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MASTERMIND
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K06 ‖ A Royal Vengeance: Famous Destinations
She was fury, she was wrath, she was vengeance.
― Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊:
Italic words — the thoughts of a character / a foreign language is spoken
Bold and italic words — a lie, only when Princess Caitlyn's around
Bold, italic and underlined words — the timeline of memories, past, hallucinations etc.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Year 2039, A week ago
Rome, Italy
"You certainly know how to pick a good café."
Dressed in his usual luxurious suits of the finest cotton, Prince Gion of Italy approached his date with his aide, Livio, tailing behind him and followed by a small group of bodyguards clad in black uniforms. The men stood guard a few feet away from the table in the corner where Prince Gion's esteemed guest sat awaiting for his arrival.
Approaching her, he took the hand she offered and placed a kiss on her gloved knuckles. This was the hand of the most sought-after princess of their age.
Arrogant blue eyes met the eyes of the coldest winter sky, and his lips turned up into a knowing smirk.
"Prince Gion," she said, mirroring his smirk with a sweet smile. "How have you been?"
The Italian prince took his seat across hers before answering, "I have been well. How about you, your highness? Anything interesting to share?"
"Your highnesses," a waiter interrupted their conversation momentarily to set a cup of tea in front of the princess and a cup of coffee for the prince. Then, he took a bow and left.
Both took a sip from their cups before Prince Gion spoke again, "As I said before, you really know how to pick a good place. Antico Caffè Greco has over 250 years of history in the name of quality. Don't tell me you chose to come here to breathe the history and a collection of over 150 works of art."
The princess smiled and looked around her. "Maybe," she said.
Silence settled between them. Prince Gion carefully watched as his date admired the paintings hanging on the walls.
With long glossy pale-blonde hair and beautiful Nordic charm in her features, the Princess of Norway was known to be the people's delight. While beauty can be subjective to each person, the Italian prince believes that her attraction lies in her sharp wit and silvery voice.
"I find the historical origins rather fascinating," Caitlyn, the Crown Princess of Norway, smiled at the prince sitting across from her. Her cold blue eyes that held no warmth surveyed him. "Which is why I believe your highness will appreciate this place of meeting for intellectuals and goliards."
Attractive, indeed, Prince Gion mused to himself, looking away with a shadow of a smile.
A soft sigh from the princess made Prince Gion turn away from a nearby painting and rested his eyes on the Norwegian princess.
"As much as I wish to spend the day with idle chatter and perhaps indulge in a game of chess with you, there are some pressing matters that need to be addressed," she said. Her smile faded into a slight grimace. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Prince Gion's aide shifting his footing. Her own aide stood motionless behind her.
Prince Gion lifted an eyebrow and leaned back into his chair. He smiled regretfully.
"Quite unfortunate indeed," he said. "I assume that you have a solution to my problems? I usually wouldn't bother you with such trivial familial issues but I am at a loss with my sister's behavior."
"I understand your concern," said Princess Caitlyn. "My own brother did not return for the holidays and instead decided to stay with the House of Windsor of England, claiming that he had some field study to do with the Second prince of England." She smiled sadly. "Truthfully, I am not the best person you should turn to for advice but I do have some interesting pictures that you might like to see."
Princess Caitlyn stretched out her hand. From a large envelope, her aide extracted several photographs and handed them to her. The Princess took them and carefully arranged them on the table in front of Prince Gion.
One picture showed a youth with short brown hair, a few shades lighter than Prince Gion's. The youth wore a simple shirt and shorts and was riding a piggyback on another tall boy with long golden blond hair. The next picture showed their features clearer. They were in the middle of a parade, drenched in tomatoes. Prince Gion looked at the following pictures that showed the same brown-haired youth—a girl, no doubt—dressed in a delicate pink dress while the golden-haired boy wore a pinstripe suit. The pink of her outfit further accentuated her feminine features.
Prince Gion's arrogant blue eyes softened and his mouth turned up into a smile.
"My sister is such a beauty," he said, stroking the picture with his sister alone in the delicate pink dress. "She's all grown up now. I was worried sick when I read the news about the kidnapping. It was so vague that I couldn't tell if she was involved in it."
