Bam!
The door shut as soon as it opened, flustering several knights who were eagerly anticipating to escort the young prince back to the castle.
They had been rather quick to act after hearing the story of last night. Apparently, the crown prince had put him, the king, under some kind of mind hex, making him his puppet—he killed his own mother and framed his one and only sister, the princess.
They had been told that the princess had become the mother of two children, and they were supposed to escort her son back to the castle at the king's order.
Yet…
They all stared blankly at the closed door, struggling to understand what had just happened. They didn't expect such a thing to happen, so naturally, they were late to the response.
"Stand up!"
Snapping them out of their trance was Anton's cold voice. It rang in their ears like the ringing of the morning bell― pouring cold water over them. It was calm yet chilling; some could even argue that there was a hint of deep sadness mixed within it.
'That damn bastard. I will starve to death if I somehow fail this simple command.'
And it was true. Anton's life was literally hanging by a thin rope. He had lost all his savings on last night's gambling, and the rewards he was promised were also dismissed, as the prince was behind all the tragedies that happened in the royal family.
He was scared shitless when he learned the prince was the mastermind and that he was under the scrutiny of the higher-ups as a potential accomplice of the late prince.
'…That damn bastard.'
Anton cursed the bastard while standing in front of the closed door with a complicated expression marring his face, trying to think of ways to persuade the young prince to come with them.
*
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door.
Liam had an incredulous look on his face. His eyes were twitching from the piece of news he had just heard. It was a ridiculous claim, even preposterous, to say he was a prince.
Just the thought of it gave him the creeps as his entire body shook and his hair stood on end.
He?
A prince?
How could even that be possible when he was born and raised on an entirely different continent? He was even remembered for the nightmares he had to go through when he was still an infant.
Tremble~
Just the thought of them gave Liam the chill down his spine.
"Brr… I don't want to think about it."
Hoff
Liam took a deep breath, trying to overcome the embarrassment he felt when he was called a prince. His mind reeling with all sorts of ideas about how he was being presumed to be a prince, eventually, he came to one conclusion.
This…
"It is all her fault, isn't it?"
He said, while gnashing his teeth hard suppressing the anger inside him that boiled.
Can't he just live like a normal person?
What kind of crime did he even commit? As long as he remembered, he died trying to save a girl. So, can't he just be a mob character now with hidden powers? Away from all troubles?
But no…
Trouble always finds its way into everybody's life.
He resigned himself to the reality of the events. Liam went toward the window, peeking his head out.
"There are a lot of people down there… But meh, I will somehow manage to slip by hiding myself."
Bang!
Just as he was about to jump through the window and make his great escape. The door opened with a bang. Breaking its lock with a piece of splinter flying in the room.
A strange silence settled over the room as Liam, whose one leg was on the window, and Anton, who just kicked the door open, stared at each other. Both gave each other a strange look; of course, in the case of Liam, he just had a stoic face, but one couldn't mistake the air around him that screamed of guilt.
'Fuck me sideways.'
He closed his eyes while cursing internally.
.
.
.
Five minutes later.
Two people were sitting on the bed beside each other while a lot more peeked their heads from the broken door, which lay on the floor, crying about its luck.
There was an awkward silence in the room with no one uttering a word. Neither the ones sitting on top of the bed nor the ones who peeked their heads with sparkling eyes as if they were waiting for a much-awaited show to start.
"Ahem."
Anton lightly coughed for obvious reasons, breaking the awkwardness that hung in the air; shifting his body a little, he turned and looked Liam in the face. While hearing the sound coming from his side, he also turned his face.
Both men stared each other in the eye.
"I am here to escort you to your mother."
"I see."
Liam said that with poise, his back straight and his face blank like a sheet of paper, not showing a hint of emotion.
But in reality…
'What? what does he mean, 'He will take me back to my mother?'
My mother is on an entirely different continent. What the hell does he mean? He will take me back all the way to another continent.
'…that damn woman!'
I knew the moment I saw her tentacles that she was a bad omen. I should have never listened to her sweet talk.
'Dammit!'
On other hand…
Anton was having his own inner turmoil. His mind reeling with all sorts of ideas as he looked into Liam's face, it was blank, expressionless.
'W-what the hell?'
He doesn't believe me, right?
Such were his thoughts, and it was for a good reason―he had never been good with children. They would always cry whenever he tried to make a silly face to make them laugh or whenever he gave them candy.
That's why his thoughts were in a jumble and running on overdrive.
'…calm down. The situation is still salvageable.'
He gave a furtive glance to Liam.
'…Or maybe not.'
But then to his surprise…
Dub~
"Okay, let's go."
Liam stood up from his place and gave a gesture to escort him. Looking at Liam, Anton was slow to react because of the mess his mind was in, thus responding late.
"…Okay."