The Crown Prince of Arielle

"Mr. Louis, I do belive that you got a pretty good deal and that's all we can do for you." said the young man in a blue doublet with midnight blue eyes. "We can't treat you specially just because you have higher stakes."

"Oh, of course you can. My business is very important to me. I want the taxes on goods from Apple Heart to be reduced, well, unless you lack the power to do so...." said Mr. Louis mockingly.

On hearing the last part, there young man's eyes flared with anger. He hated it when the nobles thought that he was a weak, spineless person who could be swayed to their twisted side with mere degradatory words. Too bad for them, he was long since accustomed to their harsh words. Instead all it did anymore was make him furious and also contribute a bit to his depression that he probably would never get rid of.

And the Lord before had no idea of what he was getting into.

"I do have the power to reduce the taxes Mr. Louis, and I also happen to have the power to take away your trading rights. I'd reduced the taxes to a 2 year low, however, I don't think you will ever be satisfied, will you?" said the young man, with a dangerous calm look in his eyes.

But Mr. Louis ignored the look the young prince gave him.

"How do you expect me to be content with just that? And you can't be stupid enough to threaten me, can you? You will need my support to be King. Or did you forget that I am the head of the leading noble house, you illegitimate child?"

With a smile on his lips, the Prince said: "And did you just threaten me, Mr. Louis? I may be an illegitimate child, but I still am the Crown Prince of Arielle. Also, I don't need your support to be King. The Queen is already supporting me, and I don't see why I need your support when there are no other contenders for the Crown..."

"O-of course you need my support," Mr. Louis stuttered. "or else the Nobility won't recognise you as King." He felt a bit confident on saying the last part.

"Whether they do our not, it doesn't matter to me. If the ordinary citizens support me, that will be more than enough for me." said the Prince.

"You can't be serious..." muttered Mr. Louis.

"I am. And I will be revoking your trading rights." said the Prince, getting up from his seat.

Ignoring the pleading from Mr. Louis, Prince Andrew left the room feeling relived that he would no longer have to entertain the greedy Lord.

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The day was finally coming to an end. The moon was high up in the sky with the stars to keep it company. Andrew looked up to the sky from his balcony. It looked beautiful like always. Placing his hands on the rails, he contemplated jumping down the four storied building. He had read that jumping down that height would lead to a painful death.

His train of thoughts was broken by a knock on his bedroom door. On hearing it, he realised what was he was thinking of doing and pulled himself away from the rails.

It would most probably be his mother since she would want to check on him. They had only seen each other once that day - during breakfast - and she might have been worried about him.

He opened the door and said - "Mom,-".

But the woman, or rather the girl, who had knocked on his door was not his mother. Instead it was a petite looking girl who looked no older than 13 there.

He felt confused and wondered what the young girl was here for, and also how the guards had let her in there.

"What are you doing here, Young Miss?" he asked the girl. She was wearing red dress embroidered with blooming flowers, which definitely was a design from Mallow Brook.

'Mom would have loved to see this dress' - part of him thought.

The girl on the other hand was rather quiet. She fished out a folded sheet of paper from the folds of her dress and gave it to him.

Taking it, he curiously opened the paper and what was written on the paper made him enraged:

'Consider the girl as payment for giving my trading rights back to me.

- Mr. Louis

Lord of the Blackcurrant House'

He knew that Mr. Louis was a despicable man, but he never knew that he was ready to sell a young girl for his personal gain. And part of him wondered if people really thought that he was interested in young girls, just because his biological father had raped his mother when she was sixteen.

He looked down at the girl - she definitely was not older than 13. That was not the only thing he was worried about. She was expressionless, as if no matter what you did to her, there would be no change in her facial expression.

"Do you know why Mr. Louis sent you here, Miss?" He asked.

And when she nodded her head, he knew she did, and that she was all too used to it to care anymore.

Andrew gave her a sad smile. He knew at once that she was a doll. And she had most probably been one for a long time.

Dolls were, of course, humans. They too had a mind and feelings of their own, or rather used to. The girl in front of him was called a doll because she, just like a toy doll, had mostly lost the ability to think and feel after years of suffering. And if he was not wrong Mr. Louis was her Master.

Andrew sent for the butler and asked him to take the girl to a room and give her some food. The girl looked reluctant at first but then followed the butler to the room.

On seeing the girl hesitate, even if it was just for a moment, Andrew felt glad for that meant that she could still think for herself.

Andrew quickly got dressed (he had been in his night clothes when he talked to the girl) and went to meet Mr. Louis. That man wasn't going to remain a noble for much longer.

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