Alberu woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache.
The pain adds up more as he gets drenched as soon as he opens the door to his office. Alberu doesn't know the extent of Cale's troublemaking tendencies, but experiencing them himself is already tiring enough. He can't catch a break.
He couldn't even sleep properly last night.
It was one of the many rare times he actually went to bed instead of sleeping in his office, yet at that moment he was invited (KIDNAPPED!) to Cale's bedroom and was humiliated. Correction, Alberu was misunderstood and humiliated.
It is exactly how he expected things to turn out because of Cale Henituse; now he had an immediate headache.
It's a miracle that the Henituse Family loves him enough to indulge whatever he wants. Even finding ways to navigate the troublemaker after he had left without notice; if it were his family, Alberu would be thrown and left to the streets quickly.
Worse case? Alberu could leave the palace and none of his family members would notice that he did.
This is his life within The Royal Family.
For Alberu, Cale Henituse had everything he ever wanted. A loving family, caring father and proud step-mother, cute step-siblings who do not wish for your demise every second of the day, and all that, an actual definition of what a family is capable to be. Alberu remembers times like that when he was a child.
A loving mother and father.
When his father looked at him and genuinely smiled. His mother gently squeezing his cheeks and telling him that he was the light of her life. When he was sad, they were there to dry his tears. They would both comfort him and make him laugh because— and he quote, ‘laughter was the best medicine’. And if they were happy, so was he, when they are a family.
Who loved and cherished each other.
But now it was nothing like then, even he had to act kindly to survive in the palace. Even he, who constantly felt sorrow, smiled winningly towards the people.
In Alberu's point of view, Cale Henituse never had to act anything out. If he was irritated, Cale would show his anger and lash out. True feelings were expressed, true anger and rage. To Alberu, that was something he could not do. When he was mad, Alberu had to smile and move on despite the gloomy blob building up in his heart.
Everything Cale was made Alberu envious. He is jealous, there! He admits it!
(Cale in the corner: stay jealousಠ◡ಠ)
Cale has a lot of freedom and Alberu doesn't. He gets to say whatever the fuck he wants and nobody has the guts to shut him up, even Alberu feels nervous enough around him. He talks dirty. To the point he just came to accept that this is who Cale Henituse was, and there was nothing he can do to change the way he talks.
It's not like Alberu had anything against Cale. Just that he's just not fit to babysit or rather, not fit to tolerate Cale. In order to prevent any more closure and exposing his true self even more, Alberu constantly evades Cale in his own palace.
He locks the doors. He closes the main gates. He makes sure that Cale is kept away from danger and at the same, keep him away from himself.
Kim Rok Soo, I'm totally not being irresponsible.
If he somehow ends up in the same floor as him, Alberu clearly has no shame when he turns away and goes back to where he came from. Even if it meant going back to his office, entering a random guest room, or in the kitchen. If he was lucky Alberu end up in his own bedroom. If he wasn't, Alberu jumps off a window.
It's not that he is avoiding Cale. Alberu was just doing his very best to not be in the same place as him, so technically it is. But he isn't! He swears!
Another week has passed since.
—
Cale sinks into the hot tub sadly. “I'm so lonely.” He mutters softly to himself, “I'm so lonely I could die.”
Just when he finally found himself someone he could talk to, someone he could tease and laugh genuinely about. Said man doesn't show himself to Cale for the next few days until a week later, where he jumps out a window and runs toward the city beyond the main gates of the palace.
Worst thing was that Cale wasn't allowed to go beyond those gates. Though he can technically sneak out like always, but his circumstances were a bit difficult to handle therefore he is stuck. Here. Such a boring castle Prince Alberu owns.
The maids and butlers were pretty funny, although they were quite cautious around him. No fun. It seems like Al wasn't the only dark elf around here.
They're careful, too careful. And that's boring because it made him seem like a monster.
He doesn't drink as much as before. He hasn't caused any ruckus, nor flipped tables and set up buckets of water anymore.
Ugh.
Being a nice guy is difficult.
The maze garden is beautiful, breathtaking, however he spent most of his time here to the point that its beauty no longer ceased to amaze him than the first time. It's just a garden.
Cale spent his time here and he wonders if they ever took care of it. The roses withered too easily, fountain sometimes dry, even the tree he climbed the first time he got here was dead. Huh, kinda miss it already.
Like, he knew the First Prince wasn't the favourite but to this extent? To Cale- Alberu seemed like an abandoned prince rather than a not-a-favourite son of the king. Back at the County, though he wasn't his father's favourite son, he still got treated better than how the king treated his eldest first-born.
“So sad.” He said, gaze on a wilted rose on the verge of death.
His hand lifted to touch the flower, but as soon as his hand came in contact, the flower died instantly and fell on the ground.
Pathetic. Cale started to pick out the wilted roses and crushed them underneath his shoes as they reached the ground. He walked towards a gazebo and sat on one of the chairs placed there, abandoned.
So this was the other side of the garden wall. It was just another part of the Palace of Joy, though forsaken. Unattended and left to rot until the end of time, and from where Cale was sitting, he could see Prince Alberu's office. His back was turned while he talked to someone Cale-does-not-know-who. Probably someone unimportant.
Should he throw an apple at him?
Hmm. Cale pondered, and he shook his head and ate the apple he had with him that acted as his breakfast and lunch.
During his time in the gazebo, he played chess (by himself) and lost to himself. Dang, did he just outsmart himself in chess? Unbelievable.
How is this possible??
Cale hastily restarted the chess board in frustration to his new discovery and began to play again. After his turn, he exchanged his seat with the empty one across him to play his ‘opponents' turn. And so on and so forth, until he won the second round.
