I turned three on a Tuesday.
Nobody made a big deal out of it this time. Just family dinner, some cake, a few presents I didn't really care about. Which was fine by me. Less attention meant more time to work.
Except someone decided to ruin that.
"Prince Arquen."
I looked up from my breakfast to see a fishman I didn't recognize. Hammerhead shark type, built like a brick wall, wearing formal clothes that looked uncomfortable on him.
"Minister Coral wants to see you."
Minister Coral. One of Neptune's advisors, handled domestic policy or something. I'd seen him around but never talked to him directly.
"Why?" I asked.
"Didn't say. Just said to bring you."
Weird. But I went along with it, Mira trailing behind us looking worried.
The minister's office was in one of the palace towers. Lots of scrolls and documents everywhere, organized chaos. Coral himself was an old clownfish fishman, orange and white striped, with these sharp eyes that didn't match his friendly appearance.
"Ah, Prince Arquen. Thank you for coming." He gestured to a chair. "Please, sit."
I climbed up into it, feet dangling. Mira stood by the door.
"I'll be direct," Coral said. "There have been... reports. About you."
My stomach dropped. Reports?
"What kind of reports?" I kept my voice steady.
"That you're unusually intelligent for your age. That you observe things most children don't notice. That you ask strange questions." He leaned forward. "That you stare at people like you're studying them."
Shit. I'd been too careless.
"I'm just curious," I said, going for the innocent kid angle. "Is that bad?"
"No, no. Curiosity is good." But his tone said otherwise. "However, some people are... concerned. They wonder if perhaps the young prince is being influenced by something. Or someone."
"Influenced how?"
"There are stories, you understand. Old legends about sea spirits that possess children. Or curses that make people act strangely." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I don't believe such things, of course. But others do. And perception matters in politics."
I got it now. He wasn't worried about sea spirits. He was worried about what people would think if the crown prince seemed too weird. Bad for the kingdom's image or whatever.
"I'm not possessed," I said flatly. "I'm just smart."
"Indeed. And that's what I told them." He shuffled some papers. "However, I think it would be wise if you were... a bit more normal in public. Play like other children. Don't analyze everything so obviously. At least until you're older and people expect intelligence from you."
"So you want me to pretend to be dumb."
Coral winced. "I wouldn't phrase it that way."
"But that's what you mean."
He sighed. "Look, young prince. I'm trying to help you here. If enough people start talking, start worrying, it could cause problems. For you, for your family, for the kingdom. Just... blend in a little better. Can you do that?"
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him to mind his own business. But he had a point. If people thought there was something wrong with me, they might not accept me as the future king. Might not trust the evolution serum when I finally created it.
"Fine," I said. "I'll be more careful."
"Good. That's all I ask." He stood up. "You're dismissed."
I hopped down and left, Mira hurrying after me.
"That was scary," she whispered. "What did he want?"
"To tell me to act more like a kid."
"But you are a kid."
"Not the right kind, apparently."
Back in my room, I was pissed. Not at Coral, really—he was just doing his job. But at the situation. Having to hide what I was, what I could do, just because people couldn't handle it.
The system pinged.
[Warning: Social perception affecting future plans. Recommend strategic adjustment to public behavior.]
Yeah, no shit.
I pulled up the mental simulation and dove in, needing to work off the frustration. Ran through another formula test, this time for eel fishmen. Electric type.
The simulation kept failing. Every modification I tried caused the bioelectric organs to overload.
"Come on," I muttered, adjusting parameters. "Work."
It didn't work.
I tried again. And again. And again.
Nothing. Every test ended with the organs burning out or the nervous system frying itself.
I was about to try a different approach when someone knocked.
"Arquen? You okay in there?" Fukaboshi's voice.
"I'm fine."
"You've been in there for hours. Wanna come play?"
"Not really."
Silence. Then the door opened anyway. Fukaboshi swam in, followed by the other two. They'd gotten pretty good at moving around now, though they were still unsteady sometimes.
"What're you doing?" Ryuboshi asked, looking around like he expected to find something interesting.
"Thinking."
"Again? That's all you ever do." He floated over to my bookshelf, poking at the few books I had. "Don't you get bored?"
"No."
"Weirdo."
Fukaboshi elbowed him. "Don't be rude." He looked at me. "Seriously though, are you okay? You seem upset."
I considered lying, but what was the point? "Someone told me I need to act more normal."
"What's wrong with how you act?"
"Apparently everything."
Manboshi spoke up, which was rare. "I think you're fine."
"Thanks, but you're three. Your opinion doesn't count."
"Hey!" All three of them protested.
Despite myself, I smiled a bit. "I didn't mean it like that."
"So what if people think you're weird?" Ryuboshi said. "You're gonna be king. Kings can be weird if they want."
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?"
Because politics. Because perception. Because people needed to trust their leaders, and they didn't trust things they couldn't understand.
But I couldn't explain that to them.
"Just drop it, okay?"
They exchanged looks. Then Fukaboshi nodded. "Okay. But we're still gonna hang out with you even if you're weird."
"Gee, thanks."
"That's what brothers are for."
They dragged me out to the gardens after that. Made me play some game where we pretended to be pirates, which was ironic given half the pirates in this world were terrible people.
I played along though. Let Ryuboshi "capture" me. Pretended to sword fight with Manboshi using sticks. Let Fukaboshi rescue me dramatically.
And honestly? It wasn't terrible. Kind of fun, actually, even if I felt ridiculous.
Maybe that's what Coral meant. Just be a kid sometimes. Not everything had to be research and planning.
Shirahoshi found us eventually. "Can I play too?"
"You're too little," Ryuboshi said.
"Am not! I'm almost three!"
"Exactly. Too little."
They started arguing, and I just lay back on the coral, staring up at the water above us. Watching the light filter down from the surface, creating patterns.
Normal kids probably didn't think about genetic modification and evolution hierarchies. They just... existed. Played. Grew up without the weight of future knowledge crushing them.
Must be nice.
But I couldn't be that. Too much was at stake. Too many people would suffer if I didn't do something.
So I'd play the part. Act normal when I needed to. Keep my head down until I was old enough that being smart was expected.
And in the meantime, I'd keep working. Keep planning. Keep preparing for everything I knew was coming.
Even if it meant pretending to be someone I wasn't.
[New Trait Acquired: Public Persona]
[Effect: Better at hiding true intentions and abilities. Social interactions require less effort to appear normal.]
Great. The system was rewarding me for lying. That felt appropriate somehow.