"Would you like to know?" A small smirk took over Caitlyn's face before it vanished, leaving her face devoid of emotion.
Prince Gion placed the picture down. "Before that, I would like to know how you get such informative pictures, considering your father does not allow his children to be involved in things behind the scenes."
Princess Caitlyn leaned forward, as if to whisper her secret to him. Prince Gion followed.
"There are more than one way to obtain information," she said. Prince Gion turned away in disgust, leaning back into his seat in annoyance as the princess laughed at her own trick.
Prince Gion turned his attention back on the pictures, realizing that almost every picture involved his sister with a golden-haired boy. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. There aren't many in the world with that distinguishable hair color. His brows drew together. Prince Gion heard Princess Caitlyn's silvery voice speak.
"That's Ciel," she said. "You'd recognize him as the Prince of France."
"France?" Prince Gion asked sharply, slapping the tabletop abruptly.
Princess Caitlyn nodded solemnly. "I don't think there's another prince of France in this world," she said, taking a sip from her cup. "When you told me about your sister coloring the green of the Italian flag with blue, I wondered if the House of Bourbon-Orléans was involved. Fortunately, there was evidence of the prince being with your sister the entire time." She placed her cup down, quietly observing his reaction.
The Italian prince's face contorted in anger.
He sneered.
"How dare the uncultured and extravagantly wasteful Frenchman lay a hand on my sister," he snarled. "He ruined her. My dear sister spent hours of the day worrying herself, staring longingly out the window. Smitten by the thought of first love. How could she not appreciate her own brother more? She had to run to the first man, other than me, who bought her a new dress."
Prince Gion slammed the table with clenched fists once more. While he would usually stay composed in the most ridiculous situations, he allowed himself to let loose in front of the Norwegian princess whom he shared a childhood with. Furthermore, there were guards to shield them away from the eyes of the public.
Princess Caitlyn sighed. "Losing a loved one is truly painful," she said. "Nothing hurts more than a betrayal from your own family." She looked at him, meeting his blue gaze, asking softly, "What do you wish to do now?"
Taking a momentarily pause, the Italian prince thought. He had lost his sister to a good-for-nothing prince studying in a newly established prestigious school for Boys where he and his friends lived year-round. The princes there were not allowed for aides or bodyguards to follow them around as they live in an illusionary sanctuary and prattle on about something as impossible as world peace. To think that they were all young boys of his age, prancing around in the luxury of ignorance and bliss while wasting their lives away in a school with a billionaire philanthropist as the owner in its name but could barely hold a candle to the famed Ever Realm Academy and Bareel Institute.
The very thought of their immaturity and short-sightedness made the prince of Italy shudder in disgust.
He had made up his mind. "I want to make him pay," he seethed. "I want him to suffer as he loses his precious friends."
"That sounds like an elaborate scheme," said Princess Caitlyn. "One fit to stir dispute among the princes and cause a rift in their close relationship."
"Yes yes," Prince Gion grinned. "A scheme so big that it will take months to accomplish. By then, they would have strengthened their trust with each other."
Princess Caitlyn noticed the intention behind his words. She scoffed silently. Prince Gion truly loves to hear people sing his praises. Very well, I will sing them once.
"Surely, a prince of your abilities, could achieve greater heights," she said. "I am certain you could have it done within a week or less."
"Maybe," said Prince Gion vaguely. "I always get what I put my mind into."
"Indeed you do," she said. "I have never doubted you."
Caitlyn thought to herself as she watched Prince Gion excitedly draft out their scheme, the villain of the story will now make his move. I do wonder who will be the hero to save the day.
The thought made her smirk.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Year 2039, three days later
The Imperial Palace (皇居, Kōkyo), Japan
"Keep him in Japan, you say?" Prince Shintarou said. "What a troublesome thing to do."
The First Imperial Prince of Japan was once the Emperor's pride due to his intelligence and obedience. Wanting to nurture the young prince, Emperor Hibino Junna had him sent to Italy to experience the world and receive a different education in hopes that when Prince Hibino Shintarou was named Crown Prince, he could lead Japan to another level and perhaps be perceived as an equal or maybe better than the countries of the West.
