. I know that the person in front of me was Aeternitas, but by 'what are you doing', I meant 'what's taking so long, come back here!'.
My hairclip buzzed again and I found myself teleported away once more into a couch near the coffee table where the plates, forks and knives were already laid out, ready for the next guest. Aeternitas was trying to kill me with some spells that someone without mana such as myself couldn't see.
"You stupid girl!" He spat "You ruined EVERYTHING!!!"
"What do you even mean?!" I asked as I pretended to slam my hands on the coffee table angrily but in truth I just grabbed a knife for each hand. "What exactly did I ruin?!"
"I was so close to destroying that meddling brat!! It was almost the end!! SO CLOSE!!! And now you dare bring back the magician of the tower?! HOW DARE YOU WAKE HIM UP?! HOW dare YOU be the one to wake him up?!"
(Yes yes I messed up the timeline...)
"WITH LUCAS AWAKE I MUST WATCH MY EVERY MOVE!!" He shouted and I found it weird that nobody is coming to check out the source of the crown prince's screaming. He must've used a sound-block spell. "AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!"
Whatever I'm not even sorry.
And by the way everything is totally Antoinella's fault!
He lunged on me and I immediately bolted out of the way without the help of my hair clip. He crashed on the coffee table (RIP), thus flipping the table while he tumbled down to the other side, making all the porcelain plates crash to the side.
"Aish what a mess." I grunted, thankful for the sound-block spell. I didn't want to be found in such a disastrous situation.
"You little b-" Aeternitas struggled to get back up.
I threw a pillow on him to disorient him a little bit before I grabbed one of his wrists, got a hold of his shirt's sleeve, and pinned it to the couch with one of the knives.
"Anastacius!!" I flicked his forehead "Wake up!! I'm serious!!"
"You...HOW DO YOU KNOW I'M NOT THAT COWARD PRINCE?!"
Eesh, gotta pick my next words very carefully. I don't want Aeternitas to be onto me. He's still in Anastacius's head and I know they talk. I don't want him talking about this matter to my Stacy. I don't want to be their prime target after Claude and Lucas.
"Silly." I snorted "There is no coward prince. There's just Anastacius. You're just Anastacius. I just kinda figured that you..."
That you're the host of an evil spirit who's currently inhabiting your body and pressuring you into taking the throne and killing your brother.
"...were bipolar." I ended my sentence, feeling disappointed in my self.
Still it was the perfect excuse for Aeternitas. It must be weird for him to see how I'm able to tell when Anastacius logged out. He must've been scared that I may have figured out his identity. Well surprise surprise, I just thought Anastacius was bipolar the whole time. You have nothing to fear, Aeternitas, I'm not as intelligent as you thought.
"Bipolar...Okay yeah I guess." He blinked the red out of his eyes and looked around "Oh what a mess...Did I..."
I'm so glad Aeternitas retired.
"Yes. You're the culprit..." I said as I poked his forehead and took the knife off his sleeve, thus freeing his arm. "Welcome back, Stacy."
"Um I'm sorry." He immediately said "I surely must've said something! I'm sorry you had to see that I-Forget everything! Please-"
"Chill." I said as I pulled him up "It's alright."
"Y-Yeah you were totally right, I-I'm bipolar."
No. We're both lying and you're not bipolar. :'(
"Yeah I'm...quite observant." I said.
"So whatever I said, I'm sorry."
"I know."
...
"Are you okay?" He asked "Your hair is...messy."
"Other you threw a few spells at me." I shrugged "But nah whatever it's all okay now."
"If he really did, how are you even alive?"
I poked my hairclip. "Self defense accessory." I smirked before I wiggled the two knives I were holding "And this. I can stand my ground for a short period of time just with silverware I guess. Women are naturally good with knives!" I jokingly pretended to poke him with a knife in an attempt to lighten things up.
"Oh. Oh okay. Thank goodness." He looked around once again "D-Do you want to sneak out of here and blame it all on the cats?"
"Sure. Yeah let's do that."
He offered his arm and I took it as we walked out like a glorious duo who just received a Grammy or something.
"You know that wasn't me right?" He asked again.
"Stop worrying. Yeah. I know. That behavior wasn't befitting at all of a royal prince of Obelia." I winked at him.
Yes Aeternitas, that was meant to offend you.
"Don't worry I still think that you're amazing." I said. "But...That whole going to kill Claude thing couldn't be true, right?"
