After a few days, it seems the crown prince was able to feel more comfortable in our home.
Normally, I would try to stay away from the capture targets, but I've been thinking.
One of the major factors that resulted in the fall of the Dukedom was the annulment of the engagement between Violet and the crown prince. To annul the engagement, the crown prince had collected evidence on the Deianira house to out them to society. This ruined both Violet and the Deianira family, but Virgil was able to survive the accusations thrown at his house by throwing his family members under the bus and using his own wits.
There's nothing I can do about their engagement, and I'm already trying to help Violet become a more learned person. The only other person involved in this equation would be the crown prince.
The crown prince's future is to be the flirty and lax type of character. However, it's drastically different from his current younger self, who resembles more of a golden retriever than anything. That's why, if he stayed like this, there's less of a chance of him abandoning Violet like that.
I don't care what anybody says, if you get engaged to someone and then start courting another person without breaking off the engagement first, you're just a cheating bastard. You can act like you don't give a shit, but don't drag other people into it, as it can hurt another person. Even if Violet was haughty in the game, she did genuinely love him, and it's just a slap in her face with how he was acting.
There's a story for everything, but I at least want to teach him to respect other people and their feelings. Even if he fell in love with the heroine, his previous flirty behavior is still a no-no in my book.
However, I can't just suddenly come in and tell him what to do, that'll just have the opposite effect. That's why I've been trying to get along with him so we're at least at the level of being friends. Not to mention, it's always nice to be on the good side of someone with power. (I might sound pretty scummy but it's the truth.)
The tough part is that I learned pretty early on that we are two different types of people. Sure, we both like reading books, but he also likes being outside and doing shit in the sun. Why do you actually act like a child!
Hahh...
Anyway, although I'm at constant risk of the UV rays giving me cancer every time by the end of one of his little adventures, it seems my hard work has paid off. Whenever I see him, he's laughing more often, which he didn't do before much. Not to mention, I've noticed that he's let me stay in the shade recently, though I'm not sure if it's intentional or not. Either way, the kid's growing on me, even if I hate to admit it.
He's only staying for a few days though, and it's mostly for him and Violet to meet, more than anything. Not to mention, I can't visit often to talk to him because of my own work. However, the three of us still end up hanging out at the end of the day, which has been a stress reliever, to be honest.
However, since he's only visiting for a few days, those days are up now.
In my usual morning reports to the office, after talking about some of the current standings of our major subsidiaries, the Duke brought the topic up.
"I've heard that you've been really close with the crown prince lately."
"Mn."
"That's a relief, I was worried at first when—"
The Duke then cleared his throat.
"Tomorrow the crown prince will be heading back, and since you're close with him, you can inform him and Violet of it. You'll be meeting each other again a lot in the future, but you should at least know beforehand."
I nodded in response but I could also hear him mumble something under his breath.
"That's what the manual said right?"
I kept my laugh in as I remembered how the Duchess recently got him a 'How to' book about parenting and children.
"Yes sir, I'll inform them."
I bowed my head as I left the room. I probably won't be able to hold in my laughter anymore if I stayed in that room.
Anyway, guess it'll be the end of me seeing that guy every day for a while...
I'll kind of miss him...
It's like when you pick up a lost puppy...
And then the original owners of him come to pick him up, but you've kind of gotten attached to him after keeping him for a few days...
Hahh...
Sorry, I was remembering something sad from middle school.
Anyway, it would be bad if someone ever heard what I was thinking in my head. I would probably get my head chopped off, for even thinking of the crown prince as a pet.
As I was thinking in my head, I've arrived at where Violet and Cyril are. Mika's also there, but he's practically Violet's second head at this point, always next to her. At least he doesn't seem to dislike Violet, which should probably mean we're safe.
"Brother"
"Virgil!"
Seeing the two just jump up from me entering the room... I GOTTA STOP SEEING THEM AS PETS, BUT I CAN'T HELP IT!"
However, my mood quickly gets chilled as I see Mika with his usual untelling smile. It still gives me shivers. He's technically 2 years younger than me, and even younger than my mental age, but why does he seem more mature than me. Either way, since he was always there, at least I wasn't ever carried away by the atmosphere the other two exuded. I have to give him my thanks for that.
