Chapter 17

Recreation was now in session, perhaps as the favorite session there was.

The playground that was once empty, was now filled with life, with little murmurs that filled the area.

Peter was still sitting on the bench as always, mainly because he found himself too old to play in little slides.

He was fine right here.

But, someone came in which he did not expect, the red-haired girl that got him in trouble quite a few times.

"Hey."

"Hi?"

She could tell he was a bit resistant, but still continued talking anyways. "So, how's life in the castle?" she asked, with the big smile she always gave.

"It's fine," he returned, still hesitant to talk. "I do enjoy the fuzziness of the beds now."

Suddenly, she laughed which would've scared Peter, but did the opposite.

His fears went down, because you have a certain relief when you can make someone laugh.

But coming into the playground was none other than Xavier.

Which he already targeted the two on the bench, with his fury already boiling.

He stomped over dramatically, screaming throughout the top of his lungs.

"What did I tell you about messing with my girl?"

"I'm not messing with—"

He suddenly stopped as if with breath was frozen, as he could hear a dagger of some sort come out.

Then came someone, none other than Micah—who was still down from the last time he came, looked at the dagger rising just from Peter's head.

Anger boiled through his body.

Rage ran through his mind.

Fury pushed his body towards Xavier, surprising him in an instant.

Like a tiger, Micah cared less about anyone looking at him, and pounced on Xavier, pulling the dagger away.

But, Xavier had quite the good hold on the weapon, so it was more of a test of strength rather than removing the weapon.

Peter was nebulous of what happened in the few minutes, but finally gathered his senses right after they both unhanded each other.

Then came someone no other than Asiris, which he immediately—without no question—broke up the fight by the time Peter gathered his senses.

"What are you guys doing?" he scolded, looking down fully on Micah.

Xavier found this as an ideal time to put the blame on Micah, testifying, "He tried to kill me!"

Micah quickly looked at Xavier in a sudden belief.

"No," he rejected. "He was trying to stab Peter on the head!"

"No, I would never do that!"

Then, came in was none other than Commander Just, who was just alarmed about this emergency.

"Hey son," he cried, rushing towards Xavier. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, he is—but he almost killed the king's son," Asiris explained.

The whole commotion was like a show towards Peter, which he was barely a part of.

Xavier on the other hand, was screaming, testifying about Micah's assault.

"No, that isn't true!" he shouted, pleading with his hands raised up.

Commander Just—in all of this—was very calm, which he was soon to explain next.

"Xavier, if even it was self-defense; you cannot assault a prince. You'll have to be put in the dungeon."

Like a rushing wind, the noise clipped off as the murmurs gradually rose. Being in the dungeon for two weeks at the least, was a lifetime shame in this kingdom.

Peter and Micah only recently learned about this.

"Asiris, take him to the dungeon," he ordered, surprising everyone in that playground, at his sudden loyalty to the kingdom.

"Dad, no," Xavier now said, now revealing tears in which it gave a solemn feeling to Peter—which he thought about something he'd never done before.

"Let him go."

The noise was silent once again, but this time—it was more silent than ever.

"Let him go?"

"Yes, let him have one more chance."

Just nodded, indicating to let him free—making him quite shameful at Peter's pity.

Hastefully, Xavier ran away from the playground, sobbing harder than when he was even getting arrested, maybe because of the absolute shock he had.

Micah was also amazed, now looking at Peter as if he made a mistake.

Which he believed he did.

"Why did you let him go?"

"Because, I don't want to ruin lives—I want to help them."

Still quite confused, he came to sit down by Peter, breathing out a sigh.

"Well, you're so nice."

"Yep."

"You're taking this as a joke?"

"Of course, why not?"

"You almost got killed by some hard-boiled head boy."

"I know."

The confusion was now overwhelming, to a point Micah was not even thinking about it.

"It's best if we try not to send some people to jail, alright," Peter ordered, giving quite a hard smack to his back, getting up and leaving Micah to his incertitude.

Why did he let him free?

Why was he so hesitant to put him in jail?

Was he scared of him?

He was now so caught up in his reasoning, he wasn't even blinking.

Eventually, he returned back to earth and now abandoning the questions, he followed Peter into the castle.