He stopped, looking at me with a questioning face.
"You said that." I confirmed. "It wasn't true right? You don't really want to kill Claude, right?"
He stared at me absently.
"Stacy. You don't actually want to kill your own brother right?!" I shook him.
"W-wha um no...No I don't." He gulped.
"Anastacius, promise me you won't." I shook him again, I need this information to sink in "Promise me!"
"I don't exactly control-"
"No excuses! Just promise me that Claude won't die by your hands!"
"I promise. Claude won't die...by my hands." He said unsteadily.
"Phew! I'm relieved. If you try even once, I'd hate you forever, Anastacius. You know that?" I said on a cheery tone but really, I need him to understand what I'm saying here "I'd never talk to you again and I won't even attend your events. I'll block you from my life forever. Understood?" I smiled at him, but I really really really expect him to take me seriously here.
It was a while before he eventually gave his answer.
"Understood."
--
I made my way back to Claude's room alone since Anastacius insisted he had other things to attend to. I opened the creaking door and entered, surprised to see that Lucas was gone.
"Oh here you are Penelope!" Felix cooed as I entered.
"Heya. Where did the sorcerer go?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh. He finished his work and he just walked out after having said that Claude should wake up within a week." Felix pouted, clearly disturbed by Lucas's attitude "You know, I expected the great sorcerer to be...Wiser. Or you know, polite."
"Don't we all?" I snorted as we approached Claude "Hey! He looks calmer now!"
He no longer looked in pain or anything. He just looked asleep.
Wait that sounds a little bit-
"I'll just casually check his pulse you know, justtttt tooooo beeeee sureeeee." I took his wrist. "Okay no nevermind he's still alive. The magician did well."
There was a knock on the door before Jane let herself into the room.
"Jane? What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised to see her.
"M'lady. You suddenly disappeared from your room after his highness entered." She scolded me "Your sister is throwing a tantrum back at home and your father demands you come back immediately."
"Oh? Tell them no." I said.
"I expected just as much." Jane nodded "I brought you a set of extra clothes just in case since I was sure you wouldn't agree to leaving when your fiance is in such a state."
??????
Wow.
Wow Jane.
You know me so well.
"Wonderful. Good job Jane." I thanked her "Go back home and tell them that I'll be staying here for a while. Just put everything on me, tell them I utterly refuse to leave. There's a hidden cupboard in the wall left to the freezer back in our estate. You can take the cookies there back to your nephews."
"Thanks m'lady." She said "I'll leave your clothes on the couch."
With that she left.
My personal maid had always been one of my greatest allies. With that my crime partner too.
"That was fast." Felix said.
"Yeah. That's just Jane." I shrugged.
"You'll really be staying here until he wakes up?"
"Yep..." I sighed, looking back at Claude "Hey Felix. Do you think awakening the magician was a good idea?"
"Well...Clearly he didn't expect to be awakened by a kid such as yourself." He said.
"Don't call me a kid." I glared at him. Athanasia was like...3...when she found him. "I'm surprised we found him so easily."
"How did you even do that?"
"I followed Antoinella." I shrugged "She was pretty keen on things. But anyway, he helped us with Claude and...He didn't seem evil. He was just..."
"Rude." Felix stated.
"Very." I agreed as I sat back on the stool next to the bed. "Will you stay here with me Felix or will you go back to your room?"
"If you don't mind my company I'll stay here too."
"Cool. That way I won't be alone."
A loud crashing noise was heard in some other part of the palace. I jumped up at the noise and immediately wondered at the cause of it.
"Sit back down." Felix shook his head and clicked his tongue "It's just the Empress. Don't...Don't pay too much attention to the noise."
"The empress?!" I repeated, confused "Wha-...Does this...What is this? What is she doing?"
"From time to time she could go on a tantrum...She loses her mind randomly at times. She could throw things around. It's nothing. You get used to it." The knight shrugged "She probably just heard about the magician helping Claude and stuff...Just ignore it."
And then the sound of something breaking was heard.
"Ignore it." Felix repeated, seating himself on the couch.
Judging from how he's handling the situation, I imagine this happened frequently. She always appeared composed when she was with a guest like me, but I suppose this is how she really is. We all have different sides which we only show to specific people don't we...
"Who is with her currently?" I asked.
Felix let out a heavy sigh: "The maids and ladies in waiting mostly...But unfortunately maybe his highness Anastacius."
Oh Anastacius...
--