Unfortunately for the Emperor's grand plans for his young son of six years old, the prince developed a fear of physical contact and became a gloomy person with unpredictable bursts of rage due to a traumatic event he encountered in Italy that involved being buried alive by his own tutor.
Rejecting the company of humans including his own servants at the palace, the First Imperial Prince surrounded himself with technology and would be constantly seen with his two companion robots, Mr Honda and Pepper.
As Pepper refilled his cup with tea, Prince Shintarou demanded indignantly, "Who is he to order me around?"
While he sat a foot away from his guest, his entire body was facing her direction.
Princess Caitlyn smiled softly at the Japanese prince. "I don't think that is his intention," she said.
"Oh yes, you two have been such good friends for so long, I'm sure you know him very well," snapped Prince Shintarou who took a sip of tea before continuing, "So do enlighten me with his awfully elaborate plans." Sarcasm dripping from the Japanese prince's civil tone—or as civil as he can be.
Princess Caitlyn smiled at his lies.
Yes. Sarcasm is lying because the truth was untold.
How would the princess know? Well, that happens to be a nicely developed talent of hers that started due to an obsession of knowing the truth when she was just a child.
The Norwegian princess took her time to answer the Japanese prince by taking a long sip of tea. Slowly, she started, "In his words, not mine, the world will be a better place without young and naïve princes running around like they own the place. Prince Gion is doing the world a favor. Princes like the French, the English and the American shouldn't be allowed to influence others like your brother and the dear Australian prince with their—ah—simplicity."
"A bunch of excuses from what I could hear," scoffed Prince Shintarou, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just say it in a simpler way: he wants to ruin them. Easy." He huffed, "But I suppose people like you and him prefer speaking in riddles than having a coherent conversation."
Princess Caitlyn giggled.
"I still think that you're the one who knows us best," she grinned at her friend and ally. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the robot, Mr Honda, cleaning up the living area of Prince Shintarou's quarters. She turned to face Prince Shintarou with a smile on her face, saying, "It's for the best of both worlds—or so he says."
"A bunch of nonsense," said the Japanese prince snappily. "Enough talking about this. I heard you pick up strays from the streets."
The princess beamed. "Not exactly," she said, thinking of the community of stray cats living outside the Ever Realm Academy's campus. "I just feed them, make sure they have shelter, and give them a funeral when they pass."
"You're too kind," Prince Shintarou said gruffly. "I hope it doesn't make you soft."
Kind.
It was never a word the princess would associate herself with despite showing that to the public by attending charity events for old folks and orphans, she could care less for those humans. Her helping the stray cats outside her school was not out of kindness of her heart but of her admiration for these animals. In the face of all the challenges they face daily due to humans' nature of hating the furred beasts, cats managed to survive and thrive on that island with little to no help from their fellow two-legged citizens.
These cats are no mere beasts, they are warriors. Survivors.
Princess Caitlyn's act of care was like that of the Ancient Egyptians who worshiped cats. She was giving them a sincere offering.
The princess was brought out of her train of thoughts when Prince Shintarou spoke again.
"My brother was always a soft one," he said, glaring at his cup of tea like it had offended him somehow. "From what you said about the plan; if they fail, Junta won't return to that pathetic excuse of an institution." He glanced over to the princess expectantly.
There had not appeared an iota of compassion or mercy in the stone-encrusted heart of the prince, whose younger brother was the direct opposite in public. Prince Shintarou's cold and harsh exterior made him feared by many while Prince Junta had been loved and respected by one and all. It was all too familiar to the princess who was once an outcast by the people when compared to her brother. However, times have changed and people do too.
While the elder prince had an unspoken desire to protect his own brother by toughening him up, the younger was already complete with all the weapons he needed to surpass his brother and rob him of his old title as the Emperor's pride. With the people's favor and the skills to survive, Prince Junta could be a formidable enemy and ally to have. While Prince Gion was behind the entire scheme, it would be Prince Shintarou as the receiving end of his hatred. Any other accomplice of the Italian prince and himself would be safe from harm's way.
Princess Caitlyn regarded the stone-faced prince with mild amusement.
The corner of her mouth quirked up, "Of course."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
2533 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜
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