Elias was back in his room. Nikolas had gone to get sweets for the prince so the prince was currently alone.
He was left wondering what Claude could possibly want to tell Felix.
Could it be a scolding for making Elias sad?
Maybe it was for spending too much time with Athanasia?
Elias hummed deep in thought.
It couldn't possibly be canceling their engagement, could it?
Elias tilted his head before snickering.
Right, his dad was not that petty to cancel an engagement just because their son was sad.
Elias snickered again at the thought before shaking it off to think of other reasons.
"Elias."
The prince blinked but went back into thought again.
"Elias. Eli."
'Okay, I am not crazy. I heard that.'
Elias looked around in search of the voice. A voice Elias felt somewhat familiar with but had no idea where he heard it.
"Eli. Over here."
The crown prince stood up as he grabbed his cane. The voice was coming from the small garden behind the quarters. The glass doors to the garden were open and Elias took his chance to make it way out.
"Elias. Here. Come here."
"I am going!"
Elias hissed.
For a second he saw the back of an adult with gold blonde hair and red earrings. The man slightly turned his head towards Elias but before Elias could see his face, he blinked and the man was nowhere to be seen.
"Where d-UUUGH!"
His cane and foot got caught in something and caused Elias to fall. As he was falling, he let go of his cane and pushed his hands forwards. His eyes were wide in surprise as he fell and another wave of surprise crash into when he saw black and then a face.
Unconsciously, Elias squeezed his eyes shut. His body was cushioned by another and his lips were also cushioned by something soft and warm. The prince feared opening his eyes yet he opened them in shock.
Elias felt his heart skip a beat when his jewel blue eyes witnessed the most beautiful and mesmerizing rose red eyes.
"Pft!"
Jumping off the black haired man, his face felt like it was burning in the oven as he glared around.
"It's not funny!"
Elias hissed as he turned to the man who was still shocked and looking at him with wide eyes.
"I-I am sorry. I wasn't looking where I wa—"
"Wait, Blackie!"
At that moment, a black creature with fur jumped over the man's chest but just as it was mid-air the man grabbed it.
Maybe because the creature was not washed and combed properly, Elias could see fur flying everywhere.
The prince hissed a yelp as he scrambled to grab his cane and with a haste ran away. The black haired man sat up to stop the prince but his hair got caught at the same time.
"Caught you, Blackie!"
"Urgh, my hair! What are you doing?"
Elias heard and from the sound of the voice, the man was clearly annoyed and maybe even pissed. The prince did his best not to look back and kept making his way back to his room.
He felt like his throat was closing and his breath was getting harder to circulate.
"Elias?"
The prince saw Claude and Elias felt safe enough to squeeze his eye shut and let go of all the strength in his body. He slumped down but he felt long arms receive him before he was picked up.
"Call the magicians and physicians immediately! Find the cause of this!"
Elias wanted to tell Claude that he was okay before blacking out.
***
His body felt heavy and exhausted but Elias was glad he was able to breathe just fine.
Elias struggled to open his eyes but when he did, he met a child with black hair and red eyes staring right back at him. A yelp escaped Elias at the unexpected encounter before the prince tried to move away only to realize that his body was caged beneath the raven child.
Elias brusted red as he struggled more.
"Give it up and let me look at your eyes once more."
The raven said as he squeezed Elias's cheeks and leaned in closer. Elias froze as he felt increasingly embarrassed to have such a beautiful child just come onto him.
"That's interesting. It isn't something one can see in a lifetime. I guess that's why you are siblings."
He whispered with a smile. Red eyes gleamed in pure terrifying interest on his discovery which Elias was unaware of.
Giving up on struggling, Elias resorted on fixing this situation with the most civil way he could.
"U-Um... Excuse me..."
"What is it?"
Elias bit his lips mulling over if it really was the right decision but hardened his resolve because he couldn't have a beautiful raven on top of him all day.
"Yo-You look delicious being the cherry on top of a cake but... you would be even more delicious if you give me a chance to cake you?"
The raven paused for a second with a raise of brow. He was clearly trying to process what a five year had just told him. Slowly, but clearly, his cheeks were tinting themselves with pink and then red before it turned into a dark crimson. His expression changed into as if he was in pain. He quickly got off Elias and plopped himself on the chair next to the bed.
That was clearly not there so the raven must have been with Elias for a long time to have been offered a chair.
"... what in the world is wrong with you?"
"Um... You?"
The raven deadpanned at the crown prince who could only offer an awkward smile. In return, the raven huffed and turned his head away. Elias ignored being disregarded since he was so busy trying to calm his running heartbeat.
"What's your name? I am Elias. "
Elias shyly began a conversation.
"I am Lucas. You will do well by remembering it since I saved your life."
Elias gasped in surprise.
"My life was in danger?"
Lucas sharply nodded while looking at Elias with the most pathetical look. This was the first time the prince received such a look but ignored it.
"You almost died because you couldn't breathe."
"Oh..."
Lucas frowned at the crown prince's reaction.
"What do you mean "Oh..."? You almost lost your life."
Elias blinked a few times and shrugged.
"I just that this was how it felt like having life taken away against your own will."
Lucas gave Elias a questioning gaze but only Elias smiled.
"Hey, Lucas. Do you have a brother?"
Lucas raised a brow at the question.
"It's because I saw someone who looks just like you in the afternoon. I thought that maybe he was your brothe-eh?"
As Elias was reasoning with Lucas, the raven had sighed and he slowly grew to the height of the teenager Elias had met and accidentally smooched in the afternoon. His cheeks burned because Lucas grew more beautiful and mesmerizing.
How was this possible? Being that beautiful and mesmerizing should be a crime!