Chapter 42: Augustus Aiden Xavier (Part 1)

Augustus

"Prince Augustus, Your Highness has asked for you," My assistant, Theo, informed me while I fixed my hair in front of the mirror.

"Alright. I shall be there in a moment." I dismissed Theo and went back to fixing my hair. My goodness, my hair could be a serious mess sometimes! However, I could not afford that. You see, I was the Crowned Prince of Scotland, which meant people looked up at me, adored and respected me for being Mr. Perfect. Ladies drooled over how charismatic I was and the men despised me for stealing their spotlight.

In short - Life was perfect!

Until today.

"Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!" My younger sister, Hazel, yelled my name across the hall while dashing towards my room. Hazel was always known for her cheerful, bubbly personality. She was the kind of person who would always stand out in a crowd - the one who went against the norms and was comfortable living in her own little world.

"What?" I asked sounding uninterested.

She panted in front of the door before speaking. "Aiden, do not meet father!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and finally decided to turn my attention towards my sister. Her attire caught my attention.

"Why are you wearing my uniform? How many times have I told you not to!"

She rolled her eyes and then welcomed herself in the room, locking the door in the process.

"That is not important! You are missing the main point, Aiden! Do not go to meet father!" She exasperated.

"Why should not I? 'Tis my duty to meet him when he asks for me - either as a father or as the King,"

She sighed. "Sometimes, I hate it that you are so obedient!"

I retorted. "You should try being obedient too, Hazel. You are a princess. Act like one."

She slumped on the bed. "Tomboy Princess, Aiden. I am a tomboy princess. There is a difference,"

I sat beside her, shaking my head. Hazel and I might only be three years apart but sometimes she acted like a stubborn six-year-old while I had to be the serious twenty-four-year-old handling her. For god's sake, she was twenty-one! She was already eligible for marriage. Honestly, no prince would marry my sister due to her messy attitude because no kingdom would want a messy and irresponsible lady as their Queen. I love my sister, I really do. However, her acts disturbed me a lot.

When we were younger, Father always told us that I was the responsible one as I was his first-born while Hazel was the irresponsible one. Father always wanted me to take care of her and teach her certain etiquette and manners, but all my effort went vain. Why would not it? She barely listened to us! She was the only person (after my mother) in the entire palace to call me by my middle name. I did not remember much about my mother, given I was just three when she died.

The only person I ever loved my whole life was my sister, Hazel.

All my life I was an introvert, I loved reading books and these were the only friends that I had. Father always told me that I was superior to all others as I was a Prince and he wanted me to act like it. He never allowed me to cry because he said, 'Emotions and feelings do not matter, all that matters is Kingdoms and power,' He wanted my sister to follow his footsteps just as he wanted me to do the same. However, I was the only one who ended up following.

Hazel never followed his footsteps. Every time he or I would remind her of the fact that she should act like a lady - elegant and graceful, she would remind us of the fact that she was not wired the same way as the other princesses. She was different from the rest. Father never accepted the fact and just simply stated that it was just a phase and that she would grow out of it.

Well, Father, she never did.

This personality of hers was both what I loved and hated about her. Why I loved it was because she grew up to be strong and independent, unlike those other princesses who would forever be dependent on their men. Even if Hazel never got married, she would still be able to lead her own life, doing things she always desired. Fly high in the sky and never set her feet on the ground. Why I hated it was because this personality of her would get her into some serious trouble with The King. If Father got furious, he could go to any extent - even banish her own daughter from the palace!

I was afraid of that.

I was afraid he might banish her.

I was afraid I would lose my sister.

I was afraid that we might never have any contacts.

We would be apart, forevermore.

No. I did not want that.

"I know," I continued, "However, Father shall never accept that. He shall discipline you onto becoming a proper lady, maybe even send you away from me,"

It was her turn to shake her head. "Oh, Aiden! When shall you understand that he would not be able to do that? Changing this trait of mine would mean he would lose his own daughter in the process."

"He is capable of doing anything, Hazel. Anything." I warned her.

"I know that, however, when shall you learn to fight back?! We cannot live like this forever! 'Tis like we're father's slaves and he's the tyrannical ruler!"

"I do not fight back because of you, Hazel. That man does not love his children. The minute I fight back would be the minute he separates the two of us. He knows we cannot live without each other."

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door and Hazel jumped up in alert.

That was when I realized I had to see Father and I was already late!

---

"Did you ask for me?"

The Guards stood in attention at my arrival.

Father turned towards the gates and beamed at the sight of me.

"Son, I was asking for you. Come in," Father smiled.