Anyways, we continued like any usual day, the other two were playing like regular children, and I just read a book off to the side. After they tired out for a bit, they decided to check up on what I was doing, and I just read the book to them. Cyril was pretty interested, but Violet wasn't as keen on paying attention.
After we finished, we decided to go out for a walk and to visit the garden again. I decided to tell them about what I was asked to talk about by the Duke before I forget to. Cyril went to put the book away, so I went to tell Violet first.
"Violet, the crown prince will be heading home tomorrow, so you should be ready to say your goodbyes soon."
She looked heartbroken and very sad when I told her.
"Does he really have to leave? Brother, can't you do something about it? Aren't you smart?"
"He's the crown prince and this isn't his home. It's inevitable."
Seriously, no matter how smart someone is, I don't think they'll be able to stop someone from going back to their own home.
After patting Violet on the head since she was still sad, I looked up to see Cyril with a shocked look on his face. I guess he overheard when he was walking back.
"What'd you just say?"
Well, it's not like I was hiding it from him, I was going to tell him anyway.
"You'll be going back home tomorrow, your highness."
He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking, which was strange to me.
"I... I don't want to go!"
He looked very angry as he turned violently and ran out of the room!
What the fuck!
I quickly ran out of the room to see where he was going but he was nowhere to be seen by the time I looked outside! The servants standing by the door were also shocked as well!
Violet was also shocked by his sudden outburst, and she looked extremely worried.
"What happened, brother? Where did he go?"
"I'm not sure."
I thought about what to do and calmed down first, so I could think clearly.
"I'll report this to the Duke. He might be in his room."
Violet nodded and decided to head to his room as I went to the Duke.
...
However, Cyril wasn't in his room.
Nor was he anywhere to be found in the mansion.
Soon, the situation became direr as the sun was setting. If news got out that we lost the crown prince when he was visiting, our name would be heavily damaged and we may even be punished.
I decided to look for him too, but I couldn't find him anywhere either.
I tried to remember anything that could help me remember.
Then I remember that he was particularly interested in the large hedge maze in our garden, especially after I had told him of the magical lake at the center of it. I'm not even sure if there is a lake at the center, this is only what I heard from the servants.
I looked out the window, realizing it was already dark, and immediately stood up and ran out of the room.
I might be wrong, but I rather go there and be wrong, than not check and be right. Especially since it's evening and he's still a child, he could get sick if he's out so late!
I entered the maze that I vowed to never enter after I had gotten lost the first time. I barely remembered where I went to get to the center, but he might not even be there! This maze is extremely big and you can get lost in it for a whole day!
After a bunch of dead ends, I finally saw a blue light coming from a corner. I ran closer and closer, and finally reached the center of the maze. The big and vast lake emitted a bright blue light as if it came right out of a magical fantasy book. There was a huge weeping willow tree hanging over the lake. However, unlike a normal willow tree, it had a blue trunk and the light blue and silver leaves had drops of dew frozen in them, almost making it seem like crystals were imbued in the leaves. It glistened as it blew lightly in the cold wind of the evening. It was extremely beautiful and magical, and I never expected to actually ever see it.
I looked at the tree and lake in amazement, as I never thought I would ever see such a sight in my life. However, as I looked closer, I could see a little child at the base of the blue willow tree. His golden hair reflected the blue light around him as he was huddled up.
I walked up to him, slightly out of breath, but luckily my face didn't show I was extremely tired.
He seemed to see me as I approached him. I stopped a foot away from him and looked down at him.
"Found you."
He looked surprised and even a little happy, but then he seemed to remember something, which made his face darken.
"Leave me alone."
"Your highness, don't you want to head inside?"
He looked away from me, and it seemed like he wanted to cry.
"If I go back, I'm going to have to go back to that place! I don't want to leave!"
I remained silent.
"I don't want to go back to that place! It's cold and scary! I hate it! Nobody wants me!"
I know what 'that place' he's talking about.
I walked closer and then sat next to him, who was crying, to wait for him to calm down.
The place he doesn't want to go back to is the Imperial Palace.
I think I mentioned this before about how the crown prince's backstory was pretty interesting.
