Alberu swiftly started pushing through the crowd of people. It was more difficult than he thought it would be, since most of the ladies kept flaunting their chests at him and most of the men kept requesting to speak with him about their trades or business deals.
"Excuse me... Excuse me."
It took a good thirty seconds before he had cleared his way through the mass of people. It took extra long because of the drink in his hand which he did not want to spill. But as he walked past the last person who obstructed his view, he realized Cale was no longer at the snack table. Venion was nearby, talking to a different noble, but Cale had disappeared.
'What? Where could he have gone?'
Alberu discretely glanced in all directions, but he could not find the one person who he had to keep tabs on the most. This was not good at all.
Cale Henituse was the biggest variable in tonight's events, and he had evaded Alberu's keen vision.
___
'What is he doing?'
Cale Henituse was stationed on the floor again because his legs had grown tired of walking.
A couple minutes before this, the crown prince had begun to get swarmed by people, and they were making a lot of noise, all talking at once. Cale had started to get a headache, and walked over to the group to tell them off, but he had no need to do so. Only seeing his approaching figure was enough to send a lot of them away. Since the noise had dissipated, Cale had simply walked behind the rest of the group and sat down, staring daggers at the loudest ones.
That had made them shut up nicely, and now he was leaning against the wall, watching the crown prince escape the people and then start looking for something or someone.
Cale was feeling nice today. That, and he was curious as to who or what had managed to catch the crown prince's eye. So, he started glancing around the room as well. He didn't feel like straining his eyes to search for something far away, so his range of vision was the floor in front of him.
For one minute, Cale looked over the floor. Then he got bored.
'Haaa. I wish I had a pillow.'
The ground was hard but all the available seats had been taken up. Of course, he could demand someone get up and move for him, but he was too lazy to do that.
As he sipped a glass of wine, something shiny caused him to glance upwards at the floor farther away. It looked like a fuzzy glowing dot in Cale's vision because of the distance and size of the object, but it probably caught the light which made it seem to glow gold.
That meant it was metal or something similar.
Perhaps it was a coin.
Cale looked at it for a few more seconds before deciding to go get it. But as he stood up and dusted himself off, he saw another noble walking towards it. Suddenly his legs didn't feel tired, and he found himself walking faster than usual to beat the unfamiliar noble.
He was successful too, as he reached down to pick it up just as the noble reached his position. The mediocre-looking noble spoke first.
"Sorry, I dropped that earlier. That belongs to me."
"Bullshit, it's mine. Don't say it's yours after you walked across the room to retrieve it."
The man immediately shrank back at Cale's challenging tone. He was more skittish and wary than the average noble, so he simply nodded and walked away quickly.
'What a pussyfoot.'
Cale smiled victoriously as he collected the now in focus object. It was a simple silver ring engraved with blue-ish green gems or mineral rocks on the top. He recognized it immediately as the ring the crown prince fiddled with often. Because he was never close enough to take a good look at it, he hadn't noticed the tiny gems before.
As he walked back over to his seat on the floor, his brain continued to think about it. About how strangely familiar this ring was.
After seeing it glimmer in the chandelier light, Cale felt the need to see it shine under natural light, such as the moon or stars. It was an undeniable gut feeling which was hard to ignore, so he got up once again and started walking over to the balcony door, ring in hand.
As he slipped out onto the empty balcony, he was greeted with chilly breezes and a bright full moon.
He studied the ring under such a light, tilting it so that it reflected the moonlight.
"This..."
Cale stared wide eyed at the all too familiar ring. It was not familiar because he had seen it recently, but because he had seen this very same ring about seven or eight years ago.
This was the ring he had found for the strange night terror.
But why was it here? Why did the crown prince have it?
Memory after memory flashed through Cale's mind as he compared the night terror and Alberu Crossman. They looked a little similar, not counting the skin, hair, and eye color of course. Both fidgeting with their rings or fingers. Both had a similar voice, but Alberu's was more developed.
There were other more subtle clues as well, but these were the main three.
...All of a sudden it seemed plausable that the night terror was actually a young Alberu Crossman.
It had always been unclear why that specific night terror acted like a human even to the point of talking, but this...
'This explains everything.'
Cale's mind was still affected by the alcohol as he pondered over what to do. Maybe that was why he actually didn't do anything at all. He just stood in the middle of the balcony, frozen, and staring at the ring in his hands.
Click.
He flinched and hid the ring in his pocket at the sound of someone opening the door. What greeted him on the other side of the door was none other than Alberu Crossman's relieved face.
"Ah, young master Cale, so you were out here."
Cale just stood there, studying his face. 'They do look similar, even after this many years.'
Alberu was a bit unnerved at the way Cale stared holes into his face. It made him self conscious, as if there was food in his teeth or something similar.
"You might get a cold if you stay out here for too long, the autumn winds tend to bite straight through your clothes, don't they?"
He was met with silence yet again. This was growing more and more awkward.
Finally, Cale spoke up. "It's 10:53 pm."