I was thinking back to what Hazel was speaking about. Even after all the effort to try and stop me from meeting Father, I had come down to the throne room anyways. The guards were immediately dismissed from the room for some privacy.

"Why did you ask for me, Father? Do you wish to train the new army? Is there a new war?" asked I.

He dismissed my trail of thought with the wave of his hand. "Oh no, my son. That is not why I called you here. There is something I wish to speak to you about - something important."

I raised an eyebrow. Usually, the only time Father asked me to see him was when Scotland was at war with Titania. Titania was Scotland's rival and it had been this way for centuries. Father never talked about anything else other than military talks. This time, him speaking about something else, rose a suspicion in me.

"There is nothing to be suspicious about, son." I was taken aback by how he figured it out. However, he was my father, and even if he did not talk much he would know what his son was thinking.

"Then why do not you answer my question?"

He took a deep breath.

"I have decided something," He started. "I have arranged your marriage to Princess of Titania."

My eyes widened in shock.

What?!

"Father, I..." I wanted to say what made him make this decision out of nowhere, as Titania and Scotland had always been rivals. This marriage would end the rivalry forever and create an alliance between the two kingdoms. As far as I remembered Father never wanted an alliance. Then why now?

"I know what you are thinking," He continued. "This marriage would create an alliance between the two kingdoms and we do not wish that to happen. Titania would never be an ally,"

I stared at him in confusion, trying to understand his words.

"I do not understand. Titania would be an ally if the marriage takes place. How can you be saying otherwise?"

My father smiled, evilly.

"We shall rule over Titania."

---

"Has he gone out of his mind?! I understand we are rivals, however, this is too far. Sacrificing his own son to rule over Titania? That is nuts!" Hazel yelled, throwing pillows on the bed in fury. I stood beside the dressing-table watching her actions as she vented all her fury on the pillows.

"I have told you, Hazel. He can do anything,"

"That does not mean you have to listen!" Hazel's attention turned to me. Her eyes had become and red and watery in anger. She was one of the very few who cried when they were mad at something or rather, in her case, someone.

"He leaves me no choice," I stated. "As an ideal son, a commander of the army, and someday, a new ruler of this Kingdom - I have to do this,"

"You are way too obedient, Aiden. That man -" She pointed towards the door. "-does not deserve this respect. He has not treated us like his kids but rather, some pawns to his stupid games. He wishes to discipline me so that I get married to some Prince of his choice for an alliance and he has asked you to marry some Princess so he would get to rule Titania!"

I sighed. I hated it when she was right. I knew she was right. Deep down, I knew what was happening was wrong. However, as I mentioned before, Father left me no choice. No matter how he ever treated us back then or how he even treated us now, he was still our Father, and we- his children. 'Twas our duty to obey him.

King Aurelius Xavier was a monster who could use his children to get what he wants.

And he would go to any extent.

Any extent.

After a few minutes, Hazel suddenly grinned. Every bit of her anger was gone. Looking at her, no one would know that she had cried out of fury just a few minutes ago!

"Why are you grinning like that?"

She smirked. "If you know me, Aiden, then you know, why I am grinning like this."

True.

If I knew one thing about my dear sister, 'tis that - every time she grinned, she had an evil idea in her head. After all, she was my father's daughter! Evil ideas ran in the family.

"What are you planning then?" I asked, quietly sitting on her messy bed.

"We know that you have to obey father's orders, no matter what because you are very, very obedient," I rolled my eyes at her statement. However, she continued ignoring my action. "Now, you cannot call off the marriage, however, the Princess can,"

"Elaborate,"

She quickly sat beside me, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "If we can make you into a person you are not - arrogant, boastful, proud, and a cold-hearted person and everything that would bound the Princess into despising you - you can get out of this arrangement. She would be the one helping you out of it without even knowing. That way, Father would not know this was planned,"

I never knew my sister was a genius!

This was a brilliant plan!

I could make the Princess hate me and that way I could get out of the arrangement and Father would not get to rule over Titania! I understand that Titania and Scotland were always at war. However, it was still a kingdom of its own. We only made alliances. Taking over that kingdom would mean...

'Twas supposed to be united. All the rulers ruling over a peaceful world.

Not one tyrannical ruler ruling over the world.

That would be terrible.

I smiled, impressed. "That is a brilliant idea, Hazel! 'Tis amazing!"

She flipped her hair. "Thanks to this messy and chaotic brain of mine which can think of any way out of a situation,"

'Twas my turn to smirk. "Should we get started with the plan, then?"

She mirrored my smirk.

"Let us create a new Augustus Aiden Xavier,"