He's the son of the current king and the heir to the throne. Like many other stories, there will always be people opposing him. However, the one that is truly against him becoming the crown prince is no other than his own father.
In the kingdom of Adalphine, the king is known as a wise and powerful king who'd brought prosperity and fame to his land during a time of war. He was praised as the most handsome man in the empire and defended the country with his own bare hands.
However, that's only what outsiders and the citizens see.
The former glorious king who was a war hero is now only a paranoid man that cannot let go of the crown on his head. It was almost like he was a god in Greek and Roman myths. He was powerful, yes, but he would even kill his own child to prevent them from becoming more powerful than him.
He became obsessed with immortality, wanting to live forever and stay in power forever. He knew that as he grew older, he would become weaker, and that was his worst nightmare. His paranoia caused him to become unable to sleep and he would always treat his own child as an eyesore.
Cyril couldn't even rely on his own mother, as his mother, the queen, was facing her own troubles.
The king had a mistress who was able to calm him of his paranoia and let him sleep peacefully. She soon became his favorite and was even promoted as the royal consort, as polygamy was usual in the royal family for the sake of an heir. However, she had only been able to give birth to daughters thus far.
That's why the queen put so much pressure on Cyril as a child. The fact that her son was the crown prince was one of the only things she had that she could use to her advantage when dealing with the tricky royal consort. She never showed motherly affection, nor romantic affection for the king either. The only thing she had in mind was being able to keep her power and authority as the Queen, even if she had to use the fact that she birthed the crown prince to slap the royal consort. She was the perfect Queen, fulfilling all of her duties, but she was not suitable to be a mother or a lover.
However, any fault of the crown prince would become a fault of her own, which made her extremely strict on Cyril from a young age to perform well.
The royal consort was a mischievous woman, however, and used the chance to feed poisonous words to the king every night. She fueled his paranoia, even more, painting the crown prince as someone who's aiming after his throne, with each achievement the crown prince made.
This caused the mistreatment of the crown prince to continue once more, as no sign of affection was ever shown to him. He would also constantly have his life being threatened by the royal consort, from poison to assassins. Even though the culprit was obvious, the king never intervened. His mother only did what was necessary by providing enough bodyguards, and even making him drink small amounts of poison from a young age to get him immune to them. This caused him to be bedridden frequently, and he was constantly in pain until his body could catch up.
The crown prince was constantly under surveillance from his own father, and as he grew up, he learned more and more of why he was treated like this as a child.
Even his name was almost a slap to his face. His first name was given to him by his mother, which was unprecedented in the royal family. However, once the name given by God was bestowed upon him, Regulus, the King became warier of him. Regulus is a star representing the Lion, which is the sign of the King in this country, with the founding emperor having the same name. This only fueled the paranoia of the King, which led to him finally giving a name to Cyril. His name that was given by the imperial family, Maiandra, meant to meander or become lazy. He was telling his own son to just remain low-key and never to reach for higher than is allowed. That was the message he meant to give to him.
Slowly, his hatred for his father, and the royal family in general, built up.
He made a resolve to seize the throne for himself, whether it be for survival or just to finally throw away any lingering attachments he had for his family.
He played a facade of a lazy person, just to lower the guard of the king. He only revealed his true self when he meets the heroine, and decides to go the hard route to ascend to the throne.
However, in the other routes, he would overthrow the king by force, killing the king, the royal consort, and even his own mother. He had planned a coup d'etat in the shadows the whole time, and infiltrated the palace with his forces, killing the majority of the people there. There was plenty of bloodshed involved, as expected, and as he dragged the head of his father by his similar golden hair in his bloodied hands, he approached the throne he was never allowed to touch as a kid. He took the crown off his father's head as he threw the latter away like it was disgusting trash. He placed the bloodied crown on his head as he sat down on the throne, the blue gem on his earring being tainted with the crimson red blood. The smile he had on his face was cold and empty, even though he had gotten revenge on the people he had hated the most.
As I remembered the past, or I guess it would be his future now, I honestly pitied him.
Especially since I've met the current him, who was like a puppy that wanted to be praised when he'd done well. I had almost forgotten about his background and what would happen because of how happy he was during his stay here. He would only truly be happy if he met the heroine. However, it would be sad to see this adorable kid become someone corrupted by the tragedies around him.
