Simple

"Simple. To eliminate the threat to his throne, Sunshine." Elijah answered without any hint of doubt in his tone. As if what he had just said was a proven fact. 

Elle slightly shook her head in disbelief. "I don't… understand. If that is true, why did he not just give out the order for those hunters to… harm the boy? Wouldn't that be easier and get the job done faster?" 

"Eliminating doesn't only mean killing, Princess Elle. If the boy had gone mad, then he would be automatically unfit for the throne. Also, the Crown Prince can not just kill the boy. He had taken a vow to never take the life of any of his brothers. That's why he'd resorted to that tactic. Unfortunately for him… the boy was smarter than he'd ever thought." 

She could not help but crease her brows deeper. "Is the Crown Prince so powerless that he had to go so far as to go after a young boy like that?"