God, he's lonely. If anyone were to witness this, they'd either laugh at him or bitch about how and why Cale Henituse has no friends.
Asshole. This is why you don't have friends, because you push everyone away. But he couldn't complain because he didn't have anyone to talk to. Usually, Cale talked to himself. That's a weird characteristic and Cale is currently practicing not to make it a habit or else he will be seen not only as trash, but a weirdo.
And he would be no better than Sir Roksoo!
It's... “Fuck, why am I so dumb?!” difficult. He got checkmated that easily?!?
Again! I demand a rematch!
And thus, the third round begins.
~*~
“Has he gone insane?” Questioned Alberu, peering at the young master playing chess with Cale, Cale Henituse, and Young Master Cale through his window.
He chuckles softly. “Perhaps I should not have left him alone.”
His aunt gracefully faces Alberu, her eyes crinkle into crescent shapes as an idea popped up in her head and she suggested.
“You are really desperate to avoid him and yet you feel bad when you do. Why don't you give him a gesture?”
“... a gesture?”
It appears that her nephew was a bit dumb in these parts than she had initially expected.
“A gesture.”
“Of what kind?”
Okay, maybe she got ahead of herself. Alberu immediately did have some ideas about what a gesture is.
After a short conversation, Tasha returned to her post as soon as she had someone to fetch for her nephew's gesture. He will enjoy it.
Alberu tried to concentrate on the document in his hand, or tried to. He looks up to his aunt with a worried expression. “What if he won't like it?”
“He will like it.”
“How are you so sure...?”
The look Tasha gave to her nephew burned. Her gaze narrowed down as she said in a stern voice, “He will love it.”
Alberu rolled his eyes when he heard those words.
“You sound threatening. Do not lay a hand on him, aunt. Kim Rok Soo won't like it.”
This was the real problem. Alberu stopped trying to read the document and leaned back into his seat. “That guy is over the world destroying towers while I try to not hurt his... friend's, feelings.”
Tasha just smiled at Alberu in response.
The day passes without much trouble and Cale is awoken by a loud knock on the door first thing in the morning.
Cale had not expected anything today, based on his lack of human contact it might be another dark elf disguised as a human that was going to invite him to breakfast with the white prince again.
Should he throw a tantrum and chase them out? Why would he, given that he is too tired to do anything?
“I'm still asleep,” he lazily said. “Come back later...”
Knock ³× !!
Cale sits up abruptly, eyes wide, bed hair up, and groggily (but with grace!) walked up to open the door.
“What!?”
Cale is met with the most adorable-looking, fluffiest, and chubby animal he's ever seen in his life.
He tilted his head to the side.
“What. is. that!?!”
The maid raises the small basket and the animal yelped suddenly, causing him to step back once. What the hell? What is that thing? He's never seen anything like that before!
“This is a gift from crown prince, young master.” The maid replied.
“Oh, but what is it???”
He was momentarily surprised that his face contorted into... shock? Disgust? Interest? Cale breathed harshly through his mouth when the animal-creature cat lazily made a sound.
“Why, I think it is a cat, Young Master.”
!??!!? is the expression Cale has right now.
“No. Cats are small, cute, and majestic.” Cale stated confidently. “Uhm, a Maine Coon, a Munchkin, a Burmese, a LaPerm.”
He pointed accusingly at the animal.
“That is... a deformed bunny.”
“I... no, it—”
“And it's fat.”
The animal whimpers softly. Cale merely stares at it for a minute before pulling away further, a groan he lets out as he slams the door.
He was woken up for that?
Cale flops back into the bed, once again welcoming the warmth of his bed. Unbeknownst to Cale, the maid slightly opens the door to let in the animal before quietly making her way to report back to the prince.
“The Young Master Cale has received your... gesture.” She said.
Alberu looks up from the paper and sighs in relief. Seeing as Cale did not personally barge in and demand an explanation. “What did he say?”
He asked. The maid looks to the side, and clears her throat. “He called it a deformed bunny...”
“Pfft- Hahaha!”
The Crown Prince laughs which makes the maid flinch slightly. She did not know what was funny, typically because she has never had quite this basic humour.
“I- Ha! Is that so?”
“Yes, your highness.”
But at that moment, Alberu was thinking the same thing. Why was he laughing???
Well, nobody knows.
~*~
I can't breathe!
Cale jerked awake to find a big, fat, fluffy cat resting on his face.
The cat instantly moves away when she notices that he was awake, meowing disdainfully, and circles around a spot. Did that thing just try to kill me?
Cale thought, and the cat meows. Was that a yes?
“You fucking cat.”
He says, and throws a pillow at her.
~*~
School is too much sometimes. I hadn't gotten the opportunity to write at all, and only had the time bc its the weekend(╯︵╰,)
It's such a short chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it!
Big Fat Cat references cuz Alberu still needs time to accept Cale's personality lol. He's such a difficult character to write because he is the ogcale and we don't know much about him. All I know is that he's hard to understand and if I were Alberu, I would react the same. 🤡 sorry cale, even though you're hot, cute, a shitty person, beautiful, lovely, and I love u sm, you're so mean. But that what I made you to be, and they need to learn to love you🌼😔
—
Cale: I'm so lonely. I play chess by myself bc al and alberu won't see me. I don't have friends. Why am I like this?
Also Cale: FUCK, A CAT! ITS WEIRD!! I CANT BE FRIENDS WITH U! *a minute later* I've only known her for a day and a half but if you lay a hand on her I will kill everybody in this room and then myself.
KRS: why aren't you answering my calls? (╥﹏╥)