He'd been alone since childhood, with people only ever approaching him for their own agendas.
I was the same, technically.
Even I can't help but feel guilty.
I remembered what the duke had told me when I had visited him about Cyril's disappearance after he had run away. I had already known what he had told me, but it just reminded me about it.
I didn't look at him as I spoke, but I could hear he was finally calming down.
"The Deianira family has served the Imperial family since it's creation."
He looked up at me.
"For generations, our family had worked under the king in the shadows. All the dirty work was done by us, and even I will have to do the missions assigned to me when I grow up. If the Imperial family is the light, we would be the dark that cleaned up anything that should not be seen by the public."
I continued to face forward, not matching his gaze that was aimed at me.
"The Deianira family has many prestigious titles, and we're one of the most influential families. However, the only reason why we aren't on the radar of the other houses, even though our family is so powerful, is because of our unspoken title."
I finally turned towards him.
"This family is also known as the dog of the Imperial family."
He looked surprised, but it's not surprising. Even though he should've learned this, he wasn't ever told this because rather than the imperial family, we serve directly under the king over anything. He seemed to realize that as well, as his eyebrows knit together.
"Why're you telling me this?"
I stood up and then walked in front of him, facing him directly.
"Please stand up, your highness. It's not befitting of royalty to be sitting down on the ground like that"
Although concerned, he still followed what I asked him to do.
"Even if I'm part of the Deianira family, I'll decide who I want to follow."
"What do you—"
"That's why..."
I kneeled on one leg, putting my hand on my chest and my head down.
"Even if it feels like no one is by your side, I pledge to serve under you with my life, Cyril Regulus Maiandra Adalphine. May the glory of the Lion 'Regulus' shine down upon you."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
After a constant search for the crown prince, the people in the estate finally found him. He was with the young master of the house, Virgil, as they exited the hedge maze.
The people in the house were relieved to see they were safe. However, the children were also scolded for being so reckless, as they could've gotten seriously hurt.
However, it was already pretty late into the night, so they were let off with a warning, so they could get washed up and rest for the night.
They went to sleep like normal, knowing that one of them would leave the next morning.
Virgil fell asleep, with his stoic and emotionless face like usual. Rather than an adorable face like a normal child, he gave off more of a beautiful and pretty feeling.
Cyril laid next to him, unable to sleep.
He turned his head and could see the profile of the boy next to him, who looked more relaxed than when he was awake.
He had slept next to him before during the previous nights of his stay, but today felt different.
He couldn't calm down.
Just thinking about what had happened.
Even though he had hated him at first, his feelings had changed a lot.
Virgil was stoic and expressionless. He behaved maturely for his age, and he never acted childishly. The moments he remembered were always of him remaining in the back or reading a book while drinking tea.
However, the more he watched him, the more he noticed that Virgil wasn't always that calm and collected. He noticed that his hand would tremble whenever he wanted to laugh and that his body movements showed what he was thinking pretty well, even if it was only slight changes.
He wasn't as mature as he had thought, but it didn't stop him from being interested in him. It was fun, as he could act however he had wanted, and he was even praised and patted on the head for doing well.
However, his heart dropped when he learned he had to leave. He'll just be ignored again by the people around him.
'Do they also not like me?'
So, he ran away.
However, he'd never expected to be found.
He remembered what the black-haired boy looked like when he had found him. His clothes were disheveled and his hair was messier than his normal calm and collected self.
It was different.
He's never seen him look like that before. He must've been desperately searching for him.
That time too, it was also different.
He had finally called him by his name. He's never called him Cyril before, only by his official title.
Feeling his face burning and his heart beating faster, he was confused about what he was feeling. However, he still felt warm just looking at the boy next to him.
Virgil was breathing lightly in his sleep and turned slightly towards Cyril. The latter focused on his pretty features, his eyelashes longer than he had expected.
Seeing his open and relaxed hand, he had the urge to hold it.
However, once he did, his face flushed more and the beating in his heart only became more prominent. However, he didn't want to let go, and he slowly was lulled into sleep as he held onto the hand of the boy that promised to stay with him, when he feared no one would.