Deruth was looking through his documents again. He did it so frequently that people started calling it his passion. That is if his passion was looking for his son then I would agree. At this point, Deruth had looked through hundreds if not thousands of documents and reports. By now he should have memorised the date that every ship built in Raon sets sail.
But despite the effort he showed, the people especially the nobles grew suspicious of the Henituse family. It was their heir that went missing after all. But not like it mattered to some, he was just a stepson, a small redhead who didn't belong with them. What was the point in keeping him when his mother is already dead. But for some, his friends and family did everything they could to find him. Except for one, Violan.
Violan, the mastermind behind everything only stood by and watched the chaos. She never meant for this to happen. She thought people would not care much if Cale went away. She only wanted Cale to meet his real father. Honestly, Violan did want Cale to go there to avoid anything bad from happening. But that was only half of the reason.
To Violan, Cale was just like Basen. Basen never met his father nor ever received true fatherly love. Even though Deruth took the role as his father, that's not entirely the same with Cale. Sure, Cale was raised by his stepfather. But he at least deserved to meet his real father some time in his life. For Basen, his father had already passed while Violan was pregnant. But Cale's real father is still alive, just far from reach. She thought It would be best if Cale lived with him too. He would be a prince, the heir of the royal family. That would be a better gift than any you could find in this world.
It was also Violan's way of being a mother to Cale, doing what she could just like what Jour would do. At least, something Jour might do.
Back at the Palace, Claude was getting everything set up. The ballroom, guestlist, etc. He did everything and anything to prepare for Cale's coronation. Maybe Claude was thinking too fast. Cale hasn't stayed in the Palace for very long. But It would be more dangerous to leave him with the title 'prince'. The nobles wouldn't respect him with that title. Claude knew this for sure. I mean people are scared of Claude for his title 'Tyrant Emperor', who isn't gonna be afraid of the successor of that emperor, the Crown Prince. Everyone would fear Cale and he would be safe from anything that threats him.
Well, almost everything. You can't be safe with just a title. You need strength too.
Claude knew he needed to protect Cale using anything he could think of. That included training. But from not just anyone. Claude needed someone he trusts to teach Cale, and the one person he thought of was the Knight of Crimson Red aka Felix. Although Felix isn't one to announce himself with that title.
Meanwhile Cale was minding his own business, simply walking around the imperial garden doing nothing but admire. The Henituse dukedom had a big garden that Cale liked to visit sometimes so he was quite happy to find a garden so similar in the Imperial Palace. Lilies, orchids and daisies. All kinds of white flowers were planted in the Henituse and Imperial gardens. Cale's mother once told him that white flowers where the most beautiful when given to a loved one. It's usually given to a crush as a present before confessing. Especially when they're the shy and quiet type. How funny.
"Felix, have the gardener plant some orchids in the garden too. She might like them"