"...Yes? It is close to the end of the event. That is why you should come inside and warm up before you leave." Alberu continued his thoughts internally. 'So that I can keep an eye on you.'
But Cale's flushed stare did not falter. "I can tell by the moon."
Alberu was on the verge of leaving him out here if he was going to continue saying drunk nonsense. Nonetheless, he attempted one last time.
"Ah, yes, that is very impressive. But if you stay out here any longer, you might miss the second prince's closing speech."
"... Do you need something? Or are you looking for dust?"
'He's completely drunk. Maybe it's best that he stays out here until the knights escort him back.'
Alberu was thinking these things while Cale was wracking his brain for more memories of the two nights which he suspected they had first met. He continued to stare Alberu dead in the eyes. There was one last thing he could try, but it was extremely high risk.
'Well, I can pass it off as a drunkard's actions anyway.'
"I found something. It's yours."
"...Huh? What is it?"
"Nuh uh. Hand."
Alberu was severely doubting whether this was worth his time. Cale Henituse was completely drunk, and could definitely be wasting his time on purpose. But still, what if he was telling the truth?
So, Alberu hesitatingly held out his hand palm up.
Cale had been growing more and more annoyed at the crown prince since the conversation started, and when he held out his hand with his fingers pressed together like during a handshake, that was the last straw.
"Well?"
Cale made a rash decision as Alberu spoke. He grabbed the presented hand, slightly pressed at the base of his ring finger to separate it from the others, and then slid the ring on in one quick motion. Alberu's eyes opened wide as a wave of déjà vu slapped him in the face. Puzzle pieces abruptly started clicking together one by one, if a little fuzzy, and he remembered an almost identical version of this very scene.
Somewhere to the right of him however, a small click was heard and the door opened all the way.
"Your highness, there you are. The rest of the guests are leaving or are in the process of leaving. Do you wish to talk with any of those who requested a conversation?"
"Uh, I..."
"Looks like it's finally 11. It's time for me to leave."
'...it's nearly 4... It's time for you to leave.'
As Alberu watched him walk through the doors in shock, Cale turned around at the last second and spoke again with a smirk. His face and words overlapped with a certain forgotten memory.
"It was a dream, your highness."
'You're not real. This is all just another dream.'
"..."
After Cale had left, the guard spoke again with an unidentifiable expression on her face.
"Your highness, are you alright? Did he do something to you?"
"N, no. I'm fine. Let's join the rest of the nobles. If anyone refuses to leave, you may escort them out."
"As you wish, your highness."
Meanwhile, right outside the entrance to the Palace of Joy...
Cale was enjoying the fresh air as he slowly walked past a few groups of conversing nobles. His head was just as blank as his expression as he eavesdropped on the murmurings. Most conversations included his name, with only a couple being about a completely different topic. He overheard one of those as he walked by a specific group.
"It's a shame she left early. The count isn't even thinking about marriage proposals until she turns 18. I say it's a waste."
Cale slowed even further. There were only a few counts in the kingdom. He wanted to know exactly which one they were talking about.
"Who cares if she's only 14? She's already marriage ready! Have you seen that chest? Perfectly ripe for the picking, and yet they hide her away from capable suitors like me."
"Lord Crassterd, we believe you will be the one to win over the count! Nobody can compare to you."
"Yes yes. She was even wearing such a little dress. If that brat of an older brother wasn't there... tsk, what was his name again? Ah, right!"
Cale was standing behind them, out of sight and frozen. He was waiting for that keyword to confirm his suspicions. If that person's name was said, he would definitely go up and talk to them.
"Wasn't his name Eric? If he wasn't there, I would've—!"
Cale made sure to coat his shoe with a thick layer of mud before stomping on the back of the baron's knee. The man's legs buckled of course, and he fell to his knees in the mud.
"Who dares—!?"
Crack!
The baron turned around as he tried to stand, but was met with Cale's muddy fist. Blood gushed from his broken nose and mixed with the mud, coating his face in a disgusting looking paste.
"You fucking bastard. Get the fuck up."
The stunned baron tried to stand again, but was interrupted another time.
Smack!
One final punch to the jaw knocked him unconscious and he fell into the muddy dirt.
'For once, I'm glad that bastard Choi Han beat me up.'
Cale had learned the best way to inflict painful punches, and the fastest way to knock someone out cold. The audience, who had seen everything, just stood there in shock of what they had just witnessed.
"Haha. Like what you see?"
This time, Cale did not sound flirty or teasing, and his tone conveyed more of a warning than anything else.
It started to sprinkle as Cale squatted down to wipe off his dirty fist on part of the baron's clothes which had no mud on them. He then stood up and surprisingly made eye contact with Hans, who had just entered through the gates and was slightly out of breath.
"Young master...?"
A/n: Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. This chapter was probably the most fun to write. It took me forever to decide which of the 2 MCs would figure it out first tho.
Thx for reading, and see you again when Hiatus